My little babies

My dear little Maggie, you are sound asleep right now.  I should be but between you and your brother I’m still awake.  How did I know that I would love a little person so much as I love you and Garrett.  You are both so perfect and I would love just to freeze time and keep you right where you are.  I love our happy little family.  Today we took you with us so dad could drop off some cows.  You where so happy in your little boots and little coat, your warm little pink hat and rosey little cheeks.  You ran after us in as darling little way as you can imagine and hurried to climb the fence.  Your life is so rich and full; everyday you are learning new things.  I need to quit caring so much if my house is cleaned and worry more about making sure that YOU know YOU are the very most important thing in my life.  Of anything that Heavenly Father ever gave me, being a mom is my greatest blessing.  You are so funny right now; you have a little pouting game that if you don’t get your way you get pretty upset with your dad and I.  You have bit Garrett several times over the last few days, you’re a little jealous to say the least.  You spilled a half a box of Raisin Brand on the floor so that you could pick out the raisins tonight.  I love your little mischief hair that is sticking straight out or up it’s a little on the wild side like you.  You are my sweetheart, my mess maker, my kisser, my little love bug, my world.  I’m crying just a little right now because of how big you are getting it seems like the days are flying by and you are not my little baby anymore you are my little girl…. I pray you will always have that spunk in your eyes, the little mischief and sparkle that twinkle every time you smile.  Don’t let anyone ever dull that, it’s my very favorite thing about you love bug.  I’m scared to death to teach you all that you need to know, this world is so big and even scary to me more often then not.  Be strong, stand up for what you know is right, and don’t ever give into what’s wrong.  My dad and your grandfather always told me, wickedness was never happiness, it’s not.  Now of I can just teach you all that you need to know.

You are in LOVE with your dad:) It makes his whole day to come home to you.  You are so happy when he walks in the door and you are his little shadow until it’s time to go to bed.  He loves you so much; you do no wrong in his eyes.

You love Garrett, to the point you can’t leave him alone, you climb in his swing, his carseat, on the bed, the couch, anyplace you can to get to him.  You hold his hand, you sing to him, and you love to hold him.  You only bite him when you are very jealous. 

You love to go to see Grandpa Griswold, he adores you and you know it!

Right now you are sure that every box that comes to the door is a present to you, you get so excited and your little face lights up with glee, I just wish I could capture it and put it in a bottle for a rainy day so that I could pull a little of your happiness out.

You are about through with naps, I wish not because we are both happier when you take one:) You took one today:)

You LOVE shoes and pretty much anything that is new.  You try on everyone’s shoes and you love, love, love new clothes.  You love to paint your toenails, by yourself of course and your dad has let you paint his on more than one occasion.

I’m going to go to bed now my little pumpkin pie, and hold you as tight as I can.  You still sleep with us but I wouldn’t have it any other way.  My favorite times have been having you close to us.  Your dad loves story time I think more than anytime of the day. 

Garrett love, right now you are focused mainly on eating and sleeping, you love to be held and you are the perfect baby as long as I am holding you.  You have terrible gas; you giggled in your sleep the other night and really your just turning into a little person.  I love you.  Today you fell asleep, I’m always in such a rush for the two of you to settle down and I thought you know what, before I know it these days will be gone, I just sat there and enjoyed rocking my little babies.  I breathed you in and loved you both.

I love you my little Miss Maggie, I love you too little Garrett.  I wish I could keep you both my little babies forever.

Goodnight love bugs, love

Your mom

Garrett Gilbert Griswold

I am terrible at writing but between nap times and ads, catalog, ect it seems like my time is not my own.  We have a baby boy!  Can you believe it, I have two kids, it is a bit wild for me to imagine.

John Garrett Griswold came into the world on October 2, 2012 at 1:00 in the morning, by way of a natural birth, I'm so glad he came out!  My water broke that morning and the girls who were still in Utah made a B-line for the airport so they could make it.  It makes me cry to think even now that they aren't here.  It was so much fun to have them, mom came out after for four days, it all has went so fast and I find myself more often then not longing that they were here with me now.  Garrett weighed in at 7 lbs 8 oz and was 21 inches long.  He is a beautiful baby, and a good baby.  Maggie is in love with him.  She kisses him and tries on a thousand time basis to crawl into his crib, basinet, seat, anything and everywhere that he is.  She LOVES him.  She has bit him a few times, and pinched him but yes she still does love him.  She can climb into his crib (the one spot that we thought was safe, wrong) in nothing flat.

She is waking up so I will write later:)

She must have found her baba because she's quite so I'll try and write a little more.
Night times have been a little crazy, I need to wake her up now, I let her have a long, late nap yesterday and it meant for a very late night last night, she woke Garrett up twice and was bound and determined not to ever Ever EVER go to sleep, little to say I was tired, and cranky, poor little thing she has so much to grow used to:)

John got stepped on yesterday loading out cows and had a huge bump on his leg that had made him a little sick, he had the chills and I felt so bad for him trying to sleep with a loud little lovebug who was sad.

All right she is awake for real:)

July 6th

July 6th

I’m getting more and more ready to go home.  There is a pair of underwear in on the bathroom floor, no they do not belong to my imidiate family.  The corn on the cob I put in the water to boil last night is still in the water this morning. I have wiped down the toilet several times where I plant my own tush, I refuse to wipe down the bottom side of the toilet where the splish slpash of a tinkling boy occurs.  There could be a list but lets just say I AM READY TO NOT LIVE WITH BOYS!!!!  

Maggie was so tired when we got home last night that she was pretty sad.  She woke up and we gave her a bath and I hoped that she would wake up enough that we could feed her she cried and cried, we thought she might eat corn on the cob but she was just sad, we gave her a bottle and I went in and laid down by her, the poor little thing.  Her night was fair to say the least.

We went to Cherry Creek yesterday, what an experience to drive through the town.  It is amazing to me that people can live like they do down there.  There was one yard that had flowers and looked semi upkept, most were dirty, one had at least six dogs tied in various places around his house with a chicken coop adjecent to his house, last year he had the chickens inside. At church they told us how many of the little kids go hungry because the parents sell their foodstamps for drugs or alchohol.  I realize why they took so many little kids out of this situation and put them in different enviroments, it’s a pretty hopless society.  Their are second and third graders that smoke and are trading marijiana, (do idea how to spell that).  It’s just sad.  There is so much opportunity if they would just take it, free education the whole way through, free everything and yet as long as they stay on the reservation I don’t know how they could find success.

John took me to the little cementary they had, there was a preacher that was here in the early 1900’s.  They buried four of their children in a ten year period, a 2 year old, a five year old, a three year old, and another two year old, I told John she must have been a strong woman to come to this God forsaken land and have to lay her little babies in a cememtary like that.  It made me start to cry, it still does, I can’t imagine living there now or 100 years ago.

Maggie’s words right now are Mamma, Daddda, hot, and she started to say Ought O, she is such a funny little thing, I never knew I could love something so much, she is my perfect little angel that is full of the dickens.  Yestereday she was filthy, she played in the dirt till she was brown from head to toe.  We had to wait on John to get in some cows, we sat in the corral and her favorite toy was an old dried out cow pie, I know disgusting.  I threw it several times as far as I could (yes I know that isn’t far) she would hurry to go and retrieve it:)  She loves to chew on apples, but then she’ll come over to you so that she can empty her mouth and start chewing off some more.  The same goes for grapes, she sucks out all the sweetness and then spits out the rest!

July 1st

July 1st

Well we had a last minute change of plans (imagine that) and ended up coming to South Dakota instead of Denver.  It was pretty lucky we did it seems like there has been plenty to do.  John leaves every monring with Bryson and Chris at 4:30, I of course sleep in with Maggie!

i’m getting to the point where I don’t sleep as sound, I wake up and a lot of mornings can’t go back to sleep.  All of the boys just came in and had breakfast, pancakes and eggs.  The stinken burners in this house only work on one setting, high, and you usually have to have both of them on to get the other to work, yes you can imagine I swore a few times this morning!  I love things about South Dakota, I will not miss this little house, bless his soul John loves it, I do not.  The toilet it still broke after three years, if I wasn’t pregnant that wouldn’t be such an issue but when it tries to buck you off at three in the morning choice words come to mind and usually slip out.  Sharing a bathroom with boys, enough said, just envision, yuck, gross, can’t wait till I have my own clean toilet that doesn’t require toilet paper before you sit down:) 

Maggie sat in a cactus today, she was pretty sad and had little cactus needles all over her tiny little bottom, we stripped her down to her nothings and took her back to the coral.  We had been walking around taking pictures of cattle while the boys had a rodeo getting all the bulling cows in the coral.  We got them all out, little trooper she is such a funny little thing.  She brought me my boots today to inform me she was ready to go.  The other day John left her, I thought I could get her down for a nap, I stayed in the room while she trecked into the kitchen, she put on her boots and cried by the door for about five minutes so we loaded up and followed the boys up to breed cows:)  She loves to go.

John has been letting her “help” with dishes, she gets a full glass of water and dumps  it wherever it may land, most in the sink a ton on the floor and oodles all over her:) she has found she can climb the cupboard and drawer doors and actually get into the sink which is way funner than playing in the water from a chair:)

Time goes fast June 27th

June 27th

Well Miss Maggie Magoo we are on our way to South Dakota, the long way of course:) We have got to go to Denver for a Zinpro advisory board, I have no idea what that means but I’m sure we will find out.  You are growing like a weed right now, you are so tall and long, plus don’t forget the busy part! You broke a bottle of finger nail polish all over the floor the other night, bright red fingernail polish none the less, we got it all cleaned up but you are a busy little goose.  Everything is done on a run these days with you never slowing down till you finally crash for naptime or bedtime.

You LOVE the outdoors and beg to go out everyday, you put your boots on and many days we take them off right before we go to bed.  You have however found out that Dad what let you strip down to your diaper if you beg enough or if it’s hot and you’ve decided that is quite a good outfit in itself.  When outside you try to follow the cat around and get her to eat out of her bowl, you love animals.

Bugs are a fascination to you, you love to look at them and squat down on your haunches to try and pick them up.  You love your baby doll, chapstick (eating it right out of the tube) and your dad when you know you have to get in your carseat.  You play him like a fine fiddle, cuddle into him and love on him like it’s going out of style all for the sake of retaining a few more moments of your freedom.

You love to put things in little pails, buckets, or pans that you can carry around, your favortie is the potatoes.  You take them all out and then put them all back,  You climb like a monkey, that is no joke you can scale our kitchen chairs in no time flat, you get up on the counter and eat the butter like it’s candy.  You are turning into my big helper, you throw away your diapers and help pick up the toys.  You know where to put the knives, forks and spoons when they are dirty.  As much as your my helper you are also quite destructive:)  You empty cabinets and drawers as fast as I can pick them up.  Sometimes I let you make one mess just so I can clean up another;)

You have learned how to climb the bed and you slipped twice this last week and bit through your poor little tongue.  You will not share ice cream for love no money and you get it everywhere.  You have been more fun than I ever dreamed you would be, at night you nuzzle into me and cuddle so sweet, it makes me want to keep you my little baby forever, always know how much I love you!

The other day I took you to walmart by myself, bad idea.  I was so tired.  We found a little red ball you loved and we kicked it up and down the isle so that I could at least keep halfway track of you, by the time we left I was more than exausted.

I know it's been forever

My internet is terribly slow so I guess I probably ought to write this in word so I don’t end up cussing when it somehow mysteriously all gets erased.  My little Maggie, time has FLOWN, you are such a big girl.  The last few months have been busy with sales, and catalogs, and more sales, yes we are SICK of the computer, Maggie hate’s it:( We have been able to spend the last week going with John and Maggie has been in heaven.  Her first words were Mamma, dada, and of course moo, go figure, now everything makes the moo sound.  Maggie is a climber, we have a little stool next to our couch, she climbs it as fast as she can and topples over and then runs to the other side to do it again, she has figured out how to climb on her rocking horse, the one problem is that she would also like to stand up on the rocking horse:) She hates being “helped” and would like to do everything by herself.  She is walking EVERYWHERE and is as busy as a little bee.  At dinner she has to get down about half way through and run around the table returning for a bite occasionally but making sure to burn off all the calories in the process.  She has eight front teeth and just cut her four big molars, poor little thing, they are huge and I’m sure they had to hurt like crazy.  She loves to empty drawers, suitcases, the laundry anything she can empty fast and furious.  I had to go and get John some new church clothes the other day and she would pull down everything that she could get her hands on, she looks at you, smiles, and takes off with whatever her new found treasure may be, in the store it was a pair of men’s underwear.

We painted Maggie’s fingernails last night upon her request (we had to paint one of johns first so he is running around with one bright pink nail, we have a big dinner for OSU tonight, I hope I can find the fingernail polish remover)  She woke up this morning and had to show me.  She is all girl, loves shoes, necklaces, and putting on clothes.  She loves to give kisses, screech loudly, share her already chewed food, and is in love with peanut butter.  John lets her feed herself in the morning, I am not the biggest fan of this ritual, she demands to sit on Johns lap when he’s home, he’s a little more lenient on what Maggie get’s away with:) he loves her like crazy

Maggie loves to pick up sticks right now and carry them around, she loves to be outside.

The girls all came out last week, it was so fun to have them here and so sad when they all had to go back home, I would love to live in Utah with all of them, maybe someday:) I’m always glad how great John is otherwise I tell him we’d live in Utah and he could visit on weekends.  We and yes it was a group effort on part of my sisters weaned Maggie, it was pretty sad for her.  Emily and Hells bells took her all one night, it was a long night of lots of drives and lots of tears on Maggie’s part and on mine.  It was time and it has been WONDERFUL to not have her trying to nurse all night.  There have been times that we have both missed it some but as a whole it’s nice to be finished.  John is sure we need to start her on a bottle, not the new kind with the weird nipple but a good old fashioned bottle, they say pick your battles, I said no to that one.  The no leak sippy somehow manages to wet my bed at least once a weak as it is, we do not need a bottle. 

While the girls were here it was cold, we ate (they ate lol) about 12 boxes of Blue Bell fruit bars, no exaggeration what so ever, we enjoyed tons of food, and lots of giggles.  I’m so lucky to have them all as sisters.  All I could ever hope for Maggie is that she grows up to be just like them.  Poor John had lots of tears from me on the way home to Stillwater.  Whit, Oakley, and Jessica came with the girls.  Poor Oakley was pretty worn out when we got back to the airport and she had lots of tears with my tears, it sounded like she had a pretty good emotional breakdown on the plane. They had a ball blowing bubbles outside, hated our shopping trips, but loved eating ice cream numerous times during the trip:) 

Baby number two is coming to the Griswolds, I know I’m a little overwhelmed myself.  I made John stop on the way home from church to get a pregnancy test I was sure there was no way, oh but there was.  Thus weaning Maggie of utmost importance.  I’m starting to feel very pregnant, actually mostly just tired I could sleep all day, no exaggeration I would like to at times.

I’ve got to write on here more often so I don’t write a novel, I’m a lucky girl, I realize this each and everyday.  I couldn’t be more blessed!

The good parts of advertisement:)

Jennifer, I just read your email to my family, we all had a pretty good laugh.  I remember very plainly dad taking pictures and then driving 60 miles over to Cedar to get them developed, waiting the hour it took to process them and then going through them in the car and rushing to making copies of the ones he wanted then hurrying to get them overnighted to all the different publications.  My bedroom growing up was right by my dad's office, one of my favorite sounds was waking up to his typewriter.  He still types on it and then we retype everything, it's amazing how much I cherish those pieces of paper now.   He just said this morning what a lovely lady you are and told us all about you being an FFA officer, how you met your husband and even into your college.  He appreciates your friendship so much, he has me do most of the calling on advertisement but you are one of the few that he really enjoys calling and visiting with. Maggie is doing wonderful, she is almost a year old.  It is amazing to me where the year has gone.  She is ready to be done with advertisement!  We have been able to be out in Utah while we have been working on this so it's been nice so she has someone to play with her. Thanks again for everything! Jeannie --- On Tue, 1/15/13, Jennifer Dahl <dahl@xmission.com> wrote: From: Jennifer Dahl <dahl@xmission.com> Subject: RE: Yardley Ad To: "'Jeannie Yardley'" <jeannieyardley@yahoo.com> Date: Tuesday, January 15, 2013, 7:58 PM Jeannie Thanks so much for getting the ad over before you leave.  The ad looks awesome!  I remember the very first year I did the ad for your dad.  He faxed me a typed list of bulls and mailed me an envelope of pictures for me to match up.  I was so nervous to get it right for him.  We kept faxing things back and forth.  When I pulled up your beautiful ad just now, I thought of that first ad I did for him 13 years ago and I marvel at how technology has helped us all.  You do a great job. Hope things go well for you.  How’s your little one doing? Thanks, Jennifer From: Jeannie Yardley [mailto:jeannieyardley@yahoo.com]  Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2013 6:10 PM To: Jenifer Dahl Subject: Yardley Ad Jenifer,  Here is our ad for the upcoming issue:) Thanks so much for everything, Jeannie

My little piece of paradise

Well it’s four in the morning, I just had my first and probably one of my only night checks.  We had our first little baby here at home tonight.  How familiar I am with that walk out to the barn, pushing open that old sliding door, flipping on the light just inside the door, quietly walking up to see if the new calf has sucked so you don’t make her mother to nervous.   Walking through the other heifers who at this point are still a little skittish, after about four or five nights they start to realize the are heavy enough bred, they are going to get checked anyway and it’s not worth the effort to get up, it’s to hard and to uncomfortable.  They grunt and groan, after being pregnant I realize why. 

            I was going to turn the heat lamp off of the poor little thing but it’s below zero so we opted to leave it on.  It went -19 the other night with a high of about five, yes that is way to stinking cold, and yes you can imagine dad HATES it:)  It was a Final Answer out of L53 that calved, (Maternal sister to Mahogany). The little thing was just up and sucking, wagging it’s little tail, how glad I was to see that.   A1 how crazy is that, it was just yesterday that we had all our old A cows, I still remember the old A1, pretty darn well in fact, I remember her calving several times, A144, A84, B78, Z100, X93, in fact L60 was one of our very best old cows, we still have a heavy influence in our herd out of her, I remember she died up in 9 when she was about 11 or 12 or so and for some reason dad saw she still had every tooth in her head, she had been babied pretty good and never spent any time out on the desert, I had him pull one out of her head for a good luck charm, yes I know rather morbid, I do though wish I still had that tooth:)  Those cows that are forever stamped in my memory, how fast the years have flown.  The girls of my childhood are being replaced by the Girls of Maggie’s childhood now.  I pray they can offer her so many good memories. 

            The ditches are swollen and frozen and have filled all of the corrals with ice, there is still quite a little bit of snow and more out on the dessert.  They have been taking out hay everyday, I’ve really wanted to go out but it’s been to cold to take Maggie out in the elements and then both of us got sick:( ya big yuck, it was terrible.  Poor Emily is in bed now with about ten layers and the heat turned up to 100 degree’s because she is chilling and freezing to death.  I was between her and Maggie in bed and I thought I was going to roast, literally.  Em is doing good, she is so much more of my old Emily I can’t even put words to it.  She laughs a lot more and talks a lot more, she’s just Emily again.  I hope and pray with all my heart that she can find someone that will just let her be Emily, someone that she doesn’t feel she has to mold to what they want that she can be now what they want.    

            They are going to come and clean out the barn a little tomorrow and then bed it down heavier, it’s pretty dang nippley for anything to come into this world.  It has been so good to be home, I love everything about it minus one fact, my one true love isn’t here with me and because of that I’ll leave:) I’ve came to a realization that my happiness is tied close to his heart strings and where he is.  I never thought I would be able to make a life anywhere else, I NEVER wanted to.  Yet I’ve found how happy I am, how content with a man that is beyond words more suited for me than I ever could have dreamed.  They broke the mold after they made my Johnny G, there really isn’t anyone in the world like him and for him I would travel to the ends of the world (South Dakota just about fits that bill).  I have loved being home so much yet I’m yearning for him, all the little memories made, Maggie walking and laughing, sunsets and sunrises, new calves, just everything I want him there to share it.  I spent so many years alone, wondering why I couldn’t find someone.  There was a lot of cold bitter nights that I remember coming in from that barn and going back to a cold empty bed.  It was a pretty worthy thing to pray for, and I couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t working out, why I was still single, alone checking heifers in the middle of the night by myself.  I have since came to the realization that I had to be old enough that society wouldn’t think it was any bigger of a scandle then they did when I married the man that Heavenly Father had sent to this earth for me to find.  Everything that’s happened that was heartache led me to my greatest joy.  We fly into Denver to meet up with John tomorrow and even though I’m going to miss home like mad I’m like a giddy little school girl that I get to see him.

            Maggie has went from little baby steps to bigger toddling steps, how crazy is it that a year has passed?  She got the flu while we were here and has been so sick, poor little thing.  Being sick has made her rather cranky and clingy.  She has bit one of my nipples until it’s so stinken sore I can’t hardly stand to let her nurse.  My dad always said there was nothing that made him more mad then a heifer that kicked her calf, he has never breastfed.  It is getting time to wean her but it about breaks my heart to think of the poor little thing and how sad she is going to be, nursing is her greatest comfort and I’m not sure what we are going to replace it with.  While she was sick pretty much all she would do was nurse, she wouldn’t take any solids.  I was glad that I could at least still get something in her tummy. 

            Dad has been wonderful while I have been home, everyone has.  I come more and more everyday to the realization of how lucky I was to grow up in the home I did, to know right from wrong.  Everyday it becomes more and more black and white how that they way you live is in direct correspondence with your happiness, I will forever be grateful for my parents for setting that example for me.   Dad is so cute with Maggie, he coos to her and smiles at her, I pray she will be able to get to know him well, that is one of my greatest wishes, that is perhaps the hardest part of not living here at home.   Everyone has been good with our little Maggie, she squaks quite loud though when ANYONE tries to take her to far from me.  She does love Jessica and remembers her.  She played with her so stinken cute yesterday I wish I could just capture those moments and push pause in my life.  She has turned into the bossy little thing and has a way of getting her way.  Mom has been great here at home to, she is the mom that I knew growing up.  For awhile I don’t know what was all going on but our relationship was stressed to the point that I didn’t know if it would ever heal.  She is truly and Angel woman and I’m so proud to call her my mother. 

            Well I better get after a little advertisement while I’m still fresh enough to do it my eyes are starting to get heavy again. 

Many smiles and laughter,

Jeannie