Strawberry Jam

Jeff and I made and canned some strawberry jam on Saturday on our own for the first time. We just ran out of our last batch from two years ago yesterday and got to open one of our new jars and try it out. I am not sure whether my taste buds are biased by all the work we put in, but it sure tastes good. Hopefully next time we will be a little more prepared (we got a late start and finished after midnight), but we put in the work and it paid off. Only one of our many jars didn't seal. It was fun to hear them pop as we continued to work. I stayed up an extra half hour cleaning sticky red mess off of every surface in the kitchen, and it was rewarding in the morning. Some of our friends traded us a fresh homemade loaf of bread when we gave her a jar, so we got to try our very first taste of the jam on steaming delicious bread, it was wonderful.
What else is going on? My 18 month old has found yet a new way to test me. She has learned how to say no and has put it to ample and excessive use in the last 24 hours. I am used to talking to her, telling her that it is time for a nap or lunch, and not getting a response. Now I am shocked when I say something and Ariana says a forceful "NO!" I am sure I will get used to it, but it has been testing my nerves and patience so far. She even tells me no for some things wants, of course. If I offer her a cracker and I know she really wants a cookie, she will tell me no, then when she sees that it's the only offer she is going to get, she takes it anyway. I always tell people she is getting too smart for me! Between learning how to take her diaper off and realizing when Dad is away, she is certainly testing my abilities.

So, if anyone didn't get pictures still, bug me because they are beautiful. The lady did a really nice job.
We have just been hanging out recently. Jeff is overwhelmed with school and I am overwhelmed with the house. We are really excited about getting our new apartment though. We have already moved some stuff, but it will take a lot more work, especially to make it nice.
Ariana's favorite word right now is "up," which also covers down, in, out, or any other change in position she wants at the time. She has six little chompers and she bit me for the first time yesterday just because she was mad at me for trying to take something from her. So it is not really as easy as they say to take something from a baby.
Of course, she is not really the baby anymore. I am sure you read on my dad's blog that we found out a little while ago that we are having a boy. The great and epic name battle has already begun.
I hope everything is going well with everyone on this rainy day. I am hiding inside.

Pictures

Our professional pictures have arrived, and they are beautiful! Unfortunately, we are too sick to give them to you.
What I thought was just Ariana teething was actually a bug too, so I was not careful enough and now she and I are miserable sick buddies. And of course, getting sick while you are pregnant is always loads of fun (no medicine).
I have an 8 by 10 for my mommy, and wallets for everybody else. Please don't throw darts at them or anything; they were quite expensive. We also bought a CD of all the pictures with the rights, so we plan on putting them up on the family website...someday. If you want your own big one for any weird reason (I honestly can't fathom why anyone would want a big picture of us, but hey) then I am sure Olan Mills would love to sell you one, or you could get the picture file from us and go somewhere cheaper. And don't forget to check out our pictures when we get them up, either on our site or in our house, because we don't have enough copies to give everyone each picture, and there are lots of super cute ones of Ari.
Can't wait to get them to you, right after we feel better of course.

Clothes shopping for Little People

Yesterday we went to visit Jeff's sister in Portland. On the way, we stopped by a little second hand store that I love. They only buy quality used stuff and sell it for reasonable prices. I found some shirts for Ariana, one of which still had the Oshkosh tags on it for 2.50. We also found an adorable pair of sandals with strawberries for the same price. I always feel fairly dealt with when I leave, which is why I like the store.
Then we traveled up to Portland. Jeff had a thing to go to downtown for school, and the parking was horrible. After that, we went to the mall and dinked around until his sister's work was over. Jeff thought I would like looking around the mall, but of course I gravitated toward the three children's stores.
It was a shocking experience. Those tiny little dresses and coats cost more that I would ever spend on an item of my own clothing. At one of the stores, I decided to go through their sale bin. I had to sit on the floor because it was so low, and while it was embarrassing, I certainly was in no mood to peruse clothes that I knew I wouldn't pay the money for. When I had looked through the whole jumble for clothes of the right size, I found only two things that I wanted, a Halloween shirt for next year and a little summer hat that I thought was adorable, but apparently hadn't sold well. We spent four bucks.
I was feeling awkward as we left the store. It's not like I couldn't drop 30 dollars on a little coat for my baby. I just have better things to do with my money. It seems ridiculous (especially because it would just get stained the next week). The things in the bin I looked through were not even cute enough that I would want them in her wardrobe if they were free.
Thank goodness for second hand stores. I don't think I will ever bother going back to a high end store again. It put me in a funk for the rest of the day.