Elliott Joy 4 months

Elliott 4 months check up

Weight 12 lb 10.3 oz 20%

Height 2' 1.5" 85% (down from 93% @ 2 mos)

She is happy & healthy. I call her my bald, long one.

She rolls over, talks non stop & drools like a boy over a pretty girl.

Shout out Friday

Dear jump rope,

I love to work out with you, but after 4 kids, my bladder refuses to co operate.

Nate's first field trip

Nate got to go on his first field trip to the Folsom Zoo.

I don't remember ever being there before, so it was new to me also.

Here he is on his first bus ride.

His teachers said as they were going along Folsom Blvd,

he started yelling, "Look! There's Dos Coyotes!

I've been there before! Can we stop & make the head rock?"

Apparently it was pretty funny since he was so excited about the restaurant.

Some cool tigers. The meanest tour guide ever is off to the right.
A massive bear.
My own family of bears.
You can get ruh-eeely close to the deer.

I'm surprised none of my kids got their fingers bitten off.

It was fun to see the kids get excited about the animals.

Tip for anyone else. Do not take a stroller here. Carry your kids.

There are crazy uneven hills throughout the whole park.

My arms are more sore from pushing a double stroller

than one of Jared's workouts.

What I've been up to.......

The last few weeks I've been collecting compost waste from

our kitchen & burying it in the garden to prep the dirt.

But I've seen somewhere in blog land about a rolling compost pile.

One you don't have to turn with a shovel.

Wanting to be better for the environment,

& have compost for this winter, I started a legit compost pile.

WalMart had these huge garbage cans for $9.97. Awesome price.

I had Jared drill some holes along the sides & top. For air flow & leakage.

Then I was going to mow the lawn for grass clippings.

But the lawn mower was out of gas.

So my loving hubbs dug some months old grass clippings

from the green waste container. Gross.

Leaves would have been ideal also. But no leaves around this time of year.

Here is my bag of scraps & stuff from just a couple days.

Did you know you can put paper towels & napkins in there!

No more guilt for using paper products.

Anything can be put in there except meats & waxy materials.

I gave Jared a hair cut & put the hair in there.

Then I had Jared take a tinkle in it. Good moisture & nitrogen.

And no, I did not take a picture of that.

Then all I have to do is roll it around every few days.

Or have the boys do it. Be sure to use bungee cords to keep the lid on tight.

Compost in just a couple weeks.

So when Charly was born, Jared's cousin made us some super cute, big hair bows.

But Little Elles has such a small bald head, the big bows look a little silly.

So I made some small ones for her.

(I know these pics are horrible. But I'm too lazy to wait for good lighting)

You can't quite see how detailed they are. But they are really adorable.

I made them entirely from things on hand. Except the box of clips from Sally's.

$5 for 100. Can't beat it.

My house may be a mess. But I'm getting some fun stuff done instead.

Shout out Friday

You know growing up when your Mom always said, "when you have kids of your own, they'll act just like you are. You'll get your payback then." I wished I had believed it back then. I would have behaved A LOT better. Cause now I know it's true.

My sweet Grant

On FHE the other night, I was reading a story

from "The Friend." It was about Joseph Taylor,

son of John Taylor. They were packing to head West

& could not take Joseph's play riding horse

with them because it was big.

Joseph was so sad to leave it behind.

As I was reading about how sad he was,

I looked up at Grant & saw tears streaming

down the poor boy's face. I asked what was the matter?

He said he didn't know & started crying even harder.

How sweet is that? Grant was upset because

the horse had to be left behind. Of course the story ended

with Joseph's Dad going back to get the horse.

There was even a picture of it somewhere in SLC I'm sure.

I have a tender hearted boy.

Shout out Friday

You know you're lazy when......

You spend more than 26 seconds trying to crush a Cheerio

with the wheel of the vacuum so it will get sucked up.

Instead of, ya know, just 2 seconds bending over to pick it up.

Shout out Friday

I don't know why I have a toilet in my hall bathroom.

I'm thinking I should get rid of it & leave that corner designated

for the boys to pee in. I have to scrub the floor everyday anyways.

At least it would be one less toilet to clean.

It's waiting for you Drea

I had a hard time with this one. I bought the fabric well over a year ago.

But every time I got it out, I couldn't figure out what to do with it.

I wanted it to be special cause it's for my besty.

So I really hope she likes it.

So long POS

Jared was in a head on collision this week.

Some lady decided to run over an Element, then Jared.

That some lady won.

Thankfully Jared was the second car hit, otherwise,

ugh, don't want to think about it.

So the Sunfire is a total.

Bunch of stuff underneath is broken.

It was always a POS with no A/C.

But it was a great car for 6 1/2 years for only $500.

Anyone know where to buy a reliable car for $1600??

Shout out Friday

So I was rocking to a work out video this morning.

Getting ready to shed that baby weight.

