November Catch-Up!

November was so so busy.  I honestly don't remember half of it.  There were several things that made for a crazy month; callings, Junebug Jane, toddlers, and work.  I was called to be the YW president in our ward in October.  By November, I hit the ground running with Young Women in Excellence, filling a presidency and advisors, preparing for a new calendar year, getting to know 37 young women in a ward where we still feel new, not to mention the balancing act with Chad as the ward mission leader.  I never thought I would have to get a baby sitter on Sunday mornings so we can both be at ward council.  It is a little crazy, but the blessings are flowing!

As for Junebug Jane...phew!  I am glad the Christmas season is over!  I am so grateful for the business.  I never in a million years thought my shop would be so busy and productive.  Next year, I will definately be more prepared for it though.  I was scrambling to find materials, time, resources, and patience to get it all done and shipped by Christmas.  In the first part of November I sold a lot of advent calendars.  By the end of the month I spent every spare minute making busy books.  I found new ways to speed up the process and get the most out of my materials.  Buy the first few days in December, I had to turn a way a lot of customers.  I felt bad turning away business, but I simply ran out of time.  Next year, I will definately be more ready!

Toddlers.  Oh my, toddlers.  And I think Jordyn is a relatively good toddler.  It is just a whole new ballgame.  I feel so bad that she has spent so much time entertaining herself this month.  I was just too busy to give my entire day to her.  Her latest quirk is lining things up.  Every room I walk into has her little OCD line up of objects.  It can be blocks, bibs, blankets, clothes, diapers, books,... anything.  It makes me smile every time!  Her naps are no more, she just has quiet time in her room.  Every day when I let her out at 3, her first words are always "Oh no mommy, a mess!"  I look around her room and see the clothes in one line, stuffed animals in another, diapers in another.  Silly girl.

In November, the month of gratitude, I am so grateful for Chad's job.  When he graduated and applied to about 100 jobs, I never thought we would be so lucky to have hime work for a great company and for him to be able to provide so well for our family.  He has more than a full load of hours right now.  I am lucky he is home a few days a week.  He definately stays busy during the day.

That has been our November.  Crazy busy, but we are so blessed to have our hands full with the things we do.  I know it sounds like this whole post was a giant complaint, but I really am grateful to have busy hands.  I have been on both ends of the spectrum.... complete bordom and crazy busy.... since we moved to Colorado.  I would chose crazy busy over bordom any day. 

More Family Visitors!

Just a few weeks after my parents came, the Barton's came to visit too.  Our favorite thing we did was the Cheyenne Mtn. Zoo.  This is honestly one of my favorite zoos.  The last time we went was on Labor day and it was so crowded.  This time, it was basically empty which was so cool!  We got to feed the giraffes.  They have so many and they are all so friendly!

Also, feeding chickens,  Jordyn put her cup in the fence, and then just dumped it all upside down.  Smart girl we have.

We are so grateful that our parents take the time to come all the way to Colorado to get to know Jordyn and to see our family in our home.  It really means a lot to us to see the effort on our behalf.  We love our families!

Family Visitors!

My parents came out for a long weekend in October.  They brought my 2 nephews, Canyen and Payton, with them.  It was so fun to have some more kids in the house.  Jordyn adored them and they were so good to play with her and give her all the attention she wanted!

We had some down time, mommy/daughter shopping, rec center pool, cave of the winds, garden of the gods, science museum, lots of food and games.

Halloween!!!

I had this vision of a costume I wanted to make Jordyn.  It was an adorable pinata.  So cute and I figured it was kind of gender neutral for any future toddlers we are blessed with.  But a whirlwind hit just before Halloween.  I got called to be the young women president in our ward, and my etsy shop Junebug Jane got cRaZy buzy.  So, in the hour before our ward trunk-or-treat I quickly put together a "Baby Ruth" candy bar for Jordyn.  Honestly, the quickest costume I have ever sewn!  And, the best part, it was only $2.00.  I made the Almond Joy and Mounds costumes a few years ago.  They are great costumes to pull out in hurry!

The weekend before Halloween, Chad and I got a baby sitter and went to an adult party with some friends.  Plus we had the trunk-or-treat.  And then on actual Halloween night we took turns taking Jordyn around our neighborhood, which is prime trick-or-treating territory.  There are a gazillion houses and the are all squished together.  Perfect for a little "Baby Ruth"!

Fort Fun

 

Chad is so much more fun than I am.  I was upstairs doing some sewing during conference weekend, when I came down.  Our entire family room had been fort-ified.  Jordyn and I are pretty lucky to have such a fun guy!

Jordyn's 2 Pictures...

I posted these on fb a while ago, but I also need them in my "journal" to remember them for the future.  The outfit is courtesy of my mom.  I swear Jordyn has cuter clothes than I do.

 Jordyn at 2:

• Is an ok eater.  She will eat any fruit, anything with cheese, and anything sweet, and pancakes.  She is a grazer and eats best when she can just have a bowl of snacks and return to eat as desired.
• At her 2 year appointment, she had lost .5 a pound.  The dr. ordered some blood tests to try and get to the root of the problem.  Dr. also referred her to a pediatric cardiologist for a murmur we have been hearing for about 6 mo. now.  All tests came back fine.  She is healthy, just little.   I wish dr.s would stop giving me a hard time about it.  We were also referred to see a pediatric GI, but I never made an appointment.  I just feel like she is small and a mediocre eater and there is not "root" problem. 
• ABCs is her favorite song. Suddenly one day, she could recognize all the letters and their sounds, but she still gets confused sometimes.
• Counting lately is 1,2,3,9,10,9,10,9,10.... every now and then she throws a 6 in there. 
• Every color is "been"  (green).
• She still loves Blues Clues.  She likes to sing along, especially with the mail song.  There are also some Leap Frog shows on Netflix she likes, which is the only reason she knows ABCs.
• Napping is ridiculous.  She just plays in her room and destroys everything for 2 hours every afternoon.  She just learned how to open her door and sleeping has gotten even worse.  We just bought door knob covers so hopefully that helps. 
• She often cries so hard she barfs.  She also passes out easily.
• She likes to clean up.  She hates messy hands.  She gets really worried when she spills.  She might be a little OCD.
• She really likes other kids, and get so excited about nursery every week. 
• She is such a drama queen.  She has a fake little whimper, sticks out her bottom lip, pulls puppy dog eyes, and says "sad".  It makes me worried for the future!
• She LOVES her dolls and stuffed animals.  She is always having them go "nigh-night".
• We love her to death and have so much fun with her! She is like a little adult and talks and interacts with us like she is a grown up.  She is my little buddy and side-kick.  I would be so bored without her!

Don't kid yourself...

I really meant to add this little diddy to our family pictures post, but I forgot.  We took 150 shots that day.  About 8 were worth my time in editing.  The first few shots taken were the ones I edited.  Jordyn thought the camera was so cool on the tripod.  She would count to 3 and then I would click the remote.  She could hear and see the camera go off and thought it was just magic.  After a while though, the magic wore off and most of the pictures were just frustrating!  This is a sequence showing how most of the pictures went: