Junebug Jane

My esty shop Junebug Jane is up and running!  You wanna know the hardest part of getting it all together...the name!  Everything I came up with had been used.  I bet I tried 30 names before I found one that was not already taken.  Geez!  I sometimes think I am crazy for attempting to do this, but so far I am not out too much.  I have not posted a lot, but I hope to soon.  You can visit my shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/junebugjane

I hope you like it!

Being Brave

This is one of those posts that even as I type it I wonder, "Why am I telling this to all the world?"

I was up forever last night.  Jordyn let out a scream at about 12:30, something she kind of does a lot.  I think she has nightmares cause usually she doesn't wake up, she just yells out.  Anyway, it woke me up and I laid there with my mind racing for about 2.5 hours. 

Since I stopped teaching, I have felt quite lost.  I feel like I have to be doing something that connects me to the world outside of my home.  I know that taking care of my family is an important thing and I am so grateful I get the opportunity to do so.  But I feel like I need to be doing something more.  I wish I did not feel this way, but I do.  I have thought and thought about what I need to do to get that feeling of satisfaction that I have been lacking.  I have thought about teaching again next year, but the timing is just bad.  We want to have another baby and I am hesitant to start in a new state, new curriculum, new school and most likely a new grade level with the knowledge that I will probably have to take a 6 week maternity leave during the year.  It feels overwhelming thinking about it.  So, I thought maybe I could tutor.  I really, really tried to be brave and put myself out there.  It took a lot of courage for me to advertise myself.  I took fliers around to all the schools.  I put an add on craigslist.  I signed up with a company that connects tutors to students.  After 4 months, still nothing has come of it.  Frustrating.

So I am coming up with a plan B, and again I have to be brave and put myself out there.  Since we moved into our house, I have been a sewing maniac.  I sew as often as Jordyn will allow me too.  I have tried so many new things and really branched out with what I have created.  I have finally come around the the idea that was originally Chad's.  I want to try selling some of  my stuff.  It is more terrifying to put myself out there this way than it was to attempt tutoring.   My confidence in education completely outweighs my confidence in sewing.  Education: Master's Degree, Sewing: A few home-ec classes in high school.  So really, even to blog about it is scaring me to death.  I am not quite ready to post all of what I would like to sell.  I plan to sell most of it through etsy and as soon as I figure out how too, I will post some stuff here as well as on facebook.  Hopefully others will think it is cute, cause I do!  

I was taking some pictures of a dress I made, using Jordyn as a model.  And although this pic does not showcase the dress at all, I just love these cheeks and these baby blues!

Wicked Awesome Weekend!

We had such a great weekend!  It started early on Thursday when Philpott family stopped by and we all headed off to see the Rockies play the Giants.  Our first Rockies game ever!  And I don't think any game will ever satisfy after this one!  We had GREAT seats.  As we walked down, down, down, closer to our seats, all the little old ushers kept asking if we have a glove.  We don't even own a glove.  In fact, if we had caught a ball, it would be the only baseball in our house!  The only reason we felt like we deserved such great seats was because we had some awesome Rockies apparel!  Thanks again Nikki and Blake! Also, because we have a cute little girl who is a dancin' fool, we got on the jumbo-tron!  The only way any game will ever top this one is if we have this same magical combination plus a Rockies win.  Maybe next time ;)

This is the Giants dug-out.  We were right behind it! 

Thursday night after the game, my parents came and joined the party.  It was fun to have a full house for the night.  The Philpotts headed on their long journey home Friday morning and we took my parents down to Garden of the Gods.  We took a short drive through the park and stopped to play "The Amazing Balancing Rock" for a little bit.

Then we decided kick it up a notch.  We drove to the top of Pikes Peak.  It was fun.  14,110 feet of fun.  It was a crazy scary steep road up to the top.   When we got to the top there were several look out spots and a little visitor shop where they sell the supposedly world famous doughnuts.  It was crazy to be so high.  It was hard to breathe and I was feeling really light headed.  It was also funny to watch the temperature drop as we went up the mountain.  It was freakin cold up there!

Jordyn was ticked about this situation.  She always wants to be free to run as long and as far as she can.

Saturday, my mom and I went to Wicked!  I LOVED it!  I will be seeing that show again some day.  And due to a fortunate mistake we had pretty good seats.  We got to sit in the mezzazine in the handicapped section.  The sets, costumes and especially the music were all amazing.  LOVED it!  But no pictures.  oops.  While we were at the show, my dad was in his own little paradise at the art museum and Chad was happy at home as the baby-sitter.  After the show, we met up at a mexican restaurant, Los Dos Portillos in Centennial.  Yummy.  Yummy. Yummy.  We had been there before and it must be a real local hot spot cause we waited for a while and as we were eating, Chad spotted John Fox! (The Broncos head coach).  We felt like we were eating with the rich and famous!

