Huge Milestone!

I just wanted everyone to know that Averi said her first word today! She learned how to wave bye-bye over the weekend, and she LOVES doing it. She'll even pick up my hand and shake it when she wants me to wave to her. Well, this evening, Aaron was holding her and I was waving, and when I asked her if she could wave bye, she said, "Buh." Aaron and I looked and each other, and asked her again to wave bye-bye. This time she said "Buh buh." And she looked pleased as punch. Now she says it every time we ask her if she can say bye-bye. So totally adorable. Summary of our kids' first words: Katie: dog Paul: granola bar (I promise, this was actually his first word. It's always about the food with him.) Averi: bye Notice there's not a mama or a dada in there. I refuse to ask myself what this indicates about my parenting. FYI: Averi's also cutting her first tooth. Such a big week for such a little girl!

Camping in Moab

We were planning on going down to Lake Mead this weekend to go boating and camping with Aaron's family, but on Wednesday morning (the day we were planning on leaving), we realized that the forecasted weather was extremely windy. If any of you have been boating, you'll know that boating in windy weather is next to impossible and no fun at all. I was SOOOOO disappointed. I love to be on the water, and wakeboarding is so much fun. I've also been feeling boating-deprived, since I've been VERY pregnant 3 out of the last 5 summers. So I was thrilled to be going, but then my hopes were dashed. I felt like the conversation between Anne and Marilla: MARILLA: You set your heart too much on frivolous things and then crash down into despair when you don't get them. ANNE: I know. I can't help flying up on the wings of anticipation. It's as glorious as soaring through a sunset. It almost pays for the thud. MARILLA: Well, maybe it does. But I'd rather walk calmly along and do without both flying and thud. Sorry, I couldn't help but referencing one of my favorite movies. Anywho... So we searched around ALL of the lakes that were within driving distance of both Salt Lake and Albuquerque (which is a very small number of lakes), and ALL of them had the same windy forecast. So we decided to abandon the boating plan in favor of camping in Moab. And I'm glad to say that we had an amazing time. We drove down on Thursday morning. Let me tell you, road trips with two barely potty-trained toddlers are a riot. We stopped for potty breaks about every hour, and each one took at least 15 minutes. And of course they were completely wired and didn't sleep at all (Paul may have slept for about half an hour, but my memory of that is hazy). Averi, as usual, was a gem. Since we had to stop so frequently, we were able to get her out of her carseat and hold her, which helped her to maintain her sanity. Friday was quite windy, so we scrapped our hiking/sand dune plans in favor of Dead Horse Point State Park and bowling. We also ate lunch/dinner (linner?) in town. Saturday was a bit calmer, so we drove into Arches and "hiked" to a few of the arches and then took the kids to the huge sand hill off the highway to play. Aaron had never been to Arches before (I don't know how he missed out on that one, since he's been to Moab with the Scouts several times) so that was a new experience for him, and the kids loved scrambling up the rocks and just being outside in general. Averi's favorite part was eating the dirt clods at the sand dune. She was furious whenever we took them out of her mouth. If you don't want to see tons of photos of my adorable family, I advise you to stop here. Otherwise, here are some of our many, many pictures: Averi after I took the Fresca away from her... The fam at the Monitor and Merrimack. See how windy it was? Dead Horse Point State Park Aaron in mortal peril... and Jake in even worse danger. Katie had better form than most of the adults. Katie thought she was the bee's knees with her super cool water bottle holder. At Balanced Rock. In front of Delicate Arch. Double Arch This was the first time we'd used the large child carrier, and it worked great! Paul informed us that hiking was really fun; it may have something to do with the fact that he did none of the work! The aftermath. Our car was completely filled with red sand! It's going to be so much fun to clean!

Flower Child

Averi looked so adorable in her dress today, so I thought I'd take her outside and get some pictures of her. But she was having none of it. So, budding photographer that I am, I thought, "Ah! A prop! That's all she needs. Then I will have the stunning photographs I've always dreamed off." So I got her a pretty yellow flower to hold and prepared for some amazing photos of her pondering the beauty of nature. Instead, she promptly ate it. And I let her. I think I'm a bad mom. I love those pictures. I also got some other good ones after she decided it wasn't worth fighting me; if she was very good, she might get to devour some more flora.

Marley and Me

I just finished Marley and Me, and I thoroughly loved it. I read it on the recommendation of my sister and mother-in-law; thanks, guys! It's been a while since a book has had me bawling. Now I'm torn between wanting a dog that my family can love and wanting to keep my house from looking like it's entered World War III. Fortunately, I have a husband who's already made that decision for me. I might be tempted to do something rash.

