me at thirty-something

me at thirty-something is filled with a variety of aging indicators: unexplained injuries (usually back and neck pain); being called 'lady' at the grociery store; experiencing a second generation of 80's wear (once known as 'pegged'- today known as 'skinny'); changing taste buds (craving chix salad sandwiches and loving lemon bars); dabbling in retinol; and (my most recent thirty-something indicator) another attempt at earrings!

a break from george

stover boy has a problem with baby talk. for no apparent reason with no apparent threat or trigger, he'll begin responding with grunts and 'eeh's rather than answers. it's been a problem for quite some time and stover mom and dad have attacked it with a variety of creative punishments and incentives with no result. out of answers, the standard response has been something like: 'i can't understand baby talk- use your words' (on a good day) or 'stop talking like a baby- you're 3 1/2' (on a bad day). yesterday morning (a good day), i actually got a reply from stover boy: 'i'm not talking like a baby- i'm talking like george.' it finally made sense... my curious george watcher imitating his monkey friend. AND i finally have a solution- my new standard and effective reply will be 'you can't watch curious george if you're going to talk like that.'

(mr monkey dressed up like a 'stranger')

stinky book motivations

stover girl and mom have been spending nights cuddling up to this literary classic. growing up in little house country, mom read and re-read every book in the series. she also spent many after-school minutes watching the tv show. and she visited the 'prairie' sites a few times as well. but mom retrieved this book mostly because she wanted to enjoy some much-needed nurturing time with her schoolgirl. up until tonight, stover mom was sure that her 21st century child merely pretended to enjoy the old, 'stinky' book to either please or simply as a means to stay up later. however, tonight when mom decided to forego reading and opted to chat instead, stover girl was missing the book*. she insisted that mom resume the story as normal the next evening!

*of note: there is still the option that she missed the book merely because she remembered my mention of a tv show and is dreaming of a tv series at the end of all this reading.

love this pic

or as stover boy would say 'lub' this pic

fir the stovers

introducing the very first stover tree:

(bedazzled with ornaments past, including: meticulous cross stitch ornaments handmade by grandma, a few gems from mom and dad's school years, a collection of yearly ornaments from omi, unique felt ornaments from grandma jack, a variety of porter's purchases, and recent additions from mom's ornament exchanges)

stover baby stats

-pulls herself up to the tv buttons

-demoted to the jumper after knocking herself over in the bumbo

-getting her second tooth
-20 pounds of pure chunkiness

-has incredible hand-eye coordination
-adores a morning wakeup from her siblings

bless you fellow photogs

in light of recent events that would remain unpictered if not for fellow photogs, i give you a post dedicated to the latest moments captured through the lens of another:

thanksgiving in st. george (lovingly provided by aunt 'jord')

ward christmas party (courtesy de 'mom of 9')

and a big salute to 'mama megs' whose photos comprise 25% of my picture library and who was unfortunately awol for the 2011 ornament exchange... leaving it a pictureless memory! (boy your hard core photog skills were missed!)

finally, a shot out to myself who actually remembered my camera for a fun gingerbread house party!