Month: January 2010

Horses

 - by Brittany

While running errands on Monday with my mom, we stopped to get some pictures printed. While Jameson waited for me, he found some horses to play with. He loved them. They move their heads and make noises, and Jameson couldn’t get enough. They made it so easy since it took a while to pick out pictures to print.

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Later that night, Jameson insisted “Papa Don” draw him horses. He spent a good 30 minutes requesting different animals be drawn, before we got settled down for bed.

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January showers bring…

 - by Brittany

Baby girl clothes!

While I was in Reno, Sariah and Kylie were kind enough to throw me a shower. Unless our little girl wants to look really good in blue, this was highly needed and appreciated. I had so much fun visiting with friends, and catching up. I also received some really cute clothes, blankets, bibs, burp cloths, shoes, accessories, etc. The shower was on 1-7 at 7 pm. Kinda fun, and I didn’t realize that until someone else pointed it out.

So, I gave my camera to other people, and I don’t have many pictures, but here are a few. Kylie is suppose to send me some better ones. I didn’t even take pictures of their cute decorations before everyone got there.

There were some yummy appetizers to start things off.

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After getting to chit-chat a bit, we got things going. Sariah had everyone introduce themselves (mostly because family and friends did not know each other), and while doing so fill in BINGO cards with their names. Then, as I opened presents, you got to mark off the name of the person it was from. Either Kristina or Courtney won bingo. I’m not sure. I think they tag teamed it.

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Story behind this picture:

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I opened a gift that had some bows in it. I said, “What if she has no hair to clip them to?” Well one girl brought up that Karo syrup works, while another to remain nameless brought up that Ky jelly works also. I believe it was her sister who then said I better make sure to use the right kind and not the warming sensation kind. To which I responded I wouldn’t want to have everyone at church asking why my baby’s head is all read and burned. We were laughing, but then she realized she brought up this conversation in front of my mom, mother-in-law, grandma and aunt. That’s when she turned red. Good times, always with these girls!

While I tried to make sure I got a chance to thank and talk to everyone, a few people finished off the cake. Good thing I got the first piece. Good job, Sariah, on your first diaper cake!

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I had so much fun, and can’t wait to use these cute clothes. I showed Kevin everything the other night, and he was impressed with what good friends we have. Thanks so much to everyone for a good time, and all the effort that went into making this possible.

All together

 - by Brittany

It’s a very rare occasion all 4 children in my family are together in one spot at one time. For example, this year 3 of us were together on Christmas, but Christina was missing. Weston flew out Christmas night to Vegas, but then drove back home with Christina and her family for New Year’s weekend. This meant all 4 of us were together for about 36 hours before we had to leave and head to Reno. So before the boys headed out golfing on Friday, New Year’s Day, we woke Weston up to take some pictures.

Here are the 3 boys… Kayden (3), Drew (1), Jameson (2)

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(Sorry, I posted all of them, because I love the progression of their faces. The started out so happy, and by the end, they were a little irritated. They only wanted to ride bikes.)

Here are the 4 of us. Next time, we’ll wake Weston up early enough to brush his hair. From left to right: Weston (16),  Christina (27, 32 weeks pregnant), Brittany (25, 29 weeks pregnant), and Paul (21).

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Adding husbands and kids (Steve (31) holding Kayden and Drew, Kevin (26) holding Jameson.)

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(I love all the boys in the second picture.)

We took a few with my mom, but she would probably get mad if I posted those, so we’ll skip those ones.

Here’s Christina and I with our baby girls.

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After our picture escapade, Kayden and Jameson spent the rest of their time together riding bikes.

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They had so much fun, and we were sad to leave. As soon as Jameson woke up from his nap on the drive over he asked for cousin Kayden. Christina told me Kayden “called” us all night, too. I wish we lived closer so the could play more.

Cousins finally arrived

 - by Brittany

My mom thought a puzzle would be a good idea for an after Christmas activity. I think the hardest puzzle was picked. Shelby said it was all they had, but maybe she was getting back at me for kicking her out of her room all week. Just kidding 🙂 Jameson decided to help us out.

