Tornow Terrific

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2011-12-13T11:54:00.008-06:00

We wish a very Merry Christmas to all of our loved ones.

The girls' Anuual Santa Photo

My friend Jen recently started a photography business, and I was fortunate enough to win a free photo session with her from a little contest she did. We had such a great time with her, and I was so pleased with the photos. I can't believe how big my little girls are getting! Below are a few of the pictures that were taken.

Our Wild Child

2011-12-13T11:41:00.003-06:00

I had to post these pictures, because I think they are so cute! This is Ainsley ready for her gymnastics class. She added the Jessie boots and 80's headband. My little fashionista. She definitely has her opinion about what she wants to wear.

We just recently put her in this little gymnastics class. Guess what her teacher said after the first lesson? "She's a natural. You might want to start saving your money..." Surprise, surprise. She's always been our little monkey climbing and doing tricks on everything she can. I think she gets a kick out of scaring her grandma Shonnie with the tricks she likes to show off. I love that she isn't afraid to try new things.

Are those thighs to die for, or what?

SNOW!!!

2011-12-13T11:32:00.005-06:00

We FINALLY got some snow this morning! Ainsley has been waiting anxiously for weeks, and would have been out there in her pajamas and bare feet had I not stopped her.

She can't wait for Cecily to get out of school so they can build a snowman together. It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Let the Countdown Begin!

2011-12-01T10:23:00.004-06:00

We are excited for the Christmas season at our house! Decorations are up (I think this was a record for me to have them up before December this year), and the kids are excited!

We recently sold our home in American Fork and moved to Highland, UT. We found a home to rent in a great neighborhood, and hope to be able to stay until we find a home to buy. We sure miss our old neighborhood and neighbors, but have felt very welcomed at our new place.

It is so much fun to see the girls' excitement for Christmas. And they are trying to be very good so that Santa will bring them some fun gifts. Funny story about that. The other day, Ainsley came into the bathroom as I was getting ready, and I could tell she was trying to hide a second string cheese behind her back, when she had just finished eating one.

I said, "Ains, didn't you already eat a string cheese?"

"No..." I knew that wasn't true, as I could see the remnants of the string cheese in her teeth.

"You know, Heavenly Father knows when you are telling the truth or not."

With an evil smile, "Who's Heavenly Father?" (Obviously, I'm doing a GREAT job teaching her the important stuff!)

So I tried another tactic. "Santa also knows if you are telling the truth or not."

She stood there for a second, contemplating that. "I'll go put it in the garbage."

She's such a character! I so love these little girls.

Anyway, this is just short, but I wanted to get something posted. Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!

Got to Start Somewhere, I Guess!

2011-06-19T22:18:00.013-06:00

Like I said before, I will hate myself for not journaling about our lives right now, especially while the girls are growing up. I feel like life is getting busier and busier, and I just am not making this a priority. So I'm just going sit down and make myself update about the girls for a few minutes. Nothing too profound or life-changing, but I sure think these girls are adorable! I'll probably be the only one to get anything from this post, but that's okay. This blog is for me, anyway!

Cecily, Ceci-Bess, Cec

Our 5-year-old (almost 6!) just graduated from Kindergarten.

Cecily has LOVED kindergarten. She enjoys everything about it. The learning, the teachers, the friends...everything! Three days before school started for the year, Cecily was accepted at Renaissance Academy, which is a charter school in our area. We decided to try the charter school out while we had the chance. I always have people asking how we like it, but since Cecily is our first child to go to school, I really don't know any different. I find the fact that when school starts in the Fall we will have our 3rd Principal in a year a little unsettling, as well as the fact that Cecily went through 2 Kindergarten teachers this year. Half-way through the school year, her first teacher decided she was needed at home (at least that's my understanding of the situation). I feel like the change was handled well, and the new teacher was up to the task. I am happy with everything Cecily learned in Kindergarten and feel that she is ready for first grade. We plan to keep her at Renaissance for first grade for the time being. If we end up moving farther away, we will probably rethink that, but for now we are satisfied with that decision.

Cecily at Graduation (above) and with her teacher, Mrs. Kerr (below)

Other than school, Cecily has been involved with dance at The Dance Club in Orem. She was on the Mini Starburst team this last year, and really loved all of the concerts and competitions she participated in. We are taking a little break from dance for the summer, but she is still dancing all over the place at home.

Cecily is still as sweet as ever. She is the best big sister to Ainsley. Yes, they do have their trying moments together (especially this week), but for the most part, Cecily is so kind and caring to Ainsley. She also loves to help around the house. She always wants to help me cook, and LOVES LOVES LOVES to do crafts. Too bad she doesn't have a more crafty mom!

Cecily is very responsible, and seems to always know what is okay and what isn't. She is anxiously awaiting her 6th birthday. She has been planning her birthday party for MONTHS! The theme for her party this year: Chinese. (What?!!?--I honestly think she's doing it for the fortune cookies)!

Cecily has also lost her first 2 teeth. She hated the fact that there was blood when she lost her first tooth, so her second tooth was literally flopping around in her mouth before I finally pulled it out of her mouth. Her tooth fairy really stinks, though. It was a close call with the first tooth (the fairy actually made it AFTER Cecily woke up and got out of her bed), and after about 4 missed nights with the second tooth, the Fairy left Cecily a note of apology and a pretty hefty payment. That fairy had better get with the program!

Ainsley, Ainsley Painsley, Stinker, Little Monster

As you can tell from her nicknames, our little Ainsley is not exactly like her big sister. But she is so stinking cute, even when she's just a plain stinker, that we can't help but completely adore her! And the fact is, she can be so darn sweet when she wants to be. I cherish those times she still comes up to me and rubs my cheek with her cheek or puts her chubby little hand on my cheek... It makes me sad that she is growing up so quickly! She just turned 3 in March.

Ainsley FINALLY decided to become potty trained two weeks ago. Scratch that. I finally decided to ditch the training pants and just put her in underwear and MAKE myself take her to the toilet. Yeah, that didn't take long. She's so proud of herself! She tells EVERYONE that she goes poop in the toilet. And by everyone, I mean EVERY PERFECT STRANGER WE COME ACROSS! Yes, Ains is still VERY friendly. But it's weird because there are some times when she gets really shy. I think she's a little like me in the way that I do not like to have the attention focused on me. I get really uncomfortable when it's not on my terms. She's the same way when we want her to "perform." But she has no problem if it's her decision.

Ainsley LOVES "school." She asks to go every day. She has been doing a sort of preschool once a week (it's mostly just playtime with other kids). She's very confident, if a little crazy, with other kids. She loves to sing, dance and pester her big sister. (I'll be honest. Ainsley has this shriek that REALLY grates on my nerves. And she only uses it when she's with Cecily, which is most of the day). She also likes to get out of her bed and crawl into Cecily's bed at night. Seeing those little cuties cuddled together asleep is so freaking adorable. I love it!

Ainsley recently decided to get out of bed during naptime. She went into my bathroom and got the spray bottle and scissors. I think you know where this is heading. I was folding laundry when she came out of her room saying she needed to go potty. I was so proud of her! I went to go help her, and I'm thinking, "Why is her hair wet?" I took a closer look, and could see the cut marks (her hair was in pigtails, so it was all still attached). Ainsley must have known, or realized it from the look on my face that she had done something bad, because she immediately started bawling. I couldn't get mad at the sweet thing! But it was awful to take out those pigtails and comb out wads of her beautiful hair! Luckily, most of what she cut off can be hidden by a major comb-over when we part it on the other side. Though, most of the time, it's pretty obvious what she's done.

I'm hoping that Ainsley grows out of this before she gets too much older, but she has a REALLY hard time stopping something she is told not to do. She always has to do it one more time. I think it must be the stubbornness in her. I don't know. But you tell her to stop doing something and she immediately does it one more time. And then she's done. Even if you threaten a time out or whatever you threaten. She still does it one more time. Crazy girl. But I love her. She is so much fun, and that giggle of hers...the best sound on Earth!

Oh, really?

2011-03-17T17:34:00.005-06:00

Yes. The Tornow family IS still alive. I'm posting a few pictures from our recent trip to Disneyland.

I know I'm going to kick myself someday (okay, I already have been for months) for not recording the happenings of this last year better. The girls have grown so much and accomplished so many things that I have not documented. But to be honest, I've actually been struggling about whether or not I want to make this blog private.

I've mentioned before that the reason I blog is because it's my version of my journal. I really feel that it is important to keep a journal/personal history. I want myself and my children to be able to look back and remember joyous times as well as be reminded of lessons learned during times of struggle. I know that many of my blogging friends blog for the same reason.

However, I have found that I have a difficult time making my personal struggles public, and that kind of defeats one of my main reasons for having the blog, right? So I'm curious what my fellow beloved bloggers (and who knows if you even check my blog anymore since I update it so seldom!) think upon this subject.

Do you ever find it difficult to be completely "real" in your posts? Have you considered making your blog private? Those of you who have gone private, have you experienced many downsides for doing so?

Well, I am definitely leaning towards going private. But I probably won't make the decision right away. I do hope to get back into the swing of things and start posting again, though. (Maybe nobody will read those posts, and I won't need to go private)!

Cousin Sleepover!!

2010-08-04T13:39:00.008-06:00

Last weekend we got to have my sister Lisa's kids over for the weekend, and we had so much fun! Ashley is 5 weeks older than Cecily, and Ruby is 5 months younger than Ainsley. So Ashley and Cecily pretty much kept each other entertained all weekend, and surprisingly, Ruby and Ainsley did really great together! We all had a fun time from the slip & slide to the rainy excursion to the park, to the pizza at Costco!

Cecily and Ashley both had Pillow Pets and matching jammies

(do you love how they dressed up their Pillow Pets?)

Ready for bed

We were all up late, and everyone was exhausted!

BATHTIME!

What?

2010-07-27T07:59:00.010-06:00

Hey, don't think that just because I haven't posted in a while I have left all of my new organization behind. Nope. My house is still clean-ish. Time just flies by so fast! My goal was to blog on Sundays, but my Sundays have been too over-scheduled (okay, so I'm just enjoying my family too much), so blogging has been on the back burner. But here are some fun pictures from our visit to Red Butte Gardens on Saturday, as well as some pictures Derrick took of the girls before church on Sunday. The girls are such darling, sweet girls (well, Ainsley can be a little monster, but we wouldn't have it any other way). They love each other incredibly, and I enjoy them so much. Cecily is getting ready to start Kindergarten in the fall, and Ainsley is becoming friends with the toilet. I'm thinking I'm into the last box of diapers I'll be buying for this kid!

Because I can't forget this cuteness!

2010-04-20T15:00:00.011-06:00

My sister just posted a bunch of funny/cute stories about her little girl, so I got to thinking that I had better get some of my recent funny/cute experiences with my little girls written down before I forget.

Ainsley has had a few nights recently where she doesn't want to go to sleep. She'll start crying in her bed after she's been in there a while, and when I go in to check on her, she's just so stinking cute, that I bring her downstairs to cuddle with us on the couch. Then she does the cutest thing (and she'll do it to whoever is holding her). She'll rub my cheeks with her hand, then she'll rub her cheek against my cheek, then she'll kiss me on the cheek, give me some butterfly kisses, then rub her cheek against my cheek again.....and on and on and on. Since she is normally a very independent, opinionated kid, this cuddly sweetness is a real rarity. I love it!

A couple of months after turning 4, Cecily TAUGHT HERSELF how to tie her shoes. She has one pair of shoes that lace up, and I had shown her one time a few weeks before. I told her to put her shoes on, and when I went to tie them, she was already done with one, and working on the other! The kid's a genius.

Ainsley is such a daddy's girl of late. She is constantly asking where Daddy is, and when I say he's at work, she'll reply, "ohhh," in a sad, yet impatiently bugged, voice. She often cries when he walks out the door, even if he isn't leaving the house.

Cecily takes a couple of dance classes. But when you turn the music on, the kid goes nuts and makes up these dances with moves I've never seen at dance class. I have no idea where she gets it! But boy does she feel that music!

Ainsley has started a new tradition. When we have family prayer, it's usually in the morning right before Derrick leaves to go to work. Then he will give us all kisses before he walks out the door. So now, whenever we have family prayer, as soon as the "Amen's" are said, she yells out, "KISSES!!!!" And we all get kisses!

Cecily is learning how to read. She loves to bring her books home and read them to me and anyone who will listen to her. She even called Grandma Thomas on the phone to read a book to her.

When Ainsley is bothered by something, she'll go off a ways, plop on the floor, fold her arms, and pucker her lips in a very stuck-up, "I-don't-like-that-so-I'll-have-nothing-to-do-with-it" look. Half the time, I have no clue what I've done wrong.

The other day, Cecily wanted to ride bikes with the neighbor kids across the street (their youngest is 8). So the brave girl went to their door and asked them if they would ride bikes with her. When they told her they were doing their homework, she thought quick, and said, "Maybe when you get done with your homework you can come and ride with me." And guess what? They did! She was so proud! Okay, scratch that. I WAS SO PROUD! I hadn't been home, so I got to hear the story after I returned and the girls were in bed. I don't think I would have been so brave as a child! She thinks those kids are so cool. And they are. We have such awesome neighbors!

