Jaana Austen turns 18

My beautiful niece Jaana turned 18 earlier this month. What the??? That means if she's 18, I'm not 22 and I refuse to believe that.

My sister-in-law-who-is-amazing-at-theme-parties threw her an All Things Jane Austen party. Sarah, Erica and I rode up to Logan with my sister and her daughter for the event. And I do mean event. Lisa put more work into this than I did my wedding reception.
  

 Seriously. I was looking around for the waiters in coats and tails.

 My fancy nieces Kyra and Isabella

 Beautiful and now legal Jaana.

Best Cousins Forever, Allison and Sarah

 Kyra made the cake. Did I mention she's 14? She's got fondant skills.

My birthday wish for Jaana was for her to marry someone with the last name Austen so she'd be Jaana Austen.

 Erica did not appreciate sitting on the grass while I photographed like a crazy person.

 I don't know if I've ever eaten on real china with a name place before. I've read about it.

 Her young women leaders and their daughters and her grandma also came. And my sister Rachel.

After we were full and feeling fancy, Lisa's father's cousin (or something like that) arrived with a wagon to take us for a ride around the country side.

 Complete with parasols and fans.

We were hoping more people were out and about their neighborhood that we could flaunt our sophistication but we only saw a few people.

 When we got back we played Jane Austen bingo. I didn't win because I ate all my Skittles.

Then croquet. I didn't win that either but I did pretty well considering I was carrying a 15 pound baby while I played

 Our audience.

Then later we watched Austenland and went to bed. Erica woke up at 6 am the next morning and wouldn't go back yo sleep. So we watched Gilmore Girls on Netflix in Kyra's room until everyone else was awake. This was a much needed girly weekend.

The Cute Kids on the Block

Erica loves food. It's a really fun and messy stage. She can tell when she's not eating what we're eating and she gets mad and noisy about it.

This was from school picture day. I couldn't bring myself to spend $20-$30 on a package of pictures that would cost me $7 to print myself, so we took our own before she left for school.

 Henry wanted to play picture day too.

I just love her. She can be an opinionated stinker but she has a big heart and is everyone's best friend and favorite student. She is a great big sister too.

This was from crazy hair day. I thought it looked familiar when I was done and realized I used to braid my stuffed My Little Pony this way.

 Sarah thought this was an appropriate outfit to go up the canyon.

First things first when you arrive at camp. Find a stick.

Mountain Man Justin has been living in the woods for the better part of a month. Sometimes we visit him.

 Yup, that's your dad.  Okay, he hasn't spent all his time hunting and it's only been 2 weeks. That's just where his head and heart are even when he's at home so it feels like a lot. He leaves again tonight. Let's all pray he gets an elk tonight and can come right back home and be done.

 I think every child needs a picture of themselves sitting on their dad's lap while on a hunting trip.

I love the timelessness of hunting pictures. I swear this could be from 1987.  I think it's the timeless, classic look of camo.

 Can you believe this is the first picture I've taken of Erica in the tub? Third child, I tell ya.

 The kids cleaned up the house so they could put up the Halloween window stickers. This is pretty much the extent of Halloween decorating at my house. Not my favorite theme.

 So Erica is super funny. She'll be sitting up all fine and happy.

 Then she sees something she wants and leans for it.

And gets herself stuck in this half-crawling position. If she can manage to get her other foot out from under her, she ends up on her tummy, just kicking and frustrated. Sarah and Henry didn't crawl until they were 11 months old. I wonder if she'll be sooner since she wants it more.

Erica turned 8 months old on Sunday so she and I sneaked (just learned "snuck" isn't a word) out of the house to take some pictures of the occasion.

She was most interested in the grass.

 I love her blue eyes.

I didn't know it was possible for a baby to make me baby hungry when I have a baby and she is that baby. She's pretty much the best.

8 Things About Erica At 8 Months

1. She is a mama's girl. Oh man. If I leave the room, she'll let you know.
2. She is finally getting on some sort of a nap schedule. We've been doing whatever works, when it works with no resemblance of a pattern or schedule but I think I see some consistency emerging.
3. She wants to do what her big brother and sister are doing. She's their biggest fan.
4. She loves Cheerios, chicken, and fruit.
5. She is so silly first thing in the morning. She gets the giggles if I just look at her. She has a big sense of humor for one so small.
6. She's a great sleeper at night. She sleeps 12-13 hours, wakes up once to eat.
7. She loves to grab my hair, arms, and neck. Coupled with her razor sharp nails can make for a painful day.
8. She does not like strangers. She preemptively cries so they won't whisk her away.

