Belly Shots

Who has the biggest belly!?

My professional photographer friend and mentor, John, took maternity/family pictures of us this week. I was 35 weeks this week and since the baby is measuring 3 weeks bigger than his due date, we decided we'd better do it, or we might miss it. Jeron and Jadee were very cooperative and I think we got some priceless shots. At one point, when the kids had their heads resting on my belly, the baby kicked Jeron in the cheek. He thought that was pretty funny. Jadee was very into kissing and pointing to the baby in Mommy's belly. It was a fun afternoon and I'm so glad I have these pictures to remember how I look and the experience of being pregnant. Thanks, John!

Jeron gets a pop in the cheek!

Girly Girl...Tame the Wild Mane

Before & After

Jadee had her first ever haircut this week! I decided it was time to do something to try to tame her wild mane...we love the curls, but we're still trying to figure out how to best work with them. Of course, I wasn't about to tackle that one, so I took her to Alayna...my favorite stylist of all time.

I may have stated this before...Jadee, at two years old, is one of the girliest girls I've ever known. Cases in point:

1. She ADORES clothes and shoes. Every time I come home from shopping her first question is, "Did you buy me sumpeen, Mom?" Everything I show her is "Ooo, cute!"

2. She LOVES babies. I don't think she could ever have too many.

3. She is insistent on picking out her "pretties" (hair accessories) every day.

4. "I want to do make-up!" is a common cry when she finds me in the bathroom. Gratefully, her "make-up" only consists of chapstick, brushing the blush brush on her cheeks and using an empty vile of perfume. She hasn't figured the rest out...though she did ask me what I was doing to my eyes the other day when I was putting on shadow. It's only a matter of time.

5. Her curls require product and she loves to use it. She even knows how to "emulsify".

Anyway, the salon experience was just another manifestation of her girly-ness. As you'll see in the pictures, she was right at home!

Potty Training by Jeremiah

Jeremiah decided some time ago (probaby after the first poopy diaper 5 years, 7 months, and 3 weeks ago) that he was tired of changing poopy diapers. Recently, he made a deal with Jadee in an attempt to "potty-train" her. He told her that if she would go poop in the toilet, he would buy her a new baby. Now, for anyone who knows Jadee, babies are her very existence. She LOVES babies and fills her days playing with them. There was a lot of talk about pooping in the toilet and buying a new baby. There was even some sitting on the toilet...to no avail. Finally, on Sunday over conference weekend, Jeremiah caught her in the almost act and whisked her away to the toilet. She did her deed and tried to collect. Two problems...it was Sunday (we try not to shop on the Sabbath) AND now her dad was trying to renegotiate the terms of their contract!! He wanted to just give her a dollar each time she used the toilet and make her save to buy the baby! Can you believe the audacity of some people?! Well, gratefully I was there for the original deal and I made him stick to his end of the bargain. Actually, I stuck to his end of the bargain.

The next day we went to Wal-Mart in search of a new baby. Jadee walked the aisle, checking out all of the baby stuff. For a minute I thought we might get away with a stroller and some bottles (half the price of the Newborn Cabbage Patch Babies she's usually drawn to). But then she saw it...a "cute" baby in a fancy bag with a pacifier and a bottle and a blankie and a toy! It was love at first sight (and still cheaper than the Cabbage Patch). The decision had been made and we headed to the check-out. All along the way Jadee wanted to open the baby and take her out of her bag. "No," I explained, "we have to pay the money first." As soon as we had paid the money...and I mean walking two steps to the next unoccupied register as soon...we had to stop, find the nail clippers to snip the plastic ties, and get the baby out. Jadee was so excited that she could hardly contain herself. Jadee has two volumes: LOUD and LOUDER. "I want the bottle! Let's get the blankie! Oooo...a STAR!" All of the little old ladies sitting on the bench at the front of the store were quite taken with her enthusiasm. She put them right over the edge as she sang at the top of her lungs, "Rock a baby! Rock a baby!" as we walked out the door. For a glimpse of this "CUTE" baby, check out our Easter pictures.
So, the point of this whole, long story is this...Jadee is still not potty trained, but she TALKS a lot about it...in terms of what she can get when "I go poop in the toilet." Tonight she had the Little People catalog that came with her airport. "Mom? I can buy this car when I go poop in the toilet? And I can buy this little house? And I can buy...?" She still talks about buying new babies all the time, too. She even pretends about it. "Okay, Mom, I'm going to Wal-Mart now to buy a new baby. I'll see you later!" Unfortunately, she still has no desire to use the toilet. Oh, well...I don't have any desire to try to make her. Until she decides, I guess we'll just dream about what she can buy when she finally decides to go poop in the toilet! Thanks for the effort, Dad!

Profound Quote of the Day

Taken from a letter home from my brother, SPC Robert Heywood, Army Basic Training, Fort Benning, Georgia:

Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you: Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.

The Egg Story

As I stated before, we decided to color our Easter eggs on Friday night before Easter. Jeremiah wasn't home when I boiled them...you all know how efficient I am ;) So, when he got home, we gave him the evening's plan: dinner, pick-up, pajamas, Easter eggs. During our pick-up time Jeremiah says, "So, do we need to cook the eggs, or are we just going to color raw eggs?" Mind you, he's very serious about this...not one single sarcastic undertone. I looked at him quizzically. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Yeah," he says, "We colored raw eggs all the time when I was little."

"No, you didn't. Your mom is way smarter than that."

"What do you mean?"

"What happens to at least half of the colored Easter eggs?"

"They never get found. Yeah...I guess they would rot."

"And the other half?"

"I don't know."

"They get broken. I will not be cleaning up raw egg. The eggs have already been boiled. By the way, I want you to call your mom and ask her how many times you colored raw eggs as a child. My guess is...ZERO!"

Jeremiah did try to call his mom...every number he has for up there in Idaho. No one answered and no one has returned his call...so we still don't know if he really colored raw eggs. Maybe Claire knows...or Lucinda could ask? Enquiring minds want to know!

Thanks to all who voted...it was almost unanimous...we all color hard-boiled eggs, except Chris...his are hardly boiled. Luckily, he has a way smart wife, too, so she probably helps him out!

Easter Question of the Day

Do you color hard-boiled or raw eggs for Easter?

The story behind this question will come soon...after I get some responses...I want the responses to be unbiased!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to all! Just wanted to share a few pictures of our Easter fun.

Friday night we colored our eggs to leave for the Easter Bunny to hide. Jeron worked very carefully. Jadee worked as carefully as a two-year-old can work. At the very end of the coloring party, Jadee handed an egg to me across the table. Somehow it slipped, dropped and landed right in the pink cup, splattering pink over everything. Jeremiah said, "Uh, oh! Did we have an "egg" splosion?!" Jeron thought that was hilarious and found a variety of ways to work it into conversation all weekend long. Glad to know he has a developed sense of humor!

We noticed that Jadee had to lick every egg she touched...not sure what that was all about? I guess she was using those millions of receptors in the mouth to learn all that she could about hard-boiled eggs!

Jeremiah did some special designs...just for Auntie Heather...

Our special bedtime story Friday night...The Night Before Easter. As you can see, it was very intriguing reading!

On Saturday, Jeron woke up early and had to wait for Jadee to wake up to go hunt eggs. He was very patient. Their reactions to their baskets were pretty fun for the "Easter Bunny" to see!

Since I seem to put A LOT of pictures in this blog...I'll spare everyone and just let you know that the hunt was a great time...Jeron filled his bucket to overflowing and Jadee was very interested in what each plastic egg contained. She had to check each egg out before moving on. Needless to say, she didn't find nearly as many as her brother did.