I love when Ainsley is watching a tv show and I find her laying on her tummy with her hands under her chin. She looks like such a big girl in a tiny little body. People are often surprised that she talks as well as she does, because she still looks like such a little baby.

Cecily is really into praying that we can be healthy. The majority of all of her prayers are about us eating healthy, taking care of our bodies, etc. It's hilarious. I love listening to her pray that Ainsley will be nice and not hit or take her toys.

She's talking a lot more now, but a few months before she turned two, Ainsley was really into chewing me out in her own language, then immediately giving me a kiss to make up for it. Unfortunately, she still likes to chew me out, but in English, and I usually don't get the kiss afterwards! (But it does make her kisses all the sweeter when I do get them!)

The other day, Cecily says, "Um, Mom, we need to take Ains to No Hitting School so she can learn to be nice and not hit." Actually, Cecily is really into different schools. She just asked last night if she could go to Training Wheel School so she could learn how to ride a bike with out training wheels.

Ainsley's favorite phrase: "I want cheese." Her favorite word: "NO!" And she says it just like that. Real quick, stern and to the point. She enjoys saying it to all children at the store, at church, in the car next to us... She also likes to instruct them, "Do NOT HIT!" Doesn't matter that she feels obliged to hit anyone she wants, whenever she wants. She will not tolerate other children hitting. Even if they weren't planning on it, she feels it is her duty to tell them not to hit. I love this kid!

One of Cecily's best friends is a little boy named Trey. One night last year, when they first started playing together, Trey's dad had brought Trey to our house (Trey's parents are friends of ours). Cecily was already in bed, but I saw her peeking out her window, so I told her to come down and jump on the trampoline with Trey. She was so excited! When I asked her why she was so excited, she said it was because "that boy has hair like Annie!" As in little orphan Annie. I had introduced Cecily to that movie recently, and Trey has naturally curly, curly hair. And she just thought that was the coolest thing ever!

Ainsley is the MESSIEST EATER EVER! The girl makes a mess of EVERYTHING she eats! Yesterday I caught her finger-painting baked beans on her stomach. Oh, and if she doesn't want the food, she will throw it on the floor. And if you put a bib on her, she will reach her messy hands under the bib and rub. So yeah, bibs are kind of pointless.

Ainsley is into getting "pretty cute." When I do her hair, she says its "pretty cute." When she wants to put on a dress-up, she says she wants to get "pretty cute." And she loves to dance. Probably because she looks "pretty cute" when she does it.

Breakfast for Dinner

2010-04-19T18:48:00.002-06:00

Life has been so crazy busy lately, and it's been hard to keep up with the vow I made to post on my blog every week. But it is still my goal to post every week, so hopefully I will get better about fitting it into my schedule.

I have been much better about posting on my recipe blog than I have on

this blog, and these photos are from the Banana Sour Cream

Pancakes recipe I made for dinner tonight, which I am about to post on my recipe blog. Monday nights are breakfast-for-dinner night. As a part of the "organizing my life" kick I've been on, I have been planning weekly menus (which will eventually turn into monthly menus) so I can know ahead of time what I will be preparing. I don't know about you, but I hate coming up with an idea of what to cook when I need to have dinner on the table in an hour. So being prepared is definitely helping me in that department, and I'm only having to go to the grocery store once a week (yay!).

Anyway, just wanted to let you know that I haven't backed off of my goal to post every week (if anyone actually cares!). Hopefully I will come up with something exciting to post soon. We've been doing a ton of fun stuff, but Derrick has my camera card at work, and I hate posting without pictures, so I've been holding off until he remembers to bring it home!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE AINSLEY!

2010-03-07T12:13:00.005-06:00

Our little baby Ainsley is TWO!!

And a spunky little two-year-old she is!

We are constantly being entertained by our "little monster," and are so glad she is a member of our family.

I had no idea how different little girls could be, but I think my two are night and day! And they love each other so much! It is so much fun to see them interact together. Ainsley is little miss attitude a lot of the time and has perfected the scowl. But she also has a contagious laugh, and you can't help but smile when she gives you one of her cheesy grins.

She loves to be around other little kids, and lives for going to nursery at church. She is always trying to get away from us in Sacrament Meeting, and a few weeks ago was able to make it almost all the way to the pulpit! I think she was just trying to embarrass me, as I was chucking down the aisle trying to catch up to her. She definitely knows what she wants!

We look forward to her waking every morning, as she is always full of joy.

She loves to splash water EVERYWHERE when she takes baths, and she needs to take baths often, as she makes artwork with her food every time she eats.

She LOVES the moon, and looks for it whenever she is outside.

There is so much more to our Ainsley Painsley, but what it comes down to, is we are absolutely crazy about this little girl. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!

An Organized Life....is a GREAT life!

2010-02-23T14:54:00.007-06:00

Um, yeah. I KNOW it's been months.

So, a couple of years ago (just going into 2008), I recall making the New Years Resolution to become more disciplined. Two years later, I am finally making some headway... I think...

It all started with some organization classes my Relief Society started holding on Wednesday nights. I thought it sounded like something I'd be interested in, so I decided to attend the 8-week program. I'm sure some of the ladies in my ward will laugh when I say this, but I have to admit that these classes have totally transformed my life! Why?

MY HOUSE IS CLEAN!

(Please don't faint, Mom)

So why is having a clean house so transforming? Well, for me, everything all starts with my house. I cannot function at my best if my house is messy. Not that my house was always a disaster, but I just never felt like my housekeeping jobs were ever FINISHED, therefore I never wanted to start on them. But these days, usually by around 9am (remember I'm an early-riser), I can check housekeeping off my list and not worry about it for the rest of the day! !

Anyway, there's a lot more detail to it all, and it is applying to more areas of my life than just housekeeping. But my point is, I am getting my house in order, and it feels great! I've got more time on my hands, and I feel a semblance of control in my life. So I just HAD to let everyone know how excited I am about it!

Anyway, back to the fact that I haven't posted on my blog for months... It's okay. I'm starting fresh (again). My plan is to post something weekly from now on, and I am really going to put an honest effort into it. I even have it planned into my schedule... (don't laugh. and no taking bets on how long this "new me" is going to last).

Before I forget...

2009-08-28T08:56:00.015-06:00

Cecily turned 4 on July 16, and I never posted about her birthday. She decided weeks before that she wanted to have a ballerina birthday party, so we really got into it this year!

My friend, Jenn, put this birthday invitation together for me. Didn't it turn out cute? She has started a little business doing things like this, so if you are ever in need, visit her blog.

A couple of weeks before Cecily's birthday, we took the girls over to the amphitheater by the Mt. Timpanogos temple and took some photos. The girls were being so cute, so I had fun playing around with my camera. (By the way, does anyone know of some good photography classes in the area? I'd love to learn to take better photos).

I love this photo below. Whenever Cecily points to something, she winks her eye. But if you try to get her to wink and any other time, she just doesn't get it!

She was pretending that her prince had to rescue her on this "balcony." Derrick had to go save her several times!

Wow, what a princess. Picking her nose and everything!

Cecily got a fun new jeep from Grandma and Papa. She ABSOLUTELY loves it!!

She also got a big-girl bike.

On her actual birthday, we went to the Steel Days Carnival. Cec had a blast on all of the rides.

She got a supergirl cape from Grandma Thomas, which she loves.

These 2 photos are a little out of order. But this is the cake from Cecily's birthday party. Yep, another one of my cake adventures. But I have to say, it turned out better than my last cake, the fairy cake, and WAY BETTER than the transvestite Cinderella cake!

Ainsley enjoying her licorice.

For the birthday party, Cecily invited a few of her little girlfriends over. When they came over, they each got magic ballerina glitter dust stars put on them and a new tutu. I was so excited about these tutus. My sister told me about haloheaven.com, where I got the tutus for $2. Then I hot-glued a flower on each of them. It didn't take much time, and I didn't have to pay a fortune. I was also able to get a bunch of stuff for the goody bags from the same website, such as butterfly tattoos, feather boas, and wands. I didn't get a photo of the bags, but I just took white gift bags and hot glued pink tulle to the inside and added a flower to the outside. I thought they turned out cute, and kept with the ballerina theme.

I had ballerina music playing and the girls danced and twirled while we waited for Miss Ashley, our "real" ballerina to come and teach the kids some ballerina steps and a little dance. I had contacted BYU's dance department to see if they knew of a ballerina who wanted some teaching experience with little kids, and they connected me with Ashley.

The kids were IN LOVE with Miss Ashley!

Here the kids are, eyes glued to Miss Ashley, as she performed a dance for them.

I have to say, the party was a success (although our air conditioner broke that day, and it was SO HOT)! Cecily still talks about Miss Ashley. She also prays every day that she will grow up to be a big ballerina.

I can't believe my little baby is already 4! I love this girl so much! She is honestly one of the sweetest little girls. She is such a good helper, and loves her little sister so much. She is so good to share her toys with Ainsley, and always tries to keep Ainsley happy. Cecily is very enthusiastic, and cannot hide her excitement when she is enjoying things. She will often stop what she is doing to come and tell me she loves me, or to give some kind of compliment. As her vocabulary grows, it is so fun to listen to her use it in her kind ways. She loves preschool, dancing, gymnastics and swimming. She loves to learn how to do things by herself, and is always wanting me to teach her how to do things from making lunch to cutting coupons. I am so lucky to have been able to get to know and be the mommy of this precious girl!

The Fisherwoman

2009-08-23T18:27:00.004-06:00

We went to Derrick's parent's brand new cabin this weekend. It is at Scofield Reservoir, and we had such a nice time. Derrick left on Friday afternoon and took the girls with him. I met them there on Saturday afternoon. It was very relaxing, and the weather was so great. Cecily decided she was going to get serious about this fishing business (we bought her a purple and pink fishing pole a few weeks back when we were at Scofield for the 4th of July). Anyway, here are the results of her fishing endeavors:

Saturday night, Cecily getting a little help from Daddy.

A few nibbles, but no fish tonight!

Then on Sunday morning, Grandma Shonnie and Ainsley came along.

They must have been the luck Cecily needed, because she got 2 fish!!

I wish I had it on video. Only those who know Cecily can imagine how ecstatic she was! It was really sweet!

Our Ainsley

2009-08-10T20:10:00.009-06:00

My friend, Hailey, took these photos of Ainsley while we were at her home one evening a few weeks ago.... and all I can say is, these are as "Ainsley" as it gets! She was definitely in her element!

Yeah, that was a load of photos to post. But I'm a doting mother.

At seventeen months, little Ains is still a little monster. She is as stubborn as they come, but so, so sweet! When I say she is in her element in these photos, it's because the kid LOVES water! I have to keep my bedroom door closed, or she darts right back to the bathtub and turns on the water. I can't tell you how many times I have caught her in there absolutely drenched. She will sit on the sprinkler if the kids are out running through the sprinkler. She is taking swimming lessons right now, and I can't believe how awesome she is doing. It is the cutest thing to see her floating on her back! I'll have to post a video of it sometime.

Anyway, she is learning new words all the time. Among her favorites: "no-no," "thank you," "no-no," "DADDY!!!!," "no-no," "hello," "I love you," and "no-no!" She also likes to neigh like a horse, bark like a dog, and meow like a cat. She wakes up with a huge grin every morning, and waves and blows kisses to random strangers wherever we go.

I LOVE THIS KID!!!

4th of July

2009-07-08T12:19:00.003-06:00

We went down to Scofield for the 4th of July weekend. It was a busy weekend, but we had a good time. I forgot to take my camera, but here are a few shots from the parade. Cecily and Derrick rode in the fire engine and had a ton of fun throwing candy at people.

Derrick's parents are almost finished with the little place they are building in Scofield, and it will be nice to be able to visit there more often. It is so beautiful there. We slept in tents on their deck. We were trying to make it a nice little camping trip for Cecily. She came home from preschool one day after talking about the subject, and she said, "Mom, I want to go fishing at the lake and sleep in a tent. And we have to buy 3 things at the store. Chocolate, Marshmallows and Graham Crackers. No, we need to buy 4 things at the store. Chocolate, Marshmallows, Graham Crackers and FIRE!" So we made s'mores, which she LOVED. As far as fishing goes, we bought her a pink and purple fishing pole. But since neither Derrick nor I have ever gone fishing, we just took her down to the water and let her pretend to fish. Personally, I think Derrick had more fun with that. He pretty much stole Cecily's fishing pole and played around with it himself! I guess I need to get him to start a new fishing hobby!

The girls really enjoyed the firework show over the lake. But my favorite thing was spending 45 minutes trying to get a bee out of our tent!

Yes, we are still here.

2009-06-28T14:58:00.024-06:00

I know, it IS about time I write a new post. This is what we've been up to in the last few months:

Ainsley is totally growing up. She finally started walking in May, at fourteen and a half months old. She is getting taller, but still looks too small to be walking around. I don't know if I have mentioned before, but this girl has got attitude. She is a feisty little thing. But funny. "No, No!" is one of her favorite phrases, but she is really good about saying, "Thank you."