Henry and Mu-uh

If you know Henry, you know that he is quite attached to his baby blanket. We're talking Linus level attachment. He may ask me to  make his blanket into a sports coat when he's older.

But lately, as Henry's imagination is developing, Mu-uh (how he said blanket as a baby) has taken on a role more akin to an imaginary friend. Sometimes Mu-uh is a puppy, sometimes a baby.

Just about every day Henry tells me about what Mu-uh is doing or what Mu-uh needs.

H: Mu-uh is hungry.
M: What does Mu-uh eat?
H: Puppy food. But he's not a puppy, he's a blankie.

Sometimes his words are oddly familiar.

M: I'm going to take a shower.
H: You can. But be quiet, Mu-uh is sleeping.

Mu-uh is wrapping paper when he wants to surprise me with my own phone, it's Henry's helper and uses it like oven mitts to get clothes out of the drier. It's a pillow, a confidant, a conspirator. And every night it's a blankie.

Here Mu-uh is kissing an owie.

M: Is Mu-uh a boy or a girl?
H: A boy. (All annoyed) He's not a baby. Just a blankie.

Henry also has imaginary friends. There are 6 of them and they mostly go to and from school, go on hikes with him, or they're going to meet us somewhere. They are very rarely at home with us. They're just a group of kids that he talks about. They live in a house together in Provo but they don't have a mom. The only one he's mentioned by name is Anthony.

Other funny things Henry has said (I am M)

H: Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
M: What are you thinking?
H: Doughnuts.

Fo-shakes (snowflakes)

M: We're having chicken for dinner.
H: And noodles? Or rice? Or coconuts?

After saying a brief and lacking prayer at dinner "I didn't bless anything!"

H: Mom, my shoe is calling you.
M: What's it saying?
H: (In a low voice) Hello, I'm Mr. Shoe.

"I want cereal and I want too much."

"I smell ice cream"

"You're my giant mom."

Henry to Justin: "Sarah's mom is your friend." Best friend.

"I'm gonna squirt your flowers so they're nice and flowery."

"I found a roly-poly bug. It's name is Erica.

Looking at the Lucky Charms box. "What happened to his mom? Maybe she died."

M: Your face is all dirty.
H: I have to be dirty.

"Remember when you pushed the wrong button on the microwave and broke it and we had to get a new one?" (Not exactly how it happened.)

He's a fun kid. He's mellowed out a lot over the last few months. I think knowing more words has helped us understand each other and we've gone from 2 or 3 tantrums a day to maybe 2 or 3 a week. (I think I just jinxed myself by writing that.) He loves his dad and if he likes something, he and dad like it. "Dad and me love these chips." He likes every fruit or vegetable he's ever tried. Cherry tomatoes, sauteed onions, cucumbers, salad. All good.

Now if I could just get him to decide on a Halloween costume. His ideas are either a dog catcher or a rocket ship.

My baby and my birthday

We are 3 for 3 for babies that love to chew on chicken bones. 

 Erica is now 7 months.

She makes this stinkface and I think it's hilarious. She makes this huffy breathing sound to go with it.

It was my birthday. This is my cake. If it looks exceptionally tall it's because there's a hidden layer of brownie on the bottom. Toffee bits and cream cheese frosting. You heard me.

 This was my birthday breakfast. And lunch. And dessert. (From Shirley's bakery).

This was the game I made Justin play with me while we waited for Sarah to get out of school. He let me almost beat him. (Casino Yahtzee, garage sale find.)

After school we went to McBride's Briar Patch in Mapleton.  Erica hung out on the grass while we picked pails of raspberries.

Sarah was scared of the prickly bushes at first but she figured out how to do it without getting poked. She had the most fun out of all of us and asks to go back all the time.

 My shadow and my baby.

Henry also had fun but because he loves raspberries. I think more went into his mouth than into his bucket. Farmer McBride didn't mind.

Erica got her first taste of raspberry. She was not a fan.

My kids won't look at the camera even for my birthday.

 The goods.

 Henry wouldn't leave the swing to join the picture.

Then Justin and I went out to eat at Texas Roadhouse. Notice how all my birthday events involve food? Not a coincidence.

As we were getting ready for bed that night,
Me: What do you think will happen to me this year?
Justin: Happen to you? Like, you're going to slip on the ice?

I was thinking more along the lines of what's in store for me this year. It seems like I've had a major life event every year since I was 18 but I can't think of any babies, graduations, moves, etc that are happening in the next 12 months. Something interesting has to happen. I guess we'll see.

And stay tuned for my next installment. The Adventures of Henry and His Blanket. This kid has the best imagination.