Noticed my front room was super dusty.

I'll just keep my feet moving & dust.

I might as well clean off the entertainment center.

A quick vacuum. Put away the dishes.

My feet are still moving, keeping up the heart rate right?

Some toys in the hallway. Oh wait, do a couple minutes of the video still playing.

Put in a load of laundry. Go through some papers sitting around.

A quick wipe down in the bathrooms.

Then wipe down the windows in front rooms.

Stretch time in the video. Ahhh, feel so nice. Video is done.

With the house now being clean,

what will I do for my workout video tomorrow morning?

Happy Birthday to Charlotte in my 300th post!

Wow! 300 posts, cuh-razy. So Charlotte turned 2 on the 30th.

She's gotten so big.

Here she is with her cake.

Her ponies from Grandma. She loves these things.

Thanks to DI, I got her a princess dress, Barbie book,

& dress up necklaces all for under $5. Score!

Charly, you're so gorgeous.

Which you know since everyone is always telling you so.

We love you! Here's to the terrible two's.

NewBorn Olympics

New Born Olympic categories are as follows:

I. The distance you can sneeze your spit up across the room.

II. How long you can fight off the nail clippers.

III. The amount of times your poo goes up to your neck (back & front) in a 1 week period.

IV. How fast you can fill the dirty laundry basket. And empty the stain remover.

V. The amount of time you spend rubbing the back of your scalp bald.

VI. How long you can keep your parents awake at night.

VII. The largest spit up puddle on your Mom's back.

VIII. How many pacifiers you can make your parents look for, but are never to be found.

IX. The amount of time you can get a grown adult to stare at you while making annoying baby noises.

X. How you can get Mommy & Daddy to do anything in spite because you are so darn adorable & precious.

*Elliott, we love you & are sure you would win in every category! Although I'm sure it would be a world way tie for number X. cause all babies are adorable.

Shout out Friday

So the baby needs to nurse.

I go to unsnap my nursing bra then realize it's already undone.

Hmmm, how long had it been since I'd nursed on that side?

A few hours?

But mainly, how many places did I go during that time

& how many people noticed?

Hasleton quote

Boys are bickering, so frustrated mommy yells:

"Will you 2 stop fighting over every stupid little thing?"

Nate: Mom, stupid is ...

Mommy: I know stupid is a bad word. Mommies can say whatever they want.

Nate: I didn't know that.

Mommy: Well now you do.

A few moments pass.

Nate: Does Heavenly Father like it when you say bad words?

I really had no answer for that that would allow me to ever say again whatever I wanted.

2010 Holiday catch up

So we started November with our traditional Thankful Tree. Although we constantly forgot to put a leaf on the tree some nights, there were plenty that were illegible, drawn by Charly as she was always coloring the leaves that just "happened" to fall off the window into her hands.

What we were thankful for this year........

Jared: Nate, 19 days till baby Elliott is born, Charly, Grantman, gospel of Jesus Christ, $17,000 in new equipment, pies, mommy letting me open a gym, my sweet wife Jennifer, chicken, for health, insurance coming today!, good food, blue eyed girls.

Jennifer:my safe home, CrossFit Envy, 2 running vehicles, our house to keep us warm, ears to listen, sewing machine, good kids, healthy baby, my talents, good food, free elliptical, electricity, washer & dryer, no swelling, internet.

Grant: playing games, food, the number 1, super bouncy balls, toys, giving away candy, daddy, my brother, my room, scooters, school, car, 2 more days till Thanksgiving, Nana & Bumpba, I love my toys, trophies, house.

Nathan: everything, Jesus died for us, computer & school, good guys, sippy cups, for everything we have in our house, nice stuff (cool toys), our world, ninja guys & flowers, the world (apparently very different from our world), Metro Man, bouncy balls, flowers, warm jackets & clothes.

Charlotte: juice, cereal, juice, BB’s, blankets.

But most of all, the safe arrival of a healthy baby on Thanksgiving day!

Don't think for a moment that Charlotte will let Elliott

get allll the attention.

Then the Christmas season started with

Jared & I figuring out Daneece's infamous toffee recipe.

We made 4 batches in a week.

And no, we didn't give away most of it.

My teeth hurt for a bit.

The Christmas Eve pagaent.......

Not entirely sure what's going on here....

The meanest looking wise man ever.

All the fuss on Christmas morning with the Barlow fam.

A shoo fly quilt I made for my Mom.

It's made completely from left over fabric.

If I've ever made something for you,

you can probably see some of your fabric in there.

Then as if I didn't have enough to do........

I experimented with quilting & found I have a new love

of spirals. Aren't they purty!

Then came New Years. We spent it down in Santa Clara

with the other Hasleton's.

Then to top it all off, Jan 3rd was Nate's 4th birthday!

All in all, it's been a crazy couple of months.

But we've enjoyed it!!