Merry Christmas!

Another Christmas has come and gone. . .Elizabeth seemed to enjoy this year's festivities much more than last year's (which she primarily spent nursing and sleeping). We had a whirlwind weekend, full of family parties--Elizabeth loved the chance to play with her cousins and second cousins (. . .or are they first cousins once removed?)

Elizabeth welcomed her parents to the first of many too-early Christmas mornings to come by waking up at 6:30 on Sunday and refusing to go back to sleep. So we ended up opening our presents before church after all! After church we spent the afternoon with the Eppersons, followed by an evening with the Olsons. At the risk of sounding like a cornball, the best present that Elizabeth received was getting to spend the day with all of her favorite people. :)

Happy Holidays!

Hard to believe Elizabeth's second Christmas is just around the corner!

There's a party going on 'round here. . .

Last night we had the family over to our house to celebrate Elizabeth's first birthday. (We have since decided we either need a bigger house or a smaller family!) Elizabeth was thrilled to have so many of her favorite people in the same room--she was literally shrieking with excitement as the guests arrived. She especially enjoyed playing with cousin Jordan!



After a light dinner, Elizabeth opened her presents. . .or rather, Holly opened Elizabeth's presents while the birthday girl crawled off to find something more interesting--like the discarded wrapping paper from said presents.



Once we had finished the presents, it was time for some birthday cake! Holly made a ladybug cake in keeping the with the theme of the party. And as per tradition, Elizabeth got her very own ("baby bug") cake. Something tells me she'll never go back to peas and carrots after that experience. . .

You're older than you were before, and now you're even older.

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!

It's hard to believe that everyone's favorite baby (OK, fine, we can allow some exceptions--but I'm sure she's in the Top Ten for you all) is ONE YEAR OLD today! We just got back from Elizabeths 12-month checkup, where the doctor said everything looked great. Elizabeth continues to follow her heritage and is still a little beanpole, ranking in the 80th percentile for height and the 5th for weight.

Elizabeth is learning and growing so quickly! She's gone from using just a few signs to a "vocabulary" of around a dozen signs: more, eat, nurse, read, cat, dog, fish, Grandpa, baby, bath, and play. She also uses some actual words: "Mama", "Da" (dad or dog, depending on the context!), and my mom's favorite: "Nonna". :) She has yet to take her first steps, but she loves to crawl, climb, and explore. She also likes to play games such as peek-a-boo, pattycake, and her personal favorite of drawer-emptying.

Tune in this weekend for pictures of Elizabeth's first birthday party. . .including the classic "getting cake-faced" shots. :)

Who do you look like?

Okay, time to put the age-old question to rest: What celebrity do you look like?

Myheritage.com Face Recognition Demo

Elizabeth's face matched with Whoopi Goldberg, Lindsay Lohan, Shirley Temple, and Judy Garland. . .as well as Charles Darwin and King Christian IX of Denmark.

I ran 3 different pictures of myself--the one celebrity that came up all three times was Shirley Temple. (Gotta tell this to Uncle Rob!) Others included Eva Peron, Drew Barrymore, Rosalind Franklin, and Lindsay Lohan. Oh, and Matthew Perry.

I've always thought Jared looked like Ralph Fiennes or Harrison Ford. . .but they matched him with, among others, Viggo Mortensen, Hugh Grant, and Johnny Depp. For female celebrities he matched with Andie MacDowell.

I'm sure how reliable this thing is, though; it found Hilary Rodham Clinton's face in a tree in the background of one picture. . .

Anyway, now it's your turn--let's hear who you look like! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Elizabeth certainly enjoyed her first Thanksgiving! We went over to Grandma and Grandpa Olson's for Thanksgiving dinner with Jared's family. Elizabeth didn't care much about the traditional turkey, but she really enjoyed the rolls, sweet potatoes, and PICKLES. She also snuck her first taste of ice cream from Daddy. . . After dinner we played with Fiona, Bronwen, and Sinead for awhile before heading to the Quigleys for pie with Holly's family. Elizabeth got yet another taste of ice cream (Nonny just couldn't resist Elizabeth's sign-language requests for "more") as well as a bit of pumpkin pie.


