Nighttime...Daytime!...Nighttime...Daytime!

Jarom started his third Go-Live at work this past week, which means that they are installing the computer system that he works on at another hospital. It also means that he and his coworkers have to provide 24-hour support for a few weeks, and since he is a natural night owl Jarom is on the 11p-7a rotation. This is not a good situation for his marriage, because Alixa assumes that if you are home you should be hanging out with her and Jenna, and not sleeping. So to avert marital disaster, she packed up her bags and took Jenna up to Delaware to spend a week with cousins. Kristi was also having her bridal shower that weekend, so they were able to kill two birds with one painstakingly uncomfortable drive up the most congested interstate in the world.

Her week was spent hanging out with Jamie and Annie and their little ones, letting Jenna play in Grandma’s basement (which is the best place in the world for a one year old), trying to keep Jenna from contracting Luke’s illness, going to Carters to buy things that no child needs but every mother wants, and visiting with one of her best friends in the world, Amanda. Both girls had a great time, even though they missed Jarom a little. While there, Jenna discovered that she loves dinosaurs, and Luke has plenty of books and shows and toys to foster that new passion. This gave Alixa some much needed baby boy prep, as she will surely be able to tell the difference between a Pterosaur and an archaeopteryx, or a T-Rex and an Allosaurus in the not too distant future. The original plan was to return on Thursday, but there was quite a rainstorm that Lix had no desire to drive in. On Friday morning, she looked out the window and saw snow covering everything and wondered if perhaps the universe was telling her to get a divorce. But the snow melted and she was able to get back to Richmond safely, if not quickly.

Jenna still isn't sure how she feels about puppies

Jenna, Addison, and Hailey at the Children's Museum

Sometimes Brownie attacks Jenna in her sleep

Jarom wasn’t totally unproductive while they were away. He got the lawn mower out and cut the grass for the first time this season, which really should have happened a few weeks ago. He (along with his brother) also coached his young men’s basketball team to an undefeated season and the Stake tournament championship. The final was everything you might imagine, or see depicted in a bad Mormon comedy. There were technical fouls, ejections, obnoxious parents cheering on their obnoxious kids from the stage, and a couple of refs who could be heard muttering “why did I agree to do this” on several occasions. But in the end, the better team (Jarom’s) prevailed. And if the tournament gets canceled next year as a result of the stellar show of sportsmanship, as some are saying it will, that just means one more year as the reigning champs. He also managed to play some golf, watch some movies, and work a little bit. But he missed his family a lot, and could not have been happier to get them back after a week.

Everyone gathered around the computer enjoying the YouTube video below

Now that Lix is back the house is going all out to get ready for this new kid. There has been a whole lot of cleaning and organizing and getting rid of old stuff and putting junk up in the attic, and the result is a house that feels clean and tidy and a mom that feels like she is ready to add another rat to the mix. The due date is April 22, but I don’t think that Lix is going to make it that far. Bo will probably be here in a week or two. And speaking of Bo, Jenna has decided that she is not cool with that name. A few months ago when you asked her what baby brother’s name was, she told you Bo. Recently this changed, and neither Jarom nor Lix have any idea what prompted it. But now if you ask her, she says that the baby’s name is Horsey, and she will not be swayed, even if you try to correct her. We’ll see if she sticks with it. Maybe it’s a sign and we should actually use it.

If you give a _____ a _____

Most people go through distinct phases in their lives. When you are young, sometimes you have friends and associate with people whose company you enjoy because they are funny and entertaining, in a Johnny Knoxville and Steve-O kind of way. They make you laugh, and hanging out with them gives you something to do. But as you grow older and hopefully mature, you realize that while those relationships may have been fulfilling once, and even though they may still be somewhat functional now, they are starting to be a little beneath you, and you should probably try to kick it up a notch. This is what has happened to Jarom and Alixa’s wire rack shelves. It was purchased a few years ago and has been a great thing for them to have in their past few kitchens, but Lix thought it was a little cheap and trashy and wanted to upgrade. So for her birthday Jarom told her that they could get some cabinets to install in its place. Unfortunately, after some research it was determined that cabinets would be a little too expensive and more of an installational challenge than Jarom wanted to take on. So he moved to plan b, which consisted of installing some shelves in the pantry so that the space in there could be maximized, and purchasing a buffet table to replace the metal shelves. Thanks to some kindly birthday donations from loving parents and some fortunate timing on a recent Walmart sale, both things were taken care of this week without destroying the budget.

