October in Review

We have had a busy month at our house. Jackson is growing at record speed, the weather has been delightful and Troy has been busy like always, but is doing well in his classes. Here are a few of our October highlights.

Troy's new bike. This black beauty replaced the first Walmart special which was a nightmare from day one. So far Troy has been impressed with its performance. Good thing, because it is his only form of transportation. :)

Softball Intramurals. Troy started playing softball again. It's fun to watch and I get to visit with Heather and Danielle. We have a great time together.

 

 

Dave Ashby holding Ava, Troy & Jackson, and Sam Ashby.

Delightful Arizona Autumn :) Because the weather has been so nice. We have participated in several outdoor activities, such as an outdoor movie. (The yard had real live grass, the kind you can run around on, it was amazing.) Jackson wasn't happy about being awoken by a cold car seat. Sorry bud, we're out of the habit of keeping things warm.

We've also been to the pool several times. Heather and I went swimming one Saturday this month and it was 100 degrees. Crazy warm huh? It was really nice.

Busy Medical School. Troy's as busy as ever with finals coming up in the next two weeks, but he always makes Jackson and I a priority. Amidst the crazy schedule we've tried to squeeze in a few dates, even though we're all usually pretty tired by the time the weekend comes around. ;)

Action Jackson. This month, Jackson learned to crawl, climb and pull himself up to a standing position. He also gained another pound. I can't believe how much he has changed in 30 days. He just gets more and more fun every day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It doesn't get much better than this, does it?

Halloween with a Speckled Frog

For Halloween Jackson was a speckled frog. I think he looked adorable, but I'm a bit partial. He was able to get good use out of his fun costume this week as we had several Halloween activities.

First we had our ward Trunk-or-Treat. Troy came home from school early to attend the activity and it was SO fun.We had a chili cook-off and then there were games and activities as well as the Trunk-or-Treating. We had a great time visiting with our ward members and seeing everyone's costumes.

Troy eating Chili with his scary Halloween eyes... our camera struggles in the red-eye area. :) Wait, is Troy wearing a sweatshirt? He sure is! It was chilly for the activity, probably around 50 degrees and we all thought we were going to freeze. Haha, funny how your body adjusts to the warm temperatures. Because of the chill in the air we got to bundle up. It was so fun to wear a hoodie!

 Me with a few of my young women. Courtney Shumway on the left and Romney Allen being the funniest old woman ever on the right.

 

 

The frog prince with Princess Ava Ashby (daughter of our friends Dave and Danielle Ashby). Ava wanted to hold Jackson's hand. So cute.

Heather Ashby keeping our frog entertained. He LOVES Heather.

 

Halloween Family.

Midwestern had a Halloween carnival. I was so impressed with all the activities they had. Games, crafts, treats, and prizes, next year Jackson is going to be in heaven! We walked around, visited with friends and enjoyed some treats.

It was cool enough to have hot chocolate. It was delicious.

Troy giving Jackson a crazy stroller ride on campus. He is a calm and happy boy from the moment he is placed in the stroller. It's magic.

Tonight we also went to a fun party at Sam and Heather Ashby's, but I forgot to take pictures! We played Halloween pictionary and ate wonderful fall food like baked potatoes and apple pie. Mmm. Jackson slept for a couple hours in Sam and Heather's room which was nice of him! Then he woke up and was so angry to be awake that we had to go straight home and get him back in bed. Silly frog. Halloween is way more fun with a little man to dress up. We had so much fun at our house this week. Happy Halloween!

I Turn My Back for One Minute (continued)

 Jackson's learning curve has steepened significantly in the week since I have posted.  He is now a skilled crawler and I am learning that turning my back isn't such a good idea. Here are the places I've found our little explorer in the last several days.

 

 

Car seat, or jungle gym? One of the car seat straps motivated this climb. He loves straps lately. On the diaper bag, the high chair, wherever he can get them. When I get him out of the car I routinely find him chewing on the seat belt.

 

Can you just see the thought process here?  "Pretty cool box... I wonder what will happen when I crawl inside it?..."

 

"Huh, it falls over... well at least it tastes good."

  

 

 Here's that rear-view I referred to in the last post. I see it all the time now.

