Jordan's Book of 2007

I really don't care for New Year's. I am not one for recaps of the year, resolutions, and the month of January. So my tribute to 2007 is simple: Ben and I decided that this month we would write about the best books we have read this year.

Over the past few months I have been reading Jodi Picoult books almost exclusively. I started reading them because they are simple and well written, I could stop and start easily, and they are easily accessible at Wal-Mart, which is almost the only store that sells books in Tooele. Since I considered the books light reading, I was surprised when I fell in love with the book Harvesting the Heart. I purchased it when Nate was in the hospital and hesitated because of the title. I thought it sounded ridiculous, and the "tender" mother-infant graphic on the cover didn't help. Yet when I read the book, something about it really touched me and I just couldn't put it down. I love the author's clear, descriptive style of writing, her exploration of marriage in this and many of her books, the evolution of characters I often don't like at the beginning of a book and make sense to me at the end, and the honest way she portrays flawed humans.

I am sure Ben's pick for the year will be more intellectual, with a philosophical analysis! In the meantime, if you are in the mood for an experience that will leave you thoughtful and serious but not depressed or ranting about politics and religion, I recommend Harvesting the Heart.

Eva's Mess #2

I have a sneaking suspicion that this may become a regular feature on our blog, the catalog of little Eva finding fun things to make messes with. Of course Jordan had just put Eva in a cute new sweater outfit, and Jordan went to go find an outfit for Nathan to wear. Eva is just so excited because she is now tall enough to take things off the table. Now it must be something in the Lehnhof genes, but this is what Jordan and I returned to a few minutes later.

She just couldn't get enough, she kept laughing and then taking another drink.

My favorite part of this next one is the half lidded eyes that look like an addict getting their fix. They just seem to scream "Oh yeah, that hits the spot." I think I've seen that before somewhere before with Diet Coke.

Of course, Eva couldn't keep the excitement of having Coke to herself, she decided to show her brother her prize. He was excited too, and decided he would "share" it with Eva.

Eva's first haircut

On Monday Eva had her first haircut! I took her to a cute kids salon in Salt Lake with airplane seats, a short potty (which Nathan found fascinating, by the way) and little TV's to watch during the haircut. When we walked in there was a little boy about Eva's age screaming his head off. It never even occured to me she might not like it, so I spend the next few minutes saying, "Isn't this fun?!" over and over and pointing out all of the features of the salon. Eva did seem to have fun, though. I can't prove this though, because as usual, Eva did not smile for any pictures! One of these days we'll get a really good smiley photo of Eva.

Right inside the door of the salon is a big slide. When we first arrived I took Nate out of the stroller and told him I would help him with the slide in just a second and went to unbuckle Eva. By the time I turned around Nate had booked it up the steps and slid down by himself!

Eva - Future Member of Mensa

I finally have the proof I need to boost my own ego that Eva is a genius.

The other day, Jordan had put Eva in a yellow ensemble of shirt and pants. Eva then proceeded to start to play with a bag of crayons and markers when we weren't looking. Which marker and crayon did Eva emerge with? Both yellow, like her outfit, so I had to document this in pictures. But then the thought occurs, this might just mean that Eva has inherited her mother's fashion sense. As you all know, it's never to early to start accessorizing.

Fun at the dinosaur museum!

So over the holiday break we have a lot of time for activities, so we decided to take the girls and Nathan and Eva to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. It made me realize how many things Nathan understands because when I told him we were going to see great big dinosaurs he lit up. He kept telling us and the girls to GO! Nate wasn't going to wait patiently any longer, and he let us know it.

We arrived and though Nathan and I were very excited, Eva was mildly interested at the beginning. You can see her polite smile in the picture. Eventually though Eva found the many glass cases fascinating enough to walk up and pound her little fists on while exclaiming "Wow!"








Nathan loved all the exhibits to touch and feel, and his favorite part was at the end "excavating" some fossils from a sandbox with his trusty brush. Anything involving dirt is a sure winner for Nathan.

Eva's Mess

Last week I made a big mistake. After the kids went to bed Ben went out to get us ice cream. That part wasn't the mistake. I didn't finish all of mine and set the empty cup aside on the desk in our bedroom. THAT was the mistake. The next morning I woke up early and gave both of the kids baths and took them out into the family room of the house room to play while I went upstairs to wake up the girls and start breakfast. At least, I thought they were both playing in the family room - the door closed in front of Eva and I didn't notice until a few minutes later when I came back downstairs and heard Nate playing and realized he was jabbering with Eva through the door. I opened the door and found this surprise . . .

It was hard to get pictures of Eva smiling because she spent most of the time we were taking pictures running away because she was afraid we would take away the ice cream cup, but we all know this must be one of the best days in Eva's short little life.

Nate has 6 legs!

Walker by itself: Not that interesting.
Walker combined with snowballs: Guaranteed way to get Nate to practice!

Nate is on the go! Nate has been using a walker for a while now, but was pretty apathetic about the whole idea. A couple of weeks ago we took Nate to play outside with his walker in the snow and now he is getting into it by himself and walking around the house all of the time.

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