In addition to our eggs and hunt, we also went to Jeron's T-ball pictures on Saturday and to the Dummy Downhill at Mt Rose. Jeron and Jadee each took their last ski runs of the season...sad :( Now we're full swing into T-ball and motorcycles. We'll keep you updated! Jeron and Jadee (especially Jadee) were very excited to put on their Easter clothes for Sunday. Tonight we'll focus a little more on the true meaning of Easter.

Thanks to all who read this little journal of our lives...and even BIGGER THANKS to those who comment! Your comments make this blog fun for me!

Easter Pictures

I finally got around to taking pictures of the kids in their Easter clothes yesterday. Jadee was super cute and fun...she LOVED her new dress and socks and shoes. She is always concerned about where these things come from..."YOU buy me this dress, Mom? GRANDMA buy me these shoes? Oh, goodie!" She was intrigued by each and every prop I pulled out, so we had a long shoot while brother was at school...58 savers of about 65 shots! Jeron had to have a haircut before his shoot, which was fine with him as long as I didn't use the clippers and as long as I kept giving him jelly beans. "If you give me another jelly bean, I won't move a muscle. Look, I'm like a statue." Props for five-year-old boys are a bit difficult to come by...especially when they have no pants on! I didn't really want full length shots of him, so I just made him put on his tie and sweater. He did a great job. He did want to put his bunny in some of the shots...pretty cute! By the way...I was really worried that Jeron wouldn't like his tie because it has a pink stripe (to match Jadee's dress, of course), but he loved it...thought it was pretty cool! I wonder how long that will last? Wait...his dad wears pink all the time...we are no respectors of color...we're good! ;)Now for the disaster...I really should have just let well enough alone, because it ended in tears and yelling. I tried to take a shot or two of the kids together...Jeron tried for all he was worth to be helpful. "You should hold this bunny up, Mom, and say 'Look at the bunny!'" "Come on, Jadee, I'll let you play with my cars if you let Mom take a good picture!" Jadee was not having anything to with any of it. I tried for too long and finally decided to forget it. In my huff, I started cleaning up all the props. Jeron thought I was boycotting Easter...it was all kinds of good times...tears, sadness, "You ruined Easter!" Oh, the joys of motherhood!I had to put this one in...this is the famous Jadee Scowl. You can see that Jeron was just trying to get a good shot and Jadee didn't care!

One more funny thing...Jadee was eating a peep...she'd done such a great job, I had to give her a treat, which made for some more really cute pictures! Somehow she got on this, "My brother's not going to sit in my chair!" kick, finger shaking and all. She must have been worried about Jeron taking over the rocking chair when he got home from school, so she wanted to let me know that she would not let that happen...that's the story behind the close-up of the scowl and the shaking little finger. Just a side note...we had to bribe her to let him sit in it during their together shoot and even then it didn't last long. Of course, the chair really belongs to Jeron, and he is not one to let things slide...another little tiff to make the together shoot interesting. :)

Jeron's T-ball Game Schedule

Here is a look at Jeron's T-ball Schedule for this season...do you think we have enough games!? Plenty of opportunity for any interested parties to come watch him play! We'd love to see you, and Jeron would love to have his fans in the stands! (It may be a bit hard to read...for some reason I can't get the spaces to transfer to the actual post...sorry :()

Mon 4/9 6 pm A's v. Angels
Sat 4/14 12 pm Braves v. A's
Thu 4/19 6 pm A's v. D'backs
Sat 4/21 2 pm Dodgers v. A's
Mon 4/23 6 pm A's v. Giants
Sat 4/28 8 am Marlins v. A's
Thu 5/3 6 pm Orioles v. A's
Sat 5/5 2 pm Red Sox v. A's
Tue 5/8 6 pm A's v. Tigers
Sat 5/12 8 am Angels v. A's
Tue 5/15 6 pm A's v. Braves
Sat 5/19 4 pm D'backs v. A's
Wed 5/23 6 pm A's v. Dodgers
Wed 5/30 6 pm Giants v. A's
Sat 6/2 4 pm A's v. Marlins
Wed 6/6 6 pm A's v. Orioles
Sat 6/9 2 pm A's v. Red Sox