Cute Things that Sienna does,...

I wanted to do this because I'm starting to forget some of the funny/smart/cute things that she does on a daily basis, so I'm going to try to post any note worthy things that she does as time goes on.

She was on the phone with my mom and she asked her," Grandma, you buy me a pink Polly pocket?" Grandma responded "I don't know, we'll see." and Sienna said, "Well my Abuela (Grant's mom) get me stickers." Already learning the fine art of manipulation. She knows that my mom wants to be the favorite, so we shall see if a pink Polly will be arriving in the mail.

When you ask here what she's afraid of she will tell you communism. If you ask her what saves us from communism she'll tell you capitalism. This is the result of having a father that is majoring in economics.

Her favorite joke is "knock knock, whose there, DORA!" and that's it, she revels in the fact that people say Dora who and she gives no response and then gets giddy with laughter. I attribute this to my mom whose favorite joke is " What did the momma hippo name her baby,...John."

When she was 18 months she was playing with a spray bottle that I used for doing hair, and she was going around squirting everyone, and my brother was in his room and we told her to go get Daniel. All on her own she knocked on his door and said "UN DAIEL (uncle Daniel)!" and he said "WHAT" and she said "KISSES!" and made the kissy noise pretending that she wanted kisses and when he opened the door she hosed him.

She constantly is singing and dancing everywhere she goes and makes up songs about everyone and one day she sang over and over that Uncle Daniel is a punk.

She went through a phase where she had to wear her bathing suit everyday. Not that unusual in the summer for kids, but it was December.

She's always caught on to the considerate things, at 10 months she told me bless you when I sneezed on the way home from shopping. She also notices anytime I get dressed up or put on make up aka Sundays and tells me I look so pretty. One Sunday she told me, "Mom I really like you boobs." I was horrified because not only do you not want those words come out of your toddler's mouth, but you really don't want here to say them in front of the missionaries your feeding Sunday dinner to.

She says"Boys fart and Girls toot."

She walked into the feed store with her abuela and she held her nose the whole time she was in there, and insisted that someone had tooted.

She sometimes talks out of the side of her mouth, usually when she's nodding confirming something that she thinks we already should know.

She of course knows her ABC's, shapes, she can count to 20, and knows all animal noises including the ones that come from daddy.

I Choose to be Happy!

If you always look for things to drag you down you'll find them. Grant and I have had hard times but I love him because he always stays positive and is happy no matter what. He has definitely taught me that happiness is a choice and it's the way we want to live. I have learned this lesson more here in Jersey watching some people around me. You can let little things drag you down, throw fits when you don't get things your way and choose not to work together for the common good, or you can choose to love the unique opportunity of living so close to such history, take it in when you can, make new friends and enjoy the rest of the time that your left with in the wonderful summer sun or in the fab apartments that the company has put us in. I have fallen victim to the mentality that once we get this thing or a big house or a new job, that life will be perfect but the truth is very simple, if your not happy where you are, your not going to get happy where your going. So I choose to be happy here, and when I made that choice it I really fell in love with this place and I'm going to be sad to leave. I'm especially going to miss lounging by the pool and having a gym in our building, but I know I will be just as happy in Idaho and it's a wonderful blessing that Grant has given me in my life! I love that he is such a hard worker, and he even goes to the grocery store for me when I don't want to. He's such a great husband and a great example of how a positive attitude gets you so much farther than griping and complaining ever will. I love him!!!

Random pics and Moments.

So we thought we left this cd of our new family pics and new ones of Nena back in Texas, but Grant found it so I'm posting them. Heather built an awesome new set and asked me to bring Sienna to come take some pics, so of course I didn't say no and Grant and I jumped in for a family one.



A quick update of how things are going,... Grant is doing well, had a rough week this week but ended it on a good note and made a sell today!

I have made a couple of new friends, Rachael is the manager's wife and I adore her and all her crafty skillz! She seriously probably doesn't sleep because she works full time, goes to school, and does the most amazing crafts you've ever seen! Her mind has to be going a million miles an hour all the time. Anyway her crafting got me thinking that I might be able to pull off making some bows so we went to the craft store, picked out the ribbon and got all the stuff I needed, looked up youtube videos on how to make bows and gave it a shot and here are the results. Not to shabby I think! My mom was proud and I think I'm going to get a sewing machine for Christmas and learn how to make some cute dresses for the Nena girl. How I made it out of a house with a mother that is a master seamstress and didn't learn one thing about it is beyond me and I really regret it, but hopefully I'll make up for it.









Also Sienna made a new friend at the pool today, her name is Sasha. She is also three and her aunt lives in our building. She has the cutest little afro and looked like she stepped out of a children's mag! I just wanted to take her home, but we got her mom's number and we planned a play date instead. She also is friends with our Bishop's daughter named Sarah. She is 5 and a very good influence on Sienna!!! We went to the Bronx Zoo a week ago and they had so much fun. I loved the zoo and we will post some pics from that when I get them from Alisha(Sarah's mom) because I forgot like a dumb dumb to bring the camera, but Alisha made sure to get lots of pics of Nena for us, and she has a better camera anyway so it was all for the best.

We really do love it here and we're having so much fun! Grant and I have made an effort to get in better shape so we're eating better and working out every morning and it has made the biggest difference in our lives! I know it sounds cliche but working out and eating right really does make you happier! A healthy dose of the sun does also! Try it, it gets rid of all mopey feelings!(if you can tell by the use of exclamation points) Anyway we only have another month here and then off to Texas for a week and then Idaho so we are going to try to enjoy every last moment while we're here.

The First month or so in Jersey!

Our little family has loved our adventure thus far in the great state of Jersey. Sunday we made our first trip out to the big apple and I've never seen so many people walking around in my life! We had fun but since it was the sabbath we really could not do much. We're planning on having a date night where we go to the top of the empire state building soon, and we're looking forward to that!
Sienna just got a bike and loves it. It was so funny in the store she kept saying I'm not safe without a helmet!!! So of course we bought her a cute lil pink helmet to go with her purple and pink bike. She really hasn't gotten off the bike since we got it, she even went to sleep in her helmet. So precious!
My days now are mostly spent at the pool. I'm actually getting a tan from the sun! Everyone that know me knows that this is a huge deal. I have come to love the sun and all the good stuff it does for me. In Texas it is nearly impossible to enjoy the outdoors for me because of the heat, but here the temp is just right staying in the 80's so I love being outside! The only downside is that it rains all the time, but I wait for the break in the clouds everyday and we run the pool and stay until the rain comes back. Sienna is becoming a little fish. She started out afraid to get in the pool and then she wouldn't leave the steps, now she gets in and barley hangs on to my are and kicks the whole length of the pool, so yesterday I let go about three feet away from the step and she swam to them all by herself! She'll also monkey crall all around the perimeter of the pool. She love the pool just as much as mommy does.
Grant spends Monday through Saturday selling. He has every morning off until 12:00 and then off too the meeting. Our sleeping schedule has definitely changed, but since we're moving to a time zone with a two hour diff after the summer, it hopefully will stay around the same there. He has already sold 22 as of yesterday and had his biggest day this past Tuesday with three sells that all went in! I'm super proud of all his hard work. July is going to be his biggest month yet!!!
We are so grateful for all the prayers, and we have definitely seen the hand of the lord in our lives. I'm so thankful to have such a hard working hubby, and such a great lil girl that keeps life fun. We'll post again soon! Love you guys!!!