The Pioneer Woman

I tripped across this blog recently. It's a blog...but more. It's a woman who lives on a ranch in the middle of no where. She cooks. She photographs. She homeschools. I just like it and when you like good things, you have to share them with others (even if you've already blogged today)! Enjoy!

the pioneer woman

Adventures and Nerd-dom

Last Friday the City of North Las Vegas had a movie in the park. Seeing a need to get out of the house after sitting at home and contemplating moving all day, we, the young Archibald family, ventured out. The park was south of Cheyenne (uh oh) but the event proved to be not too bad. (I still would not live there, but for 2 hours it was ok). We watched Hogi Yogi...I mean, Yogi Bear. It was REALLY cheesy. The love story wasn't quite fleshed out, the bad guy was overly and obnoxiously bad (come on, give up on the window thing) but Yogi's little food references made it all right. Alyssa slept most of the time. We made her a little hut out of blankets to keep her out of the wind.

Our next adventure happened on Saturday. Fed up with the heat in this stinkin' valley called "the meadows" in Spanish (those Spaniards...what were they thinking?!) we ventured to Mt. Charleston, the only mount with snow still on its peak. It was beautiful up there! We went on a nice hike to Fletcher Canyon. Alyssa, again, slept pretty much the entire time. Unfortunately she and Erik sweated on each other and it gave her a bit of a heat rash, but she's getting better....I think. 

  

On Sunday we had a lovely tomato cream pasta from my new favorite website. (Click here for the recipe.) Dinner discussion then turned to the difference between gas and vapor. Our meal lent itself well to becoming a phase diagram. I just wanted to share what a family of nerds we are. (Most things are really vapor, not gas just in case you were wondering...and there is a difference.)

Alyssa is still growing and as cute as ever! We're lovin' her lots and lots and she's got us all tied up in knots. She loves the piano...probably will start playing at age 3 months and she thinks President Monson's biography is boring. She's still a little young to appreciate a good book! She does love her picture books, particularly "We Are in a Book" and "Brown Bear, Brown Bear."

Love the feet!

Little Blessings

My family came to visit this weekend! We had fun going to Lake Mead and Hoover Dam. Did you know they have bathrooms on top of the dam? They may or may not have been used during our time there. We played hide and go seek in the dark on Saturday night which was good good fun! It was fun to have everyone over! It was like a giant slumber party every night with the living room floor filled with air mattresses. It's a good thing we don't have very much furniture! 

We blessed also had Alyssa's baby blessing this weekend. She wore the dress the Claire and I wore when we were blessed. She is a beautiful baby and we are so happy to have her in our home.

Alyssa has also started to do some fun things. She kind of liked her binky when she was first born but has since let us know that is not her preference. This week she found her thumb while taking a nap. She continues to find it over and over. I'm not excited about breaking the habit in 3 years but for now it helps her to sleep and comforts her. Besides, she is so so so cute with her little thumb in her mouth! It's amazing how much babies can learn, even when they are only 2 months old.

We went the 2 month check up yesterday. She's a growin' baby! She weighs 12 lbs 12 oz and is 23.5 inches long. She has started smiling a lot, but doesn't do it very often for the camera. She is a joy to have in our home! We love our little Lyssa!

O What Do You Do In the Summer Time?!

The Las Vegas Sun is getting hot! We have been here 4 weeks and are really starting to take advantage of the air conditioning. Alyssa is sporting her new sun glasses. She mostly wears them when we go get the mail.

Sooo cool!

Alyssa is grrrrrowwwing! (She does it every day). She's started to hang out in her johnny jump up bouncer thingy majig. She really likes it. She moves herself around and yet has now idea what she is doing. It is a great way to play with her and give Mommy's arms a little break.

Alyssa is also starting to smile. She doesn't really like to smile for the camera, but she will smile for Mom and Dad. She is getting so big! She's officially 2 months as of Monday. We love having her around!

It's raining...poop?!