Baby Sinead is getting sooooo big!



Here's Elizabeth enjoying a pickle. . .



Fiona, Sinead, Elizabeth, and Bronwen. (Yes, I know none of them are looking at the camera--but this was the only picture that didn't have Sinead crying, Fiona pouting, or Elizabeth climbing over Bronwen to get to Grandma's curio shelf)

Junk Mail

At least there's one person at our house who enjoys the quarterly newsletters sent out by our health insurance. . .

Om. . .again.

Elizabeth has learned a new yoga position: "Downward Dog"

The artist at work. . .

"Elizabeth's works are characterized by bold, repetitive brush strokes. . .Though her early pieces are somewhat lacking in sophistication, they do possess a sort of primitive, uninhibited energy. . .The artist's primary medium is pureed peaches and yogurt on plastic, but lately she has turned her attention toward the new medium of MagnaDoodle."

Happy Halloween!

Elizabeth loves her cousin Jordan!


Elizabeth, baby Madison, and Jordan. . .ready for some Halloween fun.


Kellie and Joseph at the Oakeson family party. . .Major snaps to Kellie and Sarah for creating the costumes. . .Bonus points for anyone who knows which of the Ninja Turtles Joseph is dressed as. (His armbands are *blue*)


Amy and Aaron as the Supers (fitting name for a couple who owns as many rental properties as they do! Ohhhh, that was a bad pun. . .)


"Da" holding his little bug. . .


"Mom-mom" holding her little bug. . .

How big is my baby?

a. Pretty good-sized
b. Enormous
c. So big
d. Little


Answer:


Soooooo big!

A new cousin!

Baby Madison arrived safe and sound Wednesday evening, weighing in at 6 lbs. 12 oz. and with a very respectable head of hair! We went to visit her in the hospital last night--truthfully, Elizabeth was more interested in the box of granola bars she came across than the baby. . .but we're sure that will change soon enough. Holly, on the other hand, could not get enough of baby Madison--what a precious little bundle. Those chubby little cheeks, that tiny mouth, those sweet newborn squeaks. . .not to mention the impossibly long Olson toes! There is nothing quite so precious and tender as a brand-new baby. . .

Congrats to Jay and Lisa and big brother Jordan. . .We're so happy to have a new cousin who lives in the same area code as us! :) (Sinead and Brooklyn, we love you too, of course!)

Murphy's Law of Toys

A child will prefer to play with a toy in all but its intended purposes. I think there are some others, too--like the more expensive the toy, the less appealing it is to the child. . . And when surrounded by a selection of carefully chosen, age-appropriate toys, the child will inevitably choose to play with the doorstop.

Movie star

(You *know* that she only left the sunglasses and hairbow on long enough for me to take this picture!)

Checking the headlines

Hmmm. . ."Canada Stalls on Trade Agreement". . .

More Halloween Pics. . .

Cousin Jordan as a purple dragon, Jared as Han Solo. (Wait, which episode of Star Wars was the purple dragon in? Must've missed that one. . .)











Baby Sinead as a very chubby, very cute bumblebee. . .Aunt Clare, Aunt Clare's little sister, and Uncle Dan as various characters from ,One Fish, Two Fish




Newlyweds Aunt Joni and Uncle Aaron as Boots and King (the Olson family's pets, to the uninitiated)





Grandma Olson holding Cousin Sinead

The Olson Family Halloween Party

Our sister-in-law throws a Halloween party every year--since she's expecting a baby girl next week, we ended up having it early this year! Sorry, there are no pics of Elizabeth in her costume--this year it was a party just for the adults, so she got to stay home with Nonny and Papa (and Aunt Amy and Uncle Aaron too--bonus!)