One is before, one is after. You figure out which.

First up were the shelves in the pantry. Jarom enjoyed looking at all of the components and figuring out which ones they should get to be able to take greatest advantage of the irregular space of the pantry, while Alixa mostly just scared herself to death by playing with the pneumatic cutting tools that are used for customizing the length of the shelves (who would have guessed that it was on?!) After getting them on the walls and level, Jarom and Alixa started organizing the shelves and throwing away the foodstuffs that had expired. Thanks to some food storage “gifts” they have received from their mothers in the past year there were many items with sell by dates in the ‘08-‘09 range, and a few as far back as ‘05. Things got cleared out and organized, and it now looks great and holds all of our food. But if you give a Lixi an organized pantry that frees up some space in the kitchen, she’s probably going to want a new piece of furniture to fill the space. So the next step was the buffet table. Lix had looked at some higher end furniture places and found some that she liked, but at a hefty price. But on Monday as she meandered through Walmart she found one that was of fairly good quality and a full $100 below MSRP. So she snatched it up, made Nate help carry it around, and made Jarom spend about an hour putting it together. And if you give a Lixi a new piece of furniture in her kitchen, she’s going to want to paint an accent wall behind it. So she got some green paint, threw up some tape and down a drop cloth and did the whole thing while Jarom was out playing basketball one evening. She really wanted to keep going and paint the entire kitchen, but at some point you just have to explain to the mouse that it has had a cookie and it is time to be done.







Jenna has been busy training for her future career as a long distance runner. While Jarom never would have guessed this at the time, the fact that his house has a complete loop in it has turned out to be perhaps the single greatest feature. Jenna will spend dozens of minutes a day running around the loop as though it were a track. She will do this by herself or with a friend. Sometimes she wants her dad to chase her, and will chastise him severely if he should desire to stop for any reason. She sometimes runs with Kenna, although Kenna will usually stop before Jenna is ready to, giving up excuses like “too heavy” and instead offering to ride the bike alongside Jenna. She is very supportive and will clap and cheer her on, which makes me think that she will be a great trainer someday.

I apologize for the length of this video, but I am not exaggerating when I say that this had been going on for at least 5 minutes before it starts and at least 15 minutes after it stopped, so be thankful it isn't longer.

Baby Babbles Boutique is wrapping up a 3-week consignment sale this weekend, and it has been a mild success. There is still a lot of inventory, but it is slowly dwindling and nobody had to actually stay on-site for this sale, which was quite nice. The other exciting thing around here has been BYU’s run through the NCAA tournament and the Jimmermania that has become a staple on ESPN. Here’s hoping it will continue a little bit longer. Tomorrow Lix and Jenna are headed back up north for Kristi’s bridal shower and some hanging out while Jarom starts working some odd hours at work and enjoys the alone time that will be ever scarcer in a few more weeks when kid #2 arrives. Alixa is getting less and less comfortable and more and more anxious to be done with this whole ordeal. She is currently in the “we are never doing this again” phase, but Jarom will not be so easily duped. She went through this phase with Jenna during her last month, only to enter the “my baby is growing up so fast that I need another one to replace it” phase about 2 months after Jenna was born. She says that this time is different, but time will tell.

She LOVES pockets

Selection Sunday

Alixa has reached the 6-week mark in her new baby countdown, so she decided to take a weekend trip up to Delaware to have a little baby shower/party with many of her friends there. They had a great meal at the Olive Garden and there were many wonderful presents that little Bo will surely appreciate someday soon. Jarom took advantage of the trip to plan a little golf outing with Jason and JD, despite the chilly weather. It was a great time, and was capped off by both Jason and JD missing an 18-inch putt (they claim it was actually 19) that would have given their team the win.

Alixa's favorite Delaware people

It was a miracle that these two would sit down and play together without killing each other

Jenna was thrilled to have a few days to play with her cousins in Grandma’s house. She had a great time with Luke and Hailey and Adri and Juliet, with some visits from Loni and her girls as well. And the house is a veritable paradise for those kids. Jenna loves climbing the stairs and would often disappear for long stretches of time before Jarom or Lix would find her in someone’s room playing with toys. This did not please Lix because it meant that she had to climb approximately 3,429 flights of stairs during the 72-hour stay. She made Jarom promise that he would never make her live in a house with more than two levels, and if it can be less than that, all the better.