I have pictures to post, but I really just have to share what happened this morning. Alyssa and I went grocery shopping this morning. We went to Wal Mart Neighborhood Grocery on a last minute whim instead of Smith's. We're strolling the isles. She's fed and should be happy for the entire trip. I am standing in the baking goods trying to decide if I need more self-rising flour when she starts crying.

Odd.

Doesn't she remember she's supposed to be happy. I rock the cart a little hoping that will calm her while I stare at the self-rising flour.

Do I need it?

Then I feel something...something wet hit my foot.

I kind of look up. Maybe the roof's leaking.

Not quite.

I look down at my foot and there is a drop of yellow...you know the yellow I'm talking about. The yellow that only a sweet 8 week old can produce. I look at Alyssa. I notice that not only she sitting in the largest puddle of sweet yellow baby poop I've ever seen but it happens to be dripping out of the slot where the buckle pokes through in the car seat!

No wonder she was crying.

I look behind me to see that we have left a trail of poop down the isle. It's still dripping. There's some on the cart, some on me, plenty on Alyssa. I stick a diaper rag up the hole to prevent leakage and briskly walk to the cashier, buy the groceries I already have, listen to the "helpful" Wal Mart ladies interpret why she's crying and offer the changing table in the bathroom. Luckily the lines weren't like real Wal Mart or we would have been toast!

I thought the moral of the story was never trust the cleanliness of a public shopping cart.

But then I watched this:

And really...that says it all. It may have been an explosive poopy pants that cut our shopping trip short, but it was a an awesome poopy pants that is a molecule of our eternity.

Oh the Places You'll GO!

May 23 - June 4, 2011

We made it to Las Vegas! It was quite the ordeal. We spent 150 miles on the back of a tow truck with our little trailer being towed behind. Life is all about the adventure though, and an adventure it was! We have been here two weeks thus far and everything seems to be working out alright.

After being in Vegas for three days, I took Alyssa on her first plane ride (at 5 weeks old) to Salt Lake City to meet Uncle Jacob. Jacob returned from the Atlanta, Georgia North Spanish speaking mission. It was fun to see him get off the plane and to be together as the Nelsen family after two years!

Alyssa likes hanging out with Porter. He sings her songs and she just loves it!

Erik was going to drive down on Friday and we were going to be around for the weekend but because of our car troubles, we decided it would be better for me to fly back to Las Vegas. Jacob still has yet to meet Erik. He probably thinks Erik is a figment of everyone's imagination.

Over Memorial Day weekend we decided to get out of the house and go hiking. There are lots of mountains around Las Vegas, but they are kind of far away and mostly hot. It hasn't been unbearable hot yet, though, so we took our chances. We went to the Valley of Fire which is a red rock formation in a valley about an hour northeast of Las Vegas. It was pretty warm, but still fun. Erik thought Alyssa fit perfectly in some of the formations. He also tried to fit in a rock formation or two.

Our church doesn't start until 1:30 PM which gives us ample time in the morning. We went to the Las Vegas Temple to see what we could see. It is beautiful. It is the first temple Alyssa has been to while in the flesh.

On Memorial Day we visited Lauren Woodward (my freshman and sophomore and half junior roommate). Her family had a cookout (Klint [LLNL mentor] taught me the difference between a bbq and cookout). The meat was great and the beans were delicious! We are grateful that they had us over.

Last Friday we took another hiking day trip to Lake Mead. We walked a long a nice stroller-friendly paved trail for about an hour or so and then drove down to the lake.

Alyssa experienced her first lake adventure. She even went toe dipping.

When we aren't on adventures (which is most of the time) we are just relaxing at home. Here are some fun pictures of Alyssa. She's growing up everyday. She even likes to stand up! She's started sleeping on her stomach. It actually has been quite the miracle. We no longer have to fight her for 3 hours before she will fall asleep. Now she just falls asleep on her own. For those of you concerned about SIDS, we know...we've done our research. But...if women have been putting there babies on their stomachs for years, then why can't I? The only adverse affect is the little rug burns on her knees. She moves them so much and so fast when she is on her stomach that they are inevitable!