I DON'T WANT TO GO TO GIRLS CAMP ANYMORE

no. i don't. one word: chiggers. one more word: ticks. i was looking forward to girls camp, wholeheartedly. i was looking forward to hanging with my beehives, snipe hunting, s'more eating, wreaking havoc with all sorts of good-natured pranks. that was the dream. cue first aid certification last night at mutual. then talk of insect bites. then horrific panic inside my head. no, no, no, no, no. i was the only one who didn't know what chiggers were. cue, "sister garrison, you've never had chiggers!?" what the heck is a chigger!? it sounded like scabies, which i don't really know what that is either but it sounds undesirable...and scary. maybe they're actually spelled scaries? anyways, my beehives dive into stories of never-ending itchiness, swelling, redness and tales of horror and woe that lasts for weeks that i don't even want to remember. i was about to wave it off. you know, beehives and their enthusiastic stories. but then my fellow leaders chime in. "yeah, they're horrible. worst thing ever." perfect. just fantastic actually. i was queasy listening to how to stop a wound from gushing blood at camp, now i'm totally freaked. "so how do i avoid these chiggers?" i ask. response, "you can't sister garrison. they're invisible." and they're not kidding. they sound like something voldemort would use. i don't think i have what it takes to be a cabin mom. i don't do blood. i don't do chiggers. i do s'mores. that's it. and so i rounded up my beehives and told them we would assign chigger and tick buddies. and all of them are my buddy. they get to check me over every time we come back to the cabin and get the chiggers off. oh wait, they're freakin' invisible! that's it. i'm going to die. killed by itchy, invisible chiggers. that's what my tombstone will read. and they'll bury me at girl's camp using their 1st year camping skills--so my grave will be shallow--and i'll be eaten even further into death by more chiggers, then wolves. it's morbid. why did i ever say i would go!

oh at the end of the certification last night,"you do know, sister garrison, they're aren't chiggers at camp. they're only found in tall grass and camp's mostly dirt and gravel."

beehives.

kumbaya, my lord. kumbaya.

foodie

i love those sticky crumbs on his curled, little fingers

and the squishy, chubby rolls at his armpits.

i love his small, sweet, puckered mouth 

and the six teeth that relish those bread bits.

9 months

did i mention jake is 9 months! and there's so much to say about all that he is into/doing/learning that it makes my fingers hurt. so here's the gist (if you want a full read-out of every teensy tiny detail than i can xerox a copy of his baby book :): still twirling those pigs of his (mostly when he's excited or wants something cool that you have in your hand), crawling, feeding himself cheerios, following the cat, always wanting to pick off dust bunnies from the broom (ick), going nuts when his blue ball bounces, in size 18-24 months (he's a big 'un), six teeth, pinchy fingers, more blonde hair, chubby toes, squawks like a bird repeatedly, been bopped on the head by the broom handle, bumps head several times a day, kneels against the crib waiting for me to come get him, plays a peek-a-boo with me, eats table food, mesmerized by Tangled, hates diaper changes, waves his pointer finger at things  which means "no-no."

he totally cracks me up. especially with the finger pointing. yesterday at church I was talking to a friend and I said to Jake, "Say hi to Mandi." and he proceeded to shake his pointer finger at her. i think he's morphed "hi" and "no-no" together. which is probably my fault because whenever he bumps his head or gets hurt by something, i take/point at the item and wave my pointer finger at it saying, " No-no coffee table. Don't you hurt our Jakey's head!" he loves it. he'll just grin and grin at me. so i think i'm the instigator.

oh and one last thing. if anything else has developed by leaps and bounds the past month or so, it's the personality. let me be more specific. it's that darn independent spirit part of his personality. wow. you know, the one they get when they've realized they're mobile. now that he knows he can get from point A to point B whenever he likes, by golly there is no stopping him unless you want a writhing, back-arching, screeching, whirling dervish on your lap. he's worse than the cat. and it's pretty darn hilarious. for now.

general conference april 2012

jake loves general conference. scott loves general conference. i love general conference. nothing better than pajama church, naps on the couch between sessions, snacks, and sacred family time listening to the prophet's words.

some of my favorite talks this general conference were by:
--Jeffrey R. Holland, Robert D. Hales, Donald L. Hallstrom, Larry Y. Wilson. Neil L. Anderson, M. Russell Ballard & of course, Thomas S. Monson.

