The downside of being flexible

I've always been really flexible.  And I mean REALLY flexible.  Even at times in my life when I haven't exercised and/or stretched much, I've always been able to do the splits all three ways.  I didn't exercise at all whilst pregnant because it made me throw up, yet now that I'm finally working out again after a year, it's as if I'd been stretching all along.  It's kind of weird...I'm like Gumby or something.

Seemingly unrelated, my big toes curl upward.  It's also really weird.  When wearing flip flops, my big toes have a shadow of their own because they curl up.  I always assumed this was because I wore too small of shoes at some point in my life.  However, I recently went to the podiatrist because it felt like I was getting an ingrown toenail.  I was surprised when the first question he asked upon seeing my feet was "are you really flexible?"

Apparently some people just have really flexible joints. I'm one of those people and my toe joints are no exception!  As such, they bend up AND down whereas most people's big toes just bend down.  Since my toes point up they constantly touch the top of my shoes which puts pressure on my toenails which forces the toenails to become ingrown...and there you have it...the downside of being flexible!  The doc said to expect lots of ingrown toenails in the future given the flexibility of my big toes.

Needless to say, it was a very strange doctors visit. Didn't help that the doctor himself was really awkward.

Not a great pic...but you get the idea

Will Sophia have the same fate?

I tried to put her hair in a ponytail...didn't work that well

Not quite enough hair yet!

Square bob

Lately Sophia has taken to chewing on everything.  So I thought why not give her some teething toys since they are actually intended for the mouth.  Whilst Sophia was playing on the floor I put a teething ring in her hand (her left of course since I'm trying to bring her up properly), made sure she had a good grip, then walked away.  A minute or two later I came back in the room and saw her like this...

I laughed out loud and realized I absolutely must capture this on camera.  I thought for sure by the time I ran upstairs, got the camera and came back down she'd have moved and I'd have missed the opportunity.  Much to surprise and delight, she was still posed perfectly upon my return!  She's so cute!

Rollie Pollie

The amazing rollie pollie baby...

She rolled over for the first time about 2 weeks ago and then rolled over 3 times a few days later...there has been no rolling since.  In fact, now she doesn't even try!  

Late Night with Jeffrey Simpson: Episode 7

This episode wasn't late at night, but it still made us laugh hysterically, thus, it's blog worthy.

Scene: Just sitting down to Sunday dinner

Jeff:  "I'll say the prayer...Our dear Father in Heaven, we are so beautiful"

Jan:  Looks up and bursts into laughter

Jeff:  Realizing what he'd said also bursts out laughing

Jan & Jeff: Laugh for 5 minutes until one of us cried and one of us peed our pants (not telling who did what...although you can probably guess)

Sophia: Looking on wide eyed trying to figure out what she missed

Scene: Finally done laughing and still hungry we start to bless the food again

Jeff: "Our dear Father in Heaven, we are so grateful for this beautiful day..."

Jan thinks: Ah, so that's what he was trying to say!

Next stop - Lake Cresent

Next stop on our Memorial Day trip was Lake Cresent.  We just did a 2 mile "hike" since Sophia was getting grumpy and we were wearing jeans.  It was very beautiful!  We were very grateful to be outside so much on this trip since we've pretty much been stuck inside since last summer when the morning sickness set in.

The end of civilization as we know it...

The second stop on our peninsula trip was Cape Flattery.  Cape Flattery is the most Northwestern point of the contiguous United States.  I really wanted to go there because the pictures I'd seen online were amazing.  It ended up being a very long, winding drive out to the trail head so I doubt we'll go back again, but we did feel like it was worth the drive at least once in our life.  The views were amazing!  One thing I don't like about typical ocean views is the vast emptiness I feel when I look out across the water and see nothing - just waves.  I find it lonely and kind of boring.  This is one of the reasons I love Seattle so much; the water views are so interesting - islands, city scapes, bridges, whales, sea otters, ferries.  So I was thrilled that there was an island with a lighthouse, caves, and a view of Canada as well.  It was very beautiful and the trail was really easy so we could just carry Sophia.