Cecily and Ainsley still get along very well. They are always giving each other kisses and hugs, and Ainsley tries to imitate everything Cec says and does. Here they are just chilling on the deck. We are finally working on getting our landscaping done. Hopefully, by the end of the week, we will be done with this phase and I will post some photos of the yard.

Ainsley isn't exactly the clean eater that Cecily was at her age.

I think Dad looks pretty proud.

We spent a week in Vegas over Mother's Day. I am so happy to be the mommy of these little girls!

Cecily graduated from her first few months at gymnastics/preschool.

We took a quick trip to Lake Powell with the Allen's last weekend. It was a great little getaway.

Here's Nate Allan showing off his wake surfing moves.

This is his wife, Shar.

Here's Ainsley trying to grab the camera.

Yep, Derrick can wake surf, too.

Oh, and I got up on the surfboard too. But you'll just have to believe it from this cropped picture. I promise, I am doing you a favor by not posting the lower half of my hot bod.

The girls had a great time hanging out on the boat and swimming in the lake. Cecily took a ride on the tube, which she thought was really fun.

We stopped for a walk and view of the dam on the way home.

Happy Father's Day to the best daddy!!

Cecily just started taking a dance class. I know it doesn't look like it from these photos, but she REALLY loves it! Cecily really does not enjoy posing for pictures.

Well, that's about it. Now that I have FINALLY written a post, I can promise that I will not wait so long until the next one!

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!

2009-04-16T08:23:00.003-06:00

This is what we woke up to this morning.

As beautiful as it is, I have to ask it yet again. SPRING!! WHERE THE CRAP ARE YOU???

The Birthday Party

2009-03-12T17:27:00.010-06:00

We had a family birthday party for Ainsley on Sunday.

Here are the girls in their "party dresses." For Cecily, party dresses are a MUST!

The girls hanging out before the guests came.

Pink and purple were the colors of choice.

Cec helped Daddy put balloons all over the house.

The Birthday girl.

Cecily working the pinata.

I've decided that my talent does not lie in cake decorating. I have good intentions, but what I imagine in my head is DEFINITELY not how the finished product looks!

CAKE TIME!

Applauding the latest horrid rendition of the Happy Birthday song. My family likes to compete for the worst sounding version of the song. It sounds lovely, I tell ya!
Blowing out the candle.

The first taste...

Grandma and Papa Tornow

I think the kids were the most excited to get a taste of the pink mess...

Auntie Jana (my cool sis who came even though she felt like crud--THANKS!)

It may look "interesting," but it was YUMMY! Strawberry cake from scratch with homemade strawberry filling and cream cheese frosting.

Ainsley's enjoying it, and being quite neat about it as well.

Cousin Amelia, the Irish dancer
Come on, do you REALLY think a 1-year-old can use a fork?

Ooooh! This is fun!

Let's get a little messy!

Let's get EVERYONE a little messy!
Did I mention this was fun?

All cleaned up and pretty again! Time to go bug cousin Andrew!

Present time!

Now I'm pooped! Time for bed!

Our Snowy Weekend at Timber Lakes

2009-03-12T17:06:00.003-06:00

This last weekend, we went to Timber Lakes (just outside of Heber) with some friends of ours who invited us to their cabin there. We had never been to Timber Lakes before, and I have to say, it is the PERFECT setting for a cabin. It was so beautiful there, and it snowed the night we went up, so it made for great snowmobiling and sledding!

The kids all played together well. Here they are all ready to go out.

Here's D-Rock getting ready to pull the kids on the sled.

Cecily thought it was fun to be pulled by the 4-Wheeler...

at first.

Now she's not so sure!

Here's baby Ainsley.

Thanks to Fran and Rebecca for the fun, fun weekend! We can't wait for the extreme pool rematch. I'll try not to knock myself out next time!

I'm not EATING the poop!

2009-03-12T13:24:00.003-06:00

As we're driving in our car today, baby Ainsley has a poopy diaper. And I have the following conversation with Cec. (Boy, does she think I'm dumb)

Cecily: Mom, Ains is stinky!

Me: I know, honey. We need to change her diaper.

Cecily: I can really smell it!

Me: Yeah. Is it making you sick?

-pause-

Cecily: No... I'm not EATING it.

Ainsley is One!!

2009-03-06T12:17:00.005-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE AINSLEY!

We can't believe you are already 1 year old! This year has flown by, and you have been such a fun addition to our family. Some of our favorite things about you:

*Your mimicking- You copy words, noises, movements, everything!

*Your Wave- You just hold your arm straight out in the air.

*Your giggling- Especially when it sounds like a crazy duck.

*Your Growling- You've been doing it since I can remember.

*Your gigantic grin- It is so contagious!

*Getting you out of bed- Your head pops up as soon as we walk in, and you have your big grin on your face and give us your silly wave.

*How you love your sister- I hope you two are as crazy about each other in 15 years!

*Your fast crawl (and complete lack of desire to walk)

*That you already have good manners (you say "thank you" without being prompted)

*Your blue eyes- SO BLUE!

*The way you play with your sister- I don't think two girls have ever been sweeter.

*Your cuddles- LOVE 'EM!

*Your happy temper- You make life as a mom so enjoyable!

I took the girls to get their pictures done at Kiddie Kandids. Normally, I am not a fan of the place, but I think we actually got some decent pictures this time! (Or maybe my girls are just so stinking cute, you couldn't mess it up! :))

Another Spider Story

2009-02-26T09:35:00.003-06:00

This just cracks me up! Our little princess Cecily kills the spiders at our house. She'll spot them out, tell me, then proceeds to kill them and flush them down the toilet. Have I mentioned that I have a major fear of spiders? Is it okay that I'm glad my 3-year-old comes to my rescue? Thank goodness they aren't as big as they are in NM (remember that post?)

Decadence and St. George

2009-02-23T13:10:00.010-06:00

This last weekend our friends, The Kandells, invited us to their 2nd Annual Dessert Night. The photo above is just a sampling of the beautiful spread they had. Check out their Blog for more mouth-watering photos. I'm sure Derrick and I aren't the only ones who felt they got spoiled and went home with a sugar high (and a bit of a tummy ache)! Thanks to Eric and Hailey for being such great hosts and friends.

Valentine's Day weekend, we went down to St. George to see the Parade of Homes there. We definitely noticed that the homes were not done as extravagantly as they have been done in years past---we assume builders are being more conservative since the housing market in St. George has not done so well recently. But we did see a few fun things. Since we are in the process of trying to decorate our home, we were looking for some ideas. Here are some photos of a few of the things we liked:

Does this backyard look like fun, or what?

I LOVED the granite backsplash with the insta-hot water dispenser over the cooktop.

This is a slide that goes down under the trampoline. There is a sandpit for the kids to play in at the bottom.

We've been wanting to put some built-in cabinetry in our office, and we liked this idea of doing a whole built-in desk, as well.

This home had it's own ice cream shop! I don't know that I would have put it right next to the kitchen, though. I would have done it in the basement, I think. But it was really cute.

I thought this bathroom was very pretty. I didn't like their choice of tile on the floor, but I thought the cabinets, countertops and mirrors were pretty.

This pool had a fun sprinkler area for the kids to run around and splash in. I wish the weather in Utah County was warmer through a greater part of the year, as I would LOVE to have a swimming pool!

On Valentine's night, we were still in St. George, and Derrick made reservations for us to have dinner at Haven. It was a great restaurant. The food and atmosphere were wonderful, even with it being very busy that night. We definitely recommend it.

Happy Birthday to Me.

2009-02-10T17:39:00.004-06:00

You know, I always thought that turning 30 would be a real pivotal day for me. Well, it wasn't. I feel the same. Maybe 32 will be different...

Derrick, my fantastic hubby, surprised me on Saturday and sent me to the Kura Door. Nothing better than a few hours of "me" time.

I had THIS done (no, that is NOT me in the photo)

as well as a massage and pedicure.

Thanks, D Man!

On my actual birthday, we kept things pretty low key. I have come down with an awful cough and feel like crap. So we invited family over for a caramel ice cream cake from Maggie Moos.

Sorry if any family catches this dreaded cough. Derrick also posted the infamous "Happy Birthday, Jen. Your my Favorite Wife" sign in front of our house. Have I mentioned that we live on the corner of a busy street? That guy knows how to keep me laughing, that's for sure.

A Princess Band-Aid will do the job!

2009-02-05T11:16:00.005-06:00

The other day, I was standing on the reception desk in our kitchen trying to reach something in one of the taller cabinets (oh, the joys of being short). Anyway, Cecily was sitting at the breakfast table, and in a very stern voice yells, "Mom! You get down from there. RIGHT NOW!"

I said, "Okay, honey, I just need to get something down first."

To which she responded, "I don't have anymore Princess Band-Aids."

Hmm... Should I consider that a threat?

Below is a photo of one of those times you are so glad you had a camera nearby. I caught Cecily whispering in Ainsley's ear, and Ains was TOTALLY loving it! I love these girls!!

AINSLEY-Little Miss Beautiful Blue Eyes

2009-01-30T15:28:00.008-06:00

This post is for Grandma Thomas. She says Mommy never takes pictures of me, which is kind of true. So here are a few pictures of me crawling up the stairs (my favorite way to spend my time), as well as an update on my life so far.

I'm just kind of a small little thing. At my 9-month doctor's appointment, I was only around the 3rd percentile for my height and weight, but that sure doesn't stop me! I am so fast! I don't have an interest in walking yet, but I can crawl like you wouldn't believe! And my favorite place to crawl? THE STAIRS!! I love the stairs. As soon as my mom brings me downstairs, I head right for the stairs and climb and climb. I've figured out that once I get to the top, I can whine and whine, and my mommy will come and get me and take me back down the stairs. Then I start again! Mom is trying to teach me to slide down the stairs on my tummy, but I figure mom can use the exercise.

I have kind of a strange habit. I like to bang my head against things. The tub, the wall, doors, whatever works. I don't know if it's the sound it makes, or what, but I just LOVE to bang my head over, and over, and over...

I'm really silly with my tongue. It's ALWAYS hanging out of my mouth.

I have a couple of teeth. Mom thinks they are so cute. My top ones are finally starting to want to pop through, which will be great, since I LOVE to eat.

I am CRAZY about my sister Cecily. She's my favorite. I love to watch her, and she doesn't even get mad when I climb all over her. She is so nice to share her neat toys with me. I hope she ALWAYS lets me play with her!

I am a total imitator. If anyone makes a noise, I will try and imitate it. I think it's so funny! I love to smile. I smile all the time, and crinkle my eyes like crazy. I also like to wave to people, although my wave isn't your typical wave. I just hold my hand out in the air, and put a very serious look on my face. And I'll just hold my hand there and stare at you. When I'm done waving, my smile comes back. I'm pretty funny.

Okay, Grandma, let me know if I forgot to mention anything!

Phone Call

2009-01-29T13:15:00.002-06:00

Derrick and I are thinking of upgrading our phones....someday. But we are trying to figure out what kind of phones we want, so I'm hoping some of you who use the newer, hi-tech, too-smart-for-me phones will give me your opinion for what you would get, and why. Is the IPhone really THAT great? How about the Nokia 5800? Personally, I'm happy with my simple phone. It does the job. But Derrick could really benefit from the nice functions of these other phones, since he is on the phone and internet so much with his job. Let me know what you think....

Okay, Okay. I will post something.

2009-01-26T17:36:00.010-06:00

Well, I guess I can say I've been admonished. As if having several of you comment on my non-posting wasn't enough, my husband had to go and post FOR me! (Personally, I would LOVE it if he wrote more posts. It's always fun to hear things from his point of view). Anyway, I've been agonizing about posting, because it's been so long and I have neglected to write about so many things going on in our life, anyway. I just don't want to have to remember everything I need to recap. So I am just going to start with today's post, and if you happen to get updated on our lives here or in the future, then great. If not, I'm sorry, but I'm sure you'll survive.

The biggest thing recently has been Ainsley's surgery, which Derrick wrote a bit about. For those of you who want more details, this is what happened: Ainsley had been fighting an ear infection, which turned into a double ear infection, for a couple of weeks. After trying a couple different antibiotics, she was not getting better. Then we discovered a couple of lumps on her neck, so I called her doctor, and since one of the lumps was a little red, they were concerned and had me bring her in.

Ainsley's regular doctor had his day off that day, so I saw another doctor in the practice. He was shocked that the lumps were so large. He said that he had never seen such large glands on such a little baby. So after measuring the lumps, he sent me over to the hospital to have some blood tests done. That was one of the saddest experiences ever! I had to hold Ainsley in my lap and keep her from moving so that the two nurses could draw enough blood from her for all of the tests the doctor had ordered. They had to re-insert the needle 3 times because Ainsley was being so strong and trying to get away from the nurses. It was so sad! Her cry was so awful! A concerned lady even came back to make sure the poor baby was alright.

Anyway, we got that done, and I had to go back to the doctor's office so that Ainsley could get an antibiotic shot. In case you were wondering, Ainsley was a little wary of people in scrubs at this point. Then we made an appointment to go back in and see the doctor the next morning.

