I am so over you, October

I know I am not a Little Mary Sunshine and that I have my share of pessimism a runnin' though my veins but for the most part I really try to see the good in things. I look for the silver lining, I think about the good in people and all of that positive energy crap but I gotta tell you October has pushed me to the limit and I am done. I have been crapped on by you, you mean 31 days and I am not gonna take it any more.

I am counting on you, brave November and though we have started out a little rocky I need you. You are a great month. A month of gratitude and chilly weather, a month of the anticipation of Christmas and lets just face it you bring my favorite meal where the copious amounts of gravy I cover my plate in is finally considered acceptable! Bring it on November I need your gravy more than ever.

You have missed a lot of what has happened in the Luscious Lives of the Larsen's because of my slothfulness and I am sorry. I will now attempt to make it up to you by bombarding you with as many pictures and stories as I have time to upload!

We had a super fun 1st birthday party with lots of friends & yummy birthday cake that Sarah sat on (pictures at another time)!

Sarah got to wear a very special 1st birthday dress...thanks Auntie Wendee


Grandma and Grandpa Stenquist came to visit and to spoil their granddaughter


Can you believe all those presents


We went to the arboretum


and loved the giant pumpkin house


Sarah discovered a new way to eat cheerios...I think she watches the pets too much!

We did lots of zoomin' with dad-a-dad

Dad gave Sarah the super fab flying wedge hair do.
(If you don't know about the flying wedge then you aren't watching Kath and Kim and you are missing out on some fine, fine programing.)

the most adorable thing ever!


a little afraid of Batman and the Joker


but not dad!


it was so cute to see her walk in these shoes


and then October ended and we await a better month though we will miss the candy!

My Little ONE

A few things I learned from Sarah this year.....

Babies Poop. They don't always wait until you have a new diaper on and the poop doesn't always stay in the diaper either! So. Much. Poop.

One little smile or coo makes me forget all about the poop.

I hate shots just as much as she does. And even though I am not the bad guy with the needle she will still look at me with eyes that say "why did you just let that happen to me?" Big tears...from both of us.

I can never take too many pictures.

Jimbo is a big softy ans will do just about anything for you.

First are fun. From your first roll when I found you on the other side of the nursery, to the first time you crawled to chase the cat, to your first steps into my arms - I am lucky to have been there for every event!

Even though you do just fine in the big tub, giving you a bath in the sink every now and then will always be my favorite.

I don't mind the lack of sleep when I get to wake up to your chubby cheeks.

I have finally made peace over the fact that 'dad' was your first word.

Just like the Grinch, my heart grew 10 sizes the first time I saw you.

I am one lucky girl to get to be your mama.


Happy 1st Birthday baby Sarah...I love you.

Good Times with Good Friends

Have you ever met someone you just clicked with? Someone who would be your friend though everything, who would make you laugh until you pee, who will comfort you when you are sad and who will put up with you when you are crazy? I met my someone a few years ago and now I can't live without her.

Kristy and I got to serve together over the Young Women in our church and that is how it all started. A few weeks into our service the youth had planned their annual camping trip to a cabin in West Virgina. Being new to our callings we thought this trip would be fun...turns out we were wrong! Over the 2 day trip we spent 8 hours in the car with teenage girls, 1 hour making the best taco diner ever (including mostly cheese), 1 hour cleaning up cheesy dinner, another hour leg wrestling which turns out I am pretty good at, 6 hours not sleeping. 6 hours! 6 hours of bug killing, telling kids to get back to bed, taking away 1 Bebe gun and 1 guitar, 6 hours listening to the loudest snore I have ever heard. I started the evening out in a sleeping bag on the floor but with the discovery of the rats I quickly escalated our friendship and jumped into a very small bed with Kristy. We spent the remaining time cuddling as the bed we were in resembled the taco's eaten earlier. This mandatory cuddling was better that sleeping with the rats which later turned out to be bats (not that much more comforting if you ask me).

