Look out world, here I come!

On Wednesday we finally got Pearl to take her first steps and a lot of them! She's been walking around holding onto our fingers for months now and everyone at daycare has had bets on when she would walk. Deep down I really wanted her to walk before she turned one or at least before everyone else. Her reputation as the first to do everything was under attack, as Miles and Ben (her friends at daycare) who are just a week or two older than her, were trying their hardest to walk around too. But Pearl beat them to it!!! Yeah!!!

I guess we finally convinced her that this walking thing was really fun because she seemed to quite enjoy herself running back and forth to us and then clapping every chance she got. It must be the clapping that motivates babies to do new things. Or in the case of her learning to crawl, having her crazy parents crawl around the house barking like dogs. It's sort of ironic that the first time Pearl rolled over my parents and siblings were over for a quick visit and they were here on Wednesday when she walked for the first time. I guess the secret to Pearl learning new tricks is to have grandma and grandpa drop by. Pearl really enjoyed a crowd cheering her on and as you can see in the video took quite a few steps for her first night of walking. But now she doesn't find this walking game fun anymore. We tried and tried to get her to walk yesterday but she wouldn't stand up straight. She must have thought it amusing to topple over because she would look up at us and start clapping again. Tonight we finally got her to give it a try and she had a big grin on her face. It must still be a game to her and if she isn't in the mood to walk, well she crawls. She's kind of stubborn that way. Crawling is a lot faster than walking at this point anyway so I don't blame her. But look out world when it finally clicks that walking is the new way of getting around. I just have this sneaking suspicion that in the next day or two she is going to take off and never crawl again!

I couldn't decide which video to post, so you're getting two of them. The one with Kimmy and me in it is when Pearl took her first steps. Then I thought I would post one of her walking even longer distances to grandma.

Is it just me or is it totally amazing how fast babies grow up and learn things? I can't believe my tiny 6 lbs. 7 oz. baby girl with jet black hair and chicken legs has turned into a nearly one year old (11 days and counting) blonde, hazel eyed, chubby legged, adorable girl! I remember the first time she laughed, rolled over, crawled and now walked. I wish I could capture every moment with her. Especially those quiet moments holding her for the first time or seeing her stand up in bed for the first time or when she clicks her tongue, giggles, and gives me a big wet kiss. Pearl simply is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Well I guess technically Jeff is since without him (and as he reminds me his superior genetic makeup) I wouldn't have the funniest and most adorable daughter in the whole world!

Green thumb

Pearl gets funnier everyday! I just love this little girl and am constantly amazed at her new tricks and how much she makes me laugh. Here's the full story... I decided this is the year that I WILL get flowers to grow in some pots on the porch. We try desperately every year but alas, they always die. I just don't get it - we buy the right soil, the right flowers, water them diligently, and yet they still die. Everyone else has huge pots of beautiful flowers spilling over their stairs and they don't even pay attention to them. Jeff can grow anything in the ground but pots, well that's another story. So I figured I couldn't kill petunias, right? I mean, petunias grow no matter what, that is if you can get them planted. Pearl decided to help me plant the flowers and after chasing her all over the yard (and into the road, up the front stairs, on the porch, into the garage, and at the neighbors), she finally got the idea to stay put and help. Little did I know what helping would mean for a nearly 1 year old. Planting flowers for Pearl means throwing the dirt all over the place. She was grabbing handfuls of it, throwing it as high as she could, and then laughing out loud at herself.

Pearl was a mess and had dirt in every crack and crevice you could imagine. I try really hard to just let her get dirty and not be one of those moms who yells at their kids when they get a speck of dirt on their clothes. I just hope I always stop to think about what fun she must be having, even if I can't get the stains out every time.

We finally did get all the flowers planted. Okay, so Jeff planted them after I took Pearl in for her bath and bed. Don't they look great? At least they aren't dead yet!

Oh and I thought I ought to post a picture of Jeff's latest yard project. He moved our bench from the front porch to our backyard and made this beautiful little sitting area. He truly has the green thumb in our family! Our yard looks just awesome thanks to all of his hard work.

