We're home!

Wow! It's been awhile. My friend Stephanie honestly thought something bad happened to me since I haven't blogged for four days (yes, I know I'm addicted).

We just returned home from a wonderful vacation in Scottsdale, Arizona. We had a lot of crazy adventures so it will take me awhile to get it written, but expect it soon. The post will have plenty of pictures and videos.

For now, here's a little teaser. Here's Jordan enjoying some Arizona sunshine.

Yup, one more post.

I didn't realize I was holding the camera the wrong way until I was done filming. Sorry, you'll have to tilt your head to watch. This is just a preview of the dancing phenom we call Jordan. I had to prompt him in this video, but he normally doesn't need any help thinking of moves.

P.S. I say whoops-a-daisy in both videos. I didn't realize I said it so much. Thanks Kelsey! :)

Air Jordan

Check out Jordan's mad basketball skills - move over Carlos Boozer! Also check out my annoying commentary. (Move over John Madden?)

Homemade BBQ sauce

I have recently become obsessed with making my own sauces, dressings, and condiments. I prefer the way they taste and feel good about knowing exactly what is going into them. Some of the few things I've tried are: ketchup, cream of chicken soup (which I use in a lot of casserole dishes), thousand island dressing, dry taco seasoning (like the kind you buy in a package), and BBQ sauce. I just barely made the BBQ sauce last week, and I thought it was so good I had to post the recipe. It was also very easy.


BBQ sauce

• 2 cups ketchup (if you are super ambitious you can make your own)
  
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cups red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
• 4 teaspoons hickory-flavored liquid smoke
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, mix together the ketchup, tomato sauce, brown sugar, wine vinegar, molasses, liquid smoke and butter. Season with garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, paprika, celery seed, cinnamon, cayenne, salt and pepper.
2. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for up to 20 minutes. For thicker sauce, simmer longer, and for thinner, less time is needed. Sauce can also be thinned using a bit of water if necessary. Brush sauce onto any kind of meat during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

This recipe makes A LOT of sauce, so you could half the recipe and be just fine. I used this sauce for beef ribs, and they were awesome. I braised the beef and then cooked them in a crockpot on low with the sauce on top. So good!

Photo Booth fun

I was going to wait to post these pictures until I had access to a scanner, but I couldn't wait, so I took a picture of them instead. The photo booth we took these in didn't have a curtain, so I had an audience of about 10 senior citizens. They were commenting on how cute it was, and then I held Jordan upside down. I think I shocked them a little bit. I had already planned on holding him upside down for one of the pictures, and no group of old folks was going to stop me. Jordan was laughing until it took the picture, so he looks terrified, but he was having fun.

Intoducing Boo

This is Jordan's favorite toy. It's name is Boo. Jordan named it all by himself. He loves the toy so much he had a hard time letting me take a picture of it, he kept sitting on it.

I finally replaced the batteries in my camera that I can make videos with, so hopefully soon there will be some funny videos of Jordan. Every day Jordan and I have a dance party, and he is the funniest dancer, so I hope to get some videos of that posted soon!

Chocolate lover

I let Jordan have a square of chocolate after lunch today. It's a special treat, so I broke it in to a bunch of tiny pieces so he could savor it and also make him think he was getting much more than he really was. When we got to the last piece I braced myself for a fight, and told him it was the last one. He ate it, waved good-bye to the wrapper, and ran away. What an obedient child!

Chow Mein Noodles

This is what happens when you have a pantry door that doesn't close properly and a curious toddler. Oddly enough, I was in the same room, but I was busy making dinner. It's funny how much mischief he can get in to even when I'm in the same room.

Huh?

Unlike my sweet nephew who hardly said anything before he could say complete sentences, Jordan tries (and usually fails) to say whatever he can. I probably miss a lot of the words he is trying to say, but sometimes he will point to a picture and say the word or say a word that we have been repeating over and over. It's like he's developed his own little language only understood by Benji and me. For example, today he got way excited and started laughing and bouncing. He pointed to a butterfly and said, "bud-tee."
Some of the other words he says that would fly under our radar if he didn't point are:

tees (teeth)
tu tu (choo-choo, which means train)
ishhhhh (fish)
bi (bike)
ck-ck (clock)
baa (bath)
ba-skeet (basketball, although he has said this right a few times)
bah (ball)
beh (bear)
wa-dees (what is this?)
jews (this could mean shoes, juice, or Jesus depending on where he's pointing)

We sure are proud of him for trying!

What a pretty boy

We have a tiny bathroom in our house so I usually have to sit in front of our mirror in our room to get ready. Jordan likes to sit down next to me and watch, and he especially loves when I put on my makeup. Maybe I'm just trying to stick up for my little boy, but with all of the brushes, colors, and sparkles what little kid wouldn't love makeup? Ok. Maybe my boy is weird. I don't know.
Anyway, the other day I started applying makeup and Jordan started rubbing his lips together and then smacking them. I thought it was a little odd, and then I realized he was mimicking my lipstick application. Yesterday, Jordan was quietly watching me, then out of no where he said, "pretty" which sounded more like, "priiiiiiiitty." Maybe I should intervene. I don't know what this makeup obsession is going to do to him.

I DID IT!

Today I bravely attempted the whole Disneyland experience alone with Jordan. We had a wonderful time! It was nice to get back to Disneyland after not being able to go for two months (our season passes have blacked-out dates for the summer). I didn't think I would miss it, but I did. I think I enjoy Disneyland more than Jordan.
We didn't get on very many rides because it was extremely busy. Jordan miraculously made it through a line that was about an hour long! It was pretty monumental since he usually has a hard time with 20 minute lines. I know Jordan is getting older because today was the first time he was scared of Pirates of the Caribbean. I could feel his head move up and down as he sobbed at the loud and scary parts. Here are the pictures of our fun:

Here we are on the Buzz Lightyear ride.

Jordan in front of the castle.

He looks kind of bored.
He loved watching the Dumbo ride.

Carousel.
Woah! The horse started moving.

He's mad because I made him sit down,
but I think he's still scared from the ride.

Main Street.
We went on a lot of fun rides and
saw some cool things, but this was
the most spectacular attraction of the day:

Woman.

It's fun to swim at the YMCA

We just got back from swimming at the YMCA pool. We had fun! Jordan's a regular Mikey Phelps.

Breaking Dawn review

I just finished Breaking Dawn (yeah, I know, it took a long time). I like the Twilight books, but I'm not WAY into them. Breaking Dawn was actually my favorite one because there was A LOT less high school drama. I don't like how dramatic little Bella, and Edward get sometimes. All, and all it was an enjoyable book. Warning: don't read it if you are baby hungry. (That sounds a lot more gruesome when you say it while referring to a vampire book.)

Poopy

I was just changing Jordan's diaper and he said, "poopy" and then pulled this face:
He sure thought he got away with saying a naughty word. It was pretty funny. He's never said, "poopy" before, and I didn't even think he knew what the word meant.

The highlight of my day

I've been pretty sick of my hair lately and decided to do something about it today. I got a haircut and highlights. I've never dyed my hair so this was a huge step for me. I was hoping it would be a little more blonde, but I guess it's a big enough change for now. My hair actually looks a lot more blonde than it does in the picture, but my bathroom doesn't have the best light. I'll have to post better pictures later.

Jordan's new words

Jordan has been quite the little parrot lately. He copies a lot of the words we say. Just today he said, pillow (powwow), clock, phone, turkey, and cow for the first time.
One of my favorite new words he says is, "mole." He says it perfectly, and his mouth goes into a funny 'O' shape when he says it. He has one little mole on his ankle, and he loves to find it and point to it. While he was in the bath yesterday we asked where his mole was and he pointed to it and said, "there it is." It was so weird to hear him say a little sentence perfectly.
Unfortunately, his favorite word to say is, "pee-pee." He giggles every time he says it. He thinks he is such a comedian. I'm trying not to laugh when he says it, but it sounds cute, so it's tough not to.
He also enjoys pointing out Carlos Boozer on his Jazz poster. He calls him, "Boo." He was way excited when he saw Boozer playing basketball for Team USA on tv, and pointed out "Boo" whenever he saw him.
We're trying to get him to chant, "USA, USA, USA!" by the end of the Olympics. As of right now he just laughs, we'll let you know if we succeed.

