Does Anyone Else Watch American Idol??

Okay, so I sat the last few seasons out, but decided to give it a try again this year. I've not been overly impressed with any of them--except for David Archuleta! He is amazing! And he's LDS! He just looks so pure and good--I hope he wouldn't be corrupted if he won! The only thing that bugs me a little is the deep breaths he takes between words. But other than that--he's the one I'm rootin' for! Oh, I also think Paula Abdul's response to his song is hilarious. Enjoy.

Got Food Storage?

This is a short (7 minute) video on the current state of America's financial crisis. It's an interview with David Walker, the US Controller General or the Nations top accountant. I haven't been as diligent as I should've been in getting food storage, but lately I have felt very motivated to get going on it. I hope you'll watch this.

Open WIDE

Sorry about the dripping snot in this one. ;)

Kate has the hugest mouth (from Andrew) and loves to let it hang open--sometimes in mock surprise, sometimes to latch on to my arm or leg and bite me, other times just genuinely enjoying herself, or to yell coded messages to other babies. She better watch out, though--Andrew loves to stick his finger in my mouth whenever I yawn. It drives me up the wall to find a finger in my mouth when I'm done yawning. But he's now started to do it to her...but I guess he better watch out because tonight she dug her little chompers into him.

Car Play

On Saturday night, we all ran an errand to Comp USA and I waited in the car with Kate while Andrew ran inside. It was taking longer than I expected, so I tried to entertain Kate. I was playing Peek a Boo by hiding behind my seat. I decided to lift the head rest a little bit so I could peek through and surprise her. However, I didn't realize the head rest was broken...so when I lifted it up it went flying off and into the back seat next to Kate. It startled both of us and then I started laughing and she started laughing harder than I have EVER seen. She was doubled over, tears in her eyes, the whole works. It was so sweet!! She really couldn't stop--she was in hysterics. I did that several more times and she was just beside herself.

So just now I took her to the car and tried to catch it on video. Well, of course, it didn't work. She laughed, but not at all as hard as she had that night. I guess those things are hard to capture on video. It will just have to live on in my memory! :)

Fun in a Parking Lot

I love how her right arm of the coat is longer than the left. It reminds me of "Chubbs" from Happy Gilmore. Heh, heh.

Andrew's First Framed Photo

I've been meaning to get a picture of Andrew's picture for a while now. Here it is! This is his very first framed large format photo that he ordered for his grandparents. It looks really amazing in person. The detail is incredible--it feels like you are right there. He is going to submit it to the Springville Art Museum in April for their annual art show. We'll let you know if he gets in! :)

Andrew just added his latest project to his blog. He won't be able to get it finished for some time now that he's back in school full-time. It took some convincing to get him to do it because he is not finished with it, but you can check out the current version at www.andrewmorrillphoto.blogspot.com.

Kate and her shapes

Kate is so funny--she tries the various shapes in one or two of the slots and if it doesn't fit, she simply takes off the top and puts it in the box. She's probably thinking--This is taking too long, there's a much faster way to get them inside!

Andrew Update

I realized it's been a while since I've written about what's going on with Andrew. And since this blog is the Morrill Times, not just the Jenn and Kate Times, I thought I would update you all.

Andrew has quit his 5 Buck Pizza job! He has worked there for over five years, but a few months ago the owners sold the store and things have been declining quickly ever since. He decided enough was enough and said goodbye.

School has been VERY busy this semester. He's taking classes like genomics, genetics, computer science, biology, and calculus. Midterms were this week and he has been working so hard. He leaves early and rarely gets home before 8pm on most nights. Two days ago he took a calculus test for NINE hours (the previous record was 6-7 hours for a physics test)! He is a very methodical person and went through the test several times, feeling like he got them all right except for one. He was determined to stay there until he got it. He was disappointed when he finally had to give up on it and come home. For those of you who don't know Andrew very well, he is a die hard perfectionist. He's doing very well in all of his classes and I am very proud of him.

I don't think I ever spent more than three hours in the testing center and by the end I felt like I was going to go crazy! Everyone's packed in there so tight, people shaking their legs, coughing, blowing their nose, etc. Ugh. I definitely don't miss taking tests!

Anyway, Andrew is planning on getting another job during the summer, but for the first time since he's started college he will not have to work while he is in school. He is very excited! Of course, we are also excited because we will see more of each other! Maybe even get a date in once in a while.

P.S. We also found out that Utah happens to be one of the hot spots for biotech companies. There is one company in particular in SLC that is very cutting edge! It would be nice if we didn't have to move out of state when he's done. I have to admit that I like it here!

PPS An interesting fact that Andrew learned this week--baldness does NOT just come through the mother's side. It's a myth! The one thing about genetics I thought I knew! ;)

Park Fun!

I wanted to go to the zoo or the aquarium or SOMETHING today, but Kate didn't take a nap until late, so we ended up just going to the old park we used to go to. There were a lot of ducks there (thought they flew south in winter??) and Kate was not scared of them at all. At one point, they all rushed out of the water at the same time and charged us (I was kind of scared, by the way). They probably thought we were going to feed them or something. Kate charged back at them, though, and would've jumped right in the pond after them if I hadn't caught the hood of her coat just in time. Andrew reminded me that he jumped in a river when he was two and almost drowned. His dad had to jump in after him and was barely able to grab his coat to save him. I just thought she would have some sort of hesitation about going in the water--I didn't think I'd have to grab her and then restrain her. I think she's got a lot of her dad in her.

