Weekly Photo

This would have been better with a tripod for sure and I didn't take any time on settings. Maybe I need to start carrying the tripod with us on trips like this. It was fun to be there with the kids. Ana loved looking at all the little nativity sets they had up.



**Side note**
Ana really wanted us to let her hold a certain tool that she couldn't hold. After trying a few different angles she ended up saying quite a few times, "But I'm a special lady!! I need the tool." It was pretty funny. She also later stood on a stool in the middle of the room, pulled down her panties and said, "There is a bug in my bum!!" She was serious about it. It was really hard to not laugh and encourage the behavior.

christmas

A few days before Christmas, I was in my room folding laundry and I heard Ana say, "Mama, Jack's a present." I didn't think much of it until I walked in by the Christmas tree and saw this.



Christmas was wonderful. Christmas Eve we went to Dave's sister's house for a while then came home to do our own thing. We read the Christmas story, opened up jammies, then watched "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer." It was fun!




We didn't take many pictures Christmas morning, but we did get this one of Ana opening her Princess blanket from Grandmas. She loved it! Dave got me a food processor which I am so excited about. Also we got a family gift of a bike trainer. Yay! That extra 10 pounds I've been carrying around it coming off. Also Jack got this adorable outfit from Dave's sister. I love it!




On Saturday we went down to see my cousin, Emily, who I haven't seen since Dave and I got married. It had been too long! She has so many crazy adventures and she's now going to LAW SCHOOL. It was so fun to talk to her and catch up. We were best friends growing up. Then we went to Temple Square to see the lights. It was so busy, but it was fun. Ana liked it. The roads were crazy coming home, but we made it safe and sound and it was a fun weekend.



Now its time to reflect on 2008 and think forward to the changes that await us in 2009. I love this time of year!!!

Application progress

Quick note to let everyone know I have been updating my med school application news over on the left side there <---. It's mostly just small updates.

merry christmas

We are enjoying a lazy day here. It is wonderful! I love hanging out with just our little family of 4. This is happiness.

I didn't get all the Christmas cards sent that I wanted. But what is the blogging world for if not for keeping in touch with all those who have touched our lives? Here is our letter for those we missed.



Friends and Family,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

This year brought quite a few changes to our little family. Dave graduated from BYU-Idaho in April with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. We then packed up and headed to his hometown. We live at his brother’s place in a new addition on their property. We spent the summer living with Grandma and Grandpa while the apartment was finished. We love living so close to so much of his family!

Dave is currently working in psychosocial rehabilitation (PSR). He works with at-risk kids with behavioral problems. He is also applying to medical school for next fall, and is starting to get interviews. He spends much of his free time shadowing doctors, volunteering at the hospital, and playing with Ana.

Erin is enjoying the stay-at-home mommy business. And stay-at-home is pretty much what we do since we only have 1 car. We spend a lot of time outside, playing with cousins, and making cookies. She tries to stay on top of housework and find time to read, sew and have “mommy time.”

Ana is 2½ now. She’s growing so fast! She talks constantly – in full sentences – and is such a social butterfly. She is energetic and keeps mom busy. She loves to hold the kitties outside, and she also loves to sing. She likes to listen to music and watch the cows outside in the pasture through our big front window. Ana’s been really good with her new little brother, giving him lots of hugs and kisses. She often calls him “Little Buddy” or “Bud” for short. Most mornings she comes running into our room and says, “Mama, Jack’s awake!” Then she climbs into his bed and makes him smile and giggle.

One of the biggest changes this year was little Jack coming to our family. Jack David was born on June 7 and is such a joy. It was wonderful to live with Grandma and Grandpa when he was born, and he still smiles at the sound of their voices. He is crawling now, just cut his first tooth and loves his big sister. Ana definitely gets the biggest smiles and loudest cries out of him. We can’t even imagine our family without him.

We are enjoying this break from school, and we are excited for the changes and adventures that 2009 will bring us.

Hope this holiday finds you all happy and healthy. Please keep in touch.