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We worked on it all week, and it was still not finished when my sister and her family arrived Wednesday night. A few people gave up once we found a piece eaten by the dog, and another piece by the computer. There was bound to be more missing.

Thursday, Jameson woke up a little earlier than normal. After hearing his cousins awake, there was no going back to sleep. He and Kayden played all morning.

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Drew found Jameson’s unfinished yogurt, while we tried to finish the dang puzzle.

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In the end, there were 2 pieces chewed by the dogs, and 4 pieces missing. Not too bad for having out all week, eating dinner on top of it, and having little kids plus dogs running around it. Once everyone was back home, presents started all over again.

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Christina got her manicure, while I showed her how our new diaper bags worked. Drew was a much better model than Jameson was.

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Jameson received the Hungry Hungry Hippos game from Kayden and Drew. Kevin got it all put together for him, and tried to show him how it is played. Jameson freaked out, and wanted all the balls nice and safe in the side pockets. (The little area the balls fall into once the hippos eat them.) He would shake and freak out every time Kevin put the balls in the middle and began to play. He would yell, “No!” and grab as many as he could, place them nicely in their little spot, and then try to save the rest. It was pretty funny.

Later, everyone took off on their New Year’s Eve adventures. This is not the most flattering picture, but still funny.

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Christina wanted to see Weston’s band play at the New Year’s Eve youth dance. No one really wanted to go with her, so in the end we all went. These boys really needs some dancing lessons along with the crowd. Christina and I decided our boys will take at least one dancing lesson so they don’t look like penguins on the dance floor.

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The band played for a half hour or so, and then we headed out. We watched the countdown shows, and once the ball dropped, we were off to bed. So exciting, I know. We had a good time, though.

Think things all the way through

 - by Brittany

We wanted to get Jameson a bike for Christmas, but everyone kept telling me to start out with a Skuut bike. (These are bikes that the seat is lower and they don’t have peddles so the child learns to balance first.) Well, in our thinking, we just figured we would get a regular bike and take the peddles off. Then when he got the hang of it, we could put the peddles back on. Thus, only having to buy 1 bike. We didn’t take into account that the seats are higher on regular bikes and with no peddles he’s need to reach the ground. Christmas morning, Kevin helped Jameson on his bike, and he couldn’t reach the ground. Whoops. So Tuesday morning, we headed to the swap meet. One place was selling bikes for cheap. Of course, the wheels were a rubber plastic and will need to be changed, but I got one for Jameson. We got it out for him, and at first he didn’t do so well. He didn’t understand how to peddle or steer for that matter. My mom left to go grocery shopping and came back to him doing laps around the kitchen. He loves it!

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Here is video of Jameson first riding his bike. I was basically pushing him, which is why I’m so close to him and shaky the whole time.

Here is Jameson and Kayden after having his bike for two days.

On a side note, Jameson and Nikki have gotten to be close friends. Well, not really, but Jameson loves her.

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Jameson also got really good at getting what he wanted. He was frequently given some popcorn after asking, “Hot koklat, popcorn, pease?” (Hot chocolate, popcorn, please?) Many frequently gave into the popcorn part of the question.

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Plans change

 - by Brittany

Originally, we had planned to spend Christmas at home, and travel the first part of January. Well, Kevin got notification he would have the week off between Christmas and New Years, so we decided to take off on our trip early. I spent Monday and Tuesday finishing up Christmas shopping that I hadn’t planned on doing till after Christmas (since we weren’t seeing anyone till later, I figured no rush.) I also finished my list of cleaning and packing, getting the oil changed, and everything else you need to do before you leave town.

I was getting my oil changed, and there was an older lady in there waiting with everyone. (There were 4 of us all together.) She tried to chit-chat with all of us and a young girl next to her, humored her with conversation.  The young girl got up to pay for her oil change, and then the old lady got up to check on her car. The next thing we all know, she was in her car driving away. The workers were so confused. The young girl was like, “Can you steal an oil change? Is that possible?” Yup, cause she did. I thought the whole thing was hilarious.

