That'll be Stupid

So Jase is starting to pick up "less desirable" words for kids to say--but it sure is pretty funny. Here's what he said to me yesterday.

"Mom! Mom! I gonna turn off the light (just the one in my room)! That'll be stupid!"
"Mom! Mom! I gonna put the lid back on! That'll be stupid!"

I tried not to let him see me laugh. I just said, "Oh ok! That'll be fun!"

Then later as I was driving to hang out with my friends, I put on my Carrie Underwood CD since the radio reception is pretty much static until you get into "town." I listen to the CD pretty frequently. Anyways, I was singing along (of course, car karaoke all the time) and all of a sudden I realized a small voice from the back seat was totally singing along with me!! What?! SO CUTE! He knew tons of words to a few of the songs. He even said, "Mom I like this song!" Adorable. I love it.

Noodle Fun

Haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'd up load a couple pics of Jase eating noodles (and a video clip, too). Roob showed him how to "suck up" noodles into your mouth. It's cute how impressionable kids are! He's getting pretty good at doing it!
Enjoy the short video clip! (sorry can't figure out why it gets cropped weird)

I Heart Surprises!

So look what the UPS man surprised me with today? FRESH ROSES! Ah, so pretty and so sweet! I love flowers--I wish they would stay this pretty for months! :) I also got a box of yummy chocolates with it! I am so excited! Thanks babe! I love surprises! Your present is coming!!!

Baby Bronson Update

Hooray! If you saw read my post a few days ago about that little boy who had drowned, but then his heart started beating--here's a update for ya: Today I read that their little baby boy is doing GREAT! He's alert and responsive! I'm soooo excited to hear this since I was soooooo super saddened by the whole story just a few short days ago. See new updates HERE. I needed some good news today!

Baby Room Decor Stuff

So I finally hung up Jase's name in his room, along with a couple of tin stars. You can't really tell from the picture, but the big one is red and the little one is a rusty orange color. On the opposite side of the window, I hung 2 more identical stars and left room for the upcoming baby's name to go underneath them. (Those other spherical things you see hanging from the ceiling are Jase's glow in the dark planets. Heh.)I think it will be cute when it's all said and done. Except that there's only so much room on the other side of the wall...so hopefully I don't pick a name with more than 5 letters in it! And, hopefully Michael's Craft Store still sells these same letters or I'm in trouble! Right now I think the top name contenders (for me anyways) are Ian or Cody. I'm just diggin' those names for some reason.

Baby Bronson

I don't know how I come across these things, but I do. And being highly emotional and pregnant does not make it any easier for me to hear this kind of stuff. My friend Emery had a post on her blog about this little boy named Bronson who drowned in his parent's jetted tub. But now he's alive...barely. Of course I was so fascinated with this story I had to go and click on the link to his mom's blog and read all about it. I have never cried so hard, truly. My kitchen table is sopping wet. It's a heartbreaking story and every mother's worst nightmare--ironically, I related somewhat to her pain about feeling guilty--like it was her fault he drowned. I felt the same way when Jase burned his hand so badly at only 10 months. I should have been watching him better, I should have known, etc etc. All those awful thoughts come back to me from time to time when I see his burn scar and think, "It's probably only a matter of time before he'll need a skin graf," or "How will this affect him later in life?" Sigh. Heartbreaking. However, Jase's poor burn is nothing compared to what this woman has gone through with her youngest son. It's incredible. It's a lesson in life to me that stuff happens. It happens. There's only so much a human being can do to protect their children from every day mishaps. I hope this young mother can forgive herself somehow for what has happened to her little boy. I try to let this sink into my brain, but it just makes me a more paranoid mother. So my prayers and love reach out to this mom. If you want to read the story, you can see her blog HERE. The post that explains what happened the day he drowned is at the bottom of the page (I believe it's dated February 1st). May God be with this family during this extremely difficult time.

The Truck's Stuck!