She got a lot more exercise than usual and got really tuckered out. When we got home, she just laid on the floor and stared at the ceiling for a half an hour. It will be so fun when it gets warmer and she'll be able to run and run and get all her energy out! I just hope she doesn't jump in the river.

On the Swings: Then and Now

June 2007
Today

I really thought Kate would have a better experience on the swings today than she did the last time (and first time) she was on them. As you can see from the pictures, though, there wasn't much difference in her reaction. She did smile a couple times, but then wanted down. I have some other pics I got today I will post later.

A One Year Old Trapped in a Two Year Old's Body

Kate is 14 months old and is now officially wearing 24 month clothes! What's going on here?! I bought her shoes like TWO weeks ago and this week they're too tight. I swear--an entire YEAR of her little life has vanished! She's way taller than I was at her age and I was a giant up until 7th grade. I'm only 5'7" now and Andrew's 6'0". His dad is 6'4", though, and his brother is 6'7"... so maybe she's inherited the super duper tall gene or something.

This is the best picture I could get of her today. She was being cranky. Sorry about the mess in the background. Kate is lovin' nursery these days. There's only a couple other kids in there, so I'm lovin' it myself!

Sickness!

Ugh--so Kate came down with a fever and runny nose a couple days ago. I thought about taking a picture of her nose running everywhere, but opted for a simple box of tissues. She's been so sad and not sleeping well (just 10 hours a night as opposed to 12...). Poor thing! When I reach to wipe her nose, she jerks away at just the right moment so the tissue ends up smearing the snot all over her face.

I wasn't particularly concerned with catching the cold from her, as for some reason I've always had this vague notion of mother invincibility. You don't get sick when your kids are sick, right?! How would you take care of them if you were both sick? So when I saw her drooling all over, licking the phone, and sticking her fingers in my mouth--I wasn't too worried (warning flags did wave a bit, though, when she licked the phone...).

So, yes, of course, I am sick now, too. I realized that it's pretty hard to be sick when you have a kid and your husband is at school all the time. All I want to do is crawl into bed and stay there all day. But Kate's naps have been short since she can't breathe very well, and I have to shower at some point! I just barely got one and it's four in the afternoon!

This morning, I was laying on the floor while she played. I started to doze off and she came over and sat on my head! Never fails! If I am closing my eyes while on the floor, she will throw books, toys, whatever at my head. Whenever I groan to Andrew about it, he just looks at me and says, "Why don't you lay on the couch?" Hmm. That would be too easy.

On the plus side...I can't smell her poopy diapers! But then I don't know when to change her, either...

Playing in the Slush

I took these pictures a week ago and have meant to post them. Kate just LOVES going outside. She will go find her shoes, throw them in my lap, and look at me expectantly. Look at her gloves--it wasn't so easy to get them on her fingers...heh, heh. I love the last picture because it looks like she just got back from skiing or something.

Don't Forget to Vote!

It's Super Tuesday for a lot of people today! If you're one of them, don't forget to get out and vote! I couldn't believe how many people were at the polls today! We had to wait for an hour before we got to vote. There were tons of people, but it was also very disorganized at our polling place. Luckily, we had someone to watch Kate so we could spend as much time as we needed. It was fun!

No More Mullet

The mullet had to go. I had thought of trimming her hair for a while now, as it has obviously been growing into a natural mullet formation, but Andrew thought it was cute and didn't want me to cut it. He's partial to mullets, I guess, because he had one growing up. Heh, heh.

It was when we got together with my college roommates that I decided it must be done. I was joking that night that Kate had a mullet and Lindsay said, "Oh ok. So you do know. You always wonder if parents see the same things."

So last week I got her into the tub and whipped out the scissors. It turned out to be really really hard to cut a straight line with Kate turning around every two seconds. She had a worried "What are you doing back there?" expression. I probably cut off about two inches. I thought I did a pretty good job until the next day when I saw it. There were jagged lines all over the place that didn't show up that night after the bath (or in the picture). I explained to my fellow nursery worker what had happened to her hair. She nodded and said, "Ohhh...okay."

I'm tryin' here!

Our Little Monkey

Kate LOVES bananas. I give her one every morning after her milk. A week or two ago, I asked her, "Do you want a banana?" She looked up at me with hopeful eyes and said, "buh-nan-a-na?" Sometimes it's not as clear as others when she tries to say it, but it's cute every time. Last night, we were out of bananas and she went into the kitchen, looked up at me with those big eyes, and said, "uh-nan-na-na?" It broke my heart to tell her we didn't have any. After I got her to bed, and after Andrew got home, I put on my coat and headed out into the freezing, snowy weather around 11pm to go get more bananas so she would have one waiting in the morning.

Tonight, she had one at dinner, too, and after that one was gone--she freaked! I had eaten about half of it, so I got out another one. She ate the whole thing and when it was gone she started chewing on the peeling! I'm telling you--she loves these things.

She imitates quite a few animals now, but her monkey impression is spot on! She also LOVES to jump around on the furniture...from couch to chair to ottoman to couch. She really is a little monkey.

The Colbert Report

For those of you who prefer politics through Comedy Central's Colbert--this is hilarious! "Truth is the new crazy."