Rain

We had a 15-minute downpour yesterday (while tornadoes were passing within 15-20 miles on all sides). So much for rain gutters:

Accessory Girl

Sally LOVES accessories.  She's always trying to put on the girls' jewelry; she brings me flowers to put in her hair (and she leaves them in); she also loves sunglasses.

She wouldn't stay still for a photo shoot.  These are the best I got:

Elephants

Mike finished Spring semester last week, so he's had some time off!  Last week and this coming week, he has class and lab 2 days a week; then he gets a week off before summer semester.  We love having him around!

On Thursday, we went to the zoo.  Our zoo recently opened a new elephant exhibit that's incredible!  And, to make it even better, one of the elephants had a baby just over a month ago.  So adorable!  I'm not one to take pictures of animals at zoos (I usually take pictures of my kids at zoos), but I couldn't resist this little guy.  I even took a video.  (I'm a little embarrassed, but I'm including it anyway.)

The girls always beg to climb on this little pigmy hippo statue, but it's usually either hot or occupied by other kids.  They finally got a turn.

And here are the elephants:

The little guy kept climbing back and forth over this log.  He'd struggle and struggle (see video) and sometimes get a little nudge from Mom.  After I took the video, he moved down to the bigger part of the log and got high centered.  After major struggles, a few squeals, and a tumble onto his face, he made it.  I think Mom was a bit embarrassed (everyone watching was laughing); she and the other adult elephant herded Little One away from the log.  Enough of that.

This is a view of half of the elephant exhibit.  It's huge!  (You can barely see the elephants back by the roofed portion of the sky walk.)

And here's the other half.  Those buildings in the distance are the Elephant Pavilion, where they'll have shows.  Mike made the comment, "Looking at that, you wouldn't guess we're in Oklahoma."

The girlies walking through Oklahoma Trails:

"I'm so glad when Daddy comes home . . . ."

Art

(Check out Mariah's outfit, too. That's a shirt over a dress. I guess just showing her artistic side.)

Play Room!

Last Saturday we moved all of our office/entertainment stuff into our bedroom, and made the office/entertainment room a play room.  I LOVE it!

We have reclaimed the master suite as our own at night.  All three girls sleep in one room (kind of).  Sally is no longer in our closet; she goes to bed at 6:30 in a crib in the girls' room.  She's asleep by the time we tuck Mariah in between 7 and 7:30.  Elaine, who used to fall asleep in a pack & play in our room, now falls asleep in the play room; before we go to bed, we move her to the bunk bed in the girls' room. (The original plan was to set up a toddler bed for Elaine in the play room and have that be her room. (She is the noisiest of the three, and takes the longest to go to sleep.)  She was too sad about that, though, even with the incentive of a new princess toddler bed.  So, we still move her after she's asleep.  Whatever.)

Here are pictures of the new room:

One Year Old!

My baby is one!  Amazing.

Some things about Sal:

• She stands all the time, but has only taken one step (a few times).  She took her first step two days before her birthday.
• She still does not say any words.  I'm afraid she's going to be like Elaine, who wouldn't say anything until she knew she could say it just right.  She's perfectly capable, however, of getting her point across, using grunts, "mmm-mmm-mmm" noises, squeals, and a few signs (more, all done, tired). She accidentally said "Da" the other day and looked shocked and sheepish. She would not say it again.
• She is feisty and can definitely hold her own with the other two girls.
• She gets her feelings hurt and takes a long time to recover.  She gets especially sad when Elaine tells her "No."
• Not a fan of 3-hour church.
• She loves going outside and practically jumps out of my arms in excitement whenever I open the door to go out.
• She crawls crazy fast, most of the time with her left knee and right foot.
• Loves her daddy, but needs her mom.
• She likes oatmeal, black beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, prunes, and loves watermelon, corn puffs, raisins, and freeze-dried apples.
• Her favorite games are peep-o and patty-cake.
• She loves to look at books and sing songs.
• She throws tantrums (see previous post).
• She loves blowing rasberries.
• She still only has 2 teeth, but several more are working their way in.
• She finally learned how to drink from a bottle a couple weeks ago.