Hmm, maybe we need to get Elizabeth an Ewok costume. . .






Who'd have thought Elizabeth's Grandpa Olson would make such a great Frankenstein? The next picture is of Aunts Sarah and Skylar. . .can you guess who they're supposed to be? :)

The newest addition to our family!

It's the moment we've all been waiting for. . .The Land Cruiser is up and running!

As you may know, Jared has a special affinity for Land Cruisers. He sold his first TLC to go on his mission, and his second to pay for school shortly after we met. Several months ago he came across an ad for a Land Cruiser needing some major engine work--and knowing his love of Land Cruisers, I couldn't say no. . .And so we became the proud new owners of a Land Cruiser that didn't run.

Jared has worked diligently on Project: Behemoth for several months, spending countless hours in the basement and driveway in grease up to his elbows. Yesterday we were able to take it on its first family drive. Aside from the dents on the front hood, it's in fantastic shape thanks to Jared's hard work. . .Holly is beginning to feel vaguely like a soccer mom, now that she's got this huge car that will fit an entire PeeWee team!

"I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. Spielberg."

It's getting harder and harder to get a good picture of Elizabeth. . .She *loves* the camera, and as soon as she hears it turn on she'll make a beeline for it!

Poultry in motion is a beautiful thing!

I first came across this book while working at Barnes & Noble in college. Since then I've fallen in love with Sandra Boynton's charming board books. I ended up buying "Philadelphia Chickens" when I joined a book club for Elizabeth. When the package arrived, I immediately opened the CD accompanying this book and popped it in the CD player.

The CD features celebrities such as Kevin Kline, Meryl Streep, and the Bacon Brothers. . .and it is hilarious! The music is fantastic--from the swinging title track to the bluesy torch song "Nobody Understands Me" to the simple but charming "silly Lullabye" at the end. The lyrics are witty, whimsical, and well-written, just like all of Sandra Boynton's other books.

Shoot--I'll have to cut my critique short, as naptime is fast approaching. But seriously, check out this book/CD--you will love it!

It's all about the accessories.

Elizabeth has finally reached the crucial milestone in any baby girl's life: She now has enough hair to warrant "clippies"!

As a bonus, we're now picking up a couple of extra TV channels thanks to the new antenna.

New Nicknames

For those of you who don't know, we've begun to refer to our married friends with a nickname made from their two names. For example, Cory + Angela = Corgela.

Problem is, we've got babies now. . .so we need new nickames!

Cory + Angela + Jovin = Corjovela. ("Yeah, I like how the Corjovela handles, but I'm really looking for a model that will get better gas mileage.")

Mike + Elizabeth + Lydia = Miklizydia. ("The lab results are in. I'm afraid you've got Miklizydia.")

Any other suggestions?
How about one for Jared + Holly + Elizabeth?

I am so smart! S - M - R - T. . .

We went to the pediatrician's for Elizabeth's 9 month checkup on Thursday. She's growing well--28.5 inches long, and 16 lb. 7 oz. That puts her in the 85th percentile for height and the 15th percentile for weight (translation: she's a stringbean baby!) As the doctor was asking about developmental milestones, I started to realize how much she's started doing in the past few months. . .So please excuse the following shameless Mommy brag.

Elizabeth can:
--get into a sitting position by herself
--crawl
--pull herself up (and doesn't she look proud?)
--wave "goodbye"
--clap her hands
--make all sorts of vowel-consonant combinations
--whisper and shriek
--point to things
--feed herself rice puffs, peas, diced carrots, etc.
--sign for "more" of something (like the above foods)
--write a coherent five-paragraph essay in which she analyzes how the tension between the characters' outward conformity and inward questioning contributes to the underlying themes of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter (or another literary work of comparable merit)

P.S. Caleb, Elizabeth now has FOUR teeth. Numbers 3 and 4 broke through just yesterday. :)

Blackmail material

Elizabeth loves bathtime!