USA! USA! USA!

Dear Olympics,
Please stop being so addicting so I can get some sleep. I'm pretty tired.
Thanks, Melissa

"Ow Pees"

Jordan loves to go outside! (Don't most kids?) The other day he patiently tapped my leg and with big hopeful eyes said, "ow pees" (out please). It was so sweet and a refreshing change from the pointing and screaming he has been doing lately. Here are a few pictures of our fun adventure:

Pointing to the moon.

Cute glowing ears.

Too, too, TREE!!!

Jordan has started "counting" to three. (Technically, he says two twice, but he's getting there). He usually does this when he is getting ready to jump or throw something.

I washed our comforter today and was finishing drying it on our couch. Jordan thought it was the perfect place to play his count and jump game. It's funny to watch Jordan jump because both of his feet never leave the ground. (But don't tell him that - he thinks he's a regular Carlos Boozer). To make up for it he will bend one leg high in the air.

By the way, he rarely wears clothes inside, since our house is SO hot.

The case of the missing corn

I just opened a can of corn to add to the turkey vegetable chili I was making for dinner, and this is all that was in the can:
That's it! I was wondering why it took so long to drain the can. The measuring cup is 1/3 cup. Hahaha.

Update on Benji

Benji went to the Urgent Care clinic yesterday, and although his symptoms were similar, he doesn't have Viral Meningitis. He was given some great drugs to help with pain, and nausea. Drugs that make him feel a little like this:




He came home with a bunch of paperwork and under the section titled general instructions it says he needs a "head/neck gentle massage". I'm still trying to decide whether Benji told them to add that.

Update on Jordan

Jordan seems to be doing much better. He is happy, playful, and full of energy, and his rash is almost gone. He will probably stay home from church tomorrow, just in case he is still contagious.
Benji on the other hand is very sick. He just went to the Urgent Care clinic. We think he has Viral Meningitis, I guess I'll have to give you an update on my update, as soon as I know.

Jurden

Jordan just said his name. It sounded like he said Jurden.

Hadfield Look-alike Meter

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Quarantined

Jordan and I have been confined to our house for a few days, and have a few more to go. Jordan has a contagious viral infection called Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. Basically, he is covered in a rash.
Luckily, he hasn't had a fever, and he doesn't have a rash or blisters in his mouth, and the rash on his body doesn't seem to bother him too much. We've been giving him Tylenol and lots of rest.
I didn't think we would miss our daily trip to the store, or pool, but Jordan has been getting pretty restless. We've been having a lot of dance parties and basketball games to pass the time, but it doesn't seem to be enough for adventurous, social Jordan. If any of you have ideas for fun games to play with toddlers, please leave a comment. We still have a few days before the rash goes away, and until he isn't contagious anymore. It's been fun to come up with new games to pass the time, but we're running out of ideas. Yikes!

Cinderella Man

Jordan is getting smarter. He used to point to the door and say, "ow side" whenever he wanted to go out. Recently he figured out that mom and dad always put shoes on before going outside, so he's started bringing us our shoes when he wants to go out. Today, Benji was getting ready to go swimming, and Jordan (not wanting to be left behind) put on one of my shoes and ran to the door and waited for dad to meet him there. Jordan sure thought he pulled a fast one. He actually tried on Benji's Crocs first, but couldn't get them to stay, so opted for the more appropriate wedge sandal.

Go Big Blue!

We've been indoctrinating Jordan early in the ways of the Aggie. This is what we need to try to keep up with. So far, I think we're doing alright because we've taught him to say Big Blue (which comes out sounding like "Bg Bue") when he sees the USU mascot on his basketball hoop. We're sure proud of his progress because he spent the last three weeks calling it a fish.

Breaking Dawn

I just bought the new book in the Twilight series today. I wanted to take pictures of me acting like it was the best thing I have ever bought. So here I am romantically spinning with my new young adult vampire romance novel...







We are so in love.