My little brother Dustin

Well, it's past midnight and I should be getting to bed but I'm not really tired. I took a nap today and I think that messed me up. As I was wasting time online, I started thinking about my little brother Dustin. He's serving a mission in the Lubbock, TX mission and has been out just under a year.

What a great brother he is. I am so happy with the person he has grown up to be. When he was little he had quite the temper. We had a couple pretty physical battles growing up (explained below)...but all in all we got along quite well.

Once when we were little, I was chasing Dustin. I don't even think he was two yet so I obviously had the advantage on the running thing. He was on a stick horse during the chase and he fell and well...broke his leg :( I have always felt bad about this, poor little Dustin. All of his video from that time period is with this huge cast on this tiny little boy. I also remember going with my mom to the doctor to have them take Dustin's cast off. As they brought out the saw to cut it off, Dustin was terrified. I'm sure being a one year old little boy, he thought they were sawing his leg off! I felt really bad for him then. What a mean sister I was :(

The second thing that I remember happening was when I was probably 10 and Dustin was 6. We were playing at my grandparents house in Ely, NV. I think I did something to make him really mad and he was chasing me. I ran into the house through the back glass door. The glass door was the kind that you open before you open the real door so it had a hinge so it doesn't smack closed. Anyways, I ran in and the door began to swing back to closed position. Right as it swung back Dustin runs into it and shatters the glass...I am not sure if he got cut but I'm guessing he did. Again what a mean sister :(

The next thing I remember was around that same age. I must have been a pretty ronchy ten year old. Anyways, I had this genius idea to play marco polo (ya know the swimming pool game) in the house! I know, I know, what a great idea! So as we were playing I was the one with my eyes open while Dustin had his closed. I don't know if I meant to lead him towards the end table but somehow he ended up running into the table and cutting something open...maybe an eyebrow, maybe a chin, not sure. Poor Dustin, had to be a victim of my lack of common sense (I was told many times growing up that I needed some common sense.)

Those are the three main things that stick out in my mind. I'm sure there were more, I'll have to ask Dustin. However, there was one thing I do remember that Dustin did to me.

I think Dustin was about 4 or 5. My sisters and I were babysitting the little kids (Dustin and Karlie.) Dustin was known to get quite the temper when he got mad. Someone did something and he got mad. He was upstairs and us girls were downstairs watching him. He brings a big play set toy (bulky, hard plastic, lots of sharp edges) out of his room and throws it at us. I was the unfortunate one who got wacked in the head. I was ok until my older sister took me into the bathroom and I saw all the blood on my face. I freaked out. It wasn't serious, no scars or stitches so everything was fine.

So I'm not sure why I posted this. I am missing my little brother and just thinking about the relationship we have. Even though there were a few bloody battles over the years, once we were out of that kid stage we never really fought. I got to go on our stake pioneer trek with him and that was really fun. He was barely old enough to go and I think he really enjoyed it. He's such a great guy. Doesn't care much about what's "cool" and what's not. I love him lots and I'm glad I got him for my brother.

Here's a few pictures I rounded up that I liked

I found this on his roommates facebook (hope no one cares) It's the first time I've seen this and thought it was HILARIOUS! Hopefully you understand that they are mocking BYU girls :) It was especially funny to me because I have a roommate picture exactly like it (below.)

Oh the good ol college days :)

Dustin and my sister Breanna.

I had to find a good one of his hair! It's awesome and we have no clue where it came from.

Dustin, Jonathan Bethke, Amy Bethke, my sister Karlie, my brother Dallin, Nicholas Bethke.

I took this picture a couple months before Dustin left on his mission. They were doing a high school musical pose. Dustin was really into it. It makes me laugh.

Dustin's eagle court of honor.

Jane can sit up!

Little Nancy Jane can sit up all by herself. Since last week she has started sitting for longer periods of time each day. Here are a few pictures to document it and a few extras just because.

Revolutionary

This may not come across as a big deal to anyone else, but it is in our home!

We have every now and then told Zoey how old she is especially around her birthday. Before her birthday we said "you're almost two" and that has stuck. Now when you ask her how old she is she will either say "I'm almost two" or "I'm two years old" but usually the former. Today she was talking to Jane. This is how their conversation went, "Jane, howahyou" (she was meaning, "How old are you.") Then she continues as if she were Jane "almost two." I came into the conversation and explained to Zoey that Jane is almost one. Even though Jane isn't almost one, I figured it would be easier to understand than introducing the concept of months...about three minutes later I asked Zoey "How old is Jane" to which she nonchalantly responded, "Jane is six months old".....I was speechless. I started laughing at Zoey and saying "how did you know that? That's so good!" and she responds with a laugh and says "THANK you mommy" hahaha. I have NEVER told her that Jane is six months old and I really can't recall when I've said it out loud. I think maybe at church someone has asked me how old Jane is and I've told them. That must be where she picked it up. She is much smarter than I ever give her credit for. I am truly amazed!

Just a cute little clip of silly Zoey.

Nancy Jane Olsen- 6 months old

Her eyes are just so gorgeous!

After her first meal, yum!