Happy Mother's Day!

We had a great Mother's Day weekend, well I did since this year I am actually a mom! We went to the Bees baseball game on Friday, thanks to free tickets from Jeff's work. We hadn't been to a Bees game in FOREVER. I'm not too sure what Pearl thought of it, other than she was glad to be outside. She tried to snag a beer from the guy sitting behind us before freaking out because it was way past her bedtime.

Saturday we went to Logan to visit the family. We went to dinner at Mandarin Gardens (there isn't any good Chinese place in Bountiful so we seem to end up eating at Mandarin a lot when we go to Logan) and then stayed up way past Pearl's bedtime playing with cousin Ruby and the pets at Grandma and Grandpa Jewkes' house. Uncle Kurtis tried to teach Pearl and Ruby how to juggle but Pearl seemed to just want to eat the balls. Ruby kept throwing them down the stairs. And who knew that Pearl could climb up the stairs? We don't have any stairs so I have no idea where she learned to crawl up them so fast. Pearl and Ruby also had a bath together, although neither one of them has quite figured out how to play together yet. Each seems to be in their own world, wondering why the other one has moved in on their tubtime. Then we spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa Spring's house.

Am I cute or what?

Uncle Jesse and cousin Ruby

Pearl gave me a great Mother's Day present, sleeping in till 10 am on Sunday! We were shocked when we looked at the clock. Too bad this isn't a regular Saturday occurrence. Pearl also gave me a new jogging stroller. I guess this means I have to start working out again and lose all this flab. Really, though I was super excited and Pearl loves it. It was delivered to the house with a cute note that said "Happy Mother's Day. Take me for a walk PLEASE!!! Love Pearl"

Out for our first test run. Well, sort of. It's hard to run with a jogging stroller in slippers! But hey, Pearl didn't care.

Proof

So I didn't know Jeff had taken pictures of Pearl while I was in Michigan to prove how cute she looked each day until now. He really wants to show the world just how much he loves this little girl - he curled her hair both days and I must admit, probably did a better job than I do!

Oh and just for fun a couple of "pizza faces" of Pearl from the other day. I guess I'll just have to accept the fact that from now on, my sweet little Pearl will have a messy face (or be covered from head to toe) either from feeding herself or playing out in the dirt with dad. l;jsdf

Kimmy is getting married!

It's official, my little sister is getting hitched. The wedding date is August 7 at the USU Alumni House. She is marrying a great guy, Nick Goodrich (I don't have a picture of the happily engaged couple, except from Easter). I keep teasing her about what she did to get this really smart (he's a genius), sweet guy to fall for her. Ha ha! They met in Alaska last year, when Kimmy had decided to venture away from Cache Valley (with some force at the airport as she's bawling and scared to leave). And well, it's been true love ever since.

Kimmy got engaged officially on Sunday, of course the day I leave Utah for Michigan! Honestly - we've known for months that Kimmy and Nick were going to tie the knot and every time I saw her I would ask, so do you have your ring yet? The answer always being, nope but soon. So Sunday rolls around, I'm sitting in my hotel room and I get a phone call from Jeff. He tells me something is up because Nick just got there with a present for Kimmy. She opens it and offs begin a day-long scavenger hunt for her ring. Well, I immediately picked up the phone and called Nick to chew him out for not waiting three days until I could be there to see this ring I've heard so much about. Apparently my sister is too impatient to wait any longer and Nick figures it's in his best interest to give her the bling. I'm not sure of the whole story (and of course Kimmy isn't home to ask) but I do know this was like an 8 hour scavenger hunt that went from Bountiful to a Wal-Mart in SLC to Alpine, to digging in the jeep, back to SLC, then dinner, a movie, and dessert and finally the ring!!!

We spent today wedding dress shopping. We have a few leads in the dress department but have decided to venture out next weekend too. But we did find really cute bridesmaid dresses! And my mom has already found dresses for Pearl and Ruby (my brother's little girl). I still can't believe my sister is old enough to get married. I still remember her as this little pesky girl who talked, talked, talked, talked!