Wednesday, August 29, 2007

The Bob Blog

Whenever I read the name of this blog, I think it says, "Ellament and the BLOB." I'm not a blob!

Then I got to thinking today, "What if we called this thing the Bob Blog? Or better yet, the Blob Blog? Not that that has any relation to my name whatsoever. It's just interesting." Then I hit myself because I was saying these things out loud at the law library and everyone was staring at me funny.

Today is my birthday. Jocelyn stayed up until 2:30 last night decorating and cleaning the house for me, then she woke up at like 6 to make breakfast (the best German Oven Pancakes ever). Then she gave me some sweet gifts, which I loved. Especially the cheetos. I've already eaten a pack.

But the best gift of all, which was partially from Peter, was a slideshow with music that she had created called "I Love DAA-DAA!" (spelling is uncertain). It's full of pictures of Peter and I (and a few with Jocelyn, of course) in chronological order. Take a look!



Thanks Jocelyn! You're the best! (-Robet)

Monday, August 27, 2007

24



Happy Birthday to me and all that jazz (it was yesterday). I had a wonderful day (although my cell was on silent for the majority... then it died... aka, sorry if I missed your call, but I loved the voice mails!). Robert treated me like a princess and made me breakfast (his famous french toast), took care of Peter (changing every diaper and taking him during all of church so I could attend all the meetings), and showering me with gifts, love, and attention. We also went to my Aunt Sue and Uncle Brian's for dinner and they had a cake and presents for me, which was a welcome surprise. Thanks everyone!

So now I'm twenty-four. Is it weird to be embarrassed to tell people your age because you feel too young? Seriously. I feel like my grown-up life as a wife and mother sounds too grown-up for twenty-four. Is that odd or what? I think I'm going to try this year to enjoy this age to its fullest (and try my best to not cringe when people ask my age).

Welp, I know why you really read this blog. It's for pics of my CUTER THAN BELIEF son, Peter. So here you go. (-Jocelyn)



On the swings at a nearby park (he LOVED swinging as you can see):
FINALLY here are a couple pics of Peter's two teeth (they're on the bottom):



*In case you didn't know or you've forgotten: Robert's twenty-fourth birthday is Wednesday!

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Ideas Please!



Hello Everybody! It was another "eventful" week at church with good old Peter. He did really well during sacrament meeting (including the half when I was feeding him in the mother's room), but Sunday school and Relief Society were different stories. He loves to scream . . . and he used his new found vocal talents very liberally, meaning that Robert spent most of Sunday school and I spent most of Relief Society in the hallway. *Sigh.* I guess we'd better get used to church hallways from here on out!

I want to ask each of you to comment with some ideas for me. We are living on a very limited student budget (AKA: law school in D.C.!!!), so lately, our main cuisine is either Top Ramen or Spaghetti O's. I'm fine with either every now and then, but I need more ideas for economical meal ideas that maybe branch out a bit more. Maybe meals that are relatively cheap to make and will leave leftovers? Ideas? PLEASE comment!

Well, hope all is well for you. Tomorrow is Robert's first official day. Daah! (-Jocelyn)

Pictures!

This is going to be a blog with just pictures, because (hooray) I found my camera cord. I actually don't have a good shot of Peter's tooth, but I'll try to get one later . . . when he's not napping.

Enjoy! And be sure to read the next blog and give me some recipe ideas. Seriously. I need them!!! (-Jocelyn)
--
Here are a few shots from our extremely fun trip to Bear Lake with our friends Lauren and Jennifer and their daughter Adalyne. Peter and Adie had so much fun playing . . . and so did the grown-ups!








This shot is of Robert and Peter on our new balcony (so nice). See our beautiful "backyard" view? (I'll post more pics of our apartment later . . . once our boxes are all sorted away. Yes, we are STILL unpacking!!!)

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Mr. Independent


No, I haven't found my camera cord. These cute pics were taken at our last BYU ward activity (just a couple weeks ago) and are compliments of our friends Brittney and Joe.