 

And yes, now the boys stands! Can you believe that? He had crawling down for about 48 hours before he decided he'd better start pulling himself up on anything he can find. His arms and fingers are pretty strong. He grips and hangs on until he can get himself up on two feet... or mostly two sets of tippy toes. The only problem is he doesn't know that when you let go of what you're holding onto, in this case our ottoman, you fall. I suppose he'll figure that out soon enough.

I turn my back for one minute and...

Jackson hasn't quite figured out how his arms are involved in the crawling process. Nevertheless, he rolls, reaches, scoots and army crawls where he wants to go. This week he has mastered the transition from tummy to sitting up which has greatly increased his mobility. On several occasions in the last few days, I've looked up to find him under various items of furniture.

Jackson's had a fascination with hair lately. The lining underneath the chair has the same soft consistency and is becoming threadbare because it's so old. By the time I realized where Jackson was, he was pulling bits of the lining off and eating them. Oh dear.

Somehow he learned how to crawl underneath this toy, in which he usually sits. I looked over and all I could see was his little bum poking out over the edge. (He moved before I could get a picture from that angle :) Interestingly enough, he likes being under it just as much as on top with the attached toys.

 

And his latest discovery, the piano pedals. They are so shiny, how could he resist? He thought these were super cool until his arm got stuck under one of them. Ouch.

 

My days of knowing just where to find Jackson during play time are over. Our little guy is much too curious to stay in one spot for long. His new maneuvering skills have opened a whole world of possibilities in our living room. Speaking of which, I'd better make sure he isn't stuck anywhere...

6 Month Check Up

Jackson had his 6 month check up this week. Here are the numbers you've all been waiting for:

Weight: 18 lbs. 8 oz. (70th percentile)

Length: 27 inches (70th percentile)

Head: 17.5 inches (70th percentile)

He's healthy and growing fast. He also had 5 shots this week, including the flu and the H1N1 vaccines. Poor guy. In spite of everything he has been still been a pretty happy boy. Cute pic, huh?

Top Ten in 10 Weeks

We've lived in Glendale for 10 weeks now. Since we've found ourselves at this monumental landmark, I thought it would be a good time to share what we've learned in our time here. Here are the top 10 lessons from life in "The Valley." (Yes, they call this place "The Valley," a name which confuses me because don't you first need mountains in order to have a valley?... that's what I thought.)

1. Plethora of Personalized License Plates.
For whatever reason, there are WAY more personalized license plates in Arizona. I would say about 8 times out of 10 these plates don't make sense. When they do make sense, 9 out of 10 plates are either really lame or just plain dumb. For instance, this morning's trip to Midwestern produced "BLUIFOX." Really? Is that what you want on your car? Not sure how I feel about that.

2. Snowbirds Aren't Necessarily So Nice. (Snowbird = retired Arizona resident)
We have a lot of retired individuals in our area. I have nothing against anyone aged 65+. I love my grandparents and I feel like theirs is truly a noble generation. However, the elderly I've encountered in the last 10 weeks are starting to make me wonder. I've never witnessed so many ornery, angry, old people in riding shopping carts. Of course the ornery aren't the majority, but I'd say they aren't necessarily the minority either. On one particular trip to Wal-Mart a guy glared at a couple in the path of his motor cart. He slowed only for a moment before squeezing his way in-between them. The woman was examining something on the floor and he very nearly hit her head as he passed. Incredible.

3. Expensive Grocery prices in The Valley.
In general, it seems some of the food staples are overpriced, such as eggs and milk. I hope the prices of oranges and grapefruit in the winter make up for it :)

4. Non-existent Couponing.
For the most part, tellers look at me and my coupon book with bewilderment. "We don't usually have people who use so many coupons," they say. On the up side, because people don't do it, I get better deals. For instance, many grocery stores take any coupon less than a dollar and match it to make it worth a dollar. It's amazing, it's like my entire coupon binder is now full of dollar bills! :)

5. A "Sahuaro" (sə-wär'ō) Is a Large Cactus.
This is the kind with three branches, the traditional cactus commonly seen in movies and art. Who knew it had such a fancy name?

6. Traffic Cameras are Sneaky.
This lesson was learned through the experience of a friend (who will remain nameless for her protection.) In Arizona there are traffic cameras on all the main freeways. There are also cameras at random intersections. If you speed past them, they flash you and send you a present in the mail. A nice speeding ticket. Our nameless informant got just such a present. $170 later we've all decided we don't like the traffic cameras.