Love,
The Larsen family
David, Erin, Ana and Jack

kids

There is nothing quite like being a parent. When Dave and I were dating/engaged we always talked about waiting a while before starting to have kids. Well, 2 months after we were married we started talking about it. That was way sooner than I had anticipated. But we felt it was right for us. Ana was born just 2 months after our first anniversary. We have been so blessed by this decision. And look at what I would be missing out on right now:

Ana and Jack playing in the toys together.



Christmas outfits.I love poofy dresses! I think its because I wore them when I was growing up. I was so excited to put Ana in this today. I loved this shirt on Jack, too. I couldn't wait to get them ready for Church.




Last night my sister in law let Ana borrow a few old dance outfits from her girls. Ana loves them! She put this one on after church and said, "Turn on dancing music for my dancing!" and then danced around the room.



I wouldn't trade this for anything!

not ready

okay. deep breath.

Do you ever get so overwhelmed you are almost paralyzed and end up getting NOTHING done? Now that Dave's University of Utah Interview is over and {sigh of relief} went really well, Christmas is staring me blatantly in the face and I realized that I need to get busy. My house is a wreck, the homemade gifts are not even started, and I still want to get out my Christmas plates. And so what am I doing? Right now, Ana is standing in the bathroom sink sing-saying "don't fall down" and Jack is sitting on my lap tired and poo-y. And I'm checking the blogs.

I guess I should get busy.

okay. deep breath. wish me luck.

U of U Interview

The building where I will spend a TON of time if I get accepted to U of U.

The interview day started at 7:30. I was supposed be at the admissions office by 7:45 at the latest. So, I was planning on waking up at about 6:30 to get all ready and checked out of the hotel on time. I even set my phone alarm clock and the alarm clock in the room. I didn't need it. I woke up at 4:40 and could not get back to sleep. I tried to go back to sleep for about an hour before I just gave up. I was the first person in the lobby to get breakfast right at 6:00 when they were just putting it out. I stayed at the University Guest House that was right next to the medical school and hospital on campus. I saw a group of people in suits gathering in the lobby right when I was about to leave so I asked them if they were going to interview - they were - so I walked up with them. During the walk it became clear to me that they were going to interview for residencies at the U instead of med school admissions. It was only a little embarrassing and mostly funny. I think I was about the same age as they were. Anyway, going with them made it easy to find where I needed to be.

Both interviews I had were pretty laid back - perfect for me. I could not have asked for it to be better. It was a great experience overall and I hope I am accepted there. The interview could not have gone better for me but I know there are a lot of other well qualified applicants. So, we will see what happens. I will probably have to wait until March or April to find out if I am accepted. Such a long wait. I am just glad to know I have done everything I can.

cool christmas house

Its our anniversary. 4 years ago today Dave and I held hands and kissed for the first time.

Last night we took our family to this really cool Christmas house that is over by Twin Falls. It was crazy! This picture is only a part of the decorations.



The guy lives clear up in the foothills, and he said he starts putting up lights in September! You park on the main road and then walk down this loop of the driveway and he has everything! He has a tiny little Christmas village, a really big nativity scene, he even has a camel, although it was sick last night. It was really cool and well worth the drive! Ana kept saying "oooo, look" and pointing all around. She was almost speechless. (Almost).

love this man

Dave had a birthday. Shout Hooray!

Can I just say how much I love this guy. He means the world to me. He is such a good dad and husband. He works so hard for us. He is such a smart and capable guy. Really. I know he is going to make a great doctor. He has an interview at U of U this week. I am so proud of him in so many ways.

Good Luck, honey. I love you!

here comes trouble

We've been expecting it for a while now. The past couple days Jack has started crawling a few paces forward. He's already starting to get into stuff.

He scooted over to this bookshelf and started pulling books off the shelf.
Ana likes to eat frozen waffles while she watches "Little Einsteins" in the morning. Well, Jack got himself over to her half eaten waffle. Yum!!!
Today it was official though. He can get himself anywhere he wants to go. Usually its to me. I love it! Its kinda weird, though because Ana was so much older when she started crawling (9.5 months) that her coordination was quite a bit better. He's so little. He's also started eating cereal every day and today he tried a banana - which he loved - and some apple juice. I can't believe he's 6 months old!!!

