biology, bugs, boys

Trying not to be sad and mad about Jimmer and the boys tonight (and please, let's not even mention the Jazz. At least there's RSL, right?), so I shall blog of happier times :).

John is working on his thesis right now, and he is in the thick of collecting aquatic insects (pteronarcella, which are stoneflies, to be exact) for his research. He has gone on a couple of collecting trips by himself (he is collecting from all over the western US), and has many more in the plans, but we are also trying to make some family trips out of them. BYU issues him a car and credit card for gas since his research is funded, so hey, why not take advantage of it and hit the road together, right? Yes, well, that is the plan anyway. John needed to collect at a few streams en route to Boise, ID, and my aunt and uncle's family lives right near there, so we decided to combine the two and make a weekend trip to visit my dearest family and collect a few bugs on the way. Best of both worlds, ya know?

One of the happiest things in my life right now is the feeling of peace I have that our family is headed in the right direction for us. There is still plenty of uncertainty (like, uh, where we will be moving to next year for John's PhD), but I feel so blessed to know that the career path that he is on is the right one for him, and the best thing for our family. I love so much that he is doing something that he is so passionate about, and something that he is so naturally gifted in. I am also so grateful that this is a career path that will ensure that our children grow up learning about, experiencing, and appreciating nature and the beautiful creations that surround them. I am so grateful that my kids will have childhood memories of going on collecting and research trips to the woods and streams with their dad, that they will have the opportunity to know and love nature from their infancy. With that said, here are some photos from one of the collecting stops on our way.

Pea and I looking all kinds of disheveled from being in the car for a few hours, and the boys with their collecting paraphernalia, getting ready to head down to the river.


It's really hard for me to get normal pictures of George these days.


George waiting patiently on the riverbank to see what his daddy rustles up.


Waiting patiently is easier when you have sticks to play with.


Or to throw into the water.


And here they are, my two little biologists, surveying their finds.


George seriously loved this. He maneuvered those forceps around the icky little creatures like a pro, and was actually a help to John in getting all the bugs collected quicker. I think they will make a good team for years to come.



Check out his forceps about to snatch up that bug.


When John went back down to the river to get some more creatures, George stayed back by himself to continue the collecting. He insisted on putting a few sticks ("for the bugs to crawl on and sleep on") and leaves ("for when the bugs want to eat") in the collecting jars. I didn't tell him that the alcohol he was dropping them into would pretty much kill them instantly.


Oh see, there he is, dropping a bug into certain death. It's for research, people. It must me done :).


Maybe my favorite picture of the bunch. I just love this little boy and all his boyish ways.


Wielding forceps makes him very happy.


And here are a few shots of the little bugs themselves. The little bugs that are currently living in vials above my computer desk. Lucky me.



If I am remembering correctly, this bug on the right is going to eventually turn into a dragonfly. Perhaps gomphidae? I would ask my biologist, but he's sleeping next to me right now and he has to get up in like 3 hours. I'll let him sleep and risk being totally off on my aquatic entomology terms.


Ah cuuute! They both have one!


This one makes me laugh. He's like, "Wow! Mom! Look at this one!" He was pretty excited about it. Looking at it now, in the photo, I'm pretty sure it's a piece of wood. Good trying though, Georgie :).


Baby Girl and I were there, too. I had my 50mm lens on, which makes self-portaits most tricky :).


We tried a few times. Blurry, runny nose, half of faces. Oh well :).


This was as close as we got to both of our faces being in the frame.


So happy that I have a little pal to keep me company. I'm sure she will be a bug-lovin', forcep-wieldin' little kid just like her brother one day, but for now I love getting to bring her back to the car to warm up while the boys stay out to collect "just a few more."

she is ours

My precious daughter is one. I wish I could convey in words how much joy she has filled our home and hearts with over this past year, but there aren't any. She radiates and oozes happiness. If her brother made me a mama, she has made us a family, and I cannot imagine not having her sweet little self in my life. She is magic.



She blows kisses. She twirls and twists her wrists in the most dainty way. She grins readily. She is sunshine.



She has bright blue eyes. And brown wispy, flippy hair. She loves to give high fives. She is delight.



She is mama's girl. She loves to nurse. She has turned into a cuddler. She gives slobbery, open mouth kisses. She is heaven.