Saturday morning, I took her in, and the doctor ordered another antibiotic shot for Ainsley. He had received some of the test results back, and they pretty much showed that Ainsley had an infection, and that her body was trying to fight it. But since she was getting worse, her body was obviously losing the battle. The doctor was a little concerned that some of the blood cell counts were SO high, so he wanted me to bring Ainsley back in on Monday to see her regular doctor. He said he was concerned enough from the results of the tests, and the fact that he had never seen such huge lumps on a baby this age, that he didn't want to consider it just an infection and let her go. He mentioned something about not ruling out cancer, although he did truly think it was just an infection. I decided not to get too worried about the worst case scenario unless we actually got to that point, as I really felt like it was just an infection, as well.

We took her in to her regular doctor on Monday, and both of the glands were very red at this point, which is apparently a sign that she isn't fighting the infection. He wanted to get a good scan of the lumps to verify if there was fluid in them, and since she was so little, she'd have to be put under to get a CT (?) scan, so the doctor opted to have us go get an ultrasound done. So Tuesday morning we took her down to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center to have the ultrasound done, then went back to her doctor that afternoon. The result of the ultrasound was that she had some pockets of fluid, however they weren't too large to require that we have them drained. One of the lumps had started softening that afternoon, which isn't a good sign, so my doctor called up to Primary Children's and spoke with the Ear Nose and Throat doctor about scheduling a possible draining in a couple of days, in case things didn't start improving. In talking with the doctor up there, we learned that a lot of times the pockets of liquid end up being twice the size as what is shown in an ultrasound screening. So the doctor up there advised us to go up to Primary Children's right away so that they could evaluate Ainsley and get things started. So we went.

After Ainsley was finally admitted and had her IV inserted (another exciting experience--poor grandma Shonnie was in tears and had to leave), they took her back to get a good scan on the glands. They decided that instead of putting her under for the scan, they would try giving her a calming drug and hope that she'd stay still enough to get a good picture. It was hilarious to see Ainsley on this drug. She was SO happy! And happily, it worked and we were able to get some accurate pictures. The doctors decided to do surgery that night---a good thing since Ainsley hadn't been able to eat since 3:00 that afternoon, in case they did the surgery. The surgery was really short and simple. About 30 minutes total. Everything went as they had suspected. They drained the glands, and left in some tubes so that they could continue draining. The tubes were left in until Thursday morning, when they were removed and we were able to go home.

I have to say, I was SO impressed with ALL of the staff at Primary Children's. The doctors, nurses and techs were all so great to work with. They seemed to really enjoy their jobs, and the children they work with, which was very comforting. It helped make a stressful experience much easier.

Now that Ainsley is back home, we just have to keep her wounds clean while they continue draining and healing. She goes back to see the doctor on the 9th of February. We are so grateful that it all ended up just being an infection. Ainsley was SO good during the whole ordeal, and has been such a happy little girl since we came home.

Below are some photos of Ainsley and her lumps. They really don't do it justice. They were actually a little scary to look at!

Just chillin' at the hospital...

After the surgery. Ainsley was pretty puffy from the IV. We thought she looked pretty funny.

Crazy Exciting Week

2009-01-24T19:46:00.003-06:00

Today you all have a special treat. I, Derrick, will be updating Jenn's Blog. It has been 87 days since Jenn shared with you all the great things we have been up to. I will now share our exciting week starting on Monday.

Monday, we found out we have (almost) sold our home in Farmington, NM. We loved that home, but are extremely thankful to get it under contract.

Tuesday was a normal day until we got the news that Ainsley needed to go to Primary Children's Hospital in SLC. I was nervous until I walked in and saw the food court is located right next to the front doors. Our little Ainsley had an infection on two glands on her neck and the only way to cure her was to operate on them to have them drained. At 11 p.m. the doctors decided to operate. The operation was a success and after 2 days in the hospital we have a healthy, HAPPY little girl. Jenn can give you more details.

Wednesday, was spent at the hospital watching little Ainsley get better. She recovered very fast. She is a little rockstar!

Thursday, I went back to work and Jenn checked Ainsley out of the hospital.

Friday, We took Cecily to Kangaroo Zoo. Cecily had so much fun jumping on all the blow-up toys. She fell asleep on the way home.

Well that just breaks my heart!

2008-11-24T10:09:00.004-06:00

So I am entering the mothering phase where you start hearing your child tell you things that just make you want to cry. For the last few days, Cecily has had a few instances where she has totally lost it (usually when she doesn't agree with me telling her she can't do something) and cried, "I want brothers and sisters!" She still cries her huge crocodile tears, and it's seriously so dang sad to hear it! And unfortunately, it will be a while before that wish of hers will come true. (I don't think she actually considers Ainsley a "sister" yet. At least in the sense she has been using the word. I'm guessing she wants kids who can play with her all the time).

She's also been asking for a doghouse for Christmas. Now, anyone who knows me and Derrick knows that we aren't animal people. We will NEVER have a pet. We joke with Derrick's parents all the time that if their dog outlives them, he's going straight to the pound. No offense to anyone who loves animals. I think that's great. You are way better people than we are! Anyway, I'm hoping that with Cecily's doghouse wish she'll settle for a stuffed dog to put in it. That is....if Santa decides to bring her a doghouse!

Cecily went to Disney on Ice with her cousins last week. She thought it was pretty great. It's so fun to be so close to fun events like this again. That was one thing I really missed when we were in NM. Here are a few pictures of Cecily with her cousins Ashley and Ashlyn.

What?!!?! A New Post?!?!

2008-11-05T16:19:00.006-06:00

Yes, I am totally a slacker. And this post is not going to be much more than pictures. Sorry! We're doing good, but keeping busy. I promise that once things calm down a bit I will write a great big long, interesting post. Until then, you'll just have to enjoy some photos of my little Darlings. Cecily as Tinkerbell, and Ainsley the Witch!

AAAAHH....

2008-09-26T11:09:00.001-06:00

That's it, and I'm happy!

Yes, it's true.

2008-09-22T13:46:00.004-06:00

I am officially announcing that we are, in fact, living in Utah again. I realize I haven't really said anything, and some of you have been inquiring, so I figured I had better make it official. So yes, we are in Utah, but our furniture is not. I hope that by 2009 we will be settled!! :)

Yes, we're still here

2008-09-22T03:04:00.009-06:00

Since it's been over a month since I last posted, I figured I'd better post something.

My sister Jana's baby Andrew was blessed a couple of weeks ago, so we took advantage of the family being together to take some pictures together.Ainsley with her cousin Thomas. Thomas is Brenda's little guy. Brenda, Jake and Thomas were in town from Chicago for a month before they headed out to live in Thailand for 9 months while Jake works on his dissertation:Here are some recent pictures of the girls. We went to the park and they had such a great time. Ainsley is starting to crawl around and LOVED the grass!

The Girls

2008-08-15T19:51:00.005-06:00

First of all, I have to say that I HATE my camera! I have all of these photos that I've been taking of the girls, but they all come out blurry! But here are a few so you can at least see how they have been changing. I can't believe how much they are growing up!

Ainsley is pretty much sitting up now. She started at a little over 4 months. She is so strong! I swear that girl is going to be crawling soon.

While up in Utah, we went to Grandpa Tony's cabin at Scofield. Grandpa owns a trailer park there, and they were having an appreciation day full of activities. It was raining like crazy for part of it, and the following pictures are of Cecily enjoying the puddles:

(Yes, that is a DIAPER she is holding. She is actually potty trained, but we had put a diaper on her for the drive, just in case. She was so good and "held it" even though she had to go really bad! But the diaper fell off during her puddle jumping festivities)

I must be a sucker for sleeping children. A majority of my photos of Cecily are of her sleeping. And here I go again with Ainsley...

This is how I found the girls tonight as I was getting Cecily ready for bed. It doesn't get any better than this, does it?

Copy Cat

2008-07-29T23:16:00.004-06:00

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm totally going to copy my friend Shar (who actually copied some other people), and do pretty much the same post as she did when she went out of town a few weeks ago.

I am heading up to Utah to visit Derrick and I don't plan on updating my blog while I am up there. So for any of you who visit my blog and see this post, I want you to comment with questions that I will have to answer in a post when I get back. What kind of questions? Oh, whatever comes to mind. They can be serious or silly or anything in between. I'll answer them all in a post when I get home. The deal is, I have to answer them HONESTLY!

I thought this was a fun idea, so I hope you all play along. Hopefully my kids will get a kick out of my answers to your questions someday.

Memories....

2008-07-24T13:52:00.002-06:00

As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you have of you and I together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

Nothing like reminiscing......right? It's sure to bring a smile to my face, and hopefully yours!

Next (if you choose to), re-post these instructions on your blog and let people leave a memory about you.

If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Our Cecily is Three!!

2008-07-16T21:36:00.007-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CECILY!

I can't believe our little princess is already three years old! It makes me so sad that she is growing up so fast, but I love seeing the wonderful little girl she is becoming.

Tonight we celebrated Cecily's birthday by having some friends and cousins over for pizza and ice cream cake.If you can't tell, the cake is a Tinkerbell cake. Cecily is still totally into the Disney princesses and fairies, so she was totally excited about this cake!

Sabrina, Sage, Cecily and Sophia

Some of our favorite things about Cecily:

Cecily has the sweetest voice. When she speaks, she shows "ownership" of the things she loves such as, "My Ainsley," "My Daddy," "My Jessie," "My Brett," "My Tinkerbell panties," "My raisins," "My kids," The last one referring to any child on the face of the earth. She absolutely LOVES other kids and is the friendliest little thing!

When Derrick gets home from work, she immediately goes running to meet him at the door and is ready to give him hugs and kisses. Cecily is very affectionate. She likes to give lots of hugs and kisses. And she gives THE BEST hugs and kisses!

Cecily is such a tease. She loves to play games and try to trick you. She is great at putting puzzles together, but she will pretend to put a piece in the wrong place and say, "Does it go here?" Of course she knows it doesn't but is just checking to make sure you are paying attention. Her mischievous look when she is doing this is priceless!

Cecily has very good manners (most of the time). Some of her first words were "please" and "thank you." She'll also throw in an "Excuse me" and "Bless you" here and there. If you sing the "clean up" song with her, she's totally up for cleaning.

Enthusiasm? Our Cecily's got it. Our favorite phrase from her is, "Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah!" Her excitement is really contagious. I hope she always has her zest for life.

Cecily has always been a very independent child. She likes to do things by herself. Although this can get her into trouble at times, it also makes her a very good helper at other times.

Many of you have probably noticed all of the pictures I have of Cecily sleeping. This is seriously one of the most amusing things about our Cecily. This girl can sleep ANYWHERE and through ANYTHING. Here are some of the most recent pictures I have taken of her sleeping. How on Earth did she not fall on her face?

It's so pathetic, I could cry! Don't worry, I put her in her comfy bed as soon as I was done taking pictures. The other night we got some dust or something in the smoke detector and it set all of the alarms off in our house at 11pm after we were all asleep. We all woke in a panic except for Cecily. She snoozed for the whole five minutes the alarms were going off! Even Derrick doesn't sleep that deeply!
Cecily got some roller skates for her birthday. Doesn't she look fabulous? She was SO excited!

Here's little Ainsley participating in the fun.

Well, Cecily, I hope you know how much we love you! Our lives would be missing something really special if we didn't have you in our family. We hope you continue to grow up with your enthusiasm, sweetness and laughter. WE LOVE YOU, PRINCESS!!

SUMMER SCHOOL!

2008-07-09T08:58:00.003-06:00

Cecily has been having so much fun these last few weeks doing Summer School. A couple of friends and I have gathered our kids together 3 times a week (one day each at one another's home) for two hours and the kids have a lesson, activity and play time. The kids love it, and I have to admit I have loved it, too. And not just for the 4 hours a week I have one less kid! I have really liked coming up with fun lessons and activities for the kids. And Cecily is really learning things! I love it! Here are some pictures of a recent day at my house. We were learning about the sense of hearing:

This is from another day. Cecily with Aqua and Sophia.

Aqua just moved away, and we are really sad. Cecily really loves her, and they are good friends. We wish her and her family the best.

Oh, and the best news is that Cecily is pretty much potty trained!! HURRAY! It's been a long time coming, mostly because I wasn't being consistent enough. But Cecily finally decided that she can do it, and she loves wearing her cute panties!

And then we have a day like today...

2008-06-26T22:13:00.002-06:00

Funny that I should post about my "sweet" Cecily this morning, and then we go and have a day like today. Cecily is totally into clogging the toilet. I've been noticing lately that the toilets have been getting a little clogged lately, but usually work fine after flushing them again. Today I have figured out why. My sweet little miss Cecily has been flushing entire rolls of toilet paper (okay, maybe not quite that much, but definitely close to 1/2 a roll) when she uses the toilet. I never had a problem with her playing with the toilet paper when she was younger. No, she has waited until now to discover how freaking cool unrolling the toilet paper is. And instead of rolling it back up, it is way more cool to flush it down the toilet.

So this morning I started suspecting that this was going on and I was listening to her as she was in the bathroom. All of a sudden I hear this sweet, panicked voice say, "Go down! Go down!" But, no, the water was coming up and out of the toilet, not down! Luckily, she had only "gone" number one. Oh, wait! That's just the first time she clogged the toilet. The next time, she had totally pooped first, and then clogged it up again.

