Standing in my shoes

All kids have a moment when they want to try on Mom or Dad's shoes. For Jenna she tried mine on this week. We had just gotten home, and I was in a hurry to get her some milk since she needed a snack so I just kicked my shoes off in the kitchen. After I prepared her sippy cup I turned around to see her standing there and trying with all her might to get her little foot in my shoe. She just recently started walking everywhere, but her balance is still a little wobbly. For her to lift her foot high enough to slip it into my shoe was quite the feat. And when she would succeed with one foot she would quickly lose her balance and plop down on her diaper padded bottom.

I felt sorry for her and decided that I would help her, so I set the shoes side by side and lifted her up to slip her feet in. As soon as she realized what I was doing she started giggling. She was so proud to be standing in my shoes. (Walking in them was another matter!)

I don't like my shoes, but Mommy's shoes are a different.

Our Dirty Babe

Earlier this week Dad came home and took the kids out in the backyard. Then he introduced Jenna to the garden hose! She had great fun whipping it around and watching the water spray in all directions. Well, playing with the water wasn't enough for Little Robby, so he showed Jenna how water and dirt make mud! (Oh, it's fun being a kid!) Jenna thought this was great and she learned all about how mud feels...

smeared on her body! "They say it's good for the skin!" she says.

Want to pick me up Daddy?!

We milked a cow!

We went on a tour this last week of a local dairy. Besides the cows they also had some other animals, so this was a really fun opportunity for us to introduce Jenna to some real live farm animals up close and personal!

As you can see the horse was a hit! She really like touching his head. I must say this was an extremely patient horse, especially since Jenna tried to poke his eye a couple of times.

Here's Little Robby on the hay ride. They took us around the dairy so we could see the different areas. One thing I found interesting was that cows eat 50 gallons of food per day! And the average cow can give 7 gallons of milk per day (15 gallons if they have just given birth)!

Jenna and Dad enjoy the shade. (The Arizona summer has begun. It was well over 100 that day!)

Jenna's first taste of chocolate milk! Yum, yum!

Robby's in the pig pen (sometimes I think that his room is one too!)

Evidently, the pig got too up close and personal for Jenna's taste. She lost it when he tried to stick his snout through the fence to say hello.

Fortunately, Jenna recovered from her scare with the pig and decided to be friendly with the sheep.
Okay so here's the reason we came... to milk a cow! I must say that it was totally different that I thought it would be. Their udders feel like very thick skin (Robby described it as like the skin of an elderly person only thicker.)

Initially, Little Robby didn't want to try and milk the cow, but we eventually convinced him! Click here and watch the Let's Milk a Cow! video to see what Chap thought about milking a cow!

And last of all, our two sweet cuties taking a ride on the tractor! Watch where you are going Chap!

The Birthday Girl!

Amazingly, Jenna just passed the one year mark! Hard to believe isn't it?! We celebrated on Saturday with Aunt Andra, Uncle David, Matthew, and James. It was good that things worked out this way too because poor little Jenna was sick on her birthday. She made it almost completely through her first year before having an illness with a fever. On the Sunday before her birthday she came home from church acting very lethargic and she felt very hot, so we took her temperature and sure enough she was sick! The illness lasted until Wednesday which was the first day that she seemed better. Then Thursday and Friday she had a splotchy rash-like appearance over her face and tummy, but luckily by Saturday she was all better. Just in time to celebrate her birthday! And boy did she have fun!

This is a picture of the birthday girl on her birthday! You can see she was still happy even though she was still sick that day.

Little Robby wanted to write about Jenna's birthday party (with some editorial comments by Dad):

Yesterday, Jenna had a birthday party. Matthew and James (cousins) came over. First, we talked and hung out. After that, we ate cake and ice cream.

Around the time that we were eating ice cream we decided to crack a coconut. First, we drained the coconut "juice." We decided to drink some of the juice. Ewwww! It was kind of bitter. After we ate our cake and ice cream we opened the coconut. The part that you eat inside the coconut kind of tasted like Brazil nuts. After we opened the coconut Jenna opened her presents. First from Mom she got a little farm set.Secondly, she got a stuffed horse which she really liked from me. Then she got a little doll from Mom and Dad. She also got a very big set of Mega Bloks from Grandma and Grandpa. She also got books from her grandparents. After she opened her presents we decided to play with them. I decided to play with the Mega Bloks. (No surprise there!) I built a big house! Matthew went into my room and decided to get out my Tinker Toys. I decided to use the Tinker Toys to become a ninja master! (All of his Tinker Toy weapons were stuffed in his waistband, creating quite the effect. Aunt Andra commented that he "looked like he was about to detonate.") After that I got a little tired, so then I wrapped up in my sheet. (Wheww, was I tired!) Matthew was trying to get me up, but I still wouldn't move from my spot. A few minutes later Matthew and James had to go home. What a day!