Cows, bunny rabbits, and a broken camera

Nothing too exciting, but I thought I would let the world know that I have now been to the state fair for the first time in my life. Growing up we were never the fair type of family and pathetically, I've only been to the fair in Logan once too. Well I guess technically twice, my grandma took me, Jesse, and our cousin Zac to the fair one year and then the year after I graduated high school I entered some pictures I took (yes, the kind where you actually had to develop your own film - gasp, no digital!). To my surprise, I actually won a purple ribbon for one of them. Anyway, back the State Fair.

Wanting my child to grow up "cultured" and all, plus the fact that I got a great discount coupon for being a state employee, I thought Pearl and I would venture to the fair last Friday to check out the animals. Kind of sad, but Pearl had never seen a real life cow, pig, horse, sheep, chicken, or goat before. That's what you get when you live in the city I guess. I had no idea how big the state fair was! It was like one giant white-trash carni-ride party. The bummer part was we couldn't find any Navajo tacos for lunch. I knew they had to be somewhere but by the time we had wandered around Pearl was starving so we went with the good 'ole hot dog and burger. Pearl absolutely loved the animals. I thought she might be scared of the cows, I mean these things were huge, but she loved every minute of it. I felt bad for some of them because they had udders so big they couldn't even walk. I swear their udders were only a couple inches off the ground. Anyone who has breastfed a baby can now understand the joke that you feel like a cow some days feeding a baby all day long! At first Pearl figured all these animals were giant doggies but then she seemed to get that they were different because they certainly didn't make doggie noises (or smell like a dog). Her favorite animals were the baby cows and the bunnies. She was so excited to see them and kept wanting to touch all of them. She ran up and down the stalls pointing and waving at all the animals. People just stood there and watched Pearl because she was so excited by all these new things. They had the biggest pig I've ever seen, a huge pack goat with long horns, and a really freaky looking chicken. The thing was just a white feather fluff ball, legs, beak, and all. It was weird.

Cute bunny rabbits! There were some pretty tiny babies and then giant, freaky looking rabbits. This had to be the stinkiest exhibit by far.

Here's that freaky looking chicken! OK so maybe not freaky but not like any chicken I've ever seen.

Pearl kept trying to get this sheep to come over so she could pet it or poke it's eyes, I'm not sure which. All the sheep must have just had baths and been shaved for a show because they were wearing these blanket things to keep the straw and poop off of them.

Things were going great until my camera suddenly broke right in the middle of the goats. It was hard enough trying to push a stroller, keep Pearl from getting too close to the animals, and take pictures of her all while trying to get a really cute shot of her with the animals when wham! Nothing, yep nothing. The stupid camera just died - it wouldn't turn on or off. URGHHHHH!!!! Not only was I ticked that I didn't get any good pictures of Pearl or us together, but now Jeff was going to kill me because I broke the camera. Everything seems to break when I'm using it, driving it, or just in the same room as it. You would think we might take this opportunity to buy a super nice (and expensive) camera like we've wanted, but seeing as how I just forked out over 2 grand for tuition this semester, we decided to order a cheaper digital camera instead. Maybe for Christmas or my birthday, sigh. It should be here sometime this week and thank goodness! I had no idea how many pictures I take. All day Jeff kept saying "oh this is a cute picture, get the camera" or "Pearl is cute take a picture" all while giggling at me. Real funny, ha ha.

Other than the fair, nothing much to report. I'm been trying to be a good girl and not blog or play on Facebook so I can stay caught up on homework and hopefully finish up my internship in the next week or two. Jeff is in some major "wii" pain - his left shoulder has got some serious issues from too much Wii sports (it doesn't help that he has bad shoulders as it is and that he's already had surgery on one of them). And Pearl, well she's into playing peek-a-boo with anyone she can, actually made it through all of church today, and can point to her belly button, nose, eyes, and piggy toes. We're still working on the ears... funny because most days we think they're painted on anyway the way she listens or should I say doesn't listen.

Trickeration

Trickeration, yes it's a word. Well at least according to a college football announcer. A few years ago Jeff and I were watching some random football game and the announcer said something that caught my attention which to this day never fails to make me laugh. As far as my non-sports understanding mind can decipher, trickeration means a really cool play, something totally awesome, or some serious trickery that totally fakes out the opposing team. So...since I'm a week behind on the blog posting, thanks to stupid school and internship stuff, I decided to post some of Pearl's best "trickerations" this week. I really should take the time to blog about her new tricks right after she learns something new or does something funny, but hey this will have to do. Just a warning, it's kind of long because Pearl has some serious new trickerations to tell you all about!