Bookworm

Here is Elizabeth relaxing with one of her favorite books--the scintillating "Opposites" by Sandra Boynton. It's a bit lacking in plot, to be honest. ;)

Om

Elizabeth is very proud of the fact that she can maneuver from her tummy into a sitting position--she's usually sitting up in her crib when I get her up from her naps. Last night I *thought* she was asleep when I put her down on her side, but I guess she was still awake enough to change positions--because awhile later I checked and found her sound asleep like this. Yes, that is her FOOT resting against her cheek!

Hey, baby--come chill at my crib. . .

Elizabeth's buddies Jovin (Corgela's little guy) and Lydia (MikBeth's little girl) came over to play on Saturday. The babies sat around and looked at each while their parents compared diaper bags and reminisced about how we used to be quite smart and could participate in intelligent conversation. (*Sigh* I don't think those days are ever coming back!)
That's lovely Lydia above, sucking on her burpcloth. Jovin is the oh-so-chill baby lounging in the bouncy seat.

Get ready to waste a few hours on the Internet. . .

Click here.

Sizing up the competition

Meet Baby Brooklyn Margo Epperson. . .
Elizabeth is going to have to work mighty hard to be adorable, now that she's got this beautiful baby to contend with!

The bad guy gets the Lone Ranger

Not long after we started dating, I learned a simple truth about Olson men: Old cars follow them home like a stray puppy following a schoolboy. So I wasn't too surprised when Jared came home one day with a dented and slightly swaybacked orange pickup. He had been doing some work for a neighbor in his old ward, and she had offered the truck to him--it belonged to her ex-husband who'd rolled it and left it to rust in the backyard when they broke up.

The Ranger actually ended up being a great little workhorse--ironically it needed less maintenance than either of our other cars and it was quite handy for the many, many trips to Home Depot and Lowe's we were making in those days. After it carried home the new engine for our Land Cruiser, though, we knew it was time to bid farewell to our trusty Ranger. Jared took out an ad in the classifieds last weekend, and Monday night we found a buyer. Jared drove the truck to its new owner, assuring me he'd just have the guy drive him back home. After some time went by, I started to wonder. . .Eventually Jared got home and explained what had happened: our buyer turned out to be an ex-convict, fresh from the slammer. He still had his ankle bracelet on and was effectively on house arrest--it was too late for him to be out of the house, so Jared had to call his brother for a ride.

Great, so now there's an ex-con out there who knows exactly where we live--but at least we know he's a good ex-con. . .After all, he didn't violate his parole to give Jared a ride home!

Big News

Elizabeth has been officially dethroned as the sole Epperson grandbaby. . .Brooklynn Margo arrived this morning--Brittiny delivered her this morning at their apartment, with a little help from paramedics. Brandon called and left a message on our machine early this morning, so we haven't gotten the full story yet, but we'll keep you posted. :)

Welcome to the world, baby Brooklynn!

Click me! Click me!

A slight departure from our family life because I *have* to tell you guys about this site:

Project Implicit

Alan Alda discussed this research project on an episode of Scientific American Frontiers. Last week I checked out an intriguing book--Blink--in which the author Malcolm Gladwell discussed the same project and included the above link to the very task researchers use to measure your automatic preference for religion vs. atheism, cats vs. dogs, women vs. men, and more. So go ahead and put your logical, unbiased mind and lightning-fast reflexes to the test. . .but be warned, it's a little addicting. :)

If you like the research project, you'll love Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. He details the phenomenon of "thin-slicing", discusses the implications of speed-dating, and puts to rest the ancient Coke vs. Pepsi debate. I'm reading his first book now--Tipping Point, a look at the phenomenon of the "social epidemic". Gonorrhea outbreaks, Paul Revere's famous ride, the popularity of Hush Puppies, and "Six Degrees from Kevin Bacon" are all explained in this fascinating book.