I took this picture of Ana in the treehouse today. I love it!

oh christmas tree

Yesterday we put up our Christmas Tree. I really like it this year. The first year we were married, we had a real tree that looked pretty sad once it was up. Then we got a fake tree for the next two years, but a certain then one year old pulled it down and busted it, so this year we got a real one again. Its really tall - about 9 feet, and we have a star for the first time. Our ornaments don't quite fill it, and we may get some more, but we may not because I kinda like it how it is. Ana's doing pretty well leaving it alone, too.

Now I just need to get Jack's stocking done, and a few of Ana's presents done.

I guess I need to shower

I didn't feel very well for a while this morning - it's all good now. But, I told Erin I felt like poop earlier and Ana heard it. She just didn't hear it exactly like I said it. A little while later she told Erin "Daddy smell like poop mama."

christmas cookies

Having a family of your own means starting your own traditions. Its interesting trying to incorporate traditions from two people's childhoods as well as starting some new ones of your own. Last Sunday we made Christmas cookies as a family and I thought it was great. Its something I want to continue doing in future years. Ana really wanted purple frosting, so we included that too.


I usually like to have Christmas decorations up by now, but we're going a little slow this year. Our fake tree broke last year so we've been debating what to do. I think we'll probably do a real one this year, but we haven't gone out to get it yet. Our Christmas decoration box will probably be brought up from the garage today, and hopefully we'll get a tree up tomorrow. Yesterday we put up Ana's Christmas candy countdown, and we talked for a while about Christmas. She is really excited and I think its gonna be a fun year.

Also, Jack is sitting up. He still falls over and it makes him really mad when he does, but he can sit playing with toys for quite a few minutes if Ana leaves him alone. Also yesterday I got him to move forward about 2 feet. Hopefully he'll be crawling soon...

things i've learned about cleaning house

Growing up, we had "Saturday chores" - things like mopping, scrubbing bathrooms, dusting, etc. that we did with a chore partner on Saturday. When we first got married, I tried to continue the tradition of cleaning house top to bottom on Saturday. But reality quickly set in. It was a lot different trying to do the whole thing by myself when Dave was working. And if Dave was home, the last thing we wanted to do on our one day together was clean house. A new system was needed.

Over the last few years, including times of morning sickness and fatigue, and going to school full time, I've struggled to sink into a really good house cleaning routine. Consequently, my house is not always the cleanest. The move from Rexburg was a stark realization of how not clean I kept house.

I've learned a thing or two since we were married, and I finally feel like I'm in a routine that works for me. Here are some things I've learned:

1. Assign a day to each chore. Monday=bathroom, Tuesday=laundry, Wednesday=dusting, etc. Do your assigned chore first each day. Don't get overwhelmed by all the things that need to get done. Just do one chore a day. (Or course there are daily chores too, like picking up the living room and doing dishes.)

2. Its OKAY to mop the kitchen floor with a sink full of dishes. In our old apartment, whenever I set out to mop the floor, I felt like I had to do the dishes first, and by the time the dishes were done, Ana would need me and I'd never get around to mopping the floor. But its really okay to mop, even if the dishes aren't done. If the floor needs mopped and I have 10 minutes while Jack in napping and Ana is playing, I can just mop the floor.

3. A dishwasher is a necessity. After not having a dishwasher for over a year and now having one, I do not ever want to go back. It does make a difference. For one thing, it takes 5 minutes to load the dishwasher and then all the dirty dishes are hiding. For another thing, I feel like the dishes get so much cleaner in the dishwasher.

4. Its okay to leave dishes until the morning. After an hour of making dinner, then eating it, then getting Ana and Jack ready for bed and in bed and all of the evening things, I do not want to do the dishes. I want to put my feet up and enjoy some time with my husband. So, I take 5 minutes to load the dishes and turn on the dishwasher, and leave the rest. In the morning I have the energy and motivation to get it done. Right after I make breakfast, I just take a few minutes to unload the dishes, put the breakfast dishes in, and wash the hand dishes. It makes such a difference.