• Hair do's. I've tried everything - bows, curlers, gels, piggytails, messy, and even flowers. But nothing, absolutely nothing stays in that girl's hair longer than 3 minutes. You would think ripping out a section of your hair would hurt and encourage you to not continue to pull at it, but no! Pearl is bound and determined to go with the "just got out of bed" look. So to make sure everyone out there who has seen Pearl at the end of the day know that I do in fact comb her hair every morning, I've posted a picture of her with her hair done, a very stylish flower in her hair, and hold your breath, proof that she actually left her hair alone all through church! Now once we got home, that was another story!


• Hungry? Again, before seeing this next picture I have to say that I do feed my child. She eats three meals a day and multiple snacks. But the past few days she has shoveled anything she can get into her mouth, well let me clarify, fresh cucumbers and tomatoes. Sometimes I feel like people must think we don't feed her. Last Saturday, we had Jeff's mom's side over for the Petersen reunion and Pearl found a cucumber to gnaw on. I don't know how she managed to bit off anything with four teeth but here's the proof. I just wish I would have had the camera when she got into Jeff's tomato plants the other day and started stuffing 3 or 4 grape tomatoes in her mouth at a time. It was hilarious! I forget that she is still learning all this stuff so it must have been exciting for her to think she had found food - and one of her favorites - outside.


• Must keep eating. While we're on the subject of food, last night Pearl fell asleep eating dinner. It was so funny! She was almost totally out of it but still kept opening her mouth and trying to put food in it. Enjoy the video!

• Trying to be just like dad. Jeff religiously mows the lawn every Thursday and this week was no exception. The only difference was Pearl has decided she wants to help daddy by following him around the yard with her little lawn mower. She had been playing happily in her sandbox but as soon as she saw Jeff, she took off after him. It took me a minute to figure out what she wanted but once I got her lawnmower she was happy as could be. I think Jeff was pretty pumped at the thought that in a few years he could stop doing this chore and make Pearl do it. Lawn looks pretty good, huh?

• Ta-da! Jeff has taught Pearl some new trickeration this week with a new saying, "ta-da!" At first Pearl used "ta-da" at ever opportunity she could just to get a clap from us but we've tried to help her use it only selectively from now on. You know, when she does something really cool, a sweet dance move, or trying to jump up and down. She puts her arms high above her head and says either "da" or "ta" and then claps. It's so cute!
• Shoes. My child (and husband) is obessed with shoes. The two new pairs she got this week just aren't enough. She has to find Jeff's shoes, boots to be exact, and try to put them on while wearing her own shoes. She's actually getting pretty good at doing this and can take a few steps with his boots on before face planting it. Oh and heels, no problem for my Pearl! As soon as I take them off after work, she's clomping all over the house in them. It really is quite frightening and I found out at Jeff's family reunion last Saturday that this really does run in the family because Jeff's grandma also was a shoe fanatic! I knew Jeff's mom and sister were but I didn't realize the shoe gene extended back even further along the family tree.
• Naked water fight. First of all a disclaimer, only Pearl was naked. Yesterday we decided to enjoy the last few days of summer (not to mention trying to distract Pearl from getting out another toy or screaming at us one more time) by filling up the pool. Well, let's just say it didn't take long before Pearl was bored so Jeff promptly proceeded to drag the playground over and stick the slide in the pool. Pearl had a great time on the new water slide - oh and did I mention the fact that originally Pearl and I were playing in the sandbox with clothes on mind you when she headed for the water. So I stripped her down and figured what harm is there in letting her play in the pool totally naked? After all she loves being naked! Anyway, back to the story. So Jeff decides, even in his sickly state, to join in the fun and himself slide down the slide into the pool, clothes and all! It was pretty funny. You can imagine what happened next - Jeff's wet, Pearl's wet so...mama gets wet. Not on my own either but with the help of Jeff and a bucket. It turned into a family water fight. Pearl just laughed and laughed when Jeff threw buckets of water at her. It reminded me of this ginormous water fight my family had growing up. Without getting into too much detail, let's just say giving grandkids super soakers then expecting them to not squirt the adults didn't work so well. Long story short, everyone got soaked, the neighbors even came out to help get those not yet dripping wet, and even my grandpa got in on the fun going inside three times to change his clothes and making us promise to not get him wet again (at this point, it wasn't the just the grandkids that he made promise but my aunts/uncles, and dad too) - yeah right! Why else would we climb on the roof with a bucket of water to wait for him to come back outside. I hope the memories we make with Pearl are as much fun for her as my childhood memories are!
• Dancing queen. Pearl loves loud, beat-y music, and to dance! Especially naked or in only a diaper. She does this little squat thing and then bounces up and down shaking her whole body all while saying "da da da" which I interpret to mean "dance, dance, dance." Lately she's added some new spin moves to the routine followed by these random arm and feet stomping movements and the grand finale attempt to stand on her head, which I think she picked up watching the gymnastics during the Olympics. We had a great time dancing around the kitchen this week and Pearl thought it was the funniest thing to dance with her dad. Now this love of dancing will never, I repeat never turn into actual dance lessons! Real sports only please (not that dancing isn't athletic, but "sports" in our household require a ball).