The past few weeks, Peter has really come out of his shell. I told you all about his verbal exuberance in the last post . . . now onto his eating.
-
We give Peter rice cereal, something that's been on again/off again since he was four month old. (He wasn't ready for it, so we had to keep retrying, etc.) Now we feed it to him everyday, but he has recently decided (this week) that he no longer wants to be FED. He wants to be independent and feed himself. Yes, that's right. My six month old baby will absolutely refuse to open his mouth for rice cereal unless he himself is holding the spoon. We don't know if it's unusual or anything, but we certainly think it's funny. He either has his hand on the spoon to help us feed him (so he's guiding the spoon and thus feels like he has some control) or he has it all to himself. He actually does just fine holding the handle and getting the spoon part in his mouth. He is insanely messy after eating, of course, but still . . . a lot of the food does make it into his mouth.
-
I am so not in the mood to unpack. I'm trying to get motivated again. I was extremely motivated the first few days, and now I just want to arbitrarily throw everything away. (The fact that a huge majority of the unpacked boxes are my clothes is keeping me from doing that.) I've unpacked a couple of boxes today, but it seems like I will NEVER be done! Darrrgh!
-
Robert's loving his law school orientation. Aww, my brainy, geeky husband. I love him so. I miss him so! I'm seriously afraid for the first year of law school, because EVERYONE tells us to brace ourselves (and for me to get used to the idea of being essentially husbandless). Let's just say I am relying heavily on the Lord to give me the strength to get through, because despite my own independent nature, I very heavily depend on Robert as my best friend, support, emotional reassurer, chore buddy, co-parent, etc. It's hard to think of having a bad day and not being able to call in Robert reinforcements (a luxury I got used to with him working at the lovably flexible MTC). *Sigh.* I guess we're really, really grown-ups now, with one sad exception: All the responsibility and sacrifice, minus the income. Haha. (-Jocelyn)

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Vocal Chords

<<< We took a casual stroll by 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue the other day. It's just four blocks up from GW!

Still haven't found the camera cord. Sorry. I can't wait to publish photos of Peter's cute little tooth (yes TOOTH) and our new apartment . . . but alas, you'll just have to wait.

If you know Robert and me, you know that we are very vocal people. We love to sing, we love to talk . . . we love to use our vocal chords. (If you know my family, you won't be surprised to know that I am actually one of the QUIETER of the bunch. Seriously!)

I just say all of that to preface Peter's newest revelation: yep, his vocal chords. It shouldn't be shocking, since we're his parents, but man, he can scream! Today especially he has had a very fun time talking VERY loudly and SCREAMING (at sonic levels) just for fun. Yes, for FUN! Not because he's mad . . . just because he can. Oh boy. I am a little scared for the toddler/tantrum years.

Robert's at his first day of law school orientation today. I'm having a "down" day. We've been going-going-going to unpack and get so much done before school starts, and I just need a day to veg out and be lazy. So I'm taking it. I have unpacked a little today, but with my mom's permission (thanks, Mom, for making me feel like I can take a break and still be okay), I am going to take it easy . . . and worry about unpacking later.

Have I mentioned that we have a gorgeous view of trees (really, really tall and thick New England trees!) from our living room? Ahh, I love it. Welp, have a great day! (-Jocelyn)

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Welcome to Washington DC!

Speaking of Washington, how the heck are you supposed to write it? Washington DC? Or is it just Washington? Or just DC? Or is D.C. still preferred? The road signs here all call it simply "Washington," but back west, I think most people refer to it as D.C., probably to avoid confusing it with the state. Then again, there's a city in Pennsylvania, not too far from here, that is also called "Washington." I think people around here just generally prefer confusion to order, if you want to know the truth.














It's been a few days since we officially arrived, so I wanted to report on how the rest of the trip went. The short answer is, "good for us, bad for Jocelyn."

Actually, the day started bad. I checked my e-mail at the hotel in Dayton, the night before we were supposed to finish the trip, and the manager here said the office just happened to be closing three hours early the day we were supposed to arrive and check in. So even though we had estimated arriving at 5:30, we now had to make haste to be there by 4:00 p.m.
We woke up at 5:30, ate breakfast in the lobby, and were on the road by 6:15. The Penske handbook says you're not supposed to drive faster than 55 mph when you're towing a car, but we took it at a steady 70 mph most of the way.
I had no idea we were headed toward the Appalachian mountains, which was the most stressful part of the trip. We'd go downhill at a good speed, then hit an uphill and the truck would start to slow down, from 65, to 60, to 50, to 40. Sometimes the RPM would hover at around number 5 for a minute straight as we struggled to go up the mountain, and I was constantly afraid the engine would give out. I didn't remember the Rocky Mountains being this difficult.












Even with the upward hill struggles, we still managed pretty good time, and made it to the apartment by 2:30, a full three hours before our original estimated time of 5:30.

