The Best Father

Eric and Aaron have the most amazing relationship.

Every morning, Aaron searches the apartment for Eric and is sad when he can't find him.

Aaron beats me to the door when Eric gets home and he actually listens for the car and goes running when he hears it!

They play so well together and Aaron is learning from Eric so fast!

I know that with Eric as his teacher, Aaron will grow up to be incredible.

Happy Father's Day to the best father my children could ever have.

Also, a shout out to my father Michael and Eric's father Mark who both (in my humble opinion) raised phenomenal children :}

That Awkward Moment When...

• ... the large, white, unmarked van drives up beside you and it takes all of your will power to resist the urge to bolt! Hollywood has ruined me forever
• ... you see a girl far off who you think her hair looks cute but as she gets closer you realize that below her short shorts, her legs look wrong and she walks funny and then you realize it's actually a MAN!
• ... you find yourself singing to a song and you realize that a car drove by playing that song a little while ago
• ... you desperately wish you had your cell phone but realize you left it at your mother-in-law's ... (more on this one to come later)

A Few Crafts

A few decorations for the Independence Day season that I have made for my mantle

Birthdays always sneak up on me - 

now after each birthday I take off the tag and the next one stares me in the face...

No need to keep checking the calendar

My Father's Day Wreath...

made of the ugliest ties or the dirtiest ties that Eric has lol

I didn't chop them so they can easily come off and be reused.

Aaron's First Year

This is an email we are sending out to our friends and family but we don't have all the email addresses so I thought I'd post it here too.

Hello Friends and Family!

Aaron is turning 1 year old in a month and we thought we’d send along a few highlights from his life:

• ·        Aaron was born July 7, 2011. He weighed in at 7lbs 5 oz and 19.5” long.
• ·        Aaron was blessed in the LDS church on July 24, 2011.
• ·        At 2 weeks old Aaron would try to push off our hands to scoot around the room – he has always loved to move.
• ·        On December 4, 2011 Aaron had surgery called a Gortex Suture performed on his left eye due to his Ptosis which means his eyelid muscles didn’t function properly. Now, he can see.
• ·        At the end of December 2011, our little family moved to Oregon – we love it here!
• ·        Aaron started to crawl late December 2011 and really started to take off early January 2012.
• ·        Aaron started to walk at 9.5 months old… crazy! He’s a walking pro now… he just needs to remember to keep an eye out for objects that will clip his poor head.

Aaron loves:

• ·        To be outside
• ·        Water
• ·        Cheese
• ·        Hugs
• ·        To wave
• ·        To blow raspberries
• ·        To read
• ·        Animals – squirrels, dogs, cats… you name it
• ·        To eat whatever mom is eating
• ·        To do whatever mom is doing

As his birthday approaches we know that you might want to get him gifts. He would definitely appreciate them (and so would we!)  If you are at a loss as to what to get him or would like to get him something more than a toy that he will grow out of, we invite you to contribute to his college fund.

Aaron’s college funds are stored in a 529 plan where they will gain interest until the money is withdrawn for college use. Send the money with the attached slip (email me at jess.alora@gmail.com if you would like to contribute and I'll send you the slip you need) in the mail directly to Oregon College Savings plan, or send us a check with Aaron’s name on it than we will deposit it into Aaron’s account.

We love you and hope you are doing well. We’d love to hear from you, send us an update!

Love,

Eric, Jessie, and especially, AARON!

Little Elephant

Aaron showed me today that he has figured out how to make the Elephant noise... He even tucks his upper lip under to do it like I do!

Personality Test

My sister Laura sent me this link today for a Personality Test and asked me to complete it for her.
I did and my results were: 

ESFJ

Extraverted (E) 75%                      Introverted (I) 25% 

Sensing (S) 55%                          Intuitive (N) 45% 

Feeling (F) 90%                          Thinking (T) 10% 

Judging (J) 68%                             Perceiving (P) 32% 

My immediate response was that I clearly don't think very much... Laura assured me that this is most definitely NOT the case. She said that nothing is good or bad about the results of this test though they may appear to be so (like not thinking and judging). She then sent me this and said that it appeared to fit me VERY well:

---

The Caregiver

• As an ESFJ, your primary mode of living is focused externally, where you deal with things according to how you feel about them, or how they fit in with your personal value system. Your secondary mode is internal, where you take things in via your five senses in a literal, concrete fashion.
• ESFJs are people persons - they love people. They are warmly interested in others. They use their Sensing and Judging characteristics to gather specific, detailed information about others, and turn this information into supportive judgments. They want to like people, and have a special skill at bringing out the best in others. They are extremely good at reading others, and understanding their point of view.
• The ESFJ's strong desire to be liked and for everything to be pleasant makes them highly supportive of others. People like to be around ESFJs, because the ESFJ has a special gift of invariably making people feel good about themselves.
• The ESFJ takes their responsibilities very seriously, and is very dependable. They value security and stability, and have a strong focus on the details of life. They see before others do what needs to be done, and do whatever it takes to make sure that it gets done. They enjoy these types of tasks, and are extremely good at them.
• ESFJs are warm and energetic. They need approval from others to feel good about themselves. They are hurt by indifference and don't understand unkindness. They are very giving people, who get a lot of their personal satisfaction from the happiness of others. They want to be appreciated for who they are, and what they give. They're very sensitive to others, and freely give practical care. ESFJs are such caring individuals, that they sometimes have a hard time seeing or accepting a difficult truth about someone they care about.
• With Extraverted Feeling dominating their personality, ESFJs are focused on reading other people. They have a strong need to be liked, and to be in control. They are extremely good at reading others, and often change their own manner to be more pleasing to whoever they're with at the moment.
• The ESFJ's value system is defined externally. They usually have very well-formed ideas about the way things should be, and are not shy about expressing these opinions. However, they weigh their values and morals against the world around them, rather than against an internal value system. They may have a strong moral code, but it is defined by the community that they live in, rather than by any strongly felt internal values.  yeah... no
• ESFJs who have had the benefit of being raised and surrounded by a strong value system that is ethical and centered around genuine goodness will most likely be the kindest, most generous souls who will gladly give you the shirt off of their back without a second thought. For these individuals, the selfless quality of their personality type is genuine and pure. 
• All ESFJs have a natural tendency to want to control their environment. Their dominant function demands structure and organization, and seeks closure. ESFJs are most comfortable with structured environments. They're not likely to enjoy having to do things which involve abstract, theoretical concepts, or impersonal analysis. They do enjoy creating order and structure, and are very good at tasks which require these kinds of skills. 
• ESFJs respect and believe in the laws and rules of authority, and believe that others should do so as well. They're traditional, and prefer to do things in the established way, rather than venturing into unchartered territory. Their need for security drives their ready acceptance and adherence to the policies of the established system. This tendency may cause them to sometimes blindly accept rules without questioning or understanding them.  Again ... no
• An ESFJ who has developed in a less than ideal way may be prone to being quite insecure, and focus all of their attention on pleasing others. He or she might also be very controling, or overly sensitive, imagining bad intentions when there weren't any.  not insecure anymore - thanks Eric!
• ESFJs incorporate many of the traits that are associated with women in our society. However, male ESFJs will usually not appear feminine at all. On the contrary, ESFJs are typically quite conscious about gender roles and will be most comfortable playing a role that suits their gender in our society. Male ESFJs will be quite masculine (albeit sensitive when you get to know them), and female ESFJs will be very feminine.
• ESFJs at their best are warm, sympathetic, helpful, cooperative, tactful, down-to-earth, practical, thorough, consistent, organized, enthusiastic, and energetic. They enjoy tradition and security, and will seek stable lives that are rich in contact with friends and family.

So, now I am curious... what are you?


**Update: Eric**

• INFPs value inner harmony above all else. Sensitive, idealistic, and loyal, they have a strong sense of honor concerning their personal values and are motivated by deep personal belief or devotion to a cause they feel is worthy. 
• INFPs are interested in possibilities beyond what is already known and focus most of their energy on their dreams and visions. Open-minded, curious, and insightful, they often have excellent long-range vision. 
• Although they demonstrate cool reserve on the outside, INFPs are compassionate, sympathetic, understanding, and sensitive to the feelings of others. They avoid conflict and are not interested in impressing or dominating unless their values are at stake. When they are persuading others of the importance of their ideals, INFPs can be most ingenious.

Yeah, That Just Happened!

I was sitting in the over-sized chair in our room just now, reading a book.  Aaron periodically came over to me and tried to climb into my lap and grab my book. Not wanting him to mangle it, I would gently point out other toys to play with and return to reading my book.

This happened several, several times till he finally got fed up with me. Normally when that happens he screams at me (one big long AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH) but this time he waddled out of the room. Figuring he was off to find a different toy I settled back into my book. Not more than a few seconds later I heard him jabbering and looked up to find him waddling back into my room holding one of his books... he was determined to have me read him a story! So cute!!!  So I scooped him up and he snuggled in as I read him a story. After that, he was content to wander away again and play on his own...

I love that little guy!