Into the "Wii" hours of the night

I think the title of this post pretty much sums up how Jeff has spent his time the past few days. After months of searching, he finally stumbled across a Wii game system. While I honestly didn't think he would actually buy one (they're $250!), secretly I am pumped. I mean, who would have thought exercising could be so fun (we need the Wii Fit) and a great way to bond as a family? Wii does count as a church approved FHE activity, doesn't it?

While I haven't stayed up into the Wii hours of the night for the same fun reasons as Jeff, I have been up all night myself the past few days. I can't sleep and can't seem to turn my mind off at night. It just seems like there's never enough time to do everything. Friday, which is supposed to be a fun mama and Pearl day, was spent doing the laundry, vacuuming every room at least 3 times (I think Cheerios have magical powers to transport themselves onto a clean floor), picking up toys constantly, dishes, and finally rearranging/cleaning out our back bedroom and sunroom/office. It was the first day I had to give Kimmy's old room a good cleaning and get the desk and bookshelf sorted. Then Saturday I suckered Jeff into taking the bunkbeds apart and moving the furniture around in the backroom. He didn't complain much, mainly because it meant he finally had a "man room" again to play video games in undisturbed. It seemed to take all day to clean but hey the DI is getting a big box of goodies from us. It's a good thing our house is so small because we have a lot of junk as it is so I can't imagine having even more room to keep stuff. Saturday night we went to a BBQ with some of Jeff's co-workers and played at a park. Out of 50 pictures, I think we got about 3 good ones of Pearl. We need a better camera!

Ok, back to the late night hours, so I'm supposed to be completing an internship for my MPH degree, not to mention the never ending work tasks that need to be done (and fine, I admit the occasional blogging - but as you can see I've been good and avoided the temptation this week because of everything else I had to get done). I really have been trying to do my internship but honestly the only time I have to work on it (plus take care of the housework, unwind from the day, and other projects I get myself into) is after Pearl goes to bed which can range from 8-9:30 depending on what we have going on. Plus this weekend I had to review 16 grants for a meeting on Tuesday which normally wouldn't be an at home assignment but I was out of the office last week for a training. Needless to say I've been up until midnight every night reading grants, not getting anything done on my internship, which has to be done before school starts next week, and then getting woke up by a screaming child at 2 or 3 in morning. I am exhausted! It seems like my life is tumbling out of control sometimes. I just can't seem to get it together. I feel totally guilty for not getting everything done and there's always something that gets put off again and again. Not to mention I've been a crappy mom lately too. How do the rest of you moms do it? You would think raising this adorable and funny little girl would be a breeze but no! Oh well, I'm sure at this point Jeff is "thinking why did I keep reading this post?" so I better stop. Sorry to complain to everyone and for the rambling which I'm sure makes absolutely no sense but hey my blog is sometimes the best place to vent without screaming and pulling my hair out!

Be warned

WARNING, WARNING, WARNING!!! What will follow includes everything from bridesmaid dress disasters to sunburns and tin foil dinners. Oh and did I mention lots of photos? So if you're a blog reader who just likes to skim over posts, you might as well turn back now because this post is going to take a few minutes of your time.

