Alliteration Anyone?

ready to run regardless of runny nose

today's tasty lawn treasure: terrorized turkey

fabulous 5 month photo shoot

or

my favorite little farter is 5 months today!

tummy talk

I can't stop thinking in alliteration now. All the musings in my mind are mindful of the alliteration.

The Emily Chronicals

Avery loved having Emily stay with us. You know how Cesar Milan is the Dog Whisperer and every dog respects him? That was how Avery was with Emily. She could sense that she was in the arms of a seasoned mom. And Emily introduced her to cartoons. I just assumed Avery preferred The Food Network.

And speaking of the dog whisperer, we took our dogs on a looooong, hoooootttt walk. It might sound fun, but it wasn't. Jamie wore flip flops and was treated for blisters and sore ankles. She managed to run a 5k the next day anyway.

We saw a giraffe along the way. Emily is humoring me with this picture. Me: "Ooh, stand by the giraffe and I'll take a picture!" Emily: stand. reach. humor.

If you know anything about us, you know that we like to take a joke and repeat it over and over until it is well used up, mashed into the ground, jumped on, beat with a stick, etc.

Brandon asked Emily what we were going to do while she was here. She said something to the effect of "drink margaritas and go to Chippendale". So here we are drinking our "margaritas". And the joke went on and on...

Avery fell asleep at Jamie's on their big, squishy, white bed. It was so cute I think I peaked in on her about 10 times.

The best park in the world just got better by putting up these pavilions in the "West Desert" (that is what we call that part of the park). We took our dogs, some tin foil dinners, and had ourselves a pic nic.

Out in the West Desert the dirt piles are a major hit.

I'm not kidding when I tell you that Piper and Oakley have never had more fun. I thought that any trip to the park was a fun one for my dog, but no - it is double the fun with cousin Oakley. Oakley liked to run up and down this hill, kicking up as much dirt as possible.

We ended the night with some s'mores. Look at Oakley's death stare on Jamie's s'more.

We love the west desert.

And finally, we went to Phantom of the Opera. It was sooo good! I loved the stage and set and music and orchestra. As the stranger was taking this picture, I saw a witch riding the escalator and got really excited.

Side note: I also got sick this weekend, so my voice sounds funny. I got accused by Jamie that I "am only talking to hear my scratchy voice".

We bought the cheapest seats possible, but to fill the front, the usher moved us to the best seats. I was like sweet sweet sweet! as he was walking us to our new seats. We were right under the chandelier. At the end it "falls", and since we were right under it, I truly thought it was curtains for me. I sidled up in fear to the stranger next to me.

Oh and on our way out after it was over, Emily tripped on a stair and fell down to her elbows. Of course the "too many margaritas" joke ensued.

Larsen Vocabulary

I have a new addiction to this blog. I accidentally peaked with one eye yesterday. You all know about the Neilson wife and husband...their recovery after a plane crash. She is such a good writer, so I am caught up in it like a novel and not real life. I can't wait to find out how this story ends, but unfortunately neither can they.

Anyway, I read a post about how each family has their own vocabulary, and I thought about the Larsen Household vocabulary. I can't think of all the word substitutions we use, but I will give you a sampling of some of our favorites:

Cubical - the stand up, smorgasbord of fun that Avery reports to daily

Blu-Pns - the ponds at the Boulder City Park that are a strange, unnatural hue. This has translated into pretty much everything in our house that you can take the vowels out of. Like Avery's green jammies are "green cns".

Scrubby Holiday - bath time

Professor's Dog - when Piper sits really pretty on the living room rug.

The Office - any diaper station (diaper, wipes, pad) specifically the one that used up precious bed space for the first 3 months of Avery's life.

FFR - Family Fun Run, when all 4 of us hit the trail.

Dingo Zone - When Piper is crazy into her "dingo"

Butt-Hair - butter. I am really working on getting rid of this one before Avery becomes too aware of how immature her parents are.