The trip goes on and the story gets better and better. We leave the cabin and head to the beach, now that's more like it, right? We do have a grand time at the beach the kids swim, canoe, and play volleyball and load up the cars because it is time to head home. All accounted for, we have a prayer and then hit the road. Wait...Angel's car won't start. Super. Sidebar: I am actually driving Jimbo's car as he is in Iraq yet again. I have already dinged the crap-ola out of said car and just got it back from the body shop in hopes that he won't notice and now the dang thing won't start, you gotta be kidding me! After we pop the hood and do a lot of head scratching we decide the problem is serous and we call for backup. Lots of time passes here and the kids get bored, one cries so I cry...I wanna go home too. We leave Jim's car in West Virgina and I wonder if I am ever going to see it again and cry again thinking how am I going to explain this?

Wouldn't you know it, the Navy came to rescue me! Steve, Kristy's husband jumps in his car the next day (Sunday of course), he drives to West Virgina, gets the car from the toothless tow truck driver, throws a new battery in the sucker and is on his way back to Pittsburgh! Why didn't we think of that? Steve is my hero! I now notice that I have only seen Steve wear nice button up dress shirts and I now know that it must be to cover his super-hero costume beneath!

So anyway, that is how it all started and needless to say it just keeps getting better. We have now moved away from this great family but our friendship remains true. Last month we got the chance for a quick visit...here are a few shots from the trip.

This is us again, we can look respectable but we have to try really hard!

Maddie and Sarah...BFF...for that weekend at least!

Poor Maddie hated those piggy-tails but man I thought they were adorable!

Yep, they were dressed alike that day and it was all my fault...oops.
A couple of people on the plane thought it was cute though.

I love that she is above the roof tops...it looks like he really chucked her up there!

I gotta crop out those hands and post my super baby!

Sarah at the wedding...Congrats Lindsay thanks for letting us share your
special day...mostly because you said you were NEVER going to get married!


A family photo


Sarah after the wedding but before I dumped the entire bowl of baby
cereal into Jimbo's suit pants pocket. I am not known for my grace. Sorry babe.


Child Prodigy


My talented friends


Sarah and Sydney...I hope Sarah grows up to be as fun to be with as
Sydney is...I mean really how many teenagers do you want to spend time with?
Love you Syd.


I am sure she learned this from Kristy!


This too...why do kids eat the boogers...why?

no more growing up...please

I had never considered myself a baby person. I never made cooing noises and went all nuts about another person's spawn. Don't get me wrong, I love kids, I would tell Jimbo that I wanted one but I wanted it to show up about 1 1/2-2 years old. Well, this is me eating crow, I was wrong and now I am sick because my little bean is growing out of baby clothes and into toddler sizes and every time I look at the tags I get a lump in my throat. It is all happening too fast and in the words of Aerosmith, I don't wanna miss a thing!

So, here are a few shots of my baby...before she became a toddler.

nap time

this girl loves this cat

We want to go out side and play....

why is it raining, why?

Sarah: I am so upset about the rain Buster, hold me

Buster: I told you to stop messing with me kid

Sarah: I was just trying to give you a hug, sheesh!

Sarah's first piggy-tails!

Watchin' the Olympics with Grandpa Larsen...Thanks for a fun visit!

Water Baby

She didn't get that from me that's for sure.

My little bean loves to be splashing in the water, she loves the tub, the sink, the sprinklers and most of all the pool. I am lucky enough to have wonderful friends that have let us 'borrow' their pools to stay cool in the hot Texas sun.

Of all of the qualities Sarah could inherit from Jimbo I am elated that she has his love of water. If Jimbo is a fish I am the exact opposite, i possess the grace and talents equal to a beached whale! I try to be brave when I am in the water with Sarah because I don't want her sense my fears, but the truth is I am uncomfortable. I could go on about this somewhat irrational fear but I want to get to the photos of my little Nemo and her papa fish.

see what I telling you...10 month old fish!

Sarah can wave now but only for me and sometimes dad so I
don't blame you if you don't believe me!

yep, this makes me nervous too but that's what dad's do, well at least that's what Jimbo does!

i love that her cheeks look like they are full of water but nope, that's all Sarah!

contrary to what it looks like this is indeed a happy face accompanied by lots of giggles


and of course Sarah and her infamous tongue!