So we were in town the other day and making our way back home. Reuben was ahead of me in his truck and I followed with Jase in the Explorer. About 20 minutes into my drive I got a phone call:

Reuben: "Amiee, are you almost home?"
Me: "Yes. Why?"
Reuben: "I need you to tow me out of the snow in the yard."
Me: "What??!! (laughing) How did that happen?"
Reuben: "Well I knew you were behind me and I thought it would be fun to try it out."
Me: "Niiice."
Keep in mind we've got at least 2 feet of snow in our yard that has been sitting there for months...so it's nice and icy hard-packed snow.
Towing him out (even with my sweet 4x4) proved to be a bit challenging since our driveway is covered in about 2" of solid ice. It looked like my car was "ice skating" while trying to get him out!
After a few tries, we were successful! But we (ok, he) did have to dig out his back tires.
The damage...

Update on Big Boy Bed

I have to say that Jase has utterly surprised me. It's been at least 2 weeks (maybe 3?) since we took the side railing off of his crib and started letting him sleep in a daybed. He's done the best for naps (has NEVER come out of the room and goes right to sleep), but quite a few times in the morning he wakes up early and comes into our room (normally he sleeps till 8am). So what I've been doing in the mornings is saying, "It's not time to get up yet. Go back to your bed until Mommy comes to get you." We walk back there together and he's been very good about laying there until I come get him at 8am (anywhere from 15-30 min). Awesome.

Well, today we have hit a bump in the road. I went into town earlier to get some groceries. I didn't realize that for some crazy reason he fell asleep for about 10 minutes in the car (shoot). However, it was such an early and short nap, I did not think this would affect him. So when we got home (about 2pm) I put him straight down for a nap. He was out the door and down the stairs within 10 minutes (argh!) but he had a poo diaper so I figured that was why he came down. So I put him back in his bed. I think I have put him back in his bed now about 15 times in the last hour. WHAT!? The annoying thing is that during his "nap" today I had to work on some real estate stuff so it was stressing me out having to deal with him getting out of his room every 10 minutes and interrupting my focus (hang on he just came out of his room again)! So what would have normally taken me 20 minutes to do, took me almost an hour! Lovely.

Anyways--they say to have as minimal of a conversation with your toddler as possible, and to keep your temperament calm. Calm. Riiight. Well I'm doing fairly well at "acting" calm bc at this point I am super aggravated. The only thing that is different about today's "nap" is that he already fell asleep in the car for a little bit. I swear that is the problem. Oh and he snuck in a few "Rolos" candies, so that's not helping at all. I know he is testing me so I am trying to be as consistant as possible. The ironic thing is that I was just about to go get him and let him play (since it's been almost an hour and a half of this "game"), but in the last 20 minutes he's come out of the room WAY more times and is REALLY making me nuts. So now I don't want to "reward" him for doing that, ya know? ARGH. I hate when he doesn't sleep and I don't get Amiee time bc it makes me just go insane!!! NOT cool.

And I can't go downstairs bc it is too hard for me to run up and down the stairs to keep putting him back in his room every 5 minutes...so I am stuck up here in my bedroom so I can "monitor" him. So much fun. Not.

One funny thing did happen, however. At one point when I told him to get back in his bed, he crawled into it, sat down, looked at me, and in a stern voice said "YOU LISTEN TO ME!" (I had to cover my mouth to hide the hugest smile that swept across my face. Omg that was hilarious). Other than that moment, not funny. Just total annoyance! Calgon, take me away!

Jase in Dad's Hoodie

Thought this was pretty funny!

Brunch with the Girlfriends

So the other day I got a text out of nowhere inviting me to a brunch at my friend Erinn's house. Y'all know this is right up my alley! Food and friends--can't be better. So we each got our assignments and showed up for a little food party earlier today. I brought my camera to document it all...but I forgot to take pictures of the attendees (duh)! Oh well. I'm not sure which was more fun--eating all the food or chatting! You can find the recipes we used on my food blog, Roll Me Outta Here. Here's the spread--fresh fruit toppings, homemade whipped cream, crepes, sweet coconut syrup, and savory breakfast casserole: Crepes (I ate way too many of these):
Homemade coconut syrup for the crepes (a must try, seriously):
Breakfast casserole (sausage, eggs, milk, hashbrowns, cheese, green onions):

Arriving Soon...

Look what's coming to my house! So exciting! How cute is this Graco Pack n' Play? My sister and my dad went in 50/50 on this. She called me the other day asking me questions about what I did/didn't like. I felt too guilty letting them buy me one bc many of these are $200+ (especially with the higher changing tables). Well, I was online browsing with her and we found this one for about HALF that price! Half! It was such a steal I went ahead and gave them the green light to buy it for me (well, ahem...the baby). I should get it any day now...I can't wait! Isn't it stinkin' cute? And oddly enough, it matches my highchair! Ha! Thanks Dad & sis!!!

29 Weeks Complete!

It's been at least a month since I took a pregnant picture of myself--so I thought it was about time to do it again. Let me tell you how fun it is to try to take a picture of yourself in poor lighting with a self timer and no tripod. Ha ha ha! Then when I was uploading these I realized I had my camera set to the lowest possible resolution setting. Niiiice. So what you get to see is a lovely pixelated version of myself (well if you click on it anyways--so don't).
It was either post these or post nothing, bc I know the next time I remember to take pics of myself it will be another month from now! So for memory's sake--here ya go! Besides all this picture stuff, I've been feeling pretty good these days. My sciatic joint problem is long gone (hooray) and my heartburn isn't terribly bad (well sometimes it is). Every now and then I'm short of breath--and turning over in bed is starting to require considerable effort. I still can't believe I will have another baby in about 10 weeks. It's sooo not real. At all. But soon enough it will be! :)

Baby Preparations

I feel like I am living in a fantasy world. It doesn't seem one bit real that in about 10 weeks I will have another baby. It hasn't hit me at all! So I am trying to force myself to go through the motions and figure out what I still need to do and/or get before that happens. I went to the Children's Place the other day and bought a few things that are cute. Before that I had been to a few other stores but just wasn't inspired to buy anything. How can someone (especially a female) see lots of baby stuff and buy NOTHING? I guess me, that's who. And of course it seems no matter where I shop all the baby girl stuff is 100x cuter than the boy stuff. Why is that? It's so unfair to these boys! Ugh. Anyways, I still have most of the "big" things I need from Jasey. But one thing I never had was a bouncy seat and I've decided I need one this time around :) I've looked around and found one that happens to be not only the cheapest on the market, but has a pretty cute color scheme (see pic). Only problem is Target doesn't carry it in store anymore, so I'll have to get it online if I want it. I've seen cuter ones, but they are like triple the price which is just crazy for what it is you're getting. I don't want a super big/bulky one anyways. The other thing that I'd love is a new playpen. I made the mistake the first time around buying a fancy european model that you'd have thought was awesome--however it is a nightmare to take it down and put it up. AND the changing table on it is super low, so it's an awkward height to stand up and change diapers on (especially since that is all you do for the first few weeks). BUT I am still going to use the one I already have upstairs for a temporary baby crib next to our bed. Since the bedrooms are upstairs and I'm downstairs for the majority of the time, I am planning on getting a new Graco Playpen (Pack n' Play) for the living room. The kind with the higher changing table. Maybe like this one:The only problem is this model is an older model and is getting hard to find. Some of Graco's newer models are almost too fancy and too pricey (over $200), which is ridiculous! I could buy a new crib for $200. Anyways...we'll see. My grandpa purchased one similar to this for us (Nathan & I) to share when we both had our boys at the same time. It's been at my mom's ever since. She might offer it up for me to use at home, but then I'd have to pack it up and bring it to her house anytime we go to visit--but that might be worth it cuz it'd save us like $160! So I'm kind of entertaining that option. Plus the one she has is really cute, too. It's brown and teal, I think. The other thing I think I am going to need is some sort of double stroller/sit n' stand stoller. Since my kids will be 2.5 years apart, most friends are telling me to get a sit n' stand version. They are good for 2 reasons--1.) they are less bulky than traditional double strollers 2.) your older toddler has the choice to either stand and ride or sit on a little platform thingy in the back. My friend Sarah recommended the Joovy brand stroller (pictured below). I still need to do more research on these, though. My only concern is that Jase could basically just stand up and walk away if he wanted (well they have a seatbelt for him). But the thing I like about it is that it also accomodates an infant carrier in the front seat. And we'll be using that for almost a year. Unless this next boy is a big one! :)So what are some of your must-haves for new babies? I know I've done this before, but it's always fun to see what people can't live without...cuz maybe it's something I couldn't live without, either! :)