We got up Wednesday, got the car packed, and headed off on our drive. Overall, it took us about 13 hours including our stops. Jameson played with his itouch the entire trip. We rented a movie for him, and he would change from his movie to his puzzles, to his other matching games. It was awesome. While he napped, we charged it for him so it was ready to go when he woke up. It wasn’t too bad of a drive, although sitting for so long at 28 weeks was no fun.

Christmas eve was spent recuperating from our drive.  We got things ready for Christmas day, a last minute run to Kohl’s,  and relaxed. It was a little different this year. We set out Jameson’s presents from Santa, but his were the only ones out for Christmas morning.

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We were in no hurry to get up Christmas morning. Jameson woke up about 7:30 am, and I took him to see what Santa brought. He doesn’t quite get the whole concept, but he was excited. He didn’t even care about his bike, though. He went straight for his blocks.

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While Jameson played with his blocks, the rest of us started breakfast. I made the German Pancakes while Kevin worked on the sausage, and Don started to prepare the ribs for later. (It’s not Christmas without german pancakes, Dad.) After breakfast, I think a few people were getting anxious to open presents. So we headed to the living room.

Jameson received a Lightning McQueen suitcase, which he was so excited for. I couldn’t get him to open anything else past that.

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Once we finally got him to move on and open another present, he would then play with that forever. Let’s just say it took us a while to open our gifts. It was fun, though. Jameson is finally starting to open presents. Not that I’m complaining, I’ve never had to worry about the gifts under the tree.

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Jenny had a visitor in her room in the middle of the night. She thought she was being kid-napped till her eyes adjusted. Then I’m sure she was quite excited.

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Don surprised all the girls with manicure kits. Maybe I can get Kevin to give me some pedicures too, once I can’t reach my toes.

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Christina and I made mom a book of her grandkids. I was stressing, because I had it shipped to my house. It was supposed to arrive by Christmas which was fine, until we changed our plans. It ended up arriving the day we drove out. We stopped by the post office on our way out of town, and it was there! I opened it to look at it, though, and a few of the pages weren’t printed. Great. So now I need to send it back to get it fixed. Oh well, we tried.

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I was at a baby expo and saw the best diaper bags. I called my mom and told her about them, and she bought them for my sister and me for Christmas. It’s a diaper bag that also serves as a carrier. As you can see, Jameson was not too excited to be the model for this gift.

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It also doesn’t fit quite right right now as I have to put the strap below my belly. I’m excited for it, though.

Jameson showed everyone his games on his itouch.

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Paul and Weston liked Jameson’s present more than he did.

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More family showed up around noon, and the presents continued.

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The missionaries came over for dinner, also. They got to call their families. This Elder is from Tonga, and they were having some issues getting through, so Paul kept him company.

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We had a good dinner, and spent the rest of the day enjoying company and Christmas presents. Jameson loved all the attention. He kept getting candy from Uncle Paul all day. Paul would say, “Jameson, who’s your favorite uncle?” As long as the answer was, “Uncle Paul!” candy would be received. Tricky tricky.

Since not all the family was there on Christmas, there were still plenty of presents under the tree. Jameson brought one into me and asked, “I open presents?” He then grabbed hold and ripped a corner. I was able to save the present, but I got to hear that question all day long. At least he asked first, right?

Saturday night, more family stopped by, and Jameson got to play with some cousins. He and Aiden ran around screaming as high as they could. I’ve never heard him that high pitched before. At least they had a good time.

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Sunday at church, Don had to speak as he is on the high council. While he was talking Jameson kept pointing and yelling at times, “Papa Don!” He was so excited. I don’t think the family in front of us heard very much of his talk. After Sacrament meeting, Jameson darted for the stand. He ran up there as fast as he could to see Papa Don. At least the lady in front of us thought it was cute.

And that was our Christmas weekend.

More Favorites

 - by Brittany

Here are some more of my favorite pictures my cousin took for me. At this point, I was 27 weeks and Jameson is 25 months old. I have so many I love, but you probably don’t care as much as I do. So I only posted a few.

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(Jameson chased a squirrel around this tree like 4 times before the squirrel got smart and ran up the tree. It was a good work out for him, though.)

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(The water was partially frozen so the ducks were walking on top the water.)

Thanks again Jayci and Tessa for editing and taking such good pictures!