Last week my little sister got married and I still can't believe that one, she isn't 12 anymore and two, she is old enough to not just have a boyfriend but now a husband! We love Nick and are so grateful Kimmy found such a wonderful guy. The wedding was on Thursday and while I could spend this whole post going through all the wedding details and saying how beautiful the bride was, the cute cupcake wedding cake and decorations, how much fun Pearl had running around, family and friends, a yummy steak/salmon luncheon, and how perfect the day was (minus the heat) that would be BORING to everyone but my family. Sorry Kimmy:) So, I've decided to venture down the bath of the bridesmaid dress disaster. You see months ago Kimmy and I went bridesmaid dress shopping only to find the perfect dress with one major problem - no sleeves. So we figure we can just put sleeves in the dress, no problem this happens all the time. Well my mom freaks about it so we decide to have them made by the same lady who is putting sleeves in Kimmy's wedding dress (which is one of the cutest I've seen). Kimmy doesn't want to pick out any patterns so my mom and I go and buy the fabric and pick out two patterns to combine. Months go by and no one hears from the lady sewing our dresses. I start to panic, especially when two weeks before the wedding no one has been fitted yet. We finally get a hold of the dressmaker and she says I can come and get fitted the Saturday before the wedding. To my horror the dress is NOT what I had envisioned and I try to be a good sport while thinking to myself the dresses are ugly and make me look fat! Not to mention the fact that when I got measured the first time around I was still nursing Pearl so now the top was huge on me (yes, I am totally bummed about the old chest size coming back). And Nick's sisters have threatened to not wear the dresses if they are ugly - I admit I don't want to look like an ugo either but hey if my sister wants them I'll wear them. Oh well, too late now and she promises they will be done for the wedding. To top of the worry about not having a cute dress to wear, I can't find any shoes I like! URGHHH!!! Who would believe in my household that someone can't find shoes to wear?! I mean Jeff and Pearl each got new wedding shoes (real surprise there) but I just can't seem to find anything. Well, Monday night - 3 days before the big day - my mom calls and says no one else has gotten fitted and it's time to PANIC! Kimmy is totally freaking out - did I mention we were moving her into her apartment when my mom called and it was way past Pearl's bedtime so we are all grumpy? I get told I have to find a black dress to wear and I'm on my own for it. SO...I'm thinking how hard will it be to find a cute black dress? Well, let me tell you it was hard! I was in near tears at the mall after going to every single store in the place. Nothing fits, everything is sleeveless, too short, and too casual. I call my mom crying and she says the dresses are done! What???? I took a day off work to find something, drove all over town, cried, and was on the verge of a nervous breakdown for many reasons and now the dresses are done. You would think that would be the end of the dress fiasco but no, Kimmy says I still have to bring a black dress in case Nick's sisters don't like the green ones. I am furious! So I buy a dress, another pair of shoes, and $80 worth of jewelry because I have no idea what I'm going to wear the next day. The big day comes and I get to wear the ones we had made which were absolutely adorable! I loved it! But it was a last minute decision on what to wear and a bit of threatening on my part that I will wear the green dress because the black one I bought was too big in the chest and too short. I'm sure anyone who has stuck with this post is thinking to themselves, what was the big deal? And yes, looking back on this situation a few days after a beautiful wedding, it wasn't a big deal but living the bridesmaid dress nightmare over the last month has been a beast to deal with! Pearl was an absolute angel the whole day, no nap and all. She loved every second of the day and would spin around in her dress laughing and you could tell she knew she was pretty cute. It was funny because I think she's figured out that Kimmy isn't coming home again because the past few days she has gone into the back room looking for her and then on Thursday wouldn't leave her side. Oh and Jeff was pumped to find our paver (watch the slide show) with our names on it for becoming lifetime members of the USU Alumni Association. It's supposed to be put into place at the Alumni House in the next couple of weeks so the next time you're on campus try to find it. One thing about this for certain, I sure appreciate everyone who helped pull off my wedding day a whole lot more after all this. Who knew weddings were so exhausting?

Okay, we survived the wedding on Thursday and decide to take a few days off for some R&R. Which for Jeff means we go camping. Now I didn't mention that camping is my idea of rest and relaxation in that last sentence and he knows it so he "bought me off" for the weekend with a gorgeous pearl necklace. Well, I guess any girl can hang out in the dirt and smell like B.O. and campfire for a few days with a bribe like that. I know I should like camping more but there is something about it that just drives me totally nuts. I hate having everything smell like campfires, dirt in everything, and not being able to turn on the lights when it gets dark. I don't totally hate camping. In fact I loved being with my family someplace not 100 degrees and being able to look up and actually see stars, millions of them, at night. I guess I take after my grandma Jewkes because her idea of camping was in a trailer, cabin or hotel! I'm just glad my parents have a trailer that the girls sleep in instead of a tent! I think Jeff prefers this too, since he gets a tent all to himself. It took forever to get up Logan canyon and find a spot - pretty much all of Friday to pack, get my parents' trailer ready, and drive up there - but we finally made it.