Gimme a Break

So today for the first time in months, I was able to do something without Jase by my side. My Realtor license is up for renewal in a couple of months, so I have Continuing Education requirements I must complete by then. My friend Jenny offered to watch Jase for me while I was gone. She is usually home during the day like me, but what's even better is she has a little 5 yr old boy who's still at home (so Jase would have a playmate). Jase had only been over to her house once before (with me) to visit, so I was unsure whether or not he'd be comfortable in her house. We barely even walked in the door and Jase was off! Ha ha ha! He took right to her little boy and they started having such a good time playing. Too cute! The cool thing about Jenny's house is they have a flight of stairs going from one family room down to another. Somehow they rigged a slide down the right-hand side of the stairs--so you can just slide down instead of climbing the steps! I think Jase must've gone down the slide 500 times! I chatted with Jenny for a bit, then I had to sneak out. Jase didn't even notice I left. Hee hee. She said he did so well and had such a good time. He even went down well for his nap--but instead of sleeping he just chatted and sang for 45 minutes (we both think he was just too excited being in a new place and having so many fun things to do). Anyways, when I came to pick him up he was sitting at the table eating a peanut butter & jelly sandwich and some other snacks. He was so cute when he saw me (awww). I stayed for a while and talked to Jenny while I watched the boys play. Jase was so hyped up and excited, it was cute for me to see this. I am soooooo happy it went well! I don't know how to explain my happiness about this.

Even though I just went to what would typically be a "boring" real estate class, I loved every second of it. I learned a ton about FHA loans, the teacher was great and it was just nice to be able to have some "Amiee" time...so it does a mom's heart good to know that her son was having just as much fun (probably more) without her :) Yesterday was such a TERRIBLE day. One of those days where everything seemed highly annoying and I felt like I was just going to flip out at any second (may have done that once or twice anyways). Today was the opposite. It was the BEST day!!! I think my favorite part was that tonight during dinner I looked up at Jase in his highchair and he was falling asleep! Ha! He never does that! I knew he had so much fun and played so hard. Speaking of, I am going to go put him to bed early so I have to go! Heh heh. Thanks again, Jenny. I am so hooking your family up with a yummy dinner!!!!

Jase got a Haircut!

So normally I hack at poor Jase's hair with scissors and the end result ranges from "yikes" to "decent." I decided to go into town today just because I was bored and I got this idea to take him to a place called "Cookie Cutters" and finally get a professional to cut his hair. Last time he got his hair cut by our friend Kami, he was at least 1 year old and he had a major melt down. It was horrid. So I had NO CLUE how he'd do today. I let him watch a video online (before we left) of 2 other toddlers getting their haircut at this place to try to get him hyped about it. I think that actually helped a little. The entire place is catered to kids so I thought this could be a great thing. First of all, he got to pick out his own DVD to watch (there is a flat screen TV directly in front of the "car chair" he's sitting in) and then choose a cool car to sit in. He was way into that! The car even had foot pedals in it. Here's a picture of him testing out his ride with his "before" hair:The stylist asked me what I wanted done. I told her I basically wanted it shaped up and shorter, but not too short. I had a mental picture in mind which wasn't exactly how it turned out...but you'll see soon enough. She asked if I wanted clippers or scissors--but I don't know! I don't know anything about boy haircuts (note to self: must learn soon). So she grabbed a pair of clippers and called them "tickle machines" and let Jase touch it, etc (cute). He did SO GOOD while she started buzzing up the back of his head. The attachment she used looked big to me, so I was not prepared for the shock of how short the back really was getting cut until I saw it. OH MY!
Once I saw how short she cut the back, I knew it was going to be a hundred times shorter than I wanted bc now she was going to have to make the top match the back. Panic panic panic! And Reuben is going to kill me! Besides my panicking, Jase was doing really well. He wasn't so sure about the cape at first until we showed him how he could get his arms free and I also told him it was like a bib. That worked.
This face is the result of him looking at himself in the mirror. Fascinating. Truly. Hee hee. (I blurred out the stylists face for her own anonimity. She was a cute girl, though.)
Getting closer to cutting the top! Jase was still being so good for her. He was watching "Lord of the Beans" by Veggie Tales.
Around this point she asked me how much I wanted off the top. I showed her but somehow what I showed her and what she did were two completely different things. Mmm hmm.
I asked Jase to smile for me. This is his cutie patootie forced smile. Ha ha ha, I love it!
Back to watching Veggie Tales again...gosh this boy is cute. The only part of the haircut that he didn't like was when she switched to some tiny clippers and tried to trim his hairline by his ears. I had to help out by kind of holding his hands, etc, bc he was shrugging his shoulders sooo much and she couldn't cut the hair. He whined a little bit but he got through it just fine. He also complained when he got hair on his face or in his ears--at one point he said, "I'm dirty! I'm dirty!" That made us both laugh. :)
He's all done! Not sure why she kind of slicked his hair to the side, but whatever. It actually photgraphed strangely for some reason bc it looked much cuter in person. I was still in shock over how short it was and how grown up he looked, though.
Then after he was done, he got to pick out any color balloon he'd like AND choose a sucker. Awesome! (once again hair photgraphed very strangely??)When I got back into the car I started crying. I was so upset that it was so short AND it just kind of hit me how "grown up" he now looked. Plus I'm pregnant and get extra crying rights--and I also realized a new baby is about to take over the "baby" slot and Jase will be put into the "big boy" slot. It's so emotional! What do ya do? Anyways, I took these pictures once we got home and after I spiked it up a bit. MUCH MUCH better. It is starting to grow on me! I can't wait to try a little mohawk!
I guess you could say here is the "after" picture!

Finally did the Dog Cleaning Rituals

So I sucked it up today and during my precious "me" time (Jase's nap time) when I usually do something fun or work, I started bathing the dogs. I swear at this point they are about as poofy furry as the dog pictured above. I kept them in their kennel (they are in the same big one) all day yesterday (unless they were outside) due to Pippie's gross behind. EEW! Well I had to scrub him up pretty good (yes, I wore gloves bc I was sicked out) and then I figured I better wash his "roommate" Goosie while I was at it. By the time that was done my knees were killing me, my back hurt, and I was soaking wet. Awesome. Well at least they both got bathed to a shiny frizz (I was too lazy to put conditioner on them). Next I simple green'd their kennel and washed all their bedding on the super hot setting on my washer. Ahhh, clean. Next I grabbed the scissors and attempted to trim up all the areas of fur that tend to get the dirtiest--face, feet, bum, and pee pee areas. FUN, not. Oh did I mention that by this time Jase had woken up, so he's trying to grab the doggie scissors and run...or grab the dog's comb, or do a number of other annoying things like step in the cut fur. Ah, yes, and throwing magnets all over the kitchen to scare the heck out of the dogs while a pair of sharp scissors are way too close to their privates (heh heh).

Well it's funny now, but it wasn't then! The dogs would jump and freak out and I would get covered in millions of bits of dog hair. Ugh! It was in my nose, all over my socks, on my pants...sick! Plus I was sitting on the floor hunched over so both of my feet fell asleep. Not to mention my big pregnant belly was in the way. I swear if someone would have dropped by and asked to take my dogs, I would have said YES. Seriously. After that, somehow Jase got the back door open and let the dogs outside while they were still damp and it's all snowy outside. GAH! I didn't even know until I saw Pip at the front door wanting to come in. Luckily the dogs were OK and only their feet were a teeny bit dirty. This is why it is worth $34 a piece to get them groomed and bathed by professionals. The only reason I haven't done this is bc it is too cold to shave them just yet. But it WILL be done before baby #2 arrives. Oh yes it will. How I long for the day.

Big Boy Bed: the nap...and Church

The Roobenator was in charge during Jase's nap today. He said he stayed put and went right to sleep! Weeeeeee! I went in and got him about an hour and half later before he woke up on his own. He was so funny! I said, "Do you want to go to church?" and he was freaking out excited about it (I wonder how long this will last?). He JUMPED out of bed, slid down the stairs and straightaway grabbed his shoes for me to put on. Too cute.

When we got there, he was the "star" of sacrament meeting. After each song was sung, he'd clap really loud and say "Yay!" (He even did this after a young woman played a musical number on the piano). Then after the prayers he would say "AMEN" really loudly and do it after everyone else had already said it. At one point, the teenager in the bench in front of us had been entertaining Jase and making him giggle. This was towards the end of the meeting and then someone gave the closing prayer. So Jase saw the teenager bow his head and close his eyes. Then he turned to me and said, "Mommy, he's sleeping! Wake him up! Wake him up!" Bwhahahaha! I was cracking up. While they were passing around the bread and water, Jase would say "The bread is coming! The bread is coming! Put it in my mouth!" and also "The water is coming!" OH and I forgot one more thing. The girls sitting in the bench behind us had fairly loud (and slightly annoying) singing voices. We probably sang a total of 3 hymns during the service. Each time we sang, Jase would spin around so fast and stare at them, all the while saying "They're singing! They're singing!" That was a little embarrassing, just because I don't know them very well. Heh heh.

Update on the Big Boy Bed

Well I'm here to tell you how it went last night. We put him in his bed about 8pm, turned off the lights and walked out of the room. Success! He went right to sleep. About midnight as Roob and I were settling into our own bed across the hall, I heard a big "Thud." Oh no! He fell out of the bed! Poor thing! So Roob goes in to check on him. Jase had already climbed back into the bed by himself--when Roob opened the door Jase said, "Are you okay?" Hee hee (he says this bc that is what I say when he falls down). So Roob tucks him in and walks out. No other incidents during the night. About 8:30 this morning, I figured I should go get him out of the bed before he got into any trouble. Right when I was about to open the door, I heard him making soft talking sounds. I'm not sure if he had been awake for a while or just a few minutes (guessing the latter), but I opened up the door and gave him plenty of hugs and kisses for being such a good boy! Hurray! Anyways, in about 30 minutes from now, we are going to find out how the "nap time" will go. Hmm. I'll update later!

Poo Poo Doggie

I'm not sure how much longer I can care for 3 dogs. And a toddler. Oh yeah, and in 2.5 months a newborn. Seriously. The dogs are testing my patience. This morning I heard Pippie freaking out whimpering (the kind that means "let me outside asap"). So I ran downstairs and let him out. An hour later, Reuben and Jase woke up. After breakfast, Pip wanted to go outside again (this is not normal for him). So I let him out. This time I noticed when he came back in that his backside was covered in...well...the 'rhea 'rhea. EEW!!!! So after using about a billion baby wipes, I cleaned it up. Doesn't help that he is SUPER POOFY FURRY bc it has been so cold this winter that I let him keep his fur long so he won't freeze to death. Anyways, later on this evening he had the SAME problem again! ARGH!!! I am so sicked out, seriously. He must have gotten access to something he shouldn't have eaten. I hope by tomorrow this is all a bad memory. Or I might be putting an ad in the paper...:)

The Big Boy Bed

This is how Jase "smiles" for the camera. It's hilarious!I will be the first to admit that I was not really ready to do this. He's growing up too fast! I heard some bangin' and clangin' up in Jase's room this afternoon and went up to find that Reuben had taken off one side of the crib and made it into a day bed for Jase. Hmm. So I guess we're going to try it out :) I think he will be pretty good about staying in it to go to bed at night but the cruddy thing will be in the morning. Normally he'll lay there and play contently for at least 30 min+ until I come to get him. Now I think he will be coming to get ME out of MY bed in the morning. NOT COOL. In fact, I am dreading this. I am also dreading what will happen for naps...man!

So we took a quick trip into town to BabiesR'Us to see what kinds of guard rails they had so we could put one up to keep Jase from falling out of the crib. Apparently all the "cheaper" models are only made for twin beds and cost around $30 (what I was expecting). What I wasn't expecting was that the rail made to attach to cribs that convert into daybeds was $74.99!!! WHAT!??!! For $75 I will let Jase fall out of the bed! Call me crazy! So we didn't buy anything. Ha ha ha. We put him to