Development

It has been a busy week here. Ever since Lix and the kids got back from Delaware Bo has been oh-so-close to figuring out how to walk. He loved to do it, and would make you hold his hand so he could wander around practicing. But he couldn’t quite convince himself that it was okay to let go of your hand, or the couch, or whatever else he was clinging to. So Jarom decided to step in and give Lix a hand with the teaching. He watched the kids for a little over an hour while she was at the gym and managed to get Bo climbing down the stairs feet first and taking 4-5 steps at a time. Lix claims that she did all the prep work and that Jarom just happened to be around when things clicked. You know, just like you loosened that lid with all the effort you put into it.

What Bo would look like if he was a girl.

The boy loves to swing. Thanks Nate for building a swing set.

Jenna likes it too.

 But it isn’t about who gets credit for Bo’s accomplishments [Jarom]. It’s about being able to celebrate that the boy finally managed to do something before his girlfriend Reese. And now that he has figured out how to take a few steps you can hardly get him to stop moving around. It is quite adorable and incredibly fun to watch. And I guess with all the attention that we’ve been paying to Bo lately Jenna has gotten a little jealous. So she has started to do all the things that Bo does. She will ask to have a turn walking between Jarom and Lix, stumbling a little like Bo and sometimes falling on the ground before making it all the way. It’s pretty funny. I don’t think that Jenna appreciates Bo’s improved motility because it means that she has to spend more time relocating her puzzles and books and other toys in a vain effort to keep them away from him. He is quite the terror in the playroom.

Speaking of great accomplishments, on Saturday Lix went through all of her old jeans and put them each on, just to prove that she could. Its been almost a year, but she has finally lost all her pregnancy weight, plus a few pounds. Jarom is very proud of her. Unfortunately, Jarom weighs exactly the same amount he did when Bo was born one year ago. To reward Lix for all of her dedication and effort, Jarom decided that it was about time to update the countertops in the kitchen. This was a deal that was made while house hunting, because even though Alixa loved this house she wasn’t completely thrilled with the kitchen, especially the counters and the sink. So on Monday they headed to Granite and More to choose a granite countertop, a tile backsplash, and a new stainless steel sink. Installation is scheduled for Monday, which is just in time for David and Kristi, who will be staying with us for a few days on their way out east to Delaware.

We were playing hide and seek. She isn't so good with hiding.

 The last new thing around here can be found in the backyard. We’ve already got some hawks, a blue jay family, and about a dozen squirrels living on or very near our property. But on Saturday as Jarom was mowing the lawn he stepped in a little hole. His first thought was that we had a mole, which upset him greatly. This is because we had a mole in the backyard in Virginia, and Jarom hated him. But he didn’t think too much of it until this afternoon, when he was watching a pair of rabbits hop around the back yard and it occurred to him that they had probably made a little nest in that hole. So he wandered out and did some investigatory journalism and sure enough, he found a den full of adorable little bunnies. He called Jenna and Lix out to take a look and hold one. The idea was briefly floated of bringing one in as a pet, and then bringing one in as food for me. Jenna was in favor of both ideas, while Lix was against. While I won’t deny that a bunny would be a welcome change of pace from my usual mouser, even I wouldn’t think of breaking up a bunny family this close to Easter. I might be an animal, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a heart. So the bunny went back into the den with all the brothers and sisters, where we’ll check on them for the next few days until they are big enough to head out on their own. These little ones just grow up so fast; sometimes I wonder where all the time went.

Sorry for the yogurt on her face. We were so excited to see the bunnies we didn't quite finish our dinner.

 And as long as we are chatting about Easter bunnies I should mention that the Winns celebrated the resurrection in style. Bo and Jenna got all dressed up cute for church and there was an egg hunt afterwards. Unfortunately we got rained on pretty heavily so the hunt got moved from the backyard to the living room, but Jenna still enjoyed it very much. Bo slept through it. Jenna got a gaggle of Disney figurines and she has barely stopped playing with them. Included in the group was Mulan and Jasmine, so we had to rent their respective movies this week so that Jenna would know who they are.

Easter Sunday. Dressed so pretty for church.

They wouldn't really cooperate for a shot together. This is the best we got.

Studs

He was so tired at church, he just laid down in the hall.

Picture Post

We finally got all the pictures from our two weeks in Delaware so I thought I would dedicate a whole post to just pictures.

I was determined to bring home a walker. It didn't happen.

All 15 grand kids.

We gave Bo a practice run at turning 1.

He gets to do it for real on Saturday!

Soooo big!

We had lots of dance parties.

Jenna and Hailey are quite the duo when it comes to singing and dancing.

Twins? No. Just cousins

We got to dye Easter Eggs too. Jenna thought it was awesome.

We had dinner at Jason and Annie's one night. We let Bo scavenge for food after we were all done.

Jenna LOVED playing with all her cousins.

She also loved Hailey's power wheels.

Me and my boy at Longwood Gardens.

Intensley studying the daffodils at Longwood.

Back off! My horsey!

Grandma gave magic carpet rides.

And piggy back rides.

Soooo handsome.

This is what Jamie's tub looked like every night.

Bo loves to swing.

Grandma loves.