Update

Thanks to Caleb for reminding me the blog isn't totally up-to-date. . .Elizabeth now has TWO teeth, not one! And there seems to be one more (on the top) that she's working on. Further bulletins as events warrant.

Look, Ma. . . No knees!

Elizabeth is trying so very hard to learn to crawl. . .Might be easier if she'd bend her legs. . .

Elizabeth's busy day

This Sunday we got the chance to see TWO of our favorite babies blessed. . .For Elizabeth this meant the chance to see a whole bunch of new faces and do some serious flirting. First we headed up to the U for baby Jovin's blessing. Elizabeth wasn't so sure about the two weird guys sitting on the pew next to her, but she poured on the charm for Angela, Cory, and Makayla, who were sitting behind us. We were hoping to hang around after his blessing to chat with our friends, but we had to drive up to Ogden right away for the blessing of our new niece Sinead. After Sinead's blessing we had a luncheon at the Keogh (Clare's family) farm , complete with the freshest, sweetest corn I've ever had. Elizabeth didn't get any corn. . .but she did try to sneak a sip of Dad's root beer.

Bring on the STEAK!

People have been telling us for MONTHS that Elizabeth "must be teething" because she drooled, chewed on things, whatever. . .Well, it finally happened--and a lot quieter than we thought, too. Elizabeth was drooling RIVERS last week and acting only slightly crankier than usual. Last night Holly checked for the umpteenth time and was shocked to discover a sharp, rough little *something* poking out of Elizabeth's gums. We finally got a better look this morning, and sure enough--there's the tiniest white speck of a tooth poking up through a purplish spot in her gums!

Note to Aunts Hootie and Bootie: Remember, just because she has a tooth does NOT give you carte blanche to feed her bits of your pizza, cookie, strawberry trifle, buffalo wing, and so forth. ;)

Naptime

Elizabeth has decided recently that she's too big for naps. Dad is trying his best to convince her otherwise. . .

Thirsty, anyone?

We made these bags at Mutual this week. Very cool, very functional, and very easy. . .The hardest part is finding someone to drink the 20 pouches of Capri Sun.

Got some time to waste?

I stumbled across perhaps THE coolest crafting forum ever: Craftster.org. Sarah, you're going to love this forum! Earring holders made of old records, purses made of Capri Sun pouches, decoupaging on every flat surface available!

(We're actually making the Capri Sun purses for Mutual tomorrow night. . .I'll post a picture of mine when it's done!)

Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!

Congrats to Dan, Clare, and big sisters Fiona and Bronwen on the arrival of their new baby girl, Sinead. . .We can't wait till she and Elizabeth are big enough to play together/beat up on each other. ;)

Welcome Back, Potter

In case you've been in Mars, in a cave, with your eyes shut and your ears plugged, the 6th volume of the Harry Potter series was released yesterday. And surprise, surprise, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is actually shorter than the previous two volumes!

(Speaking of which, who's got our copy of Volume 5, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix? We can't remember if we loaned it to the Eppersons or the Olsons. . .)

Our 3rd Anniversary

Saturday we celebrated out 3rd anniversary. We didn't get home until 1:30 AM, but not because we were out together celebrating. In fact, it seems every years there's something to prevent us from going out together and celebrating our anniversary. The first year Holly had school meetings and Jared had job training. The second year we had our ultrasound and a neighborhood party hosted by our circle. This year we had the valley-wide Day of Celebration. As youth leaders (Jared is first counselor in YM, Holly is the Laurels advisor), we were involved in this gathering of about 20,000 Young Men and Young Women from the Salt Lake Valley. It was several months in the making, and last night at Rice-Eccles Stadium all our planning and practicing came together. Singing, dancing, chanting, a special message from President Gordon B. Hinckley. . .It was incredible! The attached picture is the result of our "scarfing"--one of the highlights of the evening. Each person in the stadium had 3 scarves in the Primary colors. We worked together to display this message: "Choose Light", which was the theme for the Day of Celebration.