My home is by no means always perfect. But I feel a lot better about it, and it works for me.

funny ana-isms

One of my favorite things about having a toddler are the cute and funny things they do and say. Ana is no exception. Here are a couple from yesterday.

*We have Welcome gnome that we got when we were married and sits by our front door. (see picture)

Ana walked out onto our landing and started playing with it. Dave went out and told her to put it down and come inside. She started whining and said, "But I want to bring Jesus inside."

*Last night, she was in bed. I was laying next to her and I wouldn't let her go past my feet or else she could climb down. She was whining about it. She put her hand up to her ear like a phone and said,

"Daddy? I wanna go past Mama's feet..... Yeah, I'm upset."

*This one is just sweet. We were playing outside on the swings. She was holding a kitty who was meowing and wiggling. She said, "Its okay kitty." Then she propped it up on her shoulder and started singing, "I am a child of God."


My mom and I were discussing last night how a lot of people struggle with two-year olds. I absolutely love this age. My mom did too. Ana and I have fun all day long. Of course, we also have frequent time outs and frustrations (especially about bed time), but mostly we have a good time.

A good morning

I haven't been able to work during the mornings this week so it has been fun playing with Ana. She has been my little buddy every day so far, kind of like it was when I was in school and able to see her more during the day.

So, yesterday she asked me to read some books with her. These are the books:


They are all about 7 pages long with one sentence per page. We were laying down together on 'mommy and daddy's' bed for at least a half hour reading these books. She loves them. I was surprised by how long she was holding still and staying interested. I actually read EVERY book you see in that picture. Erin said it's something like 51 little books. It was fun and nice to not be stressed at all about needing to get anything else done.

Even though I will not get paid as much for this week it has been a great time with Ana. She has even been pretend calling me on her hand phone (she just holds her hand up to her ear) to tell me to come home from work and such. She called me last night on her hand while Erin was putting her to bed - she said, "Yeah, I'm upset."



Cute kid.

mornings

I really love mornings. One of my favorite morning sounds is Jack giggling at Ana, who has climbed in his bed. Usually, Ana has already run into my bedroom to announce, "Jack wake up!" She loves making him happy in the morning.

I love the quiet of the morning before the kids wake up. I love lying awake in bed with Dave feeling warm and cozy under the covers. I love the feeling of a new day.

I am definitely the most productive when I first wake up, and if I don't start doing things right away, chances are I won't be productive. We are into a routine of late sleeping that has been so hard to break, even though Dave and I have tried. My ideal morning would consist of me getting up before the kids, reading scriptures, running and getting breakfast before Dave leaves for work. I would love that. Some day. This week I've just decided to enjoy my time with Dave in the evening and save my chores til the morning, when I feel much better about it. Its made such a difference.

President Obama

Didn't have work this morning so I watched this in some of my extra time-


It was kind of fun to see. I like the openness that can happen post election. Especially the husband-wife comments.

Here is the clip that came first


This was the closing clip

a few good things

If I stay up too late, I often reach a point when I get worked up so much about something that I have this downward spiral of negativity and I can't get to sleep. So, here I am. Dave told me to cheer up and go to sleep, which he did, and I really want to sleep too. So, I thought of a few good things to cheer me up and since Dave wouldn't remember even if I attempted to wake him up, I will share them with my blogging world.

*I love the little person Ana is becoming. Today, we were outside and I, of course, was wearing sandals. I told her that my feet were getting cold and she leaned over and wrapped her warm little hand around my big toe. "Is that better Mama?" And you know what? It was.

*A friend of mine recently asked me about happiness in marriage. As I thought out and typed a very long response to her question, it gave me a new resolve to be a better wife. I feel very lucky to have the husband I do.

*Thanksgiving and my family holiday party is this week. I'm very excited for both. I love the Holiday Season and can't wait to decorate the house and finish up my Christmas shopping.