Woohoo! We're Number Two!

From All Financial Matters: Here’s a quick look at Kiplinger’s 10 Best Cities for Jobs. I’m surprised that only one city from Texas made the list. Click on each city to go to Kiplinger’s write-up on each city. No. 1: Huntsville, Alabama No. 2: Albuquerque, New Mexico No. 3: Washington D.C. No. 4: Charlottesville, Virginia No. 5: Athens, Georgia No. 6: Olympia, Washington No. 7: Madison, Wisconsin No. 8: Austin, Texas No. 9: Flagstaff, Arizona No. 10: Raleigh, North Carolina

Internet Safety 101

So apparently there was an Oprah episode on internet safety (I'm not quite sure, since I didn't watch the episode) a while ago that caused a huge stir. People left and right are making their blogs private, and I wanted to share my thoughts on this. 1. One incident isn't the norm. People don't stop driving their cars because someone heard of someone in some other state who got in a car accident. We would think that was ridiculous. However, when we hear about some girl in Australia whose photo was used for an advertising campaign without her permission, we all rush and either stop blogging or publishing pictures online altogether or go private and make it such a hassle for people to view them that it seldom is worth the effort. 2. You are in more danger from those you know than from those you don't. People who are concerned about blog privacy often are worried about "lurkers" they don't know obsessing over their blogs. Statistically speaking, you are far more likely to come to harm from acquaintances than from random people. I'm afraid that it would take a "perfect storm" for the scenarios that so many people envision to occur. First, someone with an obsessive tendency would need to stumble across your blog and become obsessed with you or your family. Second, they would need to able to gather enough personal information about you to be able to stalk you or your children. Third, they would actually need the incentive do so. It just seems very unlikely to me. 3. Just because Oprah says it doesn't make it so. Likewise, just because other people are doing it doesn't make it necessary. People ought to think critically about what they hear and see from other sources. Wikipedia has taught us that group think is often correct, but it is still up to us to think for ourselves, especially about issues that are so open to interpretation. Now, having said that, I do believe that internet safety is important. I think that there are smaller, more important, and more useful steps that people can take to protect their families. Here is a list of some of my ideas: 1. Remove any references to your last name. If your blog address is thesmithfamilyinriorancho.blogspot.com, change it. Don't use "The Smith Family" as your title. Only list your first name (or a nickname, if you want to be even more secure) in your profile. 2. Consider removing references to the city you live in if you want to be extra safe. NEVER show pictures of the exterior of your house or your child's school. 3. Use a watermark on your photos. Place a transparent watermark on your photo that cannot easily be cropped out. This is easy to do, and I am going to begin watermarking the photos I put on this blog. I will be happy to make a tutorial showing how you can do this. I know that one reason people are making their blogs private is that they worry about people using their photos inappropriately or without permission. This can go a long way towards mitigating those fears. 4. Don't post your full email address in a forum, blog comment, or anywhere else that may be unsecure. I've seen people who are (apparently) concerned enough about their family's privacy to make their blogs private but will post their full email addresses in other blog comments. This is not smart or consistent! At the very least, form your email in such a way that bots can't harvest it easily; for example, myemail AT whatever DOT com. 5. Keeping your blog out of the google directory will reduce the number of unwanted visitors. In blogger, there are a number of privacy settings under "settings." I'm sure wordpress has similar options. 6. Use an internet filter. If you're truly concerned about keeping your family safe on the internet, use a filter. It's just common sense. We use Safe Eyes and have been pleased with it. I know there are several other good ones out there. 7. Think beyond the internet. Remove your phone number and address from the phone book. Place your home phone and your cell phones on the Do Not Call Registry. There are several other steps that you can take to protect your family that I won't list here. Truly, I am understanding of those who feel the need to make their blog private. I just feel that there is a lack of dialog on this subject and that some people are not thinking about the information that is coming to them from the media. Remember, the media's job is to sell, and fear is one of the best ways to do it. There are so many wonderful blogs out there, and it would be a shame if they were all closed because of sensationalized reporting.

Always laid back???

It's funny how wrong some of these quizzes can be...Zany? Laid back? I'm afraid that these are some of the last words people would use to describe me. I do, however, still like to run through the sprinklers. Maybe the warm weather brings out the spontaneous kid in me. So, what part of spring are you? You Are Kids Playing You are a free spirited soul. More than anything else, you are often just happy to be alive. You are always laid back and cheerful. You enjoy whatever happens to come your way. You are spontaneous and zany. You're the kind of adult who still runs through the sprinklers. You don't take life too seriously. You try to have fun at all times, even when you're working. What Part of Spring Are You?