Sticky Noise - A sign of affection from Piper. She opens and closes her mouth creating a "sticky noise" of sorts. Once in a while we catch Avery making the sticky noise.

That'll do it for now. I will keep you updated when I think of more. Oh and I want to hear your household vocabularies, so please publish a similar post of your own. Thanks.

It's True!

I heard a rumor that there is this magical park in Boulder City, and when the sun goes down, hoards of big horn sheep come out to graze. Jimi and I were skeptical; maybe we'd see one or two - they probably only come out once in a great while...

We pulled up, and there they were, silently grazing! We automatically went into whisper mode, afraid we would scare them away. We just stood there watching them eat. It was almost cooler than the San Diego Zoo. (If you've ever been there, 50% of it is made up of goats and sheep, I swear)

Look close, the sign says "no dogs allowed", so we had to leave Piper in the car. But don't worry, we went to another park later to run around.

Roll Count

Whoever can count the most rolls wins!

Bloggity Blog Blog

We've been "training" for the Butch Cassidy, and Avery likes to come along for the ride. I had to bundle her up because of the nip in the air. MMMMMmmmmm. My air conditioner didn't come on once today! And for those of you that train for half marathons, or 50 milers, or 100 mile bike ride...yes, I have to "train" for a 6 miler...back off.

I have also discovered that baby socks are nonsense. They just don't stay on my baby's feet.

I am sick of this daily occasion. We don't even get to hang out in morning jammies most of the time because she has poop all up her back. Trust me, I've tried all the diapers. And she's already in size 3; we don't need to go a size bigger. From the looks of it, she doesn't really like it either.

She is into grabbing things with her hands...

...and her feet.

I LOVE this cape. I hope it doesn't sell. The fabric is so soft; it's almost like a blanket. The orange side is a fabric I found a long time ago, and I haven't seen it since. I charged an extra 2 dollars in hopes nobody will want it.

the end

Top 5 Cozy Things

#5. Sweaters and Long Sleeves. When the weather gets just cool enough for a long sleeve, and you put it on. That's cozy. While at the park a little while ago it was still in the 90s, but Lily was wearing a turtleneck. She did what we all want to do - pull out the winter wear. I think it is finally going to get really "cold" this weekend.

btw, I never make my bed

#4. Watching Conference, in bed, with my baby sleeping next to me, and my dog at my feet. What a great excuse to stay in bed all morning long! Now if Richard G. Scott would stop putting me to sleep with that voice of his...

#3. Morning. Everything is so calm and quiet, and Avery is just so happy to be taken from her crib, and she grabs my face and shoves it into her face. Think about mornings when you're camping or on vacation or in Fallon or on a Holiday. That is the best time, I swear. (unless you have to work, then they're not so cozy)

#2. Sleeping While Jimi Gets Ready for Work. Isn't that the best to roll over and pull up the covers when someone else has to get up? (Don't worry, Jimi gets to do it every night while I'm up with Avery)

#1. Babies in Jammies. I've said it before, and I'll say it again...there is nothing cozier. And I just bought Avery some new ones! I can't wait for bed time so that we can pull out the jammies and snuggle.

I just realized these are all pretty much the same thing.

My Work Space

Yesterday, Nettie posted a picture of her "stash".

Click here to view it.

I then panned to the mess behind me and couldn't help notice the difference between the two.

I promise it's not usually this bad. I am in the middle of something!

This is my "stash" of scraps, neatly arranged.

I bet you think I staged these pictures. Well I didn't. I didn't touch a thing.

Buddies

Avery smiles every time Piper comes in the room, and she loves petting her (or more accurately, pulling on her fur). Oh yeah, and she totally laughs at Piper when she growls or barks at things (like the garbage truck, the neighbor's cat, the neighbor's little girl chasing the cat...)

Avery and Me

Jimi randomly took this picture the other day, and I love it!