Delaware Vacation

We have had a lack of blogging here in the Winn house because Jarom has been home alone and has been too sad to let Mitch out to blog. Also, he had nothing to report on. Jarom's life is pretty boring when his family leaves. But the kids and I had a marvelous time on our most recent spur-of-the-moment vacation. We went up to Delaware because there was a party going on. Two of Jarom's sisters have had babies in the last two months and they were both being blessed, and our niece, Allie was getting baptized. Nancy was flying out for the festivities and she invited us to come. She called us on Sunday the 18th and we booked our tickets to leave Saturday the 24th. We were lucky enough to get non-stop flights, and it made all the difference. Our flight out there was fabulous. It left at 6 a.m. and after an alarm clock snafu and some traffic detours we made it to the airport with one minute to spare to check my bag. The nice man at the desk thought it would be more helpful to lecture me on the importance of arriving at the airport an hour and a half early instead of just checking my bag. But he did it and by the time we got to our gate, it was time to get on the plane. The flight was mostly empty and Bo even slept for part of it so it was really not bad at all. Before we knew it we were landing in Philly. JD was nice enough to come get us and we made it to the house by 10 a.m. It was definitely the best travel experience I have had with two kids by myself.

Such adorable chitlins

Jenna's morning hair

Helping Mom pack for the trip

All dressed up for church and/or doing chores on the farm

Once we got to the house Jenna found Hailey and I didn’t see her again for the next two weeks except for meal time and bed time. She and Hailey had such a fun time together. It’s really a shame we don’t live closer so they can play more. Later that afternoon, the rest of the people showed up. We had Kenzie and Kenna and Nancy and Kristi join us as well. Once we were all together, we sat around and chatted and let the kids play. Nancy got reacquainted with her house and we all met the new babies for the first time. Sunday was the big day for all the blessings and baptizing. Church was at 9 a.m. and most of us made it on time. Everyone had shown up by the time the blessings were supposed to start, so we will call it a success. The blessings were wonderful and after sacrament meeting, I dropped Jenna off in nursery and spent the last two hours chasing Bo around the halls and catching up with old friends. After church we had a huge dinner with all of the Winn friends. It was so fun to see everyone. At seven we had to pack everyone back up and head back to the church for Allie's baptism. I hadn’t been to a baptism in years, so it was fun to be a part of it. My kids were pretty much terrible the whole time and we left a little early to get them in bed. It was probably one of the longest Sunday's ever, but it was so nice to be a part of the festivities.

Future Bo and present Bo in the tub with the girls

No big deal, just letting our dog eat crumbs off the floor

This is how Jenna and Hailey J. spent most of their time together

Not much to work with back there

Monday was spent hanging out and not really doing much. We did find a brave soul to watch all of the children so the adults could go see the Hunger Games. We chose a later show so the kids would be asleep the whole time and our one babysitter wouldn’t have to do much. But most of the kids woke up at least once (except for my kids... booya!) so our plan didn’t work out so well. But the movie was AWESOME! I really liked it. I felt it was just as good as the books and I look forward to the next movies in the series. We tried to not do too much the rest of the week. Since almost everyone was there, it was kind of a big bunch to go and do things. We had ALL 15 grandkids there ranging from 6 weeks to 8 and taking that many young kids out of the house is a chore. We did manage a shopping trip with most the kids, which we later regretted. We mostly sat around while the kids played and Grandma could enjoy her kids and grandkids. Honestly, that is my favorite way to spend Delaware vacations because Jenna loves her cousins so much. She had so much fun playing with them and Bo even had a fun time being around them. Ethan learned how to say Bobo and walked around all week pointing at him and saying Bobo! It was really cute.

She's not a very good driver

Stealing the formerly-pregnant Annie's water. Congratulations on getting here Charlee!

Even in a super-king sized bed Lix still complained about how Jenna was a pain to sleep next to. I'm not sure what the fuss was about.

That weekend was conference and we all sat around and tried to watch. It was kind of difficult with so many kids around, but I caught bits and pieces. On Saturday, in between sessions, I made it over to the Slaugh's house to see Karen and Annie. It was Annie's due date, so I tried to cheer her up a bit. I don’t know if it worked, but it was fun to see them. In between sessions on Sunday we had an early birthday celebration for Bo and had the Slaugh family over for the occasion. Bo got to poke around in his cake and got blue frosting EVERYWHERE. I made cake pops for everyone else. It was pretty low key, but it was fun to watch Bo. Maybe he will do better when his actual birthday rolls around in just ten days.

How cool does she look?

On Monday, we were sad to say good bye to Nancy and Kristi. They had to return to their lives in Utah. It was fun to see them for the week. We were lucky enough to stay for a few more days and hang out with Jolie and Rob and Jamie and JD. We went on a trip to Longwood Gardens one day and did lots of swimming in the hot tub. We also did some preschool which Jenna loved and was really good at and played at some parks. Then on Friday we had to say good bye as well and come back home to Jarom. We missed him a lot while we were gone and were glad to see him again. We had a wonderful trip and we can’t wait until we get to go back and see everyone again. Maybe next time Jarom can come with us!

What could go wrong here?

Sometimes eating noodles can be very tiring