some of my favorite quotes/teachings/words (i may be paraphrasing here):
--"Follow the 13th article of faith. Be optimistic. Have sunshine in your heart." --Thomas S.Monson
-- "The ultimate end of all activity in the church is to see a husband and his wife and their children happy at home, protected by the principles and laws of the gospel, sealed safely in the covenant of the everlasting priesthood." --Boyd K. Packer
-- "Teach your children the doctrine. Teach them to understand. Get it into their hearts." --Cheryl A. Esplin
-- "It is possible to be active in the church and inactive in the gospel." -- Donald L. Hallstrom
-- "Do not be envious when someone else receives a blessing. Envy is a mistake that keeps on giving. Why eat a quart of pickle juice every time someone around you has a happy moment? (hah) Don't dwell on old issues. We cling too much to trivial issues. God thrills in being merciful. You are never too far from divine love." -- Jeffrey R. Holland  (my favorite talk from conference. amazing.)
-- "Come to yourself." & "It is difficult for youth to understand how present decisions affect them eternally--help them become spiritually and temporally self-reliant." --Robert D. Hales
-- "Wise parents must weigh when children are capable of choosing wise decisions--don't do it all for them. Wise parents prepare their children to get along without them. Let them have spiritual responsibility. Let them make choices--even if they are wrong. Teach them how to establish their own connection with heaven. Let your children feel that you have confidence in them." --Larry Y. Wilson
-- "Write your children letters." -- David F. Evans
-- "Recognize, remember and hold sacred that light you receive." --Paul B. Pieper
-- "What thinks Christ of me?" & "Discipleship is not a competition." -- Neil L. Anderson
-- "A perfect body is not required to achieve your divine potential." -- Russell M. Nelson
-- "Stop it!" & "Don't judge me because i sin differently than you." -- Dieter F. Uchtdorf
-- "Don't live in spiritual rags, trade your rags for robes." -- Julie B. Beck
-- "Eternal truths see us home. Lay up treasures in heaven." -- Thomas S. Monson
-- "There is no greater service than the home reformed into a divine place." & "Do things in the right order: marriage first, family second." & "The most important cause of our lifetimes is our families." -- M. Russell Ballard
-- "May your homes be filled with love, courtesy, and the spirit." -- Thomas S. Monson

for me, the theme of conference was two-fold: let your families be your treasure & let go of envy, contention and unrighteous judgements. i am always amazed by the words and the whisperings of the spirit that come as i watch conference, and am so grateful for the answers they bring in response to my inner thoughts and prayers. i am grateful for continued revelation and for modern-day prophets and apostles. As in Biblical times, God still speaks to man!

a midnight premiere, mother hens & a rocker

california is always a smorgasbord of fun. lina and i went to the midnight premiere of The Hunger Games, complete with camping out in the bitter cold, shivering under a blanket eating pizza on the corner of McBean and Magic Mountain Pkwy. good times. but never again. i'm not cut out for midnight premieres anymore sadly. staying up til 3:30 am messed me up for the next several days. i was a zombie. but hanging out with Lina--who is such a fun, caring, hilarious, beautiful little sister--was wonderful. good sisterly bonding.

jake's every whim was cared to by his "little mother hens" aka the girl cousins. i think he was totally digging all the attention. such a ladies man :)

and the icing on the cake: jake proved he bleeds blue and sat smiling in his totally legit Dodgers rocker that the grandparents got him. my dad is so proud and is itching to take him to a game and feed him Dodger dogs.

a million other little memories and moments always make up our trips to california: shopping for lina's prom dress in the Fashion District, visiting jake's grandma and grandpa great at the temple, going out to lunch with Aunt Heather, Lora's baby shower, being with family on Sunday, talking, shopping, eating, crawling, crawling, crawling. always a good time. see you in May california!

oh disneyland

oh disneyland. you did not disappoint. especially when it came to wigging jake out a bit. he was bright eyed and captivated wherever we went and i swear, he did not move a single muscle during the entire show at the Golden Horseshoe. he was completely riveted in what was going on around him. and he only cried when the scary and loud bank robber bursted through the crowd outside the theatre (so says my mom and dad). he was a trooper all day and didn't even make a peep when he awoke from his nap on Pirates of the Caribbean to the sqwauky noises of "dead men tell no tales!"  yep, a total trooper. he was rewarded with churros and a mickey mouse hat.

quote of the day award goes to jake's auntie lina: "I used to make hot dogs."

outside

it's fun to eat grass.

8 months

8 months old and still a jolly old soul. he's squirming and arching and going red in the head these days with all the personality that is bursting out of that cute bod of his. he is so close to crawling. though he has perfected the backwards crawl. he just needs to switch gears so he doesn't have to ninja side somersault to get where he wants to go.

and he's already into everything: chewing on computer chords, finding bits of paper on the floor, grabbing the cat's tail, rolling off the bed. yes sir. jay-bird is on the move. and feisty. oh so feisty. he had his first breakdown in Pueblo Viejo the other night. you know...that shrill and out of nowhere, tantrum scream that only comes from losing a beloved straw to the fake terracotta depths below. scott and i just looked at each other telepathically communicating: was that our son!? so this is why people usually bypass bringing their kids to restaurants. ah. and it will just get better. maybe jacob will even follow in his cousin Charlie's footsteps and ralph in a Red Lobster one day. ah, what exciting memories will be made.

but for now, we relish the simple, non-dramatic moments of simply being best buds and hanging out all day. today, for example, was gorgeous. the warmest its been so far. spring, glorious spring. jacob slobbered on the windows in his excitement then ate some grass just to digest the wonderful sunshiny-ness of it all. i don't think it tasted very good. but our mini picnic was fabulous nonetheless. i love his intense curiosity and furrowed brow as he examines the world around him then giggles in approval. he's the best. and getting too big too fast.

i'm seriously going to have to beat the girls off with a stick. this smirk cannot be ignored.