Holiday Cheer

Some fun activities we did this December include:

• BYU basketball game at the Energy Solutions Arena. After the game we ate at Jason's Deli and then saw the lights at Temple Square. 

 

 

• Kyle's work party at Market Street Grill. Mmmm, Halibut. 

•  Festival of Trees

 

• Ward Christmas party. I wasn't going to mention this because it was a large disappointment for us. We brought a spinach salad, but we ended up at the back of the line and only got ham and rolls. Everything else was gone, including the desserts. We were not happy on hungry stomachs, and Jason was upset that he didn't get any cookies or cupcakes. But it was a blessing in disguise! Lots of people got sick from some sort of food there. Hopefully my salad was not the culprit :). 
• "An Alpine Christmas" concert. 
• Trans-Siberian Orchestra. We went to support Megan, who was playing in the orchestra. A big thanks to my dad, who bought the tickets and took us to dinner so all the siblings and their spouses could have a fun adults-only night.

Christmas Day

"O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"-- from the Jabberwocky

Christmas morning was a success at our house. Kyle and I learned from last year that it is more fun for Jason if he has lots of little presents to open rather than a few big ones. So we opened up his box of Toy Story characters and wrapped each character individually. Even that couldn't tame his thrill for opening presents because he insisted on opening all of mine and Kyle's.

 

Grandma and Grandpa Robbins came over to watch Jason open his presents. After presents we (the adults) had a nice breakfast. (Jason was too busy playing to care about food, which pretty much sums up his eating habits for the day unless if it involved candy or cookies.) Jason was not happy to have to go to church right after breakfast, but we managed to bring him along after letting him choose a couple small toys to bring along as well.

A funny thing Jason likes to do now is to hold anywhere from 3 to 6 toys in his hands/arms at a time. Aunt Holly says that cousin Hunter used to do that and they called him "Mr. Six-toys" because he was always holding six toys. I think the name fits Jason as well. Maybe it's a trait he inherited from Kyle?

Christmas dinner was at the Hunsaker house. As usual, it was a beautiful dinner served with my mom's china plates and silver cutlery. I always look forward to this beautiful dinner. It helps make Christmas feel special. Kyle and I didn't fare so well at BINGO this year, but an extra $20 is always nice.

 

A highlight of the evening was watching Jason, Brynn, and Heidi play with the tents that Grandma gave them for Christmas. They were a smashing hit.

My heart was very full this Christmas thinking of how blessed we are. We have an awesome son, another son on the way, a job, a house, our health, amazing extended family, and a testimony of Christ, to name just a few. And on top of all that, Jason got so many toys that I hid some away to save for February once baby brother arrives.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we spent with Kyle's family. We had dinner, and then the traditional wrapping paper game. We divided into three teams. Each team got one roll of wrapping paper and had to come up with a cool costume using the paper, tape, and scissors. Kyle got dressed as a giant Santa. Tori was a snow princess, and Kayli was a Christmas fairy.

 

I made a bunch of Santa hats (with help from Linda and Valerie) that I thought would be fun to wear. The kids had fun running around in them.

 

Mrs. Claus decided it was her turn to get a jolly belly.

Leaf Smasher

Raking leaves was so easy this year because we had the ultimate leaf smasher. Jason loved his job of smashing down the leaves in the trash can. We're also very glad we don't have a ton of leaves to rake.

28 Weeks

This is me at 28 weeks pregnant with baby #2. This pregnancy has been really easy so far. I've just had some typical pregnancy tiredness, but nothing else to complain of.

I Love this Picture

I love this picture because I think it shows what a fun kid Jason is. Here are a few funny things I want to remember:

• Because Jason is the only child, he tries to get me and Kyle in on his imaginative play by making us talk to his toys. Every day Kyle and I get to talk to Lightning McQueen, Mater, the airplane, the dog, or whatever it is Jason is playing with. This activity gets tiresome quickly for we parents because the toys do not talk back, and one-sided conversations are hard to carry on for a long time.
• When Uncle Mitch asked Jason what he was going to name his little brother, Jason said "Peter Pumpkin Eater." When Kyle gave Jason the option of naming little brother Peter Pumpkin Eater or Finn (as in Finn McMissile from Cars 2), Jason chose Finn.
• Costco is now a favorite place to visit because we all love the samples. 
• Jason LOVES looking at Christmas lights. Despite frigid temperatures, he likes to go on evening walks through the neighborhood to look at lights. 
• Pacifier use is restricted to nap time, bed time, and long car rides. Every time we get in the car Jason tells me "this is a long car ride" because he wants to bring his pacifier along.
• Jason is a total candy monster. I'm not sure he's ever experienced the feeling of having had enough candy. When I say candy, I'm not talking about chocolate; he loves hard candies and gummy candies.
• People still comment on Jason's red hair everywhere we go. We're lucky to have such a good-looking little boy.

Jason's Two-Year-Old Pictures

 We had Jason's two-year-old pictures taken back in September, and now I'm finally getting around to sharing them. Kyle's sister Melissa took them, and she did a great job. I just wish the subject would have been more cooperative. He was having way too much fun looking at anything but the camera.

Valerie's Wedding

Valerie married Sean back in January, but I just barely got the pictures, so here are my favorites. Jason was not very photogenic with me and Kyle, but at least we got Jason's bear in the picture.

 

Halloween 2011

When you look this good in a costume, why not wear it twice? Yes, Jason was a tiger again this year. We tried the costume on him and it still fit, although the sleeves and pants were on the short side. More importantly, Jason was super excited to be a tiger for Halloween. Why wouldn't he be when the costume compliments his hair so nicely, and he has a fantastic roar to go along with it.

Earlier in the day we joined up with Kyle at his work for a Halloween lunch. This was fun for us because we rarely visit Kyle at work since he works 30 minutes away.

Trick-or-treating was over-the-moon exciting. I took Jason around the neighborhood while Kyle answered our door. Jason and I joined up with our best friends, the Mayers. Jason and Elena were very cute and very enthusiastic participants. I had a lot of fun watching them. We hit a lot of houses because the weather was so nice-- I almost shed my sweatshirt.

 

 

I chose to let Jason devour his candy as quickly as possible since saving candy is absolute torture for him. I did make Jason eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but in between the meals was a constant sugar-fest. This strategy actually saved my sanity because it kept Jason entertained at home while we were in quarantine. Jason ate through all his candy in two days, and then he ate through our leftover candy over the next two days. He was very kind and shared most of his chocolate with me and Kyle since he prefers candy over the chocolate.

Jason is still asking to go trick-or-treating again. Once a year is not enough.

Happy Birthday Kyle

Dear Kyle,

I hope you had a happy birthday this year. Your birthday was a little more subdued than originally planned since Jason was sick. I think I received the best present of all because you took the day off not only to celebrate your birthday, but also to help me with Jason. And flu shots on your birthday are never that much fun, but it is nice to have them taken care of.

Curtis and Linda brought us Thai food take-out since we didn't want to leave Jason with a babysitter. I surprised you by making your favorite dessert: Turtle Cheesecake. Jason and I love you so much and we are grateful we got to celebrate another birthday with you. Thanks being such a kind, helpful, intelligent, and handsome husband and father.

Love always,

Me

It's a BOY!

We finally found out today that we're having another boy, and we are very excited. I'd wondered from the start if I was having a girl because the two pregnancies were so different. I haven't been sick at all this time, just tired (OK, I did vomit once, but that was while I was running). The funny thing to me is that I had a dream last night that we went in for the ultrasound and it was a boy. I've never been a dreamer, so I didn't put much stock into it, but the dream came true!

When I showed the black-and-white ultrasound pictures to Jason I told him, "This is the face" and "This is the bum." Jason studied the pictures and said, "No, it's a dark sky." I think he's right. It does look more like a dark sky.

I could have gone in for the ultrasound two weeks earlier, but the first day I could go in was the first day Kyle was out of town (and he was gone for two weeks). At first I decided to go without Kyle, but after getting used to the idea, I decided to wait two more weeks so Kyle could come with me since I knew he really wanted to be there for it. So happy birthday Kyle! I hope you enjoyed the present of being present at the appointment.

Our only problem now is picking out a name. I have a list of 5 or 6 favorite girl names, but no boy names. We had this same problem with Jason. Having admitted this, please don't tell me your favorite boy names (or girl names) if you are still bearing children. I don't want to be accused of "stealing" any names.

22 weeks pregnant with Baby #2

Cornbelly's

We went to Cornbelly's for the first time. We brought Holly's oldest three kids along with us. We had a blast. I'm sure we'll go back in the future. I thought Jason would be scared of the corn maze in the dark, but I could tell he was having an awesome time even though he kept saying "scary corn" over and over. He was perfectly content to lead our little pack and tell us which way to go.

Kyle, Jason, Shelby, Spencer, Hunter

 

 

 

We got to spend a lot of time with Holly and her kids. Holly was between moves, and Kyle was out of town for two weeks, so we both crashed our parents' house. Holly enjoyed each other's company. Jason LOVED having his older cousins around. They were so good to play with him, which gave me a nice break. We also loved getting to meet baby Carter.

5 Years of LOVE

Kyle and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary. I am so grateful Kyle asked me to marry him because he has been the perfect husband for me. I was lucky enough to spend 10 minutes with Kyle on our actual anniversary. He arrived home from a business trip at 11:50 pm. We celebrated the next night by going out to dinner and seeing the play "My Fair Lady" (which is one of our favorite musicals).

I love you Handsome!

Cousin Brynn

Jason's cousin Brynn had surgery at Primary Children's. We went to visit her while she was recovering. Jason thinks Primary Children's is a party place. He got to ride around in Brynn's wagon, play in the awesome playroom, play with new stickers we brought for Brynn, and ride up and down the elevator for fun. I got a teary-eyed being there thinking how lucky I was that Jason was having such an awesome time there, unlike other little children who have to go there.

Jason loves Brynn so much. It is amazing to me how well they get along. Jason still prays for her in his prayers.

 

 

 

 

Matt and Grandam Diane

Brave Sir Jason

My brave knight is changing so fast. I want to record a few of the things he is saying and doing so I can remember them when I am old, or even next month.


Cute sayings:

• Jason often says "I want to tell you something," and then when I say "What?" he always asks me a question.
• When he climbs up the neighbor's playhouse ladder, he likes to talk to Kyle about his day while standing on the upper rungs. He'll climb up the ladder and say, "I want to talk to you." He'll then tell Kyle about his day by telling Kyle where he went and things he did.
• Jason saw 2 jet streams crossing each other in the sky, making a type of "X". Jason saw it and said, "Mom, the alphabet is in the sky!"
• Jason says he has a baby in his tummy, too. 
• Jason makes a lot of his requests and wishes known by asking questions that begin with "should". Should we eat dinner? Should we sing ABC's? Should we go for a walk?
• Driving home after dark, Kyle once remarked to Jason that it was dark outside. Jason agreed and then asked, "Daddy, are you dark?" I can feel this innocent question coming up in some Sunday School analogy in the future. 
• Jason loves to look at pictures and tells me to "read" them. That is to say, he wants me to name every person in the pictures, every time we look at them. He has his relative's names down. Unfotunatley, he also wants to know the names of the people who don't really have names, like unimportant people in his stories, or the girl on our tide box. He won't take "I don't know" as an answer, so I have to make up names for everybody.

Cute doings:

• Jason loves the movie Rio. This movie has made him very interested in flying. He loves to make his toys fly. He also loves it when Kyle flies Jason in the air. One time Jason was jumping around on the couch and he jumped on top of me (I was also on the couch). I scolded Jason and told him he should not jump on mommy. Jason corrected me and said he was not jumping, he was flying. We now have to add "No flying on mommy" as a rule on the couch. 
• Along with his interest in flying has come a renewed interest in Buzz. Buzz sat unloved for a few months after Jason's original fascination, but Buzz is now happily flying around our house, in the car, and in the yard. We are lucky Kyle is so good with screws and super glue because Buzz has had many crash landings. Jason always says "Daddy can fix it" whenever something breaks. Luckily Kyle hasn't had to disappoint him yet. 
• Tracing hands in colored pencils is a favorite activity. I mostly trace Jason's hands, but he will sometimes do mine. He also likes to tell me to draw things, like a gray giraffe, or a pink scare-crow, or a peach elephant. He's got his colors down pretty well.
• His imaginative play is really starting to grow. He likes to growl like a dinosaur. He loves to cook food for me. He can make me endless batches of soup, which I find hilarious since he himself will not eat any soup. He has also started feeding his toys food and assisting them with other tasks such as going to the bathroom. I quickly investigated one day after hearing the toilet lid open. I found him holding a stuffed dog on the seat. He told me the dog was "going potty." As cute as it was, I don't want to fish dropped toys out of the bowl, so I told him dogs go potty on the grass. 
• I taught Jason how to speed-dial Kyle's number from my phone. Now Kyle gets a phone call from Jason whenever Jason can get his hands on my phone, even if Kyle is in the same room. Watch out! I might teach Jason your number next!
• Today I enjoyed watching Jason and Kyle chase each other around the front yard. At one point Jason laid on the ground and Kyle jumped over him, which he enjoyed having Kyle repeat over and over. Jason then got the brilliant idea that he should jump over Kyle. Kyle bravely laid down on the ground. I braced myself as an onlooker, knowing full well what would happen. As I predicted, Jason jumped and landed right on Kyle's legs. Jason was thrilled and proudly declared that he had jumped over daddy.
• Today I also heard Jason singing up in my bedroom. I went up to investigate, and found that he had been going through Kyle's bedside table. Jason found a small hymnbook and started singing the two church songs he knows over and over: I am a Child of God, and I Know My Father Lives. Grandma Diane was at our house and she was impressed with how well he knew all the words. I was impressed too because Jason usually wants me to do the singing. His little brain is absorbing so much!