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!