This girl really is one of my favorite things.

Really.

This sweet little girl is one of my favorite things...

2008-06-26T09:47:00.004-06:00

I've been noticing lately that Cecily is really growing up. It makes me kind of sad that she is getting so big, but at the same time, I am loving being able to see what a sweet little girl she is becoming.

Yesterday, she was listening to Primary songs on the IPod as I was getting ready. I had the baby on the bed, and when I came in to check on them, I saw that Cecily had climbed onto the bed and had put one of the earphones in Ainsley's ear so that she could hear the music, too. It was so cute to see the two of them just hanging out together and listening to music!

Cecily LOVES her little sister. Whenever Ainsley wakes up, Cecily will run up to me asking, "Is Ainsley awake?" And she will insist on following me into Ainsley's bedroom to get her. She has to have her stool up to the crib so that she can watch me pick Ainsley up. She loves to go get Ainsley's diapers and wipes, give her her plug, and rub Ainsley's head as she says, "Ohhh, Ainsley, Ohhh, Cute!" I am starting to suspect that she is trying to feed Ainsley treats when I'm not looking... But what are big sisters for, right?

Anyway, I have just been thinking a lot lately about how lucky I am to have such a great little Cec. Her funny personality is always making me laugh, yet she always knows when I need a big tight hug, and will give them to me all the time. I just love this little girl so much!

These pictures were taken when Cecily and Derrick had a Daddy-Daughter day with Nate & Brett Allen at the Allen's cabin. She is such a daddy's girl, and I LOVE IT!

YEP...

2008-06-22T13:25:00.011-06:00

She likes that thumb. I swear she would have swallowed her entire fist tonight if it were detached from her arm! And the slobber!! I'm surprised our whole family hasn't drowned yet! If it weren't so darn cute, I would have to do something about it. She just lays there with both hands fighting for room in her mouth while she just jabbers and jabbers! Sometimes it sounds like she is being fussy, but she's actually just talking up a storm...and not being quiet about it!This little gal is still cute...Last night we were in the car driving home, and our friends were picking up some pizza and meeting us at our house. Derrick was being silly and sing-songing "We're gonna have a pizza party," over and over. So Cecily joined in and added in her "Oh yeah, oh yeah!" I turned around to look at her and she's totally into it and rolling her arms as she cheers. It was really cute! Hey Mom, I think Cec looks like a Thomas in the picture below. What do you think?

Anyone feel like making some yummy cookies? I just made these delicious ones (but then, I think ANYTHING with chocolate is good). You can get the recipe off of my recipe blog. They are my Chocolate Chunk and Toffee Chip Oatmeal Cookies.

Was this the lamest post ever? I'd say it's up there.

The Zoo for Cecily

2008-06-17T21:41:00.007-06:00

Cecily is really into animals right now, especially elephants. So Derrick and I took her to the zoo while we were in Utah. Grandpa Tornow came, too. Cecily absolutely loved it!

I must have had some guts this day!

2008-06-17T21:30:00.003-06:00

Anyone who has known me for a long time knows that I have refused to cut my hair short ever since the seventh grade. I've had haircuts, but I've never gone shorter than several inches below my shoulders. Why? I've never liked my hair short, and my hair does not grow very fast at all. Well, I haven't been loving the way I look lately (mostly due to the weight I gained during pregnancy that still has not come off), so when I was in Utah, I had my darling sister in law chop my hair off...twice! My hair was so long it was touching the top of my pants, and the first haircut, we went about 5 inches and it was still really long. So for some reason, I got really brave, called Annie and told her I wanted her to do it again! Below is the hair from my 2nd haircut: (I know, pretty gross)!

I don't have any pictures of the finished product because although I like the haircut, I'm still not liking pictures of me, so you'll just have to imagine how it looks! I just had to let you know that I had a brave day!

Visit To Utah

2008-06-13T01:03:00.007-06:00

We made a visit to Utah over Memorial Day weekend and Derrick got to come with us, so we blessed Ainsley while we were there. Here are some pictures:

She's such a sweet, happy baby!

Here she is just chillin' with Daddy:

How on Earth did we create these darling kids???

Anyway, I think some of you have already heard the news that we are moving back to Utah. We got connected with a guy from Costa's corporate who was looking to run some restaurants, so we decided to bring him on so that Derrick could move on to what he's wanting to do next. It seems like the timing was perfect. We were getting frustrated that our home in Utah had not sold yet, and now we are going back and have a beautiful home to live in! I'm going to really miss the wonderful friendships we have made here. I've been a little emotional about it this week. I can't even tell you how good it has been for us to live down here. It really opened our eyes and taught us a lot. We will visit Farmington often, as we still own the restaurant, so hopefully we will be able to keep these friendships we have here.

So packing... here I come (again)!

No More Spiders

2008-05-28T23:23:00.010-06:00

Well, after SEVERAL comments and phone calls, I am writing a new post so that I can move on from the picture of that hideous spider on my last post!

I never did post any of the pictures that were taken of my cute girls when Ainsley was just a couple of weeks old. My friend Amy Brimhall took these pictures:

Dirty Laundry

2008-05-09T16:52:00.005-06:00

So, how would you like to find THIS lovely thing in your laundry basket?

That's what happened to me the other day. YUK! And by "yuk" I mean I completely lost it, and the only reason I caught it is because Derrick wasn't home and I had to save my children!

Welcome to New Mexico, where the spiders are bigger than your fist! I had been keeping my eye out for spiders for a few days because a couple of nights before, Derrick opened our front door and yelled for me to come and look at something. We had a spider on our wall that SERIOUSLY was bigger than Derrick's hand outstretched. Then I looked down by his foot, and there was another one, but not quite as big. We freaked out and slammed the door shut. I wish I had gotten a picture of that huge one on the wall, but it was gone by the time we went to get a second look. Makes your skin crawl, doesn't it? YUK!

Anyway, I figured it was about time to do another update:

The Wonderful Cecily

Cecily continues to be such a funny little girl. I hope she always has her great sense of humor. She recently got an imaginary friend. We were getting into the car one day and she was cupping her hand as if she was carrying something in it. When I inquired, she told me it was her baby elephant (in her pronunciation, it was "baby e'nenent"). Anyway, I didn't think much of it, besides how utterly adorable she was. But the next day, she says, "Baby e'nenent is in her cage!" I said, "She's in her cage?" "Yes, in the car!" So we went to the car, and she got her baby elephant out and carried her in the cup of her hand. Anyway, long story short, this has gone on for a few days, and baby elephant has a mom and dad and goes home to sleep with them. And Cecily can't be fooled. Derrick tried to tell her that baby elephant came on a walk with us the other night, and Cecily looked at him like he was an idiot and said, "No, baby e'nenent is at her home."

Cecily is totally into the pixie fairies right now (Tinkerbell). Kind of fitting, because she reminds me of a little pixie with her short hair. She loves to watch the preview of the Tinkerbell movie that is coming out this fall. She gets SO excited!

She is such a good helper. She loves to give her baby sister lots of kisses and loves. She always goes searching for Ainsley's plug when she starts crying, and throws the dirty diapers in the trash.

I had her almost potty trained a few weeks before the baby came, but I lost my motivation, and now she won't have anything to do with the toilet. Hopefully she'll get an interest again soon! I don't really want her to be five before she's trained!

She is also really into Dora and Diego. She calls Diego, "Diego go go!" (the cartoon is called "Go Diego, Go!").

The Little Ainsley

Ainsley is growing like crazy! Cecily was always so small during her first few months, but Ainsley is just a little chub! I love it!

She has the cutest crooked smile, and LOVES to be held, which is a little trying for me, but great when I have time to sit down and hold her!

She rolls over from her tummy to her back, and refuses to keep her plug in her mouth although she wants it at times. She's so silly. Sometimes she gags on her plug, but at other times, she totally wants it. I can't figure it out!

She is sleeping really well at night. She will usually sleep until 5 or 6 am, and go back to sleep for another 3 or 4 hours after I feed her.

She is so funny about her tongue. It's like she doesn't know what to do with it! It's constantly hanging out, or popping in and out of her mouth.

I've decided she must love men, because she absolutely goos and gaas at them. When she is around her Grandpa Scott, she will just follow him around the room with her eyes, no matter who is holding her. And she absolutely adores Derrick. She is the perfect angel around him, and he totally gets her to laugh.

The Delightful Derrick
D Man is still keeping busy at the restaurant. He does a great job with the advertising and is getting a lot of catering jobs lined up. People spot him all around town in his hot Costa Vida ride (remember the pimped out van I posted about several months back?!). We've decided that MTV could come up with something really cool if we got the van on the show "Pimp my Ride."

Derrick loves to hit golf balls with Cecily in our front yard. I just wish he wouldn't hit them towards the house! :)

He's been working out in the mornings with his brother and is looking pretty good, if you ask me! He's also been working on his vocal skills when we play Rock Band with our friends, the Allen's. (Imagine a totally unashamed, totally tone-deaf guy singing at the top of his lungs...)

Jennifer
Nothing too exciting going on with me. I've been getting really into cooking lately. I submitted this cake for a girl's camp fund raiser last week. It's a Coconut Almond Sour Cream Pound Cake. It was pretty good, I will admit (I had enough ingredients to make 2, so we got to eat it for dessert on Sunday)! I have started taking pictures of all of the dishes I make and only the ones I loved and will make again get put on my new recipe blog. So if you are ever looking for a new recipe, the ones on my recipe blog are definite good ones! I only have a few on there right now, but I will eventually get all of my favorites on there.

Derrick gave me my Mother's Day present early. He bought me some Nike Plus running shoes. They are the ones where you can put this thing in your shoe that will track your runs and you can see a history of your runs, among other things on the Nike Plus website. It's pretty fun, and it is getting me motivated to start running again. I have to start so slow so that I don't irritate my stupid knees. (I've had 3 knee surgeries). But running seems to be the only way I can lose weight, so I'm hoping I can get my body back into it.

Anyway, this post is forever long and not that exciting, so sorry if you have actually read this far! But I think I will finish up now. Have a great day!

An Update

2008-04-19T14:10:00.003-06:00

I went up to Utah a couple of weeks ago to introduce some of our family members to the new baby. They loved her, of course! We had a great time seeing family and friends. Thanks again to my beloved bloggers who came to my mom's house. It was so much fun to hang out with you girls and catch up! Do you think we'll still be getting together in 20 years?

Cecily and Ainsley at home. Cecily has started asking to hold Ainsley. A big improvement! The first few weeks after the baby was born, Cecily started in with some terrible tantrums. She wasn't mean to the baby or anything. She pretty much ignored her. But she was really awful to Derrick. Our trip to Utah was good for her, I think. When we got back, she was back to her usual sweet self again! Phew!

Cecily and Ashley holding hands at the mall. Ashley is my sister Lisa's little girl. She is five weeks older than Cecily. Lisa is having another little girl in August. It's fun to have kids so close in age.

Ashley holding Ainsley at Grandma Thomas' house.

This is Jackson holding Ainsley. He is my sister Jana's little boy. She and her husband are due to have another boy in July. Don't they make such cute boys?

This picture is missing one generation. Daddy. This is Derrick's mom, Shonnie, and her father Tony with Ainsley. Cecily was totally passed out when we went to visit Tony. That girl can sleep! There is no waking her when she is out!

Back at home. Two cute sisters hanging out!

Creative Fun

2008-04-11T12:51:00.003-06:00

I just read on my friend Tiffany's blog that she and her mom and sisters had an "80's" night where they dressed up in '80's garb and watched an 80's movie (Labyrinth anyone?)! Anyway, I got to thinking how silly and fun that must have been, and realized that I am not the type of creative person who thinks of spicing up simple things like that. Does this make sense? So I am curious what you all do in your homes and with your families to make things more fun and to get a change of pace. I remember Melinda last summer had a dog show with her entire family. My sister's neighbor does a family triathalon every year. I have several friends who hole away at a vacation condo with their sisters to do scrapbooking for the weekend. So what are your ideas? What do you do, or what ideas do you have, to spice up your ordinary life?

Just for Laughs...

2008-04-10T23:23:00.002-06:00

I received this e-mail today from my brother-in-law:

A husband and wife are sitting quietly in bed reading when the wife looks over at him and asks the question..........
"What would you do if I died? Would you get married again?
HUSBAND: "Definitely not!"
WIFE: "Why not? Don't you like being married?"
HUSBAND: "Of course I do."
WIFE: "Then why wouldn't you remarry?"
HUSBAND: "Okay, okay, I'd get married again."
WIFE: "You would?" (with a hurt look)
HUSBAND: (makes audible groan)
WIFE: "Would you live in our house?"
HUSBAND: "Sure, it's a great house."
WIFE: "Would you sleep wi th her in our bed?"
HUSBAND: "Where else would we sleep?"
WIFE: "Would you let her drive my car?"
HUSBAND: "Probably, it is almost new."
WIFE: "Would you replace my pictures with hers?"
HUSBAND: "That would seem like the proper thing to do"
WIFE: "Would you give her my jewelry?"
HUSBAND: "No, I'm sure she'd want her own."
WIFE: "Would you take her golfing with you?
HUSBAND: "Yes, those are always good times."
WIFE: "Would you let her use my clubs?
HUSBAND: "No, she's left-handed."
WIFE: -- silence --
HUSBAND: "shoot."