Jeff spent the weekend doing "man things" which I honestly have no idea what that means (probably napping, playing with fire, and killing small animals/bugs), while Pearl, my mom, and I headed up to Bear Lake. It was Raspberry Days at Bear Lake so we visited the craft fair where my mom bought me a super cute bag/purse. But as soon as we got there the stroller got a flat tire, urghhhh!!! Not only was it super hot but I spent all my energy chasing Pearl around (she was following all the doggies she saw) or carrying her. We had lunch at my grandparent's trailer, not a glorious place but hey it's beach front property and it has a place to sit down, and then headed for the beach. Pearl had a blast playing on the beach and running in the water. She wouldn't get out until I finally dragged her to the beach because her lips were turning blue and she was shivering. Of course in my worry that Pearl would get sunburned, I slathered her several times with sunscreen but forgot to cover myself with it. So I left Bear Lake totally pooped and burned! Bear Lake is notorious for bad sunburns and for someone whose body hasn't seen the sun in years, let's just say the lake won the battle. It was a good reminder that long gone are the lazy days of college when I drove to Bear Lake every week to lay around and work on my tan.

My mom's family came up for tin foil dinners that night (why is it that men, aka my dad, brother, and husband, can't get dinner ready themselves?). At this point, Pearl was starting to show the signs of weeks without naps and long days playing and with one day left of R&R, I was showing signs of exhaustion too. We spent Sunday playing my family's infamous card game - Hell - which is sort of like Solitaire on steroids, then packed up and drove home. I'm now trying to recover from loads of laundry (thanks Jeff for your help), cleaning, getting caught up at work, and of course blogging! We had a blast but I'm glad to be home.

The embarassment should be over now

After a week of Jeff being totally embarassed by my last post on the "quirks" I have (like he doesn't have any gross quirks either), I figured it was high-time for me to put something new up. Apparently the girls at work have been giving him a really hard time and well, I suppose I was a bit too honest before. Plus I'm tired of him teasing me all the time. So... in my attempt to make up for my quirks I have done the following: 1) finished ALL of the laundry in 2 days (okay so I still have a few shirts drying that need to be hung up but everything else made it out of the dryer and laundry basket in less than 48 hours), 2) rearranged and washed everything in the fridge, and 3) CHOPPED my hair off! I guess in my futile attempt to become America's Next Top Model, I figured getting a hair cut on a very bad hair day, would make me feel better. You would have thought that one, I wouldn't have cut my hair short right before my sister's wedding just in case I hated it and two, that I would have taken a picture afterwards to post but nope! I still haven't taken a picture of the new look but hopefully will have one by Thursday since that's the day my little sis gets hitched (and hopefully I am having a fabulous hair day). I guess it's not that short but for someone who has only had long hair, a new do that is above the shoulders is short. It's growing on me but I still miss pulling it back into a ponytail. Luckily though, Pearl doesn't pull at it nearly as much now that she can't grab it.

Speaking of Pearl, can I just say that she is definitely her father's child. It is now apparent that she inherited the "Johnson shoe gene." It's a sick, sick disease that Jeff shares with his mom and sister and now Pearl! She would wear all of her shoes if we let her and on Sunday attempted to wear two pairs at one time. She found some sandals that our neighbor gave her that are too big but threw a royal fit until we put them on her. It was hilarious because as soon as she had them on, she went tromping all over the house with a big grin on her face. Then last night we found some cute boots Kimmy brought home from Alaska (by the way, Kimmy is officially moved out and Pearl/Jeff have reclaimed the play room) and she wanted those on. So here she is in the middle of summer in shorts and fuzzy boots. She was pretty cute in them! And tonight, she ran around the house butt naked with just shoes on. I tell ya, we're in for it come 14 years from now! At least Jeff will finally have someone to go shoe shopping with.

Oh and a short video of Pearl playing in the freezing mountain stream up the canyon. We were bored on the 24th and angry at all the people parking in our driveway for the park festivities so we headed up the canyon for tin foil dinners. Let me just say that I've never thought of camping as a relaxing vacation (although Jeff loves camping so I go to make him happy) but with a 1 year old heading straight for the water, it was definitely not relaxing. Man, how did my parents do this with 4 kids and a dog? But looking back, it was fun to just hang out with my hubby and baby. Pearl seemed to love the dirt and throwing rocks in the water and Jeff does cook a mean tin foil dinner.