Sadly, all good things must come to and end.  My parents left and drove home in a storm on Sunday.  Life is back to nornal.  We mention grandpa or grandma and Jordyn looks around for them and says, "Where go?"  She is missing all the attention, and I am missing someone to give her all the attention.  So, we need someone to come visit again soon!

Easter 2012

This is the first Easter ever that I have not spent with my family.  There were so many family traditions that I missed out on this week, but I guess that is part of moving away.  No coloring eggs.  No rolling eggs.  No picnics.  No 4 wheelers.  So, Chad was very patient with me and helped me to start our own little family traditions.

We helped Jordyn find her Easter basket that the Easter bunny hid in the closet.  That sneaky bunny!

Showing off one of the treasures from her basket.

Her first ever peep.  This girl loves some sweets!

Lovin' her bunny from Grandma.

After she emptied her prizes out of the basket.  We went outside for find the eggs the Easter bunny hid.  He is so sneaky! 

She thought picking up the eggs was cool.  Then she realized how to open the eggs and get to the candy inside and suddenly Easter became a whole lot cooler!

 After Jordyn had her Easter fun, we all went for a little ride to enjoy the great weather.  We have not been south of Castle Rock since we moved down here, so we headed down to Colorado Springs.  It is a lot bigger than we had expected.  We stopped into the visitor center at the Garden of the Gods and got a little info and plan on going back this week.

On Easter Sunday, we put the Easter Bunny out of our minds and took some time to remember the real reason for celebrating the Easter season!

And of course, the Easter dress.  I just love going to church on Sunday and seeing all the kids so proud in their Easter clothes.  I also love an excuse to dress up my own little girly!

Bartons vs. The Bird

This morning, I was just laying in bed waiting for Jordyn to start talking to herself; my signal that she is ready to get up.  I started hearing a loud tap.  Chad and I jumped out of bed and started looking around for what it could be.  That is when I saw our opponent, the bird, crashing against the window over and over. 

The loud tap was annoying, but what was more annoying was wondering why this dumb bird was doing this over and over.  When he spotted us through the window, he flew off.  But he soon came back, ramming his beak into the window again.  We closed the curtain, hoping he would get his eye off whatever he was spotting through the window, but he still persisted.  We figure the bird must have a nest somewhere close by and was threatened by our window.  With the curtain closed, he could not see us.  Jordyn was certainly intrigued and I think she she kind of became attached to the bird.  After about 3 hours I was getting impatient.  I thought about going all Sanpete County on his tail feathers and getting a tennis racket, when suddenly he left.  But not without leaving us a surprise.  Bird blood splattered all up and down our window.  So gross.

Update:  The bird is back.  This battle is not yet over.

Baby Girl

Remember this post back when Jordyn was first born and we still referred to her as "baby girl".  Not much has changed.  She also goes by Jordaroo, Jordarooni, Jordinni, Sweet Pea, Punkin, Jo, Baby J, and whatever else is on the tip of our tongues.  When she sees a picture of herself, she points and says, "baby". Same goes for her reflection in the mirror.  If she can get close enough to the picture or mirror, she gives herself a kiss.  A little vain :)

Jordyn hit the 18 month mark a couple days ago.  I have been really good about keeping up with her baby book, but it stops at 12 months, so now this is the baby book.  I don't blame you if you don't want to read about all this Jordyn stuff, so you can just skip to the pictures :)

Jordyn at 18 months:

• is very independant.  She wants to feed and dress herself, and while she is never very sucessfull, I still let her try.
• Probably says 20-30 words.  She only says them if she sees them or if we ask, she does not get that words are used for communication.  Her communication is whinning and pointing to what she wants.  Hopefully that stage ends soon!
• Takes 1 nap usually.  It lasts anywhere from 1-4 hours.  Every day is different!
• Always wants to be outside.  Always.
• Has learned about teasing and things she is funny when she teases mom or dad.  She loves to be chased and tickled and teased herself.
• She is always willing to give hugs and kisses.
• She loves to go to bed.  We just lay her down and she talks to herself before she finally goes to sleep, sometimes an hour later.
• She loves minky blankets.  She has 2 small ones she drags around the house and 1 big one that stays in her crib. 
• Loves to watch cartoons, esp Blues Clues right now.  To my demise, she also likes to watch Futurama with her daddy.
• We love this little girl!