Easter 2008

2008-04-03T16:06:00.005-06:00

Here are some pictures from our Easter Sunday. We had brunch and an Easter egg hunt at our friends Nate and Sharon's home. It was a beautiful day.

It's time...

2008-03-21T09:09:00.002-06:00

Alright, I have been in denial long enough, and I'm FINALLY ready to write about Ainsley's EXCITING birth. For those of you who don't like to hear about these stories, just scroll down to the cute pictures of the girls below.

Let me be the first to admit that I am a total wimp! I am not ashamed. I am all for modern medicine and getting an epidural when you have a baby. I think women who can do it without an epidural (by choice) are AMAZING, because LABOR HURTS!!!!!!!

Many of you know I was really nervous about delivering this new baby because I had some small complications with Cecily's birth, and I also had not heard many good things about having a baby here in Farmington. Looking back, I will NEVER have another baby here.

Thursday March 6th 1:14am: I had been having some mild contractions tonight, but nothing too painful or consistent, but I finally woke up realizing that I had been feeling them more strongly. I started timing them and they were 1-3 minutes apart. I nudged Derrick 20 minutes later and told him I was going to pack my bag just in case (yes, I am all about procrastinating)! 10 minutes later I told Derrick that we should probably go to the hospital, and to call someone to come stay with Cecily. By the way, we have the greatest friends here. So many people wanted to take Cecily when we went to the hospital. It sure is a comfort having good friends when you aren't surrounded by a ton of family. Luckily, Derrick's brother lives here, and his wife Ivy came right over when we called.

We got to the hospital just before 2:00am. By now, I wasn't doubting that I was in labor. I was ready for an epidural! This is when the "fun" starts!! The nurse brings us to our room and checks me out and says that before she can order the epidural, I would have to walk around for 45 minutes and she would check me again to make sure I was progressing. ARE YOU KIDDING? Does she realize that 45 minutes when you are having contractions every 2 minutes seems like a VERY LONG TIME? Well, I'm still in a good mood at this point, so Derrick and I start walking around. We called my mom, just because we like waking her up in the middle of the night and making her worry all night. :) But the contractions are getting really strong, so after 15 minutes of walking around, I decide I want to lay down. And the pain gets even better! Since I had planned on having an epidural by this point, I am freaking out. I have no idea how to breathe through the contractions, so I'm pretty much just holding my breath and thinking I'm going to die! And then I completely lose it and start absolutely bawling with the contractions. The nurse FINALLY comes in and asks me if I'm having more pain...(did she REALLY need to ask?) By this point it has been 40 minutes, and she says, "I can't check you again until it has been an hour since you came, so you've got 20 more minutes left." Um, since when is this the case?

So 20 minutes later the nurse finally comes back to check me. "Yes, you are progressing, so let's get you checked in and order your labs." HU? I'm not even checked in yet? So I ask her when I get to have an epidural. Apparently, we have to wait for the lab results...???!!!??!?!! (Okay, maybe I'm NOT ready to write about this because it is making me angry just thinking about it!) I tell her that I NEED an epidural, and she says that when she finishes what she's doing, she will start my IV and give me something to help me rest while I wait for the epidural. I have the impression that this will help ease the pain. Nope! It just knocks me out cold in between the contractions. So I am completely out of it, feel like I've been asleep for days, when in actuality I have been asleep for 2 minutes and get to wake up to excruciating pain! This is FUN. Oh, and I'm in a totally bad mood by this point. When Derrick came to comfort me, I was really rude and made him go sit in the corner. I think he was scared of me after that. But thank you, Derrick, for giving me a blessing even though I was being such a brat! That was a funny thing. I knew I was being such a brat, and I kept apologizing to everyone!

Anyway, a while later, I wake up to one of the fabulous contractions, and I'm thinking in my head, "Oh, crap! I'm going to poop all over the bed! I am so embarrassed, but I can't help it!" And I'm asleep again. I wake up 2 more times thinking this same thing, and the nurse finally says, "Oh! You're pushing, aren't you?"

CLICK! Wow, nurse, you are awesome.

And I am STILL asking for an epidural at this point. Why couldn't she just say, "Buck up, honey, you aren't getting one!" At least then I could have faced the inevitable without complaining so much!

So I am now pushing, and in my delirium (I hate whatever drug they put into my IV. It made me feel so stupid!) I realize, "Hey, I haven't seen a doctor yet." Yes, my doctor was out of town. It doesn't matter that he was one of the "on-call" doctors this night, he still felt okay to leave town. (Welcome to Farmington). And the other on-call doctor is in a c-section. It's probably a good thing that I was so heavily drugged, because I would have flipped out at this point.

So I'm pushing. I have to admit it is pretty cool to feel your body take over and push a baby out. I much preferred this to the plain old contractions! My water still hasn't broke by this point, but as soon as it does, Ainsley's head is out. She was blue because the cord was wrapped around her neck. The nurse told me to stop pushing, but honestly, I couldn't help it, and on that next contraction, I pushed the rest of that baby out at 6:23am, and it actually helped get the cord off of her neck. HOORAY!! I have never felt better than when that baby was out of me!

Now, I hope that all of my negativity above doesn't make you think I am such a brat! I would TOTALLY do it again for this precious little Ainsley (yes, it has taken me 2 weeks to get to the point where I can actually say that)! It was actually a great labor, a lot faster than Cecily's 12 hours, and no complications. And I did it without an epidural or a doctor!!! I would never do it that way by choice, but looking back it is pretty cool. I think that if I had gone in knowing that I wouldn't be getting an epidural, I would have been a lot more prepared for it.

This sweet little baby has been so much fun. My mom hit it on the head the other day when she said, "She has such a pleasant face!" She really does. I don't know how I got so lucky to have 2 very good babies. Cecily was such a good baby, I was really worried that Ainsley would be horrible. But she has been every bit as good as Cecily was! She just seems to be very content. The only time I hear her cry is if she is hungry, and she'll quiet right down as soon as you pick her up. (And I don't have a broken tail bone this time, so that has made recovery awesome!!) Yes, I am in love! So is Derrick. It has been so much fun to see him with Ainsley. He is a much more confident father now that he has done the infant thing once before. He has also been so cute with Cecily.

For the most part, Cecily is really good with Ainsley. She can be really sweet to her, although most of the time she just ignores her. She did say one day that she doesn't like Ainsley. But she has been saying she doesn't like a lot of things lately! She makes fun of Ainsley when she cries. She loves to tickle Ainsley.

Well, this post is forever long, so I'm going to stop writing. We are doing well, and adjusting to and loving having another member of our family. I'm so grateful that she is healthy and that Derrick was able to be at the delivery. We were worried about that since things have been so crazy at the restaurant. I think Heavenly Father really had a hand in making it all go smoothly. Now we just need to be good parents so we can teach these awesome little girls what they need to learn in this life!! On to the next task!

2008-03-21T08:52:00.006-06:00

My first bath in the BIG tub!

Sister is such a good helper. I promise Mommy is watching me so that I don't drown.

Already a princess!

Daddy thought I looked pretty good with rabbit ears!

2008-03-21T08:52:00.004-06:00

Someone got into Mommy's makeup!

Aren't I a cutie? Grandma Thomas brought me this cute Seahorse outfit when she came to visit!

2008-03-21T08:51:00.002-06:00

This is pretty much all I've done these first two weeks. SLEEP! Too bad Mommy isn't getting enough!

Isn't my sister Cecily pretty? She likes me most of the time, but she did throw socks at me yesterday, and she doesn't like it when Mom lets me use her old blankets.

Still Sleeping...

AWAKE!!

OUR 2 LITTLE PRINCESSES

2008-03-21T08:49:00.003-06:00

Ainsley Earis Tornow's Self Debut

2008-03-07T23:22:00.008-06:00

This is me Ainsley! Don't feel sorry for me, I am a cute baby.

I just needed to get cleaned up a bit!

I'm just a bitty little thing.

But mom and dad think I'm pretty sweet.

They'll get some better pictures of me posted soon.

Guess Who's New?

2008-03-06T21:28:00.002-06:00

Hey guys its me Derrick. I am excited to write this blog to tell you all that Jen and I have a new little rock star in our Family. Ainsley Earis Tornow was born this morning at 6:23 am weighing in at 6 pounds 7 oz and 20 inches long. She is so beautiful and sweet. Best of all she has a skirted eggshell mullet! You know the mullets that are bald on top but the sides look like a skirt. I took a million pictures so stay tuned for my updated blogs.

I love you guys, Have a Rockin day and Eat More Costa!

Welcome to the world, Thomas Max!

2008-02-26T19:47:00.002-06:00

Congratulations Brenda and Jake, he's a keeper! (No, this isn't MY baby--my baby is supposed to be a girl, and she is still in for the long haul--this little cutie belongs to my baby sister and her husband.) He was born on Friday, and I think he looks just like his daddy!

(Yes this is my 3rd post of the day) Who has the BEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD?

2008-02-20T17:18:00.005-06:00

No offense, girls, but I DO!! I cannot begin to tell you all how proud I am of my husband. It has been an extremely stressful and trying time for Derrick the past couple of months, and he still has me thinking I'm the luckiest girl in the world!

Derrick has been working a minimum of 14-hour days (usually more like 18!) for the last few weeks, trying to get the restaurant running more efficiently (don't get me wrong--it's going well, but we want to bring it to the next level). Then his General Manager decided to leave, so Derrick has been having to add that work on top of everything. Being on his feet all day in such a fast-paced environment has been very wearing on Derrick, but I am so proud of him for sticking to it and getting things done. I have felt like no help since I'm so pregnant and have Cecily to take care of. But he hasn't made me feel like I have needed to be helping him, which I so appreciate, since I'm one of those people who feels extremely guilty if I don't feel like I'm doing my part.

Anyway, on Valentines day, Derrick left the house at 4:30am to take a guy from corporate to the airport. I had told Derrick that we were just going to bag Valentines Day this year so that he wouldn't feel any pressure to do anything for me. But look at what I woke up to Valentine's Day morning:

Isn't he the best? He even got Cecily a Valentine and this cute little outfit!

And what did I do for him? Oh, yeah, um....nothing. I swear. He is so lucky to have me.

Baby Shower!

2008-02-20T16:42:00.014-06:00

Yes, I'm so spoiled! I'm pregnant with my second child (another girl) and I had a baby shower thrown for me. (I didn't feel too bad since I pretty much missed my baby shower when I was pregnant with Cecily because my water broke 1/2 hour into it)! I have to thank Ivy and Shar for putting together such a fun evening with our friends here in Farmington. One of the fun things we did was everyone gave me a "picture" of my baby and named it. They created the "picture" from images found in magazines. I got such a kick out of this. Hopefully these pictures show up well enough for you to see how funny they turned out.
Look at all of these fun baby gifts I received. I am always so blown away by how generous people are. (But I agree, how can you not have fun buying baby girl things??!!!?)

LOVE TAG

2008-02-20T16:03:00.003-06:00

Tiffany tagged me with this one...

What is your husband's name? Derrick Ryan Tornow

How long have you been together? Together...5 years 3 months. Married...4 1/2 years.

How long did you date? We met the day after Thanksgiving in 2002 and were married on September 5, 2003. So almost a year, but I knew I'd marry him the night we met (NO, I didn't tell HIM that!)

Who eats more? Well, we obviously BOTH eat too much! If we actually had a competition, it would be close! The first time we went to dinner with his parents, Derrick made the comment, "Oh, this girl can eat!" I'm not quite sure if I should take that as a compliment or not!

Who said I love you first? Honestly, I can't remember the answer to this. I'm not one to blurt out that I love someone before they have told me they love me, but I just always remember loving him.

Who is taller? Derrick. What are the odds of me finding someone shorter to marry?

Who has more speeding tickets? Derrick. Although, we've both had our fare share.

Who is smarter? Depends on the subject, I guess! Derrick likes to surprise me with strange facts he happens to know about.

Who is more sensitive? DEFINITELY ME! Derrick didn't grow up with sisters. His poor mom! But this doesn't mean he isn't sweet!

When there is a fight, who usually wins? DEFINITELY DERRICK! He has this irritating way of using his strength to make me stay around him when I'm mad at him, until I finally laugh. But I'M ALWAYS RIGHT! :)

Who does the laundry? Me.

Who does the dishes? Normally, me. But if I ever ask Derrick to help, he jumps right to it.

Who sleeps on the right? Depends on where the bed is. I have to be closest to the door.

Who pays the bills? Are you kidding? Of course I do! Poor Derrick...I could be tucking away our money into secret accounts and he wouldn't know it!

Who mows the lawn? Derrick. Well, at least he did when we had a lawn. I miss green yards.

Who cooks dinner? We both like to cook, but I try to have dinner ready when he comes home from work. Okay, who am I kidding? Derrick's lucky if I cook twice a week. Although we do like to cook, we eat a lot of sandwiches and cold cereal, especially since Derrick's schedule has been so crazy since we opened the restaurant.

Who drives when you are together? Derrick HATES my driving. It drives him nuts!

