Ansel's It!

Ansel also got tagged! His is a little different..

Name: Ansel Joel
Age: 2 1/2 (31 months)
Birthdate: 12-13-05
Nicknames: Bubby, Bubba, Bob (when his 'tools' are out), little squirt... I'm sure there's a ton of others we use too!
Favorite activities: "riding" bikes.. (he can't pedal yet though); snuggle (he always comes over and says, "nuggle, momma"); Playing soccer with mommy and daddy; playing with cars, bikes, tools, trucks, helicopters, etc! Watching favorite shows.. DANCING... listening to music.. getting tickled.. (he's super ticklish but will often ask for "more tickle" if he's in a good mood!.... going to the park... seeing animals... watching (and trying to help) Mommy cook... playing with Daddy.... getting to sit on motorcycles... Jumping... and talking on "phones" (anything from real phones to calculators to cars he uses as phones.. anytime I get a phone call he picks up whatever is nearest to him and has a full out conversation as well)
Favorite Foods: Crackers and cereal, pediasure, ham, cheese, chicken, noodles, eggs, pizza, hot dogs, grapes, bananas, beans (kidney and pinto like beans) and toast.
Least Favorite Foods: most vegetables.. (he'll pretend to like some though.. like broccoli and celery... that is if there is some kind of dip. he'll go through a lot of dip, but the vegetable will look the same when he's done!) He really doesn't like lettuce, peas, corn, carrots, and green beans.
Ansel's a pretty finicky eater.. and always has been. I pretty much skipped the baby jar puree food phase with him because he was so picky (although we sure tried it a lot and tried to introduce it over and over again! The flavor didn't make a difference... it was the puree texture I guess!)
Favorite music: Baby Einstein music cd's; kids' music cd's (children's hymnbook; other cd's with children's songs on them ("Get Moving" is one of his favorites).. He also likes ANYTHING with a good beat to dance a long with (Latin, some country like Rascal Flatts, etc.. really if it's a fast paced song that he can dance a long with, he'll like it.)
Favorite toys: Cars, trucks, bikes, etc, (our couch usually has bumper to bumper cars lined up perfectly); balls to play catch with; Tools.
Favorite books: Green Eggs and Ham, Snug House Bug House, Fox in Socks, First Colors (usborne version) and, once again.. any book that has Bob the Builder, Cars, Trucks, Helicopters, etc. in it.
Favorite items of clothing: Shoes.. he really prefers to have shoes or sandals on most of the time.. Other than that... he's not too picky.. He likes his "jammies".. sometimes it's hard to get him to change in the morning. He also likes his Bob outfit.. (He's pretty much wearing all the same clothes from last summer.. I thought he moved up to 18 months, because that's what he wore in the winter (for length).. but He still wears all his 12 month summer stuff easily.
(I was so excited I bought some 18 month shorts with ADJUSTABLE WAITBANDS!! Sadly, though, I had them as adjusted as you can get and they still fell off :( (and then looked really silly when you rolled them down at the waist with all the elastic hanging down!) So I guess we'll just stick to the 12 month ones again.. (and even some of those I have to roll down at the waist. He still even fits his 6/9 month shorts.. crazy) Maybe there'll be a growth spurt this year?!
What makes me happy: When Daddy gets home from work! Ansel runs to the stairs to greet him everyday!
What makes me sad: When Daddy leaves.. Also.. getting in trouble for hitting!
I tag: Cousins.. Olivia, Emma, and Karina.. (because I'm sure you have time for that Roya.. haha... what with being pregnant with your fourth and a hubby that's deployed and all. Oh well, I still tag you ;)

I'm it...

I got tagged... so here it goes! :

4 movies I could watch over and over: (first off.... I really am not a fan of watching movies over and over.. this one would be much easier for Ansel to answer! I'll pick a few I like though!)

1. Pride and Prejudice (long version)
2. Bourne movies
3. Anna and the King
4. Return to Me

4 jobs I've had:

1. Wal-mart overnight stocker
2. English teacher in Korea (one of my favorite ones!)
3. Aide at Junior high (working with those who have learning disabilities)
4. Saved the best for last... MOMMY!

4 places I've lived:

1. Rexburg, Idaho
2. Provo, Utah
3. Taejeon, South Korea
4. Carthage, Missouri (Springfield, Ozark, and Nixa also)

4 foods I love:

1. THAI CURRY CHICKEN.. MMM....
2. PAD THAI (seeing a theme?.. . maybe I went to the wrong Asian country! Although I do have some Korean favorites as well.. it just took me a few months of living there to find them!)
3. Mexican food.. like a simple carne asada"taco" on corn tortillas with lime juice squeezed over it!)
4. Pizza


4 Favorite T.V. shows:

1. LOST!
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. Everybody Loves Raymond
4 Medical Mysteries (CNN)


4 Websites I visit daily:

1. Email (hotmail)
2. Facebook
3. Friends and Families blogs
4. Creative Memories (Consultant website... I'm mostly a digital scrapbooker)

4 places I've vacationed:

1. St. Louis, MO (mini vacation!)
2. Florida (Orlando, and Ft. Lauderdale)
3. Nassau, Bahamas
4. Cancun, Mexico (and some surrounding areas)


4 places I'd rather be right now:

1. On a vacation with my husband.
2. Visiting family who doesn't live nearby.
3. I'd like to visit Korea again (with Cody and Ansel)
4. Either a beach by the ocean or somewhere in the mountains (some kind of nice, beautiful outdoors place with nice scenery and good weather!

Goodbye Grandma

We said goodbye to Grandma Clinesmith yesterday. I'm grateful she's not suffering any more. She's seemed frail these past several years, compared to how we knew her before, but I don't think any of that prepared me to see her the way she was the last few days. I came down to see her a couple of weeks ago, and she was able to sit up in her wheel chair and visit with us. For 90 years old, she had a very sharp mind still! Once the cancer really started to take over though, she got weak fast. I got there Saturday, and she was no longer able to really move or talk at all, and she wasn't very responsive at all. They gave her medicine for the pain (although you could tell she was still in a lot of pain) , but I sat with her a lot, especially on Sunday, and as I watched her closely, I learned to tell when she was sleeping and when she was somewhat awake, so I'd talk to her then. We had a few sweet moments though.. she really couldn't move or talk at all .. but at one point, I leaned down to talk closer to her so she could hear me.. and she lifted her head slightly and kissed my face several times. (Lifting her head at all was a big thing at that point. ) Then, (she was laying on her side) she gave me a sideways glance and raised her eyebrows as if to say "What can I say? These things just happen." She would squeeze our hands too.. I felt like she was aware of us being there, knew who we were and could hear us. There was another time, when I was telling her how much we loved her, that she started to struggle a little, like she was really trying to clear her voice to speak, and she seemed frustrated that she couldn't, so I told her, "It's okay.. we know you love us too." Then she seemed to relax and gave me her faint smile. We also got a sweet smile from her when she heard Ansel's voice. Anyway, there were a few little things like that, few and far between, where we knew she was still aware. Mom sat with her a lot that last day, and said at one point you KNEW she saw someone she loved very much (I'm sure Grandpa wasn't too far off!) Mom said her eyes brightened and she just had this huge smile. I got there in the early afternoon, and we stayed for a few minutes and said some goodbyes (planning on being back soon though). Then I left to go pick Mom back up (she'd been there since 4:30 that morning! She went to take a little break (the nurses didn't really think she'd make it through the day, but some said they've seen people hang on like this for several days or more.. so we did take a break.) When Mom got back though, she had already passed. (Mom actually found her and had to go tell the nurses.. she did have really great nurses who took good care of her though). We felt a little bad we hadn't been there as she left, but on Sunday I'd had a strong feeling it would be that way. A thought came that she would want to be near us while we were there, but that she would slip away when we left.

Here's just a few more pictures of her.. one of her wedding even! The first one is one of my favorites of her and Ansel. This was the first time she got to see and hold him.. since it was so long before we could take him places. I still remember her lighting up when we walked in the door with him! I also thought it was cute how whenever he'd see her with her walker, he run over and grab a hold of it, and walk with her! (we had to watch him though.. sometimes he'd start going a little fast!) Grandma loved her grandkids, but boy was she proud of her great grandchildren!! One of the nurses saw Ansel and knew him by name because she'd show off pictures of all her family!
The one of her and Roya makes me tear up.. Roya drove a ways to come visit her.. and they both knew it would be their last time here to say goodbye. This was just a few weeks ago.
There's also one of Grandma with her sister, Vera, who actually just past away one month ago from the same thing. (Exactly one month and one day.. They were both too weak to go see each other, but going through the same things at the same times.. I think Grandma was also ready to go see her again!) I know she longed to see Grandpa again.. (he passed away on my 12th birthday... so that's been quite a few years ago!)

Sorry for another long, and kind of sad post.. I have other posts I've been meaning to get on.. (just had a few distractions lately!) So I'll liven up the mood soon!! I have some 4th of July stuff to add now too! I just wanted to first take a minute to pay a little tribute to my Grandma, Myrtle Mae Clinesmith. I'm so grateful for her example and all she's done for us. I've gotten A LOT of family history stuff (pictures, pedigree charts, documents, etc,) from her.. She really kept up with things like that. It will be neat for us to go to the temple for her in a year! I'm sure she has a lot of ancestors who are very grateful for all she's done! We're going to drive to Kansas Saturday to have a little memorial/ graveside service there. (That's where Grandpa's buried and where she spent most of her life)