She adores her daddy. She says, "Dada" and talks to him on the phone. She crawls at lightning speed. She can't get enough of crawling up stairs, especially because she knows she isn't supposed to. She speed-crawls to them, hoping no one will notice, while shaking her head back and forth because she knows it is a "no no." She is spunk.



She rubs her hands on her chest to say please. She screams loudly when she wants something (especially food). She pretends to get shy around new faces by laying her head down on my shoulder and averting her eyes. She has long, dark eye lashes. She is pure honey.



She is round. She is soft and squishy. She is feminine and tender. She is irresistable.
 


Her eyes twinkle and sparkle with life and thoughts. Her spirit is filled with goodness and joy. She is ours, our very own glimmer of God. She is one.

remember when?

This is a catch-up post.

Remember when we went to Sev's birthday party? George loves his buddy Sevrin, and that makes me so happy because Sev's mama just happens to be my very best friend. Rachael and I have been BFFs since we were two years old. We lucked out in having our firstborn babies be so close. Hooray for second generation BFFs!

This was the only picture I took of the two of them looking at the camera and it is really unfortunate. George looks like a freaky freak and Sev looks angry and bored.


Here the boys are from behind, sporting their superhero capes as they climb together.



Sev got tired of his cape, but George wanted to wear his the whole time.


I love these cute pictures of the boys going down the slides together.



Much to Georgie's dismay, Sev did have other friends he needed to socialize with, so George hit the slides solo a few times.


Peachy Baby was there, too, and she loved it. Here she is on a little carousel.


There was this little area for babies that Pearlie loved playing in. Little Blue Eyes.


I love how intently she is studying the blocks in this first picture.


These next two are probably my favorite photos from the day. I love the way the composition turned out with the toy blurred in the foreground and her little eye in focus staring right at me.



Sev gave George one of his giant balloons and I snapped a few pictures of George with it as we walked to the car just for fun.


I like how you can see him through the balloon in this first one.

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Remember when George learned how to peel carrots and insisted on peeling them all for our dinner one Sunday? That was fun. And required much patience on my part.


This boy loves carrots. It is the best when we grow them in the garden all summer long, but these store-bought ones do just fine for Georgie.

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Remember when Pearl had her very first braid? It was just a silly little one that I did after church one day, but I took pictures to document it nonetheless.

Don't mind that from the waist up my kids look ready for church, but from the waist down they are in their party pants (or lack thereof).

My sweet boy still loves his two "gaygies." ("Gaygies" means "blankies. He has called them that from the time he was first talking and couldn't say "blankies" right, and even though he can say it fine now, the term "gaygies" is here to stay.)

He recently informed me that he especially loves his yellow one because the corners are softer and he can poke them in better. If he loses a gaygie in the night and asks for it he always wants to know which color I am handing him. I can't fool him, either. He knows which one is yellow just by the way the silky corners feel (which is strange because they are exactly the same blanket, just in different colors).

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Remember when George and Daddy caught a bitty little snake in the yard? (This was clearly quite some time ago before it was freezing :).)

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Remember when George painted monsters by blowing on watered down paint with a straw. Hours of entertainment.

And then he used his fingerprints to paint little people. We added details with a pen later.

Disregard the fact that he is not wearing pants. 

When Pearlie woke up from her nap she got to join the party. She was pretty happy just observing as long as she could play with a straw. (This was clearly in her pre-crawling days.)

My squishy babies.

I put Pearl up on G's bed to keep her out of the way for a bit, but George decided to join her. He really loves playing with her.

I love her chubby little hand grabbing his arm.

And lastly, luckily I am not in a contest for the Mother of the Year, because this picture (along with a host of other unimpressive habits) would surely cost me the title. Yes those are the airborne legs of my three-year-old jumping dangerously close to his baby sister to make her laugh. And I let him.

Ah, I feel like I just cleaned out my closet! There are a few more things from the archives, but mostly I can post about current events now. (Like my 5 1/2 hour experience in the ER on Saturday for an MRI that showed me three happily bulging discs in my back and some torn muscles on my sacrum. Yay! We are trying to take it easy around here and let things heal, but that is hard to do when you have an 11 month old baby to haul around. Things have improved drastically from Friday night (Saturday morning, I guess) when we called our dear neighbors at 3 AM to have Martin come over and help John give me a blessing. I couldn't walk or move or bend without collapsing down to try to find a position that would bring relief from the pain. Anyway, I am very hopeful that I'll be back to my normal self again soon. Things are getting better every day.)