Little Janey turned 6 months old on the 14th of July. I cannot believe how fast time has gone. That's half a year! We went in for her check up and she's growing right along. She is 24 1/4 inches long (this is only 7% so she's pretty short), she weighs 14 lbs 1 oz (around 20%), and her head is 41 3/4 cm. She still has her adorable chubby cheeks and thighs. Her height dropped from 20% to 7% which I thought was funny because I was noticing she looked really short compared to other babies. I think she got my short genes :)

Jane is almost sitting up. She can do spurts every now and then but I wouldn't say it is official yet. She rolls EVERYWHERE and is really the happiest baby ever. Everyone is always telling me how happy Jane is and they are right. I love this stage because they aren't old enough to complain (or whine!) unless they are really hungry, so most of the time they are just all smiles. It's so much fun. I just can't believe she's growing up so fast, sometimes it makes me a little sad but seeing her get bigger and learn is definitely rewarding. We also started her on rice cereal the other day and it's fun to watch her cute faces. I added some applesauce yesterday and she made the funniest sour face ever. What a cutie pie :) She started making her first official sound which is "bababababa" just like Zoey's was. She takes 2-3 naps a day and sleeps about 10 hours a night. We love you Nancy Jane!

Sleeping Buddies

Zoey and Jane are sleeping in the same room these days. They do pretty well. Last night as I was putting Zoey in bed, Jane woke up and wanted some attention. Jane is starting to develop her personality and it's so cute. She LOVES being around people and HATES being alone (doesn't have to be held, just needs to be able to see someone) :) She usually sleeps pretty well, but this particular night she just wanted a buddy so I put her in bed with Zoey for a couple minutes. Zoey loved having Jane in bed with her and it was so cute to see my two little girlies cuddling under the blankies. I sure do love them. Excuse my baby talk, it's become quite natural to talk with "ies" at the end of every word :)

Unsuccessful Shopping Trip

Well, today has been a great day. I got to see some great friends from home that came to ID to visit family and see BYU-I. We went out to lunch at Craigo's Gourmet Pizza which is really yummy. Afterwards I went with them to look at some apartments and the campus. After I got home I was planning on leaving the girls with Andrew to run to the craft store for something I really wanted to get. The other day when I was there, they had some stuff on sale outside their store. There was a really cute black frame, rectangular shape with a chalk board on half and places for pictures on the other half. It was just what I was looking for for our kitchen wall. It was like 3 1/2 feet by 1 1/2 feet so a good wall filler. Anyways, it was only 12 bucks and I wanted it. I went over to the store which was still open for another half hour. Their stuff outside was closed up so I went in to ask if they could grab it for me. The lady looks over to a guy (20 yr old) and asks if that was ok. He looks at me and asks what I wanted so I explained it to him. He immediately says "no, you can come back at 9 in the morning." I was pretty annoyed because there store was still open and they weren't letting me purchase an item that they were selling. I don't want to go back at 9 in the morning and I am really contemplating not giving them my business to get back at them. If only they would notice that. Anyways, after walking out empty handed I headed to Walmart for something Andrew needed. I also wanted to rent a specific movie. I get what I need and head to the machine. The movie was all checked out so I go next door to Albertsons to check their Redbox. It was out too. I call Andrew and ask him to check online to see which Redbox's had it. He told me one so i head over. I get there only to find the machine broken. By this time I wasn't going to go home having gotten nothing I went out to get. So I determinedly drove to another Redbox and finally got the movie. Finally I headed home. I am really tempted to go across the street and get some ice cream for the movie just to cheer me up. But, all in all today was a good day even with Mr. Stingypants at the craft store. Who does he think he is? :)

Tips for keeping your house clean!

Well, today was a normal day filled with lots of cleaning. Sometimes with two little girls (not that Jane makes a mess but it makes me sound a little less pathetic saying "two") things can get a little crazy. It really just looks like a bomb went off sometimes which is sad. I know there are people out there who have clean homes most of the time because I've witnessed it. You drop in unexpectedly and holy smokes, there house is spotless! How DO they do it. I feel like I'm already spending too much time cleaning and I would say my house is NEVER clean when people show up unannounced. So, I am asking for advice. I went through the flylady website and yes it sounds good but she says it takes like a year to finish her program. I want something that will help NOW

However, being married three years (I know not a huge number but still) I have learned a few tricks that make some things easier. I want to share them with whoever cares to know because they really have blessed my life in a small, but wonderful way.

1) dish rags....these have always been a problem for me. I grew up with simple dish clothes used for wiping down counters and I prefer these over sponges. However, the problems comes when the dish rag sits and starts to mildew. I hate the stink that clings to your skin if you even accidentally tough it (come on, I KNOW you know what I'm talking about.) So, my great sister in law introduced me to a great solution that I love (tree huggers please just stop reading now.) There is large pack of dish rags at Walmart for like $3. I think there are like 15 rags in a pack. I buy these and use them as needed. When I do laundry I try to remember to go grab the rag from the sink (if there is one) and put it in. If the rag gets nasty and there's no laundry to throw it in with, I simply chuck that thing in the trash! It really does feel so good to know that it is HISTORY, not to be thought of again. I know, I know this sounds horribly wasteful BUT it's so much worse to have that nasty thing out polluting my air (does mildew pollute...to me it does)and ruining anything it touches. I think a 15 pack from Walmart usually lasts me 2-3 months, an investment well worth my three bucks.