Birthday pictures:

Sampling the coconut cream:

 Opening presents:

Strawberry shortcake:

Videos of the event:

Another Fireball

Mike and I are, I think, pretty mellow people.  And our parents report that we were easy-going, mellow babies and children.  So, I don't know where our three FIREBALLS came from.

Here are some videos of Sally.  They're long.  And to anyone besides grandparents (or maybe even to grandparents), they're probably boring.  But I'm posting them anyway.

The first is the tail end of a rip-roaring tantrum.  Sally was trying to walk behind her push toy and got frustrated.  (We think she's a perfectionist . . . . um, she gets that from her dad.)  Anyway, when she's frustrated, or thinks she can't do something right, or doesn't get her way, she throws these grand tantrums.  (Should I worry?  She's not even 1.)  This time, she was really going to town . . . throwing things, slamming things around, throwing herself on the floor, etc.  She even made a big deal of tipping the push toy over onto its side and hitting it repeatedly.  I really wish I had caught the first 2 minutes on video instead of the last 2.  Imagine what you see multiplied by 10, in drama and antics both.  Honestly, where does she learn this behavior?

The second and third are just 2 minutes, and then 5 minutes, in the life of Sally.  (Like I said . . . probably boring to most viewers.  Don't feel obligated.)  And if you do watch, be warned: I broke every videography rule out there.  You might get dizzy.

Babies

This baby loves babies!

Parfait

Mariah and I saw this recipe in The Friend.  I decided it'd be a fun, and relatively healthy, treat for the girls.  We ended up having it two days in a row!

And here are the happy recipients:
 

Sally didn't get a parfait.  But she was just as excited about her oatmeal--her current favorite food.  She eats it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The Jungle

The girls and I were looking at my baby book the other day.  Their favorite pictures were the ones of me and Laura riding our little big wheels in Arizona.  When Mariah saw this one, she asked, "Are you in the jungle?!"  "No, Dear, that's our front yard."  Funny girl.  (I don't know where she's getting her information on jungles.)  Elaine liked the pictures so much, she asked me the next day to print them off so she could carry them around with her.

Skeletons (or weeds) in the Closet

If you think your closet is dirty, this should make you feel a little better:  I found this weed the other day GROWING in our closet!  Right out of the carpet!  Nasty!

(photographed next to the paper just for scale)

Anniversary Part II

I already mentioned our anniversary date that happened last Friday, but here are some photos.  Between 4 and 5pm, we dropped off the 3 girls at 3 different places (I know, kind of weird, but it was really the best for everyone).  Mariah stayed at the Elmos' (Lacy), Elaine stayed with the Michaelsons, in our ward, and Jensens (Nick from Mike's class) watched Sally just while we went to PF Changs for dinner.  We enjoyed the vegetarian lettuce wraps, and then I got my usual Coconut Curry Veggies.  (I think I've tried one other menu item once and have felt no need to venture out again.)

Saturday morning was such a nice break with only Sally at home.  The three of us went to 105degrees for lunch before picking up the older 2 girls.  I love that place!  I took pictures this time of the amazing (all vegan raw whole foods) food.  We started with the "sushi" appetizer.  Loved it.  Then I got a VLT sandwich with eggplant "bacon" and kale chips.  Mike ordered a crepe, and we both enjoyed a coconut yogurt parfait for dessert.  Just like last time, we left satisfied but not stuffed.  (I ate my PF Changs leftovers a couple hours later.)

This is not a good picture; I'm no good at the self portraits.  I included (and took) it just to document how LONG (for me) my hair has gotten!  I actually took the time to do (straighten) it for our date.  (Yes, sisters, I do have a flat iron, and yes, I even know how to use it.  Kind of.)

Sally was also having a good hair day:

She seemed to really enjoy her first restaurant experience (and the 2 on 1 attention):

And here's the food: