25 Random Things About Jared--written by his wife

1. He always likes his hair perfectly parted.
2. He memorizes crazy things like the song "The Elements" (it lists all the elements on the periodic table) for fun.
3. His hobbies include: chainsaw carving, acting, flying sport kites, rollerblading, woodcarving, skiing, and gardening.
4. Jared loves is carve Jack-o-lanterns and every years his turns out to be a masterpiece.

5. Before I put a stop to it, Jared was seen wearing a lava lava and a kilt in public.
6. Letters that he can put behind his name include: BS, MMS, PA-C, and LMT--He wants to add a PhD.

7. Jared was chosen to be the keynote speaker at honor's convocation at Arcadia University.

8. Jared is a cardboard cereal, no butter on your toast, squirt a lemon on your salad kind of eater. No wonder he is so skinny.
9. He has some very impressive domestic skills that include: sewing, cooking, ironing, and cleaning. Thank you Mom Collett.
10. Jared actually likes to listen to classical music for fun. I wouldn't mind some Mozart or Debussy, but he likes stuff like "The Planets" that manages to put me on edge.
11. Abby's favorite nick-name for Jared is "my prince charming." She plans to "get married with him someday" when she is "bigger, like three years old."

12. He is the happiest when he is working in the yard with his girls.

13. Jared wants to live in a geodesic dome house someday--unfortunately his wife doesn't like the idea of living in the death star.
14. Jared's favorite holiday is Christmas. He still gets giddy like a little kid.
15. In PA school Jared was given the nickname "JDR" for Jared Desk Reference because his classmates found it was easier to just ask Jared know-it-all, rather than look something up. He serves the same purpose at home. I haven't had to use a dictionary for years.
16. I'm sure Jared has probably set a world record for the longest shower. He calls it "hydro-therapy."
17. If you are playing Trivial Pursuit, make sure Jared is on your team. He is the king of knowing random facts about everything. I'm trying to convince him to study for Jeopardy so he can be the next Ken Jennings.
18. He gives the best massages in the world. Talk about a little bit of heaven on earth.
19. Jared used to only read non-fiction until I got him into Harry Potter. Now the only time we really fight over something is when we get a new book from the library that we both are anxious to read.
20. He dreams of opening his own recumbent tricycle shop someday.

21. He is the kind of person that always reads all the instructions and warnings for every new product or game that we get.

22. Jared is famous in our neighborhood for being the only person to use a push mower.

23. He can crack a bull whip better than Indiana Jones.

24. Jared served with me in the Washington D.C. South Mission. He was an English-speaking missionary but they transferred him into the Vietnamese program part way through. We met later at our missionary reunion.

25. Jared is the best husband and daddy in the world.

Painful Milestones

There are some milestones that are joyful--watching a baby learn to walk, getting your driver's license, and graduating from high school. Some are not so fun. For me some of the most painful ones were coming home from my mission, graduating from college, and giving birth without anesthesia. Right now we are trying to help Abby and Maddy through some painful milestones.


Abby is actually doing a really good job with potty training, so I know I shouldn't complain, but this milestone is really hard--at least for mommy. I hate cleaning up pee and poop all over the place, having Abby wake me up 2-3 times at night to tell me she needs to go potty, and making a mad rush for the bathroom at the grocery store when Abby insists she has to go, only to have her sit on the potty and say, "I don't think I have to go right now. Maybe I'll try again later." It will be nice when she has fully mastered this skill, but in the meantime I'm just praying for patience.


Maddy's current painful milestone is weaning. I think she is so attached to nursing because it has always been her special mommy time that she doesn't have to share with Abby. So yesterday I felt things were going well when I went all day without nursing her. Then at around midnight she started screaming, banging her head against her crib, and crying for mommy. I was tired so I caved in and nursed her. She was so happy! She held my face in her hands, said "momma, momma," and gave me a big kiss and hug. Talk about heart-breaking! I've already started losing my milk, so I guess I'll keep up with it, but it's really hard. This morning when I tried giving her cow's milk instead of nursing her, she threw the sippy cup, screamed, and clawed at my shirt. Obviously this milestone will take some time for her to get used to, but it will be nice once she is fully weaned. In the meantime I'm trying to give her extra love and attention so she knows that I still love her.

Valentine's Weekend

We had a really fun Valentine's weekend. Jared was on-call, but luckily didn't have any surgeries. On Friday he took me and the girls out to dinner at Olive Garden. The girls were actually really well behaved because they stayed busy eating those delicious breadsticks. I think our waitress was surprised that our little family went through two baskets! On Saturday we had fun making, coloring, and exchanging Valentines. Abby liked the one we gave her so much that she has been carrying it everywhere--to church, the doctor's office, etc.

Saturday night Jared gave me a nice Valentine's day massage, which unfortunatley kept getting interupted by Abby insisting that she had to go to the bathroom--again! We think she was just very curious about mommy getting a massage. The next day Abby took off her clothes, got on the massage table, laid down, and told Jared that she wanted a massage too. He gave her one and I guess she really liked it because she now begs for one every night. She is very cute, but Jared tries not to give in too much since he is worried about Abby making this part of her already long night time routine. On Sunday I was called to be a Relief Society teacher which I'm very excited about it. On Monday Maddy had her 15 month check up and she is still skinny, of average height, with a big head [Head 47 cm (75-90%), Height 31 inches (50-75%), and Weight 19 lbs (5%)]. Despite our concerns about her late walking, the doctor says she is doing well developmently, if not ahead with her number of words. She has recently started talking and signing more. She says "coat", "ba"for bath and book, "da" for doll, and signs "more," "all done," and "eat." She is also learning her body parts--her favorite of which is belly button. We were surprised today by some nice warm weather, so this last picture is of the girls playing outside in the sand box.

Walking Bear

Maddy with a cheerio on her nose. She insists on feeding herself. She is actually getting quite coordinated with a spoon. Unfortunately she also likes playing with her food and throwing it on the floor. One of our favorite nick-names for her is "Goo-bear."

Maddy loves to climb and ride on things--the rocking horse, her car, and most of all mom and dad's legs.

Bath time is Maddy's favorite time of day. She loves to play and splash in the bath with Abby. Maddy pushing her baby doll in her stroller. She has become very attached to her doll and insists on sleeping with her every night.

Maddy has started walking! She is almost 15 months old and she is really wobbly, but she is doing it. She still prefers crawling if she wants to get somewhere fast, but she likes walking because it allows her to carry more things in her hands.

Abby's Imagination

Lately Abby has developed quite the imagination. Most of her ideas come from Cinderella. She has started calling me "Step-mother" and Maddy "Step-sister." I admit that I make her do chores and lock her in her room at times, but Maddy has definitely done nothing to deserve the step sister title. Abby is always talking about castles and temples--which to her are the same thing. She builds castles out of blocks, blankets, or whatever she can find. The other day she went in the pantry to play and came out and asked me if I wanted to see the Salt Lake temple. She then showed me a tower she had made of tuna fish cans and informed me that it was the temple, and that she was getting married. I then saw that she was holding a "bouquet" (some fake flowers she had taken from one of my flower arrangements). In an attempt to stop her from becoming too princess crazy we've been trying to focus her attention on more productive things. I've started doing pre-school time with her every week. Her favorite part is when we have a treasure hunt in which she collect things around the house that start with the letter we are working on. She also likes the individual mommy attention. She is learning quickly and now knows most of her letters and sounds. Right now we are working on her writing skills and on learning to recognize the lower case letters.