2) shoe basket...I know many people already do this but I'll mention it anyways. I use a laundry basket for my shoes. This won't work for someone that it really concerned with the wear of their shoes. It's works great for me to just throw all my shoes into the basket. Easy and quick, just my style. We also have a little bench out by our front door that we put shoes under. This has been great so the shoes that are used a lot can be there ready to go.

3) Clorox/lysol wipes....these are amazing! It makes cleaning the bathroom so easy. You just pull them out and wipe down whatever. No more rags and spray cleaner. I guess I'm all about the disposable :)

4)document folder....after getting married I realized how unorganized my documents and important things became. There were so many things to keep track of being married.... marriage license, gas bills, rental contracts, bank info, check books, birth certificates, baby stuff (once the babies come), etc. I went to walmart and got a hard plastic file folder and that has been a LIFESAVER. If you don't have a place for your documents that's safe get one of these! It's so nice to go through paperwork and know where you're going to put the things. I even keep our genealogy stuff in there which is cool.

5) Shower curtain liners....again going with disposable. Those things are CHEAP. a couple bucks at walmart. I bought a bunch of them one trip and it was so nice to be able to just switch the nasty one out for a brand new one when it got all slimy. I know there are ways to clean them and I've even heard of putting it in the washing machine (I am planning on trying this sometime.) But either way, it's nice to just have a new one with no mildew.

Well, that's about all I can think of that really works for me. Here are my biggest problem areas...

-laundry!!!

-clothing organization

-dishes

-mail?!?!?

I would love to know what works for you!

4th of July

We had a great Fourth of July! We first went to the Rexburg City Parade. It was pretty small but they gave out lots of candy :) Zoey didn't really run to get candy but there was so much that it got thrown right to us. We then went home and took naps. Later in the day we went to Idaho Falls for a BBQ with Christina and Liji and Liji's family. Then we headed over with some friends from our ward to grab a good spot for the fireworks and boy did we find a good one! We were as close as we could be to the launching site with a perfect view of the sky. By the end of the show we were covered in ash but it was all worth it. The Idaho Falls firework show is the biggest one in the Western US and 2nd biggest in the nation. I was NOT disappointed; they really were AMAZING! I want to try and go every year.

I don't even know why I put this picture...doesn't even do it justice.

Me and my baby at the fireworks

Janey and Daddy waiting for fireworks to start

Zoey and cute little Conner. They are nursery buddies :)

The whole gang

Aunty Christina and Nancy Jane

hugs...

patriotic jello jigglers...YUM

My HAPPY baby. We love her so much!

BBQ time

Zoey with some new friends

Trying to get a good sister picture

This is how Jane started out her nap...she really is ALL smiles.

Parade time

I thought this picture turned out pretty neat

this one too

Dad and his girls

one of my favorite pictures of Janeypoo

Watching the floats

More of Zoey's Birthday

I tried to really spoil Zoey for her Birthday. She got to stay up late a few times, got her own sundae from sonic (she LOVED this), played outside a lot, and just got basically what she wanted (within reason of course). A couple days before her birthday her aunt Shanna sent her two dollars for her birthday. We took Zoey to Walmart and let her roam free in the toy isle.....she was in HEAVEN. We were there quite a while and she loved every minute of it. In the end she got a coloring book and white playdough. On the day of her birthday Andrew made her a pink heart pancake with bacon and eggs. Zoey and Jane got to dress up like princesses and were so cute. Christina and Liji were in town so they stopped by and got see the birthday girl. While Zoey was taking a nap we decorated our house with balloons and streamers and put her presents in the middle of the floor. When she woke up she was pretty excited about the balloons and got to open all her presents. After presents we played pin the tail on the donkey. The rest of the day was spent playing with her toys and then we had her birthday cake (brownies with frosting) later that night. Since then I've heard Zoey singing happy birthday to herself many times. She's a pretty cute 2 year old :)

Zoey's Birthday Party

Zoey's Birthday celebrations started with a friend party the weekend before her actual birthday. We had a BBQ at Porter Park and lots of friends and family were able to come. It was really fun! We could tell that Zoey really liked having all the friends around even though she is pretty shy :)

I am really sorry the pictures have such horrible quality....our nice camera was dead with a missing charger so I resorted to my good 'ol ancient Kodak Easy Share 4mp....I got it for Christmas over 5 years ago. I've since decided it is not worth hanging onto and will soon have a new home at the DI.

Andrew's cousins and their families

James, Jack, Alan with baby James, Tommi feeding Elena, and Michelle

Zoey and Kaylee (from our ward)

Kaylee, Zoey, and Zoey's good friend Caleb from our old ward

Lighting Zoey's cupcake!

Her cupcakes were funfetti with rainbow chip frosting...MY favorite :) I'm sure it was her favorite too.

She blew them out with a little help from the wind :)