Stanley, you done me wrong

Let me introduce Stanley Scoot-bottom. Stanley is the best toy/friend Sarah could ask for, he gets her places in such a classy fashion that she will push him around no matter what direction
he is facing. In the 2 weeks Stanley has been with us he has never let us down, he sings fun songs, his nose lights up and he has an incredibly contagious, goofy laugh.

Today, as most wild animals do, Stanley turned on Sarah. He attacked. I saw Sarah spin and twirl and end up flat on her back under his ominous self all while he sang and giggled. Stanley, how could you? After this sweet little girl has taken you to places more exotic than the Serengeti, places like the bathroom, the nursery and the always forbidden dog kennel, how could you Stanley Scoot-bottom, how could you?

I know my little girl is resilient and she will make amends for this gross wrong but Stan, I am warning you, as a mother protecting her cub I won't go get the camera next time, I will come after you, I will go back to Target and get your whole family too. Stanley, I'm always watching.

Mental Blog

Wha?

Ok, it has been a month since I sat down to post but I swear I have had the best blogging intentions. Every morning when I "run" I compose a blog entry in my head...I have mentally posted about Memorial Day and the neat ceremony we attended where Jimbo and Maxx met a Marine General and the Governor. I also came up with a great one on Father's Day all about my own dad and how great he is and what I great dad Jimbo is and what a great dad my father in law is. I posted about how on Father's Day I spoke in Sacrament meeting and then did sharing time and singing time in primary and then came home and made Jimmy meatloaf, potatoes and Kristy rolls and then passed out from exhaustion. I have posted all of the fun pictures and stories we have had beside the pool and I have posted about what a super gal my friend Buffy is. I have posted about how I am in a book club and that makes me feel so smart and educated that I can actually read things that weren't penned by Dr. Seuss. I have posted about Sarah's 9 month check up and how Dr. Watson told me she was brilliant!

What I am trying to say is if you lived in my head you would know all about all of the fabulous things that have happened in my life and you would also hear a lot of crap like gas prices, house payments, hockey puck, monkey, monkey, underpants! But alas you do not live in my head and you rely on me to take a minute out of my day to invite you into my world. So, I have plugged the camera in and I am going to tell a few of my stories...enjoy!

I love the pool for the water, the sun and the adult conversation but
most of all I love it because it wipes out my kid!

Humm, I would never, I mean never let the dog lick my face
but every now and then Roxie sneaks in a lick or two
and I think it is adorable and it must tickle Sarah because she giggles like crazy.



I am not big on posting pictures of myself because I am one of those
girls who is never happy with the way that she looks
but this is a real treat. Sarah hardly ever falls asleep cuddling
like that and it was really special. Jimbo will later tell me how
beautiful I am and that is precisely why i married him and posted this picture!



My Houdini!
I have these great dining room chairs in my house that I can
strategically lay down all over creating what I lovingly
refer to as a Sara-cade. It is genius and it keeps Sarah out of trouble.
Well, at least it did for a little while and then she decided
to test the boundaries
(Remember, the Pediatrician said she was brilliant!)
Anyway, it used to keep her out of the dog food until she
learned she can crawl around the chair and under the
bakers rack and then have an all-access pass to the pet food....arghhhh!
(despite the empty bowls at the time of the photograph my pets are quite well fed!)

We're all safe my dad's a Marine!
Yep, that is what her shirt says. Another darling creation by
my friend Buffy. She made this for Jimbo for father's day
and I guess Sarah took it to heart because she curled up in his
lap and dozed off to sleep. Thanks Buff!

Sarah loves, loves, loves to help with the laundry...Jimbo not so much.
His job has always been the socks I do everything else and he
stacks the socks and I guess his job wasn't fulfilling
enough so he decided that he would put his socks on Sarah to
be funny and it was freakin' hilarious! She crawled around in
them and continued "helping" me by pulling the freshly
folded laundry onto the floor. The laundry took three times
longer than usual but it was the most fun I ever had folding undies.

The End.
Sarah continues to love life and doesn't want to miss a thing
by taking one of those silly naps. So, here she is playing until
the last second and then she gives in, toy in hand ready
to go the second she is awake!