With those few good things in mind, I think I can go to sleep now...

almost there

Jack is almost crawling. He's been up on his knees for about 10 days now, and today he started trying to move his legs. He just needs to get his arms going and he's got it. He'll be crawling by 6 months for sure!



Ana is almost potty trained. She still has an accident almost every day, and I still have to remind her to go if its been a few hours. And she still wants a potty treat. But for the most part she does really well.

Also:
*the dishes are almost done for the night. I'm not feeling well tonight, so Dave loaded the dishwasher. I think I'll save the hand dishes for the morning.

*almost all the laundry is put away for the week. There is one stack that isn't because I don't reach the closet shelves very well.

*I am almost done making our living room curtains. I did all but the hem 2 weeks ago and still haven't taken them down to finish.

My Dad often says, "close only counts in horseshoes and hand-grenades." But tonight, close counts quite a bit. I feel pretty good about our "almosts."

yesterday

Yesterday this little girl was sick. She woke up at 7 throwing up, and threw up a couple more times before falling asleep on the floor at 11. She slept until 2 and felt better after that. Today she is back to normal.
There's something special about the comfort sick kids look for. She's usually very busy and independent. But yesterday morning she just wanted to sit on my lap. She'd get down occasionally, but then would climb right back up. When she curls up on my lap and wants to be near me, I am filled with love for that little person. I suppose that's how our heavenly parents feel when we turn to them to be comforted. They must be filled with love for us as well.

Make me famous

So, my new goal in life, now that all my secondary applications are done, is to be famous. By famous I mean have a picture I take selected for a jones soda label. I think I will be merging my weekly photo and my jones quest into the same feature here.

What should I call it? Weekly Jones? Please let me be famous? My baby can fly? I actually chose Jack flying for my first picture to submit. It seems like something they might choose.

I need your help. Each week when I post the photo I will also post a link like this one that links to my picture on the jones website. So, if you love me, or even like me a little bit, you should go and vote for it. Really. Help me be famous and I wont forget you.

Here is the picture-


CLICK HERE to vote and tell everyone how famous I should be.

*Note* Jones soda only allows one vote per computer.

200

This is a landmark post. I’m not giving anything away. I’m not writing more things about me. I’m just writing.

I’ve always liked writing. Especially hand-written things. I love hand-written letters – both sent and received. I have filled more than 15 journals. When I was about 7 or 8 I wrote a little story called, “The Train Without a Track.” It was a little inconsistent, but I had my dad type it up and I illustrated it and bound it and I still have it. I’m proud of it and protective of it. I’ve started countless “cheesy church” novels and I’ve gone through phases of poetry and song lyrics. I have never liked to read aloud what I have written. I suppose it’s because, though I don’t profess to be a good writer, I put my heart into it anyway and I don’t want it to be hurt.

I’m not a great writer. In fact, maybe my only talent is that I love to do things, even if I’m not what others might call “talented.” I love sewing, but I’m not a great seamstress. I love running, but am not a great runner. I love singing and playing the piano, but I’m just about average in both. And I love writing, even if I’m not a great writer.

I’ve really enjoyed blogging. It’s a little place of my own. Nothing really grand or adventurous happens here. Just life. And I like writing about it. My sister in law and a few other family members have started this novel writing thing. It’s been a long time since I wrote that much. One night last week, Dave and I sat down to come up with a story line and I started writing. But I just haven’t returned to it. I suppose it’s because what I really want to write is what I write about everyday here. My front porch looking in. I think it’s good to slow down and just write about everyday stuff. So often I rush through a post about random stuff that happens. But my favorite posts are always the ones full of inspiration and simple happiness. I want to take more time to be inspired, find more joy in everyday life, and write about it. Because everyday has something worth writing about.

Sunset

Time for another photo of the week. Man, I need to start posting more or all my posts will be weekly photos. The first two pictures were cropped differently and the third is the original picture with no editing.






I like the smoke from the factory looking at it full size.