7. Relying on your GPS is Futile.
Getting around in Phoenix is just fine if you are traveling on a freeway or main cross street. When you venture into a neighborhood, you are on your own. Our GPS has led me astray on many occasions since we moved here. When looking for a car wash, I was taken to two separate neighborhoods and told I was "arriving at my destination" in somebody's driveway. Hmm. The funny thing is, even people who have lived here for years don't necessarily know their way around neighboring subdivisions. The roads here are crazy.

8. "Summer" Isn't 3 Months Long in the dessert.
We moved in on August 1st at 3 pm and the temperature was 115 degrees. When the temp hits 115 it means it is so hot words can't describe how it feels when you walk outside. Everyone kept telling me, "Summers are rough here, but you'll just love the winters." In September it was still 110 and I realized Summer isn't 3 months long in Arizona, it's probably more like 6. (But I'm not complaining, see below.)

9. Fabulous Fall Weather.
85 degree temperatures in OCTOBER, brilliant! (Sigh) The nights get cool when you reach October and the weather is absolutely fabulous. I've been hearing, "Isn't this just great Fall weather?" Wait, did you say Fall? Ohhhh. 85 degrees= Fall. Now I know why we moved here. :) My miamaids keep telling me it gets really cold in the winter. We recently planned an activity for December to look at Christmas lights. "We'll need hot chocolate. It was freezing last year!" Wait, it gets cold here? "Yeah, in December I have to wear a jacket to school in the morning with my flip flops. I take it off once the sun's up, but before that it's cold." I just laughed.

10. Arizonians are a Freeway Naming People.
We live near a freeway called Loop 101. A road that circles the entire Valley. (See even I'm calling it that now!). The appropriate name for the 101 is "Aqua Fria Freeway." Yep. As the freeway curves around it changes names 3 times, from "Aqua Fria" to "Pima" to "Price." If you want to come for a visit, you best know the names and the numbers if you're going to pay attention to any traffic broadcast information.

There you have it. Ten lessons in ten weeks. Overall we feel like Arizona is a great place to live. I'm excited to see what else we learn about our desert oasis.

Family Night

Yesterday I was feeling trapped in the house. Troy agreed we should do something fun for family night. After picking him up from school (the new bike is on its way, thank goodness!) we went to the park and played catch. I'm surprised how much I've come to enjoy baseball. Maybe it's because Troy praises my "skills" even though they aren't very experienced or precise. We could only throw the ball around for 15 minutes before it got dark. (It gets dark here so fast!) But, we had a nice talk and then we took Jackson on a few rides down the slide. He didn't seem too excited. He mostly wanted to grab the playground bars and eat them. Funny guy. But you know, first trip to the park, we HAD to take pictures right? I am my mother's daughter. :)

So Close!

Jackson is soo close to crawling. He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks until he eventually scoots himself forward a few inches. Then he usually falls on his face. He's quite proud of his efforts though. He grins from ear to ear while he's doing it. It's pretty fun to watch. I'll bet he's figured it out within the next two weeks.

Caramel Apples

I can't think of a more fall appropriate activity than making caramel apples. We invited some friends over on Saturday to make them. I wanted to make deluxe caramel apples-- like the kind you buy for $6 in the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory back in Utah. Everyone brought toppings and I feel like the finished product turned out pretty well,  delicious to be exact. I love, love caramel apples.

Stacy Serafine and Heather Ashby dipping their apples.

Tina entertaining Jackson. The poor guy was SO tired but refused to sleep while there was a party going on.

Kind of an awkward angle for a picture, but you know how guys are when you ask them to pose for pictures. They look at me like I'm crazy. (Especially Troy, ha! Didn't know what he was getting into when he married me. :) Left to right: Nate, Sam Ashby, Troy, and Matt Serafine. I know, it's an excellent picture of all of them.

This one's a little better, but Heather and I had to coax them into doing it. Funny.

The Serafines packing up their finished apples into our Halloween bags. Eight for a dollar at Walgreens- got to love it!

Taste testing. Mmmm. Just ignore the messy kitchen behind us :)

I forgot to mention that these caramel apples were made possible by my cousin Michelle's Tipsy Blog. Click here if you'd like the recipe to make some of your own. :)