A relaxed gathering for little people

Running around Longwood Gardens

As they packed up to go, Jenna told her parents that she was poopy. They gave her a sniff and detected nothing, which is usually a foolproof test. But apparently this was an odorless #2 (why can’t she have more of those?) and so they ended up leaving the poor little girl in a poopy diaper all the way home and through the night until the next morning. At that point it had burned her poor little bum raw, so the last few days have been filled with a crying Jenna at every diaper change and the announcement that Jenna’s bum hurts pretty much every time she had to get into or out of a chair. Jarom and Lix felt like terrible people, which they are, but it seems to be getting better.

Jamie was upset about Jarom pulling this stunt with Ethan. She feels that only dads should be allowed to kill their kids. Whatever. He looks more like Jarom than JD anyway.

Jenna’s swearing problem has also become more prevalent in her everyday life. She now replaces most of her L’s and W’s with an F sound. This means that such common words as look, Luke, work, and walking have all become words that would not escape uncensored on any TV channel. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that Jenna is unwilling to move around without telling everyone how it is that she is moving, whether that be running, walking, or jumping. So poor Alixa has had to hang her head in shame every time she walks into a store with her daughter saying loudly, “I falking, I falking, I falking.” There have been some disbelieving stares as people try to process what they are hearing from such an otherwise cute little toddler.

The newest addition to Jenna's stuffed animal family, Brownie

At work, Jarom had his mid-year evaluation and it looks like he will be able to keep his job for a little while longer, which is great news. He has another hospital installation coming up in a few weeks, so Lix is already thinking about skipping town to head up for Kristi’s bridal shower while Jarom works the night shift. Baby Babbles Boutique is doing a consignment sale for the next three weekends, so that has distracted her a little for the time being. She is also in charge of her playgroup’s activities for the month. Her first was a field trip to the greatest fast food restaurant of all time, Chick-Fil-A. The next one will be a day at the park, which is wonderful because the beautiful Richmond spring weather seems to have arrived for good.

Squeaky Squeak Squeaker Squeaken

Jenna can rarely be seen these days without her bunny hat and mittens.

There is a new sound around the Winn household: squeaking. Recently Alixa and Kenz took the kiddos to the children’s museum and saw a little girl there wearing some shoes that squeaked when she walked. This reminded Lix that she had purchased a pair of these shoes some 6 months ago. At the time they were far too large for little Jenna, and actually scared her when they squeaked and made her cry, but Jenna has grown up a lot since then so she pulled them out to give it another try. This video is basically the first time that Jenna tried them on.

You might think that she would get tired of the novelty of the squeaks, but you would be wrong. Every time Jarom and Lix let her wear them, Jenna makes every step as deliberately as possible so as to get the maximum volume out of her shoes. She also has no concern for the feelings of those around her. So when baby Bo had a craving for PF Changs the other day Jarom had to make sure and carry her to their table so that everyone else’s dinner wouldn’t be interrupted by the sounds of little squeaker.

This was Jenna's first car cart experience at the grocery store. She loved it and it prevented the other shoppers from wanting to throw her shoes away.

We did have a few days of beautiful weather last weekend, with temperatures climbing up into the 60’s and 70’s. So Jarom got to go play a few holes of golf and Jenna got to spend more time running around outside. Perhaps in part because of her new shoes, Jenna has taken to jumping everywhere she goes, instead of walking. She also enjoys narrating it as she goes. So in case the repetitive thumping coming from the other room doesn’t give it away, you will also hear Jenna saying “jumping, jumping, more jumping!”

Sadly, the warm weather has left us, and when the chilly temps came back so did Jenna’s sniffles. She’s had a little bit of a fever and it has made it tough for her to sleep well at night. The family took a trip to Sam’s club to get some groceries, and as they were walking around Jarom noticed that even her squeaking had become sad. The poor kid just didn’t have the energy to put any emphasis on her steps. But I’m sure she’ll be back to her old self in no time. But for the moment, we are trying to be extra nice to her, increasing her daily allotment of The Lion King from half a movie a day to the whole thing. She sure loves her Siba.

Lix had an experience with Jenna that she wanted to share, so I’ll let her wrap this post up-

Jenna is a very picky eater. She likes maybe five real person foods, and still eats baby food for at least one meal a day. I think she just cant handle new textures. I blame this on the fact that she has never put anything in her mouth. Even when she was a baby, nothing went into her mouth. I thought it was great then, but I have realized this is how babies eat new foods. She also has a VERY sensitive gag reflex, and just putting something foreign in her mouth makes her puke. Not just gag, but puke. It is a disgusting mess.

