Happy Birthday to Blaise!

I didn't get around to writing Blaise's birth story today. I can feel my body getting sick and I am just exhausted. But here are some highlights from his birthday celebration today:

First thing this morning I let him open his presents from Granny and Grandpa


He's saying "CRAYONS!"


This boy loves to color


All of his loot. Yes, that's some scotch tape in the pile. This boy also loves tape!


When I was a kid we had a special plate (and bowl and cup) for the birthday kid. When we got married my mom gave us some birthday dishes. We had lasagna for dinner.


Opening presents from mom and dad and Rae. We got him a play dough "burger maker" thingy and Rae got him a lamp to hook on to his bed. (well, I bought it and let it be from her)


Cupcake time!




When I asked Blaise who should come over for his birthday, the only people he wanted were "Joe and Ashley"! They are his nursery teachers and our neighbors. He just loves them so much. They have been great teachers and it will be sad when Blaise moves on to Sunbeams in January. By the way, Blaise thinks he gets to go to Sunbeams THIS Sunday. Good thing January is only a few weeks away! I don't know if you read my blog regularly Ashley, but you are so gorgeous!

Totally slacking

Yesterday was Roy's birthday. I never posted anything because I never had a minute to sit and think without a child interrupting me. And now I'm getting sick again and don't have anything awesome to write.

But, it is the big 3-0! I can't just pretend it didn't happen! I wanted to write 30 things about Roy, or something as equally cheesy, but maybe next year I'll write 31 things :) It is time to move on, because today is a new birthday!

Happy Belated Birthday Roy, I love you! You are a fantastic husband, father and my best friend in the whole world. For his birthday, Roy got a new wedding ring from me and a toy gyroscope from the kids. He also got to go watch New Moon (alone). For dinner he got spinach alfredo pizza (SO GOOD!)




Hopefully later today I'll get around to writing down Blaise's birth story, which was my goal to do by the time his birthday rolled around. I gotta go make chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting - Blaise and I are so alike!

Slush

Immediately after Rae was born I asked for some food because it had been about 12 hours since I had last eaten. I was brought a sandwich and a delicious slushy-type drink. I can't remember what flavor it was, but man was it good.

This summer I had the chance to visit my brother and sister-in-law's new Snoball shop and try a "stuffed snoball" (shaved iced stuffed with soft serve ice cream) Man oh man was it good.

Sunday night my throat hurt so bad that I couldn't eat a thing. Roy broke the sabbath and went to Sonic to get me a Cream Slush. Delicious.

My point? Ice/snow and water mixed together and flavored is a brilliant idea. Ice/snow and water mixed together outside? That's the kind of slush that no one enjoys. It's ugly, it's messy, you can't play in it and driving in it sucks. Maybe I could scoop some up and make a tasty treat? If only it were that easy.

It has been raining all day. It is the type of day when I usually stay inside as much as possible - but I had a ton of errands to run. Bleh.

Now that I'm inside for the night all I want to do is go to Sonic for a slushy treat :)

Why I'm considering keeping Rae home from school today

Oh, and the fact that I have a fever of 102. Bleh.

Boy toys

It's been really easy to shop for Rae this year. She has a huge list of things she wants and since she is the oldest in the family we keep having to buy "older" toys. Blaise, on the other hand, pretty much just plays with whatever Rae played with when she was three. I have no idea what to get him for Christmas. Any suggestions? What do your boys like to play with? Blaise just colors and does crafts all day, but I think he'd like something new and different that Rae isn't interested in. I think girls are so much easier to shop for. (Here that Roy? It should be EASY to get something for my birthday!)

Yo Jeppson kids

Do we want to exchange gifts this year? This is what we did last year. Thoughts?

Edited to add:

Okay, I was thinking that we should leave Bryce out because it might be hard for him to send something. And maybe we can all send him a little something. Leaving Bryce out, it would be like this:

Christie has Katie
Bobby has Ashley
Levi has Aaron
Katie has Lindsey
Ashley has Levi
Aaron has Christie
Lindsey has Bobby

$20 limit - but it doesn't have to be that much. Also, if anyone has any ideas for M&D that we could go in on, email me!

Some Isaac stats

Isaac went to the doctor on Monday. We weighed 18 1/2 pounds and was 28 1/4 inches long. We had to wait SO long and he kept falling asleep. I had to wake him up to get his shots, so it was really sad. He's growing nicely! Also, I should record that we started giving him solids when he was about 5 months & 3 weeks old. He doesn't really care for them. He has had rice cereal, applesauce, bananas and squash. This week I haven't been as careful about waiting a week to introduce a new food, so he has had pears and peas in the past few days.

Happy Thanksgiving

Things were really low-key around here. Roy woke up sick, so we didn't do much except rest and hang out. We grilled a turkey breast tenderloin outside, heated up a container of Bob Evans mashed potatoes, and had corn on the cob and rolls. Simple but tasty. For dessert we had cheesecake and German cookies. We sent the kids to bed at 6 because they stayed up really late last night, and I curled up on the couch and watched "Four Christmases" (GOOD STUFF!) Now I'm going to bed because I'm going to attempt to get to Walmart at 5am and get a few things. By the way, if your Walmart is open 24 hours, how exactly does the Black Friday stuff work? I guess I'll find out tomorrow. Here are a few pictures of our day:


Rae made these little outfits at school and I thought it'd be cute to get a picture of them all together, but of course Isaac wouldn't cooperate! I like how Blaise is looking at his hat!




Juiciest, tastiest turkey I've ever had!


Looks like a pretty pathetic meal, but it was perfect for our little family!


And the perfect amount of cheesecake for us too! No one ate too much and not too many leftovers! I have to weigh-in on Tuesday, people!

Guess again

Everyone's guesses for the first snow have passed, so let's try again! My guess is Monday (because I took a look at the forecast) ;) What do you think?

Cheese lovers!

I had some leftover shredded cheese today, and the kids jumped on it like hyenas.

Why I haven't been posting and commenting much these days

**Isaac has not being napping/sleeping well and is pretty clingy lately. This makes for a tired mama and lots of holding of a tired baby. Lots of nursing at the computer and naps on my shoulder.

**I don't like typing one handed.(see above) I can handle scrolling through links and checking everyone's blogs, but it is a pain to type a whole post one handed.

**Sick Blaise has been needed lots and lots of cuddles.

**Tired mama can't form complete thoughts

BUT- Roy has an entire week off starting Friday at 2:30 -woooooo hoooooo! Why does it always seem like week before a break is the hardest?? You'll hear a lot from me next week but this week it is all about survival!

This post was typed one-handed....please excuse typos :)

So glad

About a month ago I had people guess when the first snow would be - well, I'm happy to say that most of the dates you guessed have passed! We had that really cold spell but now it's been back to regular fall weather. I think next week I'll have everyone guess again!

Already?

Nothing to say

So here are some pictures.

Long bath=wrinkly hands

Naked dancing

It rained a lot the other day and flooded the town.
We had a river running through our "backyard".

Just praying that I will take him inside soon!

Happy boy.

Halloween Part III

Make sure you scroll down for the other two Halloween posts


Here is a picture of Roy with his costume. I borrowed it during the trunk or treat and wore it while handing out candy. I don't have a picture of me though. My husband is terrifically weird. The students in the dorms loved it.

Halloween part II

Isaac gets his own post for his costume. Rae wore this costume when she was 15 months old, Blaise wore it when he was 10 months old and now Isaac wore it at 5 1/2 months old. The best thing about it is that I got it for 5 bucks!

Rae

Blaise (man, he still looks the same!)
Cute Blaise again. We just switched Isaac to this car seat, and the first time I put him in it I thought of this adorable picture of Blaise.
And Isaac - sleeping like an angel (har har)

Halloween

Our Halloween festivities were cold, but fun! On Friday we had our ward party. I was tired and cranky and wanted to skip Halloween altogether, but by the end I was less grumpy. Roy took the kids around the parking lot for the trunk-or-treat while I sat in the van and handed out candy (while nursing!) I got a lot of laughs for my costume - I'll have to get a picture of me in it and post it later. It was about 45 degrees and the wind chill probably made it about 40 degrees. We were all happy to get home and warm up and eat some candy!

At the ward party on Friday

No masks allowed


On Saturday there were a bunch of local businesses set up around the courthouse with candy, so we hit that first. Then we picked Roy up from his office where he had been all day grading papers - bleh. We went to the dorms (which was nice since it was SO cold again) The kids got some really good candy and Roy got a lot of laughs about his costume (same costume as mine - we didn't get a picture though, so I'll post more about that later) We got home by 7 and went to a few of our neighbors and tried to lure some kids to our house by turning on all the lights and lighting our pumpkins, but we only got two trick-or-treaters. Oh well, I'll send some candy to school with Roy and he can bribe his students. I'm letting the kids go crazy on candy this morning and then I'll put it away for a few days.



This is on Saturday before going out. He didn't wear the mask for very long because it was hard for him to see and he kept tripping. The gloves didn't last long either because they kept falling off.




She was a "fancy" cat

ERGH!

Okay, help me out here. I bought new muffin pans a few weeks ago. I made some cupcakes (I used paper liners) and they totally burned. I thought maybe it was because of the liners because they were from last Halloween. Well, today I tried again with nice new liners and they burned again! The bottoms are totally scorched! And I had set the timer for only 15 minutes even though the recipe said 18 minutes. The tops and middles are perfect - you can tell it is from the liners. What is the deal with that? Is there something about new muffin pans that you aren't supposed to use paper liners or something? I've made muffins several times without liners and they cooked fine.

The really frustrating thing is that I was going to just buy some cheesy cupcakes from Walmart so that I wouldn't have to make any. Now I have to buy them anyway!

Don't forget

Isn't it lovely that Daylight Savings ends the day after Halloween and we get an extra hour?! An extra hour to get ready for church....sleep off the sugar...eat more sugar...wash face paint off our kids. I'm excited.

Fuzzy brain

Isaac has decided that life is too short to sleep. The minute you put him down he wants to be up and playing. And apparently crawling around his crib isn't good enough. And he has also become aware of when we leave the room, which means he's been sleeping in our bed a lot. But that doesn't work so well because he likes to crawl onto daddy. Needless to say, we haven't been getting much sleep lately. I've had a few things I've wanted to blog about, but my brain feels all fuzzy and I can't come up with any insightful thoughts. Add a sore throat, allergies and crazy kids (I think they are really excited about Halloween!) and you've got a crazy mama that can't think!

Seriously, as I type, the kids are wrestling and squealing and our house just isn't big enough!! It's not a misbehaving crazy, just a wild , too loud kind of crazy! Ahhhh! I think I better get us out of the house. We are going to go find some beautiful fall leaves to jump in.

I spent way too long working on this, but it's cute!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

He's on the move!

It's time to teach the kids to keep their stuff off the floor! At less than 5½ months old - Isaac is crawling! His technique is sloppy, but it gets him where he wants to go. And he has started sitting up! This kid is crazy! Rae and Blaise both crawled before they started sitting up, and I thought they were early at 6 months old.








Speaking of Rae, let me brag a little bit more. We went to a parent teacher conference tonight and heard so many good things about how well Rae is doing. She's way above her classmates - especially in reading. I can't take credit for it though, I have no idea how she knows how to read so well! And her teacher said she is so nice to everyone and has never misbehaved. One weak area is following directions - which doesn't surprise me at all. She just doesn't pay attention and I don't think she realizes she needs to listen! So that is something we will have to work on (at home and at school).

And since I've mentioned the other kids, I should mention that Blaise is potty training and is doing pretty well. I'm not making too big of a deal out of it because he's been sick and I think he has allergies and he's a little grumpy lately. But he pooped on the potty twice and has been starting to recognize when it's time to go. Hopefully he'll be completely trained before we fly to Vegas for Christmas. I had given up and was going to wait till after Christmas, but he started to show more interest in it, so here we go, no turning back now! :)

I love my kids! They are all so fantastic and make me so proud!

Eight years ago....

October 20,2001 was the first day that Roy and I met in real life. We had been chatting online for a month or so and he drove to Blythe that day for a visit. That Saturday and Sunday were two amazing days. I got to know my best friend and started falling in love with my future husband. I can't believe it's been 8 years! He just keeps getting better and better! Here are some pictures of us posing in the park where we shared our first kiss. These were taken in April of 2002 - we were trying to work on a pose for an engagement picture. I love you pumpky - thank you for 8 wonderful years!

They are back

Last year I blogged about the asian lady beetles. Well, today at the park I noticed there were a ton everywhere and when we got home they were all over our front door - outside and inside! It is totally creepy, but it is keeping the kids entertained! Rae has about 20 in her bug box already! It's a gorgeous day today. The bright colors on the trees make me happy, I'm feeling a lot better and Blaise has peed on the potty several times today! Too bad it is supposed to rain the rest of the week :(
I guess we better get back outside and enjoy the sun!


Here a couple of cute pictures I need to share:

At least he's inserting it in the right way!
Blaise got this little pumpkin at story time at the library and Roy thought it'd be fun to carve.


My mom sent us a package with this Bumbo chair that she got for a great deal at a yard sale - he likes it!

He also likes to make this face a lot.

And he likes to arch his back like this - it really freaks Rae out when he does it! She thinks he's going to fall out.

Blaise really likes the skeleton my mom sent him. He wanted me to take a picture of it.

It should be mandatory....

...that every husband should get to take at least one morning off every week! Roy doesn't have work today or tomorrow - woot woot! Blaise and I are sick and I think Isaac is getting a bit sicker, so we are just lounging around, enjoying the quiet morning with Rae at school. I have no voice, Blaise is losing his voice, it's cold and rainy and I just want to cuddle up to my two sleeping boys on the couch. But I guess that would wake them up. We were going to do something fun this weekend but it looks like we'll just stay home and get over our colds and maybe do some cleaning. I wish there could be days like this every week!

Mind your own business Walmart lady

Yesterday I bought a pack of three pregnancy tests. The check out lady had asked me how old Isaac was, and as she rang up the pregnancy tests she said "these aren't fun to buy right after having a baby". I wondered if she'd have the nerve to bring up the tests. But I've checked out with this lady several times before and she always has something slightly inappropriate to say.

Why did I buy the tests? Because I didn't trust the two Dollar Tree ones I had already taken. I know I am not pregnant. It'd be nearly impossible. But I'd an excuse for these facts:

-I can't seem to lose weight, and I've even gained a few pounds. I'm not being super strict with what I eat, but I've been worse in the past and haven't had this problem. And get this, the weight is all in my belly.

-I cry at the drop of a hat.

-I suddenly have the desire to watch Baby Story and Deliver Me.

-I'm always "craving" meat. Preferably in the form of bacon or ribs. Hmm, that could explain the weight gain.

But 3 tests later I have to accept the fact that it is all in my head and I need to get a grip or I'll be a big fatty watching TLC all day getting my steak wet from all my tears.

Have you ever been convinced you were pregnant when you weren't?

Dear Blaise,

I'm sorry I teased you with the sour candy, I won't do it again. But could you please do me a favor? Don't poop 5 minutes before it is time to leave! Could you do it before I put on your shoes and jacket? Or, better yet, do it before I change your morning diaper, because diapers are expensive and we need to get the most use out of them as we can. Wait, even better, how about you start using the toilet?! You do that, and I'll stop torturing you. Deal.

Love,
Mommy

He just doesn't learn

I know I've already posted twice today, but I just had to share this video. I guess Blaise didn't remember what we did to him last year and fell for the sour candy again! I like how he keeps tasting it when I tell him to -what an obedient kid!



We went to a parade this morning (and there was one last week) so the kids have a ton of candy. Even Isaac got into the action: (poor little guy has something going on with his eyes)

Take a guess

There is a freeze warning in effect for Kirksville this weekend. It's been about 38 degrees all day, and I've been thinking about when it might snow here. Last year the first snow was November 29th - what do you think it will be this year? Take a guess, and the person who is closest wins a surprise gift from me! My guess is November 14th. Two guesses per family (if both members of the couple read my blog!) And I'm counting snow that actually sticks, not just flurries.

Good deal!

PYP Blog: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Blu- Ray AND DVD Combo pack $9.99 after coupon!


This coupon expires TODAY, but who doesn't love a Saturday trip to Walmart?! This movie is 19.99 at Walmart, and this coupon is for $10 off. I just went and got a copy for the kids for Christmas. Such a good deal I had to pass it on!

Just let me get this out of my system

I'll try not to whine about the weather so much this winter, but let me get a few moans out real quick! Brrr! We haven't had to turn our heater on yet, but I have a feeling we will have to very soon. The problem is that, once you turn it on it's hard to turn it off! I went shopping yesterday for winter clothes. I decided I'm going to be comfy and warm this winter instead of fashionable. And I actually bought myself a pair of winter boots because last winter my feet would always get wet and cold when we walked out to the car in the snow. Living in a cold climate is expensive!

I want to wear my sweats all day. I want to sit on the couch with blankets and watch tv. I want to drink really sweet, rich, thick hot chocolate. But I can't do any of those, so maybe I better turn on the heater so it's warm enough for me to take a shower. I wish the sun would come out. Cold weather doesn't seem as bad when the sun is shining. Bleh. Okay, I'm done. I won't whine about the cold anymore. Suck it up Ashley, it is time for winter.

P.S. I cried watching The Office - anyone else?

I do have a point

I stink at taking pictures. I found something cool at Walmart today and tried to take a picture of it for my blog. I couldn't get a good shot, so decided to just find a picture of it online. When I was looking I found something even cooler.

I can't find what I got, but this is now what I want:



I got the Dr.Pepper one at Walmart. Totally cute and tasty. I really want the Diet Cherry Vanilla one - that is my FAVORITE type of Dr. Pepper. Too bad I already gave my MIL my Christmas list! Aren't these adorable? And with the wind and cold weather we've been having, my lips need constant protection. (Although, this isn't exactly top quality lip balm. I prefer Carmex or Blistex for real protection) Maybe I'll tell Roy to get this for my birthday. The kids are gonna need to wear chapstick this winter and I bet they'd love to use these! But I guess they'd probably lick it off! Man oh man, I totally gotta have this! Anyone else as in love as me or am I just crazy?

Oh no! I just looked at the website of the makers http://www.lottaluv.com/ and I want everything on that site!

Isaac will crawl some day...

More action shots of Isaac's vain attempts to crawl:

Successful morning session

Since we've had kids we haven't been very good about watching/listening to General Conference. Usually we'll listen to it later or read it in the Ensign later. But this year I knew Rae was old enough to have higher expectations for her. So I decided that we'd sit through at least one session as a family. I didn't bother planning to go to the church building, because Isaac does not nap well anywhere but his crib. So this morning we cleaned the house up, ate lunch, set the DVR and prepared to watch the morning session. We started it about an hour late, but it worked out perfectly because Isaac went down for a nap after the first speaker and slept the whole time! Lovely! And how did we get the kids to be reverent? One word. Cookies.

I put this paper on the wall and when they were too loud I crossed off a letter. Totally worked. They also played BINGO with tootsie rolls and got to eat the tootsie rolls when they got 5 in a row. The rest of the time Blaise played in the playroom and Rae worked on a word search, listened a little bit, and looked over her shoulder to check the cookie paper. Now I'm going start some pizza dough in the bread machine, and I think our special word for the next session will be PIZZA. (We just barely finished the morning session, so we might start the afternoon session late) And then sometime tonight and this week I'll have to watch yesterday's sessions. Maybe I'll listen to them on my mp3 player while I exercise this week!
Yes Katie, I copied you.

Roy needed something to keep him awake, so he painted this bank that the kids made at the Home Depot Workshop yesterday. Turned out really nice. (on the front are stickers - he didn't paint that part - he just painted the edges and top silver and the sides and back black)

Chilly morning

It was a nippy 45 degrees when we took Rae to school this morning - time to pull out the winter hats! Isaac looked so cute and cozy, I just had to take a picture



And here's a video of Isaac trying to get himself to sleep on a typical morning in our house. When he wakes up in the morning I change him, feed him and put him on the floor so I can get everyone ready for the day. On some mornings he's ready for a nap before it is even time to take Rae to school. The video is kind of long, so skip to the end where Roy puts his hand on Isaac's head - it is really cute.