Hogle Zoo~

So finally a month later I finally got around to posting the pictures of our Hogle Zoo trip. It was a blast despite the chilly weather and Leta not getting a good nap. She walked a good portion of the five hours we where there and didn't crashed till the very end. She was so fun to watch with the animals she especially liked the monkeys and watching there antics through the glass. Beware there are allot of photos, sorry about the random order.....



Tuckered out!

One cool chick

Humm, not sure what I was going for?!

Loved this hat! Just not enough to spend ten bucks on it..

Cute baby Giraffe .. he just died of malnutrition and failure to thrive ):

My little Turtle

Mama and her Cub
She got a kick out of this Tortoise, she would crawl along with him back and forth..


Such a little hand


Who are you???

Baby Zuri..Adorable!


Got to love Uncle Steve :)

I have a ton of pictures to post of our visit to Auntie Moo's and Grandma and Grandpa Ellsworths trip to see us last week, but this will do for tonight.

Binks, Bears and Wedding Bells

Okay so I have gotten behind on my daily account of our binky adventure, I know you are heart broken :)
So to start with we had to head back down to SLC for a wedding, uuggg! So I headed up a day earlier with Leta and she did fairly well with no binks, but that night when mommy wanted a night out at the movies she decided that she was going to morph into this little demon child who would not be content to sleep with her stupid broken Bink's. I ended up sitting in the lobby fuming and wondering was it wrong of me to miss my single days when I could be selfish and only think about myself. So to make a long story short I got pissed off and had a mommy melt down moment on the way home and rolled down the car window and told Leta "Fine you want to be a brat then say goodbye to your Bink's!" and tossed them out. I felt huge guilt when her mouth dropped open and her eyes bugged out and she stammered "ma, ma, mama!" and let out a ear splitting scream and sobs, whoops..What did I do! But despite all trauma it has been almost three days and we are doing better each day. Knowing it is gone has made a tremendous difference. We still have a good cry before sleep takes over, but I do believe the worst is over!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

While in SLC we went to the International Sportsmen Expo, as you can imagine it was heaven on earth for rednecks like us!
It was a blast. Leta loved the booths who fawned over her and gave her treats and better yet the ones who had there hunting dogs with them she could cuddle. The only part she didn't like was the water dog competition. People would take there dogs up to the plank and throw the toy out into the pool and see how far they could jump into the water, it was amazing the skill some of those dogs had the farthest we saw jump was 25 feet and 4 inches, holy crap! Poor Leta would smile and clap until they took a flying leap into the water she then would cry and scream "Bad!" until they got out and she would be fine again. I have no clue what that was about. My favorite part was when my dear husband let me convince him that getting the chance to hold a baby bear was worth the fifteen dollars it cost to get to hold them for a picture. It was adorable, the cub was using my thumb as a binky, AWWWW!
We had so much fun that we where almost late for the wedding ( the main reason we went) but we got there and enjoyed seeing family. It was sad after the wedding we went over to his Uncles house to visit and bathe Leta. While there their grandson took a tumble off the couch on to the marble coffee table, not good! he ended up with three staple in his head :(..( He was the son of the groom, what a honeymoon!)
Well I guess this long enough, so good day my blogging friends!

This post is a day late, but better late than never right?
So Yesterday (March 17Th) was not just St. Patricks day, but my in-laws 26Th wedding Anniversary! They are such an inspiration to me. Though it hasn't all been easy or enjoyable for them they have never given up and remain just as much in love as the day they got married, probably more so. These are the people who met, dated, engaged, married, conceived and birthed a child all in about one years time! (In that order) Beat that one :)
So Here is to Mom and Dad Allen hope you have many more years of happiness!


** As a side note the binks adventure is still underway and making slow progress although she is still determined to try and use them at nap and bedtime she no longer trys to persuade me to give her one when she is upset or in the car. As a matter of fact she seems oblivious to them until time to sleep then it goes into full fledged panic mode. Luckily there isn't much left of them since I nip a bit more of each time so hopefully this chapter in our lives will soon be finished...Good Riddance!