Who is more stubborn? I was going to say Derrick, but I'm not quite sure now that I get to thinking of it. I think it might be me!

Who kissed whom first? Uh...Derrick TOTALLY attacked me!

Who asked who out first? Derrick asked me out.

Who proposed? Derrick did. At the top of the Empire State Building (that's a tall building).

Who has more siblings? Me. Derrick has 3 brothers, and I have 5 sisters, 3 brothers.

Alright ladies, I tag: Karin, Renee, Natalie, Megan B., and Brooke (but I'd love to see EVERYONE'S answers, so if you feel so inclined...)

DE...LICIOUS!!!

2008-02-08T19:21:00.003-06:00

Just a quick, funny story about Cecily (at least her mom thought it was cute---but maybe you had to be there!)

The other day I had a magazine that had a photo of a cake on the cover. So I decided to practice Cecily's vocabulary with her:

Mom: "Cecily, what is this?"
Cecily: "Cake"
Then she adds, "YUMMY Cake"
Then, with excitement, "DELICIOUS!!!"

And then she finishes it off with the most exaggerated slurping noise, as if she is totally salivating at the mouth!

This kid just cracks me up!At the Children's Museum here in Farmington.

I guess she figured this spot was as good as her bed!

SHARE....

2008-02-05T00:14:00.000-06:00

I was just sitting here thinking about some of the things I need to do soon...hopefully before the baby comes. I'd love your opinion or any help you can give me on some of these (mostly pretty stupid) items!

1. I have the ugliest woodpecker living on my back deck. It poops all over and is disgusting. How do I get rid of it? I throw ice cubes at it (no, bird-lovers, I don't hit it---like I even have the right aim anyway!), but it still comes back.

2. I need to purchase a double stroller. I'd like something that is not too bulky, yet provides a place to store my "stuff." I'd also like something that I can take the kids walking in. So it needs to be durable and smooth-riding. Have you had luck with your strollers? Heard of a good one?

3. I'm turning into an insomniac. Probably because I am so HUGE and can't get comfortable enough to sleep for long, and wake up choking from the rotten heart burn I have anyway. So I am tired all the time, am grouchy as all heck, and can't seem to accomplish much of anything. Anybody else feel this way when you were pregnant? Any advice? Oh, and if you see my husband, you might want to tell him that I love him.

4. No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to keep my house clean. It's not absolutely disgusting, but we are having clutter issues. I am so tired of cleaning the same things over and over. Derrick and I got into a nice groove at the beginning of the year. We would take a few minutes to pick up the house at night so that we would wake up with a clean house in the morning. This was great, because I could concentrate more on playing and teaching things to Cecily during the day instead of worrying about the house. But things have been crazy busy for Derrick the last month or so, and he totally crashes when he gets home, so I don't have a helper anymore (and I miss him for more reasons than that)! What do you do to motivate yourself to clean the house?

5. I used to be so good about leaving little notes and things like that to show Derrick that I love him, but I'm ready for some new ideas. So since the Valentine's "season" is here, let's hear what you do to show your love to your spouse (or significant other).

Update

2008-01-30T10:35:00.000-06:00

I'm really not trying to be a slacker, I promise! We've just been extra busy around here lately, so I haven't had time to update our blog, or to really visit any, either. This won't be the greatest post, but if I don't get these pictures up now, I probably won't!

DISCLAIMER: Before you look further on this post and see the most recent pictures of me, please know that you may be shocked at my enormous size. But just so you know, I ALREADY KNOW I'm huge! So please don't judge! The fact that I'm even posting pictures of me in this embarrassing state is a big deal for me. So no thoughts of "Oooh...Jen's really let go of herself," or "Wow, is that a whale? No, maybe it's a hippo," or "That poor Derrick. He could do better..." etc. I've already thought of them all, and already have a plan set to reach that goal of mine to be back in shape within 6 months of giving birth to this precious little baby who's almost here! (Which, by the way, I went to the Dr. yesterday and I haven't dilated a bit! This baby is in for the long haul!)

CHRISTMAS 2007 Update Our Christmas Card (which you should have received in the mail)

The "Cleanest" present-opener ever!
Cecily had to throw away EACH piece of wrapping paper she ripped off...you can imagine how long it took to open gifts!

Our Little Bag Lady
You wouldn't believe how much this girl can carry!

CANCUN 2008!Derrick and I took a little getaway to Cancun a couple of weeks ago. It was nice to spend some time together, but I sure missed Cecily!! I didn't realize until we got home that we didn't take any pictures of the beach or where we stayed with my camera. We got it on our camcorder, however, so I'll have to download some video later.

On the bus

Derrick made friends with the band at a fun mexican restaurant we went to. He had a great time speaking spanish to the people who lived in Cancun.

At our hotel lounge watching this hilarious old couple dancing. They had about as much rhythm as Derrick and I do. But I have to hand it to them for having the guts to get up and dance! (we got them on video, so you may see me post it later) And, no, I'm not as wasted as I look! I had a cold and my eyes totally swelled up!

Chichen ItzaI'm such a hottie.

It was raining this day, but it was still so nice (and warm enough) to go sit by the ocean.

Another one of Derrick's friends.

Little Miss CecilyIt was so much fun to come home to this little girl! Thanks to Grandma Thomas for driving all the way down to NM to watch her!
Cecily and her friend Aqua playing dress-up.

A New Year...A New Me?

2007-12-27T23:26:00.000-06:00

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas!! We sure did! We got to go up to Utah for a few days (we decided that we much prefer the "less wet" weather here in NM), and stayed with Derrick's parents. Shonnie (D's mom) is one of those women who TOTALLY decorates for Christmas! It was so much fun to be in her home and see all of her fun decorations. I have no idea where she gets the drive to do it all! What a BIG job!

Cecily had so much fun seeing all of her cousins while we were in town. I think she gets a little bit lonesome when she is at home alone with me. She got spoiled rotten for Christmas, but hey, she was a REALLY good girl this year---at least her grandparents and Santa sure thought so! :)

As 2008 gets closer, I've been thinking a lot lately about what my New Year's Resolutions will be. I'm going to post them, and maybe that will give me more of an inclination to actually accomplish them!!

1. Become more disciplined. I don't know if it has just been this pregnancy, or what, but I have been noticing lately that I haven't been accomplishing as many things as I'd like to be, so I have been evaluating how I spend my time and see that I can make a lot of changes that will help me to be more productive. But I need to really discipline myself to follow through, so that is why I have chosen this as a resolution.
2. Get back in shape within 6 months of having the baby. Yes, of course this one is on my list! I hope to do it faster than 6 months, but I'm being realistic. If I end up with a broken tail bone again (yes, Cecily broke my tail bone when I gave birth to her! That was a REALLY fun recovery...very slow), it will be a while before I can function, let alone sit, properly! Anyway, my beloved bloggers had better call me on this one! I'm tired of being a fatty!
3. Increase my knowledge of the Gospel. This last year, as we have read scriptures together as a family, I have really learned a lot and my testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ has really grown. However, I have realized that I don't know some details as well as I would like. So I have decided that this is something I want to work on this year, so that I can be more confident in my knowledge of the Gospel.

So that's it! If you have any tips on what works for you in any of these subjects, I'd love to hear them. Also, I'd love to hear what YOUR resolutions are! So SHARE!!

Hide and Go Seek

2007-12-15T11:21:00.000-06:00

The other day, we received a loaf of yummy banana bread from someone who knows Derrick from the restaurant. Anyway, I cut a piece for Cecily while we were eating lunch there at Costa Vida and she really liked it. Then I put the loaf in my purse to take home. Well, when Derrick asked for it later, I couldn't find it. I figured it must have fallen out of my purse into the car or something, but I totally forgot about it after that. A couple of days later, it was really quiet at home, so I went to go look for Cecily...

She loves to hide from me. She is really good at being very quiet until I find her. Among her favorite hiding spots: The back of her closet and inside boxes. Well, she has a new hiding spot. This is the spot she reserves for doing "bad deeds," I have decided. I found her in her room hiding in the corner behind her art easel, between her rocking chair and toy chest. She had 2 pairs of scissors back there with her and she was trying to open a bag of shoes I had bought for the baby. Guess what else was back there with her? THE BANANA BREAD!

You could tell she had used the scissors to get the bag open, and it was about 1/3 eaten. I can't tell if she had used her mouth or her hand to break the pieces of bread off, but it was in pretty sad condition. I wish now that I had taken a picture, but I was seriously in hysterics laughing because it was so pathetic to see! Anyway, as I was cleaning up the mess, I also found gum and candy wrappers, among other things Cecily knows she only gets if she's lucky. So...yes, she is definitely growing up, and she's definitely not the "perfect" child I have always thought she was. And YES, I still love her to pieces!

Holy Terror in the Target Parking Lot!

2007-12-13T22:15:00.001-06:00

Well, after looking at some of Cecily's "precious" little baby pictures, I have found what I was looking for. The clue that would let me know that my perfect little baby girl was not going to be perfect forever. Take a look:

Do you see her flipping me off? I should have known that there would be a day like today coming. Want to hear about it?

We have been going through the transition of Cecily taking naps on some days but not on others. Today was one of the days she didn't take a nap, so she was tired, I'll give her that. We went to Target, and in the checkout line, she spots a Yo-Yo that she decides she MUST HAVE! Mean old me won't let her have it, since she already has a yo-yo at home. (She also has about 4 things of bubbles that I have broken down and bought for her when she asked for them while in the check-out line on other days). Then the crying starts...And the pleading...(how do you say "no" to such a cute little girl when she uses her manners?) But, alas, I stick to my guns and don't buy her the yo-yo. And then the hysterics start. I have never had an experience with Cecily crying where people looked at me like that. Yet, I know that some of them had to understand the situation. Haven't they ever had children? So we're walking out and of course the alarm goes off at the door. I look back and the worker says, "just go" and waves me out. I guess they'd rather I steal something than have to listen to my child's screams! Then we get to the car and that's where the real fun begins. It honestly took me over 10 minutes to get Cecily strapped into her carseat. You know the whole arching of the back thing that kids like to do so that you can't get them in their seat? Imagine a really fat, wimpy pregnant woman trying to battle that!! And I don't have much room because I'm parked too close to the cart return and I don't want to dent my car door while struggling with my crazed child. So I leave her in the car (her screams for the yo-yo louder than ever) and go around to the other side of the car so I can get in. She continues to fight me until, finally, I give up and start crying myself.

And then she let me hold her. And we cried until she calmed down. All this over a yo-yo.

Okay, so she was terrible today. But guess what? I still love that kid to pieces and think she's the coolest thing ever! Am I nuts? Oh well if I am!

We got a new computer this week (thank you Derrick)! It's an Apple, so hopefully, I won't have any more trouble with stupid viruses causing me to lose all of my data. Anyway, the REAL reason I was looking at some of Cecily's baby pictures was because I was transferring them onto this computer. And I just have to show off this cute little girl! I cannot believe how big she has gotten!

It's Christmastime!!

2007-12-04T10:04:00.000-06:00

We decorated our Christmas Tree for Family Home Evening last Monday. Cecily had a ball! However, mom and dad did have to do a bit of "de-clumping" after Cecily went to sleep. She really loved the job of placing the ornaments, but thought they looked best in just one certain area of the tree.

I bought new ornaments this year to go with our new bigger tree (I love Costco! I even drove it all the way from the Lehi Costco down to NM. Totally worth it)! I decided to go with a brown and gold theme. Here's the Finished Product (thanks to Derrick---because I have no skill at decorating a tree, and he gets his talent from his mom):

The pictures don't really do it justice, I think. There's nothing better than sitting in a dark room with your family with just the tree lit up. It makes me feel like a little kid!

Some Pix of our Cool Kid

I can just imagine the cavities growing...Getting all clean...

Yep, there WAS a cute little girl there under all that sticky candy!

This picture is actually for my mom. I've been meaning to show her the new rug I bought for our dining table (yes we are SLOWLY, but surely decorating our house). It was interesting how much a rug made this room so much more cozy. And we even got it on sale!!

Primary Ideas?

2007-11-28T11:52:00.000-06:00

Hi Everyone,

I'm getting together with the rest of the Primary Presidency in my ward to brainstorm ideas for next year, and wanted to get feedback from you about anything that has worked out successfully in your wards.

*Activities

*Primary Room Decorations (our ward is in charge this year)

*Goals and Incentives (this year, all the kids who memorized the Articles of Faith got to have a popcorn party)

*Ideas to spotlight the children

Let me know some of your ideas!! Come on, don't be shy! And Thank You in advance!

What do YOU think?

2007-11-20T08:14:00.001-06:00

Derrick and I are battling it out over what we are going to name this precious baby girl who's on her way, so we decided to enlist your help. We definitely like Ainsley, and we definitely like Earis (pronounced "Air"-iss). Here's the dilemma: Earis is Derrick's Great-Grandma's name, so we want to spell it the way she did. However, I am having issues with the fact that it looks like you would pronounce it "Ear"-iss. So I would much rather it be a middle name. Ainsley Earis Tornow. Fantastic, right? But Derrick prefers Earis Ainsley Tornow (BE SURE TO PRONOUNCE IT RIGHT!). We really do like both names, but I am just having this little issue. So how about you all let us know what you think? Would you go with Earis or Ainsley for the first name? Do you hate both names? Do you have any other suggestions? Who knows, this baby could come out looking like a Laquisha, so nothing is set in stone. But we'd like to at least have an idea of what we might call this kid!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! (a little late!)