It was the hottest day of the year in the area, but Stephen and I got to work unloading. We both had pounding headaches for the rest of the night as a result of heat stroke, and we both took cold showers when it was all done to clean off all the sweat. D.C. humidity is not my favorite thing.














Some of Jocelyn's relatives showed up to help at 5:00, and by the time the Elder's Quorum arrived, there were just a few boxes left in the truck. More relatives of Jocelyn's and more elders came at 5:30, when we were originally supposed to start, but everything was finished by then.

To celebrate the end of our journey, Stephen and I went to the National Mall and saw some of the famous memorials there. I drove him to the airport at 6:00 the next mroning.














Jocelyn's travel experience was altogether different. She had a layover in Chicago that was supposed to last only an hour; it lasted ten. I drove to the airport at the right time, and ended up staying there for as many hours myself. Instead of arriving at 7:50, Jocelyn's plane came in at 5:30 a.m. We drove home and all three of us (Jocelyn, Peter, and I) slept for a good six hours.
Now we're settled and unpacking, bit by bit. We love our place. Better than Rivendell.
(-Robert)

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Road Trip!


It's Day 2 of our epic journey to Washington D.C. Currently, we are stationed at a Marriott hotel in Dayton, Ohio (thanks to Alex Kopayghora for getting us the friends & family rate), resting in preparation for the final push tomorrow.

My brother Stephen and I embarked Monday morning at 4 a.m. I love waking up before the rest of the world when going on a trip. You get to ride along in the darkness and watch as the world changes from pitch black to twilight to dawn. It's exciting.

But then, of course, the charm was destroyed once we hit Wyoming. I'm sure Wyoming's great and all in those areas where you can fish and camp, but along I-80, it is the most boring stretch of land on Earth. People warned me about Nebraska, but Wyoming was way worse. Wyoming was barren and filled with sagebrush, and came with occasional giant pollution-causing factories. Nebraska was green, lush, and came with a historical bridge.

We did have some tire trouble that first day. A split near the rim. But Penske called a mechanic to come bail us out and we made it to our first stop only six hours later than I'd originally estimated.

The people we stayed with were the LeBarons--friends of a guy named Jon Roundy, who I worked with at the MTC, who is now going to law school at Creighton in Omaha. The LeBarons, even though they had never met us, were happy to take in friends of Jon. The next morning, when we left, I put a note on the bed that said,

"Dear LeBarons, thank you so much for your hospitality. Your house is like Rivendell--a refuge before the remainder of the journey."

Stephen said it was the geekiest thank you note he'd ever seen (which made me quite proud).

Day 2. Day 2 was better than Day 1. The drive wasn't as long, and we passed through some beautiful country (AND we crossed the Mississippi). We also got to drive through Indianapolis, where I served a fourth of my mission, and I showed Stephen the enormous Indianapolis Speedway (which he was stunned by).

Oh, and we saw two commercial trucks that had flipped over on their sides and were lying in corn fields, each with an invisible sign sticking up that said "Don't let this happen to you!"

It's been super fun so far--between having philisophical conversations with my brother and admiring the landscape.

That's it for now. I'll see you in D.C.

(-Robert)

P.S. Here's some pictures from the states we passed through.











Wyoming
(borrring!)

















Nebraska














Rivendell

















Iowa (Is This Heaven? No, it's Iowa).












Illinois (Mississippi River)

















Indianapolis Speedway (This place seats a quarter of a million people).

Thursday, August 2, 2007

MTC Invasion


So I am totally crashing the MTC today, Peter as my sidekick. Seriously, though, I'm currently typing to y'all from Robert's desk on his LAST day of work. Crazy!


We have been packing up a storm, so we don't have too much more to go before we are DONE! Last night, we had a packing party with our friends Mike and Maribeth. They were such a huge help . . . we got most of the kitchen done and then we celebrated by playing Gamecube. :)


Today was Peter's six-month check-up. He weighs 14 pounds, 11 ounces (a whopping 3 pound gain from last month!) and is doing well overall. The shots, as usual, were pure torture. He doesn't do well with shots. He didn't cry too bad when they actually gave him the shots, but afterward, he always has a rough day. So today has been filled with lots of crying . . . cuddling . . . Infant Tylenol . . . and more crying. I hope he feels better soon!


Well, here's hoping your world is splendid. (And forgive the boringness of this post; I blame it on lack of sleep and tons of stress!) (-JoJo)