Happy Birthday Gwen!

Gwendolyn turns one today! Wow. I can't believe my little baby has gotten so big so fast. I've been looking back at all my journal entries and pictures from the day she was born and it's hard to believe that it was a year ago. It feels like it was just yesterday. Right now she's playing with her toothbrush and watching the Elmo's World video we got her for her birthday. What a big kid she is. She's still not quite walking - she cruises on the furniture and will walk if we hold her hands. She's also not saying any specific words yet. She "talks" all the time but hasn't said her first word. Today we will probably find something fun to do with just the three of us. We had her big birthday party on Saturday. Lots of her cousins came and went swimming and ate pizza.
Here's Gwen diving into the cake we made her.She thought it was yummy but really wanted to get back into the water.She got lots of fun presents from everyone.Everyone had fun swimming, especially our little Birthday Girl.She loves making BIG splashes in the water.Gwen's cousins had fun. Noah kept wanting to jump in the big pool with his dad. You really have to keep a close eye on him.
Samantha and Heidi played in the kiddie pool. Side note: Heidi's due in a few days and little baby girl ?? still doesn't have a name. I'm voting for Shanquekwa.
Mason is getting more and more adventurous in the pool. As long as he's wearing his floating vest.Gwen looked so cute and comfy in her new sweats from Daddy. It was such a fun day. We all wish that every day we could eat pizza and go swimming with our friends and family.

More Road Trips Please

Yesterday we drove out to the Great Salt Lake for a day-trip. We went to the biggest island on the lake called Antelope Island. There's a causeway out to the island and the island is a State Park. That means that they charge admission. It was $9 for our car. I guess that's not too bad since it ended up being $3 a person to drive around the mostly barren island. There are lots of American Bison to see though and that was neat.

We also went out to the little ranch that was built by the Mormon settlers in 1849. They let you just roam around by yourself and I guess they really trust people because you could pick up and play with all the museum-like stuff they had lying around on display.
We got attacked by mosquitoes at the ranch. Seriousely, I go at least 5 bites on my legs before I could grab the bug repellant and spray them. I hate mosquitoes. Gwen needed a nap after the ranch so we changed her diaper and gave her a bottle and she was out.
We drove all over the island and visited the visitor's center. There, we bought Gwen a small stuffed Bison. She immediately started to try to eat him.
We also saw a nest with baby birds in it.
We even walked the 1/2 mile out to the actual lake and walked around in it. Gwen loved splashing in the water and feeling the sand in her toes. It really wasn't worth the long walk in deep, hot sand mixed with sharp rocks in 93 degree weather. The lake has a thick layer of brine flies at the edge and it stinks like rotten garbage - although you get used to the stink fairly quickly. Plus, when it was time to walk back to the car (which was now uphill as well) Gwen had a fit because she didn't want to get out of the water. She struggled and cried all the way back trying to squirm out of my arms. That was really no fun.

After we left the island, we stopped in Layton and ate at Red Robins. Jonathan went through 4 rootbeers and 2 glasses of water. I had forgotten to pack water for us but remembered it for Gwen at least. I think we were both dehydrated. After we got home, we all showered and felt much, much better.

Family Reunions

Last week we went to two family reunions for my maternal grandmother's side of the family. The first one was at Murray Park on a Friday evening. I dragged Jonathan and Gwendolyn along with me. My great-aunt Gwen was there which was neat because she hadn't seen our Gwen since her blessing. We didn't know too many other people there, but I guess they're all related to me somehow.
Gwen and my mom.
Gwen up-close.

The second one was more intimate - mostly my first cousins and their families. I forgot to bring the camera along so there's no pictures from that one. One of the best parts of the evening for Gwen was playing with my uncle's 3-month-old labradoodle. Gwen loves doggies.

I Got It!

No, not the flu, the new/old job at the InstaCare that I applied for recently! They called this morning and offered it to me but with a significant pay cut from what I'm making now. I told them that I needed to make at least what I am now and that it was a deal breaker if they couldn't do that. I told them that with my five years of InstaCare experience and with the staff there already behind me and supporting me, I was the perfect nurse for the job; requiring little training and already familiar with the job. The recruiter told me that she didn't know if it was possible to pay me what I wanted and that they only counted my two years of experience as a nurse. I insisted that the staff there was already hoping to work with me and that I would be the best candidate for the job but that I needed to be paid my current rate or it wouldn't happen. She told me to think about it and she'd see what she could do and get back to me.

After I hung up with her I laid there in bed - I had worked the night before - and had a small panic attack. I really wanted this job and I thought that putting up a fight for my pay might have cost me, no pun intended. I talked it through with Jonathan and decided that the pay cut was a big deal and I was right to stick to my guns. Everything I had said was true and if they were too dumb to see that I was the nurse they need there, then I'd keep working at my current job and just make do. I went to sleep and actually slept pretty good. The recruiter called back at 4:00 and told me that she had gotten the okay to pay me what I'm currently making. So, now I have a new job. It's the job I had 3 years ago at 3 times what I was making then. It means no more graveyard shifts and no more 12 hours of being a glorified waitress or cleaning up poo. It's working with doctors that I like and having a five minute commute. I start in two weeks and I can hardly wait. After three years, it's like going back home.

Miles and Miles

These last few days we did some traveling. We drove to Layton on Sunday for a family birthday party and to eat turkey. We drove up to Layton again on Monday to go swimming with Gwen's cousins at the fitness center. While we were there we actually ran into some of Jonathan's cousins - go figure. Then yesterday we decided that we needed to put more miles on the car and drove up to Preston, Idaho to see Grandma and Grandpa Thompson.

Gwen was not to keen on sitting in her carseat for the 2 hours it took to get there. We had to stop once on the way up to change her diaper and give her a break. Once there we toured Grandpa's workshop in progress. They were in the middle of getting it insulated so everything was pretty messy. Gwen loved meeting their yellow lab puppy, Lady. She loves doggies and didn't even mind having the puppy chew on her fingers. We went to lunch with Grandma and Gwen got her own ice cream cone.
After lunch we went with Grandma to her work at Pepperidge Farm where she packs cookies. We bought pounds of yummy cookies and goldfish crackers. We're set for life now. Grandma had to work so we said goodbye and went on our way back home. We made it to the WalMart in Logan before we had to stop for Gwen again. It was her nap time but she was having a hard time falling asleep in the car. We took a break and walked around the store and bought Gwen a birthday present with some money that Grandma had given us for her. Gwen was able to fall asleep after that and I was having such a nice time driving that I decided to take some of the back roads back toward Salt Lake. We got to see some of the little towns like Benson and Mantua that way. Gwen woke up once we hit North Ogden so we stopped for dinner at a McDonalds in Bountiful. She was more interested in watching the other little kids play in the play area then eating her dinner. We made it home 10 hours after we had left that morning. Jonathan put together the present for Gwen and we let her play with it. Yay for Gwen's first birthday present. It's a giraffe that she can sit on and ride.She loves it, can you tell?

Discovery Gateway Day

Today we ventured out to the Discovery Gateway downtown. It's the new and very improved Children's Museum. I think that Jonathan and I had as much fun as Gwen did.
They have an under 3 area and there were lots of babies Gwen's age. These two little boys were some of her favorite.
She loved this plastic rocker doggy.

She found a chair her size, climbed up on it and boogied.
Of course her favorite thing was the interactive water exhibit.


She had to stand on her tippy toes to reach. Look at those little "cankles".

It was a fun day and now we're headed out to go swimming, so it's not done yet!