2007-11-16T08:25:00.000-06:00

I'm finally getting around to posting our Halloween pictures. Derrick and I dressed up this year because our friends, Nate & Sharon Allen had their first annual Alleween Halloween Party. We had a lot of fun. Let me know if you have a hard time guessing who we dressed up as (please ignore that fat pregnant belly of mine...as well as all the other chubby parts I wish I didn't have!):

Derrick won first prize for "best individual guy costume" and I won first place for "best individual girl costume"

On Halloween night, we went to our ward's Trunk-or-TreatAll tuckered out after a night full of excitement and sugar!If you look closely, you will see that she still has a sucker in her mouth. Is she not the cutest Raggedy Ann ever?

Is this a "Black Tie" Event?

2007-11-08T08:23:00.001-06:00

I was just showing Cecily the pictures of her baby sister's ultrasound and I asked her what she thought. She answered: "Cute Dress."

And this is all I'm going to say...

2007-11-07T19:40:00.001-06:00

Darn that Stephenie Meyer for writing the Twilight series, and darn that Shar Allen for making me start the first book!!!!! (Those posts I've been meaning to write are just going to have to wait a bit longer...)

SHOCKER!!

2007-11-01T18:16:00.001-06:00

Um, so I was totally planning on this baby being a boy...

...but as you can see, that isn't the case. Yep! WE'RE HAVING A GIRL!!

Hooray!!!! I have to admit, I'm really excited! For the last couple of weeks when I have thought about this baby as a boy, I have gotten a little sad. Well, duh! That's because it's totally a girl! We had a hard time getting very good pictures because she kept putting her hand to her face. I am so curious what she will look like!! I guess we'll see around March 8th!

So Much to Post!

2007-11-01T09:11:00.000-06:00

I have a ton of things I need to post about, but not a lot of time. So if you are interested in hearing about it all, just keep checking my blog these next couple of days, because I plan to write a few posts as I have the time.
So the biggest thing in our life right now has been the restaurant. We had our VIP night on Saturday, October 20th, and it went very well. We sent out invitations

to friends and family in the area, as well as people we felt would help get the word out such as dentists, doctors, city council members, newspaper people, etc. We had a great turnout, and can I just say (yet again) that I LOVE the people in Farmington? They are so supportive and just cool people! We have felt very fortunate to have many of our workers. They have really caught on, and get better each day. We opened our doors to several people who just happened to come by in the couple of days prior to VIP night, and they were able to get a free meal. This helped our workers train and practice making the different dishes. I have to admit it was fun to watch the people get to the register and realize that they didn't have to pay for their meal!

The restaurant really turned out looking beautiful. I don't know that these pictures really do it justice, but hopefully you can get the idea:

We officially opened for business on October 22nd. We totally blew away Costa Vida's record for first day and first week numbers. Derrick had made a goal of reaching a specific number, which if we are honest, we didn't think would be possible to reach. But guess what? We totally did it!! It was a real treat after all of the hard work Derrick and so many people have put into this project.

So now, we (and by that, I mean Derrick. He's the one doing all the work. Not me!) are trying to continue progressing so that all of the employees are up to speed and know their jobs. We have been particularly grateful to have Mike, our manager, on the team. Things seriously would not have gone as smoothly as they have, had we not had him around. I hope that we can continue to make it worthwhile for him to work with us, because we really want him to stay around! Costa Vida has been really great to work with as well. They have sent down a lot of people from corporate who helped with the opening and training our employees. We have been really glad that we went with this franchise.

I want Derrick to know how impressed I have been with him during this process. It has been so rewarding to me to see him enjoy this work. Although there have been MANY hangups and headaches, he has been so happy, and he has handled it all so well, without making me feel guilty that I'm at home doing the fun task of taking care of our darling girl. I am so glad he is supportive of my wish to be at home with Cecily, and that this is where he wants me to be. Cecily and I love him SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much!!! Thanks Daddy, and Good Job with the new restaurant!

And the game goes on and on and on....

2007-10-17T08:21:00.000-06:00

I got tagged by Tiffany and Karen yesterday. And the funny thing is it was the same tag game! (I don't think they even know each other)! I have to list 6 facts/habits about myself and pass the tag on to 6 of you.

1. I love a good bubble bath.

2. I love to eat at good restaurants. Our vacations are often planned around what restaurants we are going to try out! I love everything about it. Trying new dishes, rating the service, people watching, the ambiance, everything!

3. I HATE to touch cardboard.

4. If I wasn't a mom, I would want to be a professional traveller. (Is that a REAL profession?)

5. I LOVE real estate. I love to look at it, buy it, sell it, fix it up, rent it out, live in it...you get the picture.

6. I want to be more disciplined (yes, here I am sitting at the computer when I SHOULD be cleaning my house).

I tag...Becky Johnson, Brenda Hickman, Kim Smith, Megan Dehart, Natalie Tingey, & Valli Nield

Let the Restaurant Open!

2007-10-16T12:19:00.001-06:00

Here's the update from my last post: In Derrick's words, the meeting with the City Council went "fine." They are going to let us keep our temporary certificate of occupancy, and as soon as slats are installed in the chain link fence on the property (which was already going to be done), we get our permanent certificate. Derrick sounded pretty emotionally drained, but we are pleased that we will be able to continue moving forward. It appeared that everyone was on our side except the one council member who has made an issue out of all of this, and that is encouraging. So we will go ahead and continue training our employees, have our VIP night on Saturday, and open for business on Monday! HOORAY!!!!!

AAAAARRRRGGHHH!!!!!!

2007-10-16T10:32:00.000-06:00

So I am a nervous wreck! I'm just puttering around the house, praying, and being nervous. Derrick is currently at a meeting with the City Council, and they are deciding if they are going to let us open the restaurant. HU? Yeah, that's right. We got a permit from the city months ago and have been working like crazy to get this restaurant open. Then, just three or four weeks before we open, the owner of Quizno's, with whom we share a parking lot, has decided that there isn't enough parking for our restaurant. First of all (and I wish I had started writing about this when it all came about because there are so many fun details---but I'll give you the summary), if you were to come and look at the parking lot at any time of day, you would see that THERE IS NO PARKING ISSUE!!! However, after working with the city planning and zoning department, the owner of the buildings has had the parking lot restriped to provide more than enough parking. But does that make the Quizno's guy happy? NO! He got himself invited to a city council meeting, gave them his side of the story, and one of the members of the council has decided she wants to make an issue out of this. So now everyone's lawyers are involved and are currently at a meeting as we speak. (By the way, if you want to read one of the news articles about this whole deal, here's the link: http://www.daily-times.com/news/ci_7143018)

Anyway, I really feel pretty good that this will all work out, but I'm still nervous. I know that either way, Heavenly Father wants us here. So there will be no regrets there. But I want Derrick to know how impressed I have been with him during this whole process. He has really tried to be a good, honest person, so I hope that those who will be making the decision will realize how much we are trying to contribute to the community. I am also thankful for all of the wonderful people there are here in this community, as well as back in Utah, who have shown their support for us.

So, I will just continue puttering around the house until I get a call from Derrick....I'll let you know how it goes!

Extreme Makeover!

2007-10-06T09:22:00.000-06:00

A couple of months ago, Derrick flew to Dallas and drove 12 hours back in our fabulous new restaurant catering van he purchased there. We had an awesome company from Denver (Big Dog Wraps) come down and put a wrap on the van. Check out this "extreme makeover!"

From KIDNAPPER VAN...

...To El COCHE FANTASTICO!

Just a Reminder...

2007-10-02T01:04:00.000-06:00

Yep, she's cute.

Yet another sleeping picture.

Our little surfer girl.

Sick with the flu at grandma's house.

Hanging out in Durango, Co with the cousins.

Our Visit to the Park.

Stopping to smell the Flowers.

What a Big Girl!

Just Monkeying around.

On Top of the BIG Slide.

At the Bottom of the BIG Slide.

Taking care of her Baby (yes, I realize her PJ's are too small).

We LOVE This Girl!!

It's Done (Almost)! Now we need a Buyer!!

2007-09-27T10:51:00.000-06:00

Here's the finished American Fork house. Everything is basically done except for the framed bathroom mirrors that are being made as we speak, installing a few doorknobs, and a bit of cleaning and touch-up paint.

Entry with Stairway that opens to both the front and back side of the house.

Family Room

Arch that Separates the Living and Dining Rooms

Kitchen (there will be a microwave installed above the double ovens)

Master Bath (framed mirrors are still coming)

Master Bath

Master Shower (You can't tell from this picture, but there are 3 shower heads in this shower. I REALLY wish I could move into this house!)

Master Closet

Master Closet (there will be hooks above the bench for hanging robes, etc.)

Bedroom

Bedroom with Bonus Area

Anyway, it's nice for the house to finally be done! It's beautiful and I'm sad not to be able to live in it, but I'm more excited about what we're doing here in NM, so I think it's a fair trade. We were initially planning to make a good profit from this house when we sell it, but we are just ready to be done with it so that we can move on. So if you know anyone looking for a fantastic home at a steal of a price, send them my way!

Another Lame Post!

2007-09-25T12:47:00.001-06:00

Yes, I realize that I have not posted on anything interesting in a while, and today's post will not be any better! Sorry! But I am wanting your ideas for fun things your kids like to do. Cecily is 2 and I am terrible at thinking of new things for her to do--and I think the poor girl is getting bored with me! So let me know what your kids like to do. I'll take anything from field trips to crafts to games, etc.

Vegetables, Anyone?

2007-09-10T09:10:00.000-06:00

Derrick and I are trying to incorporate more vegetables into our diet. Does anyone have any good recipes or ideas that you use in your own home that you'd be willing to share? Also, I'll take any tips you've found that work with getting your kids to eat veggies!

A Calorie Free Piece of Heaven

2007-08-29T12:40:00.000-06:00

Okay, so that's totally not true--at least the "calorie free" part! But here is another yummy family recipe that I don't think got put into the cookbook a few of us participated in recently:

Caramel Marshmallow Balls

1 lb Caramels
1/2 cube butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk (enough to thin the above mixture. I have to add more periodically the longer it sits on the burner)

Melt together, dip large marshmallows in caramel mixture, then roll in Rice Krispies.

Pretty easy and WAY GOOD! They are actually better if you let them sit for a day before you eat them. But honestly, who can wait?

I have tried to think of a way to add some chocolate to this recipe. I mean, what goes better with caramel and marshmallows than chocolate?

Recipes Just Don't Do It...Or So Says My Husband

2007-08-27T19:32:00.000-06:00

Derrick told me that I need to update the blog because "recipes just don't do it." So I guess I'll give an update on what's going on with us.

The Restaurant:

The signs are going up! Progress is being made! The fire sprinklers went in last week, and the drywall is going up. Our head chef and Manager finished their training in Utah, so now we've got to get the rest of our crew hired and get this place open! We have been working on our plans for the grand opening, and are getting excited! Good Job Derrick for getting all of the many tasks on your list completed.

Our American Fork House:

A few of you may remember me writing about the home we were building in Utah before we decided to move down to NM. It's pretty close to being completed. Here are a few updated pictures. I'll get some better ones of the inside of the home the next time I go up there. It should be complete in about a week or so.

Cecily:

What can I say about my favorite girl? I took her on her first official "Play Date" today, and she had a great time. She loves being around little kids, and she actually shared when I told her she needed to share! (I was so proud!)

Cecily has started sleeping in a big bed. We had started having her sleep in our guest bedroom bed, because she was getting so crowded in her crib with all of the toys she brings to bed with her (as well as the fact that she is just getting so big!). So when Grandpa Tornow came to stay with us a few nights ago, she was a little bugged that she didn't get to sleep in "her" bed!

She loves to play with her big legos.

She loves bean burritos.

My favorite thing she says: "Oh, thank you, mommy!"

She has these miniature Disney princess dolls, and Belle is her ABSOLUTE favorite! She takes her with her EVERYWHERE! To bed, on walks, to her cousins house, to church, to the grocery store, everywhere! She is a total mommy to her Belle doll. We had dinner at Mike and Ivy's house (Derrick's brother & sister-in-law who live here in Farmington), and as we were leaving Cecily absolutely went to pieces when we put her in the car. It wasn't until we were almost home that we realized that she was saying "Belle" (not ball, like we thought). I had forgotten that she had taken Belle to their house, so we felt REALLY bad that we caused Cecily's baby to be left. And that's exactly how Cecily felt about it! Bebe Numero Dos:

We went to our appointment earlier this week to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time. Dr. V couldn't find the baby's heartbeat, so he sent us over to the hospital for an ultrasound. Everything is fine, but the baby is just measuring smaller than the 13 weeks they thought I was at (which is why my due date has changed on my counter. The new estimated due date is March 8th). It was really fun to see the baby. He was moving his arms and legs like crazy. It's so amazing that something so small can be so developed! I'm in love with this kid already!