**LoSt aNd FoUnD**

Another day closer to no more Bink's. We had a successful nap, but a tear filled bedtime. Complete change from yesterday, luckily the water works only lasted 45 min and mommy was able to stay strong and not cave. Yay for me!! I am starting to feel optimistic about this having a positive outcome, like mommy not losing her sanity :)

YOU ARE HERE!!!!
And now for the fun news! Okay so maybe not so fun, but really when you think about it it really is a funny story to be enjoyed by kids and grandkids of the future!
So here it is...I told Jayme Monday that no excuses we where going to the Temple on Tuesday. I was in much need of the quiet peace that comes with the Temple. A time to reflect and ponder some thoughts floating around my head, anyway back to the story..We get there unsure of when the next session would be so I took my time got a drink, went potty, changed and headed in. Well immediately after I stepped out I was swarmed by several of the older female Temple workers telling me that I was to hurry he was waiting for me and to hurry to join his session so I rushed up ( I now realize if I would have had a min to think it through I would have understood how unlikely it really was that he would have gone without me but anyway) so by the time I get in there and get sat down it is underway and I quickly realize he is not there! And it is not an appropriate situation to get up and leave. So what did I do? I figured Jayme would figure it out and follow behind in another session, WRONG!
In the meantime Jayme is sitting in the chapel wondering why is wife is lagging behind and after 20 min of sitting there decides he better find out what is holding me before it is time to start the session. So he asks the Temple ladies if they could check for his MIA wife. So the Temple Matron precedes to go to the dressing room and knock on all changing and bathroom stalls calling for Sister Allen to no avail. So then it leads into checking the security camera's to see if I am on the Temple grounds, check the cafeteria, and check to see if I for whatever reason decided to do different work and go another area of the Temple and calling my Mom to see if something was amiss there that I would have been called out for( I am unsure of exactly what order this all happened in, just bear with me where getting to the end).
So by this time my panicked Mom called the Temple and got the security involved and he had Jayme show a picture of me so they knew who to watch for and have him check in the sessions for me. Finally they discovered me finishing the session and we where reunited! So then we changed and left in a hurry ( embarrassed doesn't began to cover it) so much for some quiet serenity..and call family back that my Mom had called to reassure them that I was found and well and not Translated as one thought I had been!!
True story, its way to good to be made up!!! See now wasn't that worth sitting through all that reading :)

Mission (NOT)Impossible

So to help survive the next few days I will whine to you my fellow bloggers. Today was the first official day of no more Bink's. Let me tell you letting your little ones grow up is hard to do! That or I am just a pushover who hates to upset her child, take your pick.
So after mulling over the different ways of ending this addiction I came to the conclusion that she was to young to understand throwing it away or sending it away by means of balloons or the "Binky Fairy". Yes I did allot of research on this particular subject, pathetic I know :) . But she was to old to simply make it vanish, this is the child that knows all her possessions and will search for the one in particular that is not accounted for. So to make this easy as possible for all involved, especially me, I simply clipped the ends off and explained to her that when little girls get big they accidentally bite the ends of there binks.
So you ask "How did this go?", well she skipped her nap altogether hoping to persuade mommy for a good binky. I won and she got worn out enough that she went to bed tonight with just a bit of protest with the "broken" ones.
Here's hoping for a peaceful night and day!
One day down..Many more to go!

So Long Dear Friend...

With Leta turning 18 months we realized the time has come to end the binks once and for all, to say I am nervous is an understatement. Not to mention sad. The binks has been around since the beginning! (we introduced it to stop her from sucking her thumb)
For the past few months it has been banned to her crib only, and an occasionally silencer in church. And now its time to eliminate entirely. I have drug my feet on weaning her since it was just for helping her to sleep and frankly I feel like a beast for taking away my baby's...okay toddlers beloved binks.
I figured start slow and end the binks with nap time first then when that was overcome we would send it away for good, like attached to a balloon so she knows its gone and not coming back.
Here is where you my fellow bloggers come in handy. What ways did you find useful to end the binks addiction? any advice is welcomed.
( I am leaving town for a week so we have about a week and half before we actually start)

18 months and Counting..

Another good report from the Doctor!
I was shocked to see her height drop from the 70Th percentile to the 40's. I guess it's just evening out from the rapid growth of the first year. At least
she is a well rounded runt :)
This visit we did the first autistic test and she cleared it with flying colors. I am ashamed to say I love to hear the Doctor say " Good job she is perfect, keep up the good work mom!" All moms need there moment to gloat right?
I am always nervous when it comes to the progress report, but she hit all the milestones perfectly, and he was impressed we taught her sign language to boost her language skills. ( I am a true believer she has done so much better since we started!)
Now tomorrows adventure..first dentist appointment!!