Life in Logan

Jane is taking a bath, so I thought I'd take this opportunity of contained playtime to get some blogging done. Yes, I am sitting on the toilet with the laptop. Who knew you would someday be able to get on the internet in the bathroom?

Let's just hope today isn't the day Jane decides to start splashing.

I enjoyed our vacation to Yellowstone, but it has definitely been nice to be home. Just a few things I missed: hot water, getting out of bed to go to the bathroom without having to get dressed, walking around with no shoes on, thermostat with regulated temperature control, Jane sleeping in a separate room...the list goes on. It's nice to be home.

I have thoroughly anticipated something of a struggle adjusting from working full time to being home all day, and, sad to say, I was right. Getting ready for, being gone in, and cleaning up after Yellowstone kept me occupied for a good two weeks. After that, it took me about three hours to be BORED OUT OF MY MIND.

Ok, life isn't really all that bad. I have plenty of things to do, and I have kept myself quite occupied. I think it's the lack of adult interaction...Jane can only provide so much conversation when all she can say are things like "hi" and "bye" and "be-uh" (clean up, sung to the tune of the Barney clean up song). Oh, and "tickle tickle."

the garden

The garden is progressing nicely. The carrots have sprouted, the lettuce is up, and a few tomatoes are already popping out.


One interesting thing is the height difference...for some reason, sun perhaps?, the plants in the west end of the boxes are much taller and fuller than those in the east end--a location difference of a whole three feet. For comparison sake, here are some close-up shots of the lettuce:

east

west

See what I'm saying?

The only thing that really isn't doing well is this particular pepper plant.


From the looks of the leaves, I would think maybe we have some sort of bug infestation. Not being a devout gardener, I'm not terribly concerned. (Is that bad?) I am enjoying having the garden and I am looking forward to harvesting what does succeed, but I'm not willing to get overly stressed about a plant living or dying. I will do what I can in my limited power and knowledge, then we'll just let things take their course and see what happens.

our outing

Knowing that we needed to get out of the house for at least a little bit each day, and hopefully with other people, Jane and I went to Willow Park Zoo yesterday with a friend from my ward and her two-month-old baby girl. Sadly, this was the only picture I was able to take before the batteries in my camera died.


It's not even of Jane. Sigh. But, we did have quite a pleasant trip to the park. After walking around the zoo with Julie and Jessica, we decided to play on the playground for a while. The playground right next to the zoo is always crowded during the day, and it's a little big for Jane to safely play by herself (needless to say, I'm not always up to climbing all over the equipment with her...). We opted instead for the smaller playground next to the pond, which is actually designed for people with disabilities. That being the case, everything is much shorter and more accessible to small children as well.

Ironically enough, when we got to the other playground, we found everyone from Jane's day care, whom we haven't seen in three weeks. That was a pleasant surprise. All of the kids were incredibly excited to see Jane (holy cow), and I had a nice visit with Laura Lee. Julie was content to swing, which she doesn't get to do often, while Jessica slept in the stroller the entire time. :) The trip turned out even better than I expected. Too bad I don't have more pictures.

school work

Yes, I know it is summer and yes, I am still working on things for school. Our district adopted both a new math program and a new writing program to be implemented in this next school year. One of the teachers I work with has graciously offered to go through the math and get everything planned out and organized for the year, and I have agreed to go through the writing. I haven't gotten terribly far, but it's nice to have something to do that requires a bit more brain power than, say, loading the dishwasher.

high chair moments

Jane certainly does her part to keep my occupied, even if it isn't always my first choice of activity. One of my least favorite things to do is clean up after her when she eats...


She's all about feeding herself now. Sometimes she misses her mouth, though. Or she just gets too tired to try anymore...


We had macaroni & cheese and hotdogs for lunch that day. How can I let my child miss out on this growing-up classic? I was actually surprised at how much of the hotdogs were left. This kid has been known to eat THREE hotdogs in one sitting. And yet she still wears 12 month size clothes.

Note on the bangs: When we came home from camping, I decided to trim Jane's bangs before they were covering her eyes. Good idea, right? Well, maybe. She moved when I went to cut them, so they ended up way shorter than planned. And they look pretty dumb. I even had someone at church ask me if she cut them herself. Sigh. No, Jane didn't cut them, I did. Yes, they look bad. No, I don't care. Yes, they will grow out again. I just have that much longer before they need to be trimmed again, right?

the baby

I had my monthly pregnancy check-up yesterday and thought I'd share a funny story. The baby moves A LOT, way more than I ever remember Jane moving. (Are we doomed with two overactive girls?) While at the doctor's appointment, they always find the heartbeat to make sure the baby is doing well. I think she is, although it took them two people, three tries and probably ten minutes to actually find the heartbeat. She kept moving all over the place, and even kicked the machine off my stomach a couple times. Literally kicked hard enough that it bounced off. What have we gotten ourselves into this time?

* * * * *
If anyone is bored this summer too, please call. I'm not very good at inviting myself over to other people's houses--don't they say that's rude in the scope of appropriate neighbor relations?--but I am all up for walks, picnics, or trips to the park. I just might not call you first. But, you now have an open invitation to call me. See you soon.