Its 1:00 pm

Right before Dave went back to work, Ana climbed up on his lap. She snuggled into him pretty close. He told her he had to go back to work and she said, "come right back, daddy." It was very tender. Jack had been sitting on my lap and kept looking at Dave and smiling. Dave is such a great dad! Anyway, he did have to leave, so Ana climbed up on my lap instead, and Dave left for work.

A few minutes later, Ana climbed down onto the floor and I went into their room to change Jack's diaper. When I came back:

Now, Jack is asleep too. As tired as I am, I can't bring myself to lay down for a nap. I love quiet time, and I need to clean house. But I'll enjoy the peace and quiet, nonetheless.

Its 6:30 a.m.

Ana woke up at 4:30 this morning and needed to go potty. Usually, if she wakes up in the night, I just lay next to her in bed for 30 minutes or so and she's back asleep. Well, at 5:30 Dave's alarm clock went off and she said, "what's that?" and then started crying really hard. That, of course, woke Jack up, who had peed through his pjs, so I had to change his clothes. So, we were up. She is now watching "Little Einsteins" and I think a nap will be in order today.

Ice cream comments

We were eating ice cream tonight after family home evening. Ana suddenly stopped eating, put down her spoon, and said, "Daddy is AWESOME!!" It was really cute an unprovoked. I had never even heard her say awesome before.

Weekly Photo

The exposure and depth of field isn't exactly like I would have wanted it but it did motivate me to learn a couple new things on my camera which is what this is all about anyway.

5 months

Jack is 5 months old. I can hardly believe its going by so fast. One things is for sure: He loves his sister! The other day I went to put him in the bath with her and he was kicking and squealing and smiling because he was so excited. Ana loves to make him laugh. She was hopping and splashing in the tub and he couldn't stop laughing. I had a hard time keeping a hold of him.

Whenever she does something silly, he just laughs and laughs. She was jumping on the bed the other day and this was his reaction:
This morning she really wanted to hold him, which she did for a while, but it ended up like this for probably about 10 minutes. (It would have been longer, but then she needed to go potty.)

Dave and I are trying to get our kids on an earlier schedule, so we've been waking Ana up at 7:30 this week. (She usually wakes up at 9:30, which means she doesn't go to bed until 10.) So, now I have 2 extra hours to fill with just me and Ana. Not much keeps her attention for very long, accept the Little Einsteins, so its been a challenge. Yesterday, she ate breakfast, played with playdough, colored with markers, made a mess, cleaned up a mess, took a bath, fixed hair, and ate a snack - all before lunchtime! She fell asleep on the floor at 3:00, but I didn't want her to nap so she'd go to bed early, so I woke her up. But then the rest of the evening she was wild! And she still didn't go to sleep until 9. whew! But I did make her this little instrument, which we turned into a guitar this morning. Dave was home until noon this morning, so they were playing and dancing around. It was so cute!


Any more ideas of how to keep a 2 year old happy would be great!

Yeah, that's my shirt

It was a good time.

Ana's artwork

Ana drew this today:I asked her what it was and she said, "a guy" which is what I figured. I thought it was pretty darn good for a 2 year old. It makes up for the fact that I spent 20 minutes scrubbing liquid foundation out of the carpet this morning. (It did all come out, thank goodness.)

Quick Holiday Thought

It goes straight from Halloween to Christmas in all the stores. Sometimes they actually have both seasons out at the same time. What happened to Thanksgiving? Is it weird to anyone else that the Thanksgiving season is completely overshadowed by the gimmegimme candy time and then Christmas decorations?

Happy Halloween

We had a really fun Halloween. I fixed Ana's hair really cute, but didn't get a good picture of the little princess. She had a lot of fun though. She even said "Trick or Treat" really well. Jack was a superhero. This is a funny picture of him. We went to the ward trunk or treat and then we went to a few houses, including Grandma's. I'm so glad I convinced Dave to dress up. I always love dressing up and so I'm glad we all got into it.




And this is Ana twirling in her costume. This was just before coming home, so her hair was a little messy and her shirt was a mess, but she loves her new princess skirt.