The whole fan-dam-ly

Jeffy and Sophie

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I was just sure huge spiders were going to jump on me as soon as I got in the tree!

 

Peacocks and Llamas

I'm not known for my spontaneity, but this Memorial Day Jeff and I took a spur of the moment trek out to the Olympic Peninsula.   We've always wanted to go out there and explore so since the weather was beautiful and we weren't otherwise engaged, we packed up the squirt and drove to Port Townsend.

We stayed at a place called Manresa Castle...turns out it wasn't really a castle...should have guessed by the price.  It was quaint, but in the future we'll be staying in a hotel with window covering so that we don't have to wake up at 4:30 when the sun rises!  

Since we'd never been to the peninsula before we just got in the car and stopped when we saw something that we wanted to do.  First stop, The Olympic Game Farm.  This place was HILARIOUS!  We laughed through the entire thing.  This is one of those places where you stay in your car and drive past all of the animals.  They had all sorts of cool animals!  The things that really had me laughing were:

1. The peacocks: there were peacocks everywhere and they would walk right up to the tires of our car so I was really nervous that we were going to run over them.  Then one of them started chasing our car and calling after us.  I swear its call sounded like it was yelling, "Help! Help!".  See very poorly filmed video below.

2. The llamas: the llamas, like the peacocks, got right up to our car.  Their fir was rubbing up against our car and they would poke their faces right in our windows.  They would come investigate our car in packs...I was so nervous Jeff was going to run over one of them or their feet.  The video of this isn't uploading...sorry!

Dress Barn

I've always felt very strongly that you should never patronize a store whose name is, well, stupid.  How can any self-respecting person actually eat at a place called Fat Burger or Chuck-a-Rama.  Why would they feel the need to advertise via the name of their establishment what will happen to you if you eat there?! Similarly, why would a clothing store call themselves Dress Barn?  Why not just call me a cow straight to my face?  Despite my strong aversion to establishments with stupid names, I was at Westwood Village recently and happened to look in the windows and noticed a few somewhat attractive looking dresses.  So I ventured in just to see what the price range was...$150 later I left with 7 of the same blouse in different colors!  It looks like this:

 Don't worry, I know dumb I look in this picture.  Now, I'm not suggesting that this is the most attractive blouse ever, I realize it's not.  But I have been looking for years for a basic, decent looking, affordable, silky shell, with sleeves to cover my religious garments, which I'd be able to wear under a suit for years and would never have guessed to look at Dress Barn.  This shirt is only $30 and I got 30% off for shopping during friends and family week so I only paid $20.  Anyway, I guess you can't judge a book by it's cover...or title!

Mothers' Day!

I had a marvelous Mother's Day.  My first one as a mom to Sophia.  In the past, my mom always gave me a gift each Mothers' Day and told me that I was still a mother even if I didn't have any of my own children so this was just my first Mothers' Day with my own kid.  I really appreciate her for that since every woman has the ability to act as a role model or caregiver to people in some capacity or another and it prevented me from feeling pressured to have children or feeling like the lesser daughter for not having produced a grandkid yet.

Jeff made the day very special with nice meals, a massage, games, and a clean house eventually.  I realize that last part reads weird, but when I say "a clean house eventually" it's because this is what our house looked like all day until about 6 pm.

My house has NEVER EVER EVER looked like this before!!! Not when I was in college, not when I lived with Breann in Magnolia and we both worked 70 hours a week, not when I was working insane hours and Jeff was out of town...NEVER!  The only logical explanation for why this would occur now is...you guessed it...Motherhood!  There just isn't enough time in the day, is there?

 

Bug Surgery

One of Sophia's favorite toys is a little bug that sings when you pull the attached cord.  I believe that as part of some crazy profit making scheme the manufacturer decided to put the batteries to the bug deep inside the stuffing and then sew the securely shut in hopes that consumers would just buy a new bug when the batteries died.  I, however, saw through their scheme and was determined to make the bug sing again without repurchasing the same toy over and over.  Hence, I performed bug surgery and am glad to report that Bug survived and has fully recooperated!  He is singing again and brings a smile to Sophia's fat little face with every note!  Thanks Mr. Bug!