Well, the other day, I was talking to my dad and he said that we needed to be better about getting her to eat better foods. He said to bribe her with something good to eat. Now, I have read that this is bad, but I decided that he is right. She is 20 months old and at this rate will be eating baby food in preschool. So last week, we started. We told her she couldnt get up from her high chair until she had at least one bite of what we were eating for dinner. She was doing so well! You may have read about the meat loaf. That was very exciting. She also had some chicken and stuffing on Sunday and was doing very well. It was still only a bite, but she was trying it and not puking. So, we tried again last night. I found the smallest blueberry I could find and cut it into quarters. We are talking the smallest bits of blueberry you have ever seen in your life. We told her she couldnt get up until she had one bite. Well, she sat there for about 20 minutes and didnt even touch it. We tried singing, we tried bribing with oreos and peanut butter eggs and every other good thing we could think of. But nothing. Then she started to cry, but this was not a battle I was going to lose. So she sat sobbing in her high chair for another 25 minutes while I did the dishes. I kept telling her she could get up as soon as she ate just one small bit of blueberry. I even tried putting her in front of the tv to watch Micky Mouse Clubhouse to maybe distract her. But she just watched and cried and ate no blueberries. Finally, I decided to sneak one in while her mouth was open. Big mistake. I guess maybe because she was still crying and so upset she immediately spit it out and still puked! Just the thought of having it in her mouth made her throw up. So then I gave up on the blueberry. By this time it was her bed time but she hadnt had any dinner yet. So I tried to give her her noodles, but she wasnt having any of that either. So finally, I broke down and gave her some baby food. I may be a mean momma, but I'm not heartless. I wasnt going to make her go to bed hungry. She immediately opened her mouth and ate all of her baby food saying "yummy" after every bite. She was so worn out from 45 minutes of sobbing about the stupid blueberry, she went down extra easy for bed. The next day she woke up with a fever and was sick, so now I am thinking maybe that was the problem. Maybe one day she will eat real food, but I'm not holding my breath.

Jenna's sad puffy face after the blueberry incident

Mr. Fox

Most people do not like aging. Well, that’s not entirely true. Most people wish that they were older until they reach a certain age, usually somewhere in the low to mid 20’s, and then spend the rest of their mortal existence looking back longingly on the days when they were fit, strong, full of energy and life, and with a world of hope and promise laid out in front of them. Well, Alixa just keeps distancing herself from that point in time. On Groundhog Day she began her 27th year. For her birthday dinner Courtney Bleyl offered to babysit both Jenna and Kenna so that all four parents could have a nice meal at the Outback, one of Alixa’s favorite places. That night her mom arrived. She had decided to visit to celebrate Lixi’s birthday and attend the baby shower that the nice people in the ward were throwing for her. The weekend was filled with lots of eating out and getting presents, and little Bo now has more clothes than he’ll be able to wear for the first few months of his life.

Jenna made this arrangement of her animals. You can tell that Alixa took the photo because the camera strap is in the frame. Ansel Adams she is not.

Jenna also seems to be aging at an unbelievable pace. She has started walking up and down the stairs “big girl” style, which means not on her hands and knees. And she gets very upset if you try to carry her up or down, going so far as to insist that you take her back so that she can do it herself. She has also progressed significantly in her talking, and now strings sets of words together. She is getting better at speaking clearly, and is quite patient when her parents don’t understand what she is saying and she has to try and explain it to them. She very much enjoys practicing, and will repeat things that people say, especially in songs. Lix takes her and Kenna to a singing group every Tuesday and they are both learning the words to lots of songs.

As you watch this video, keep in mind that we are still working on her counting ability and request that you be patient with us.

There was also a small milestone in Jenna’s eating today. Lix made some meatloaf for dinner and Jenna was told that she could not leave her highchair until she had a bite of it. It took about 20 minutes, but finally she wanted to get down so bad that she decided to try it. She seemed to like it, but not enough to take another bite. Alixa could not have been happier.

We also had our first experience of “trying to teach your kid a word and it comes out as profanity” today. Jenna has a puzzle with a number of barn animals on it, and outside of the hen house there is a fox. X is a hard sound to make, because you have to combine the K and the S sounds into one. So I guess Jenna just decided that once she makes the K sound she is done, saying fok instead of foks. I am sad to say that as soon as Jarom realized what was happening he began laughing hysterically, which only encouraged Jenna to repeat the word over and over. For the moment, fox seems to be one of her favorite words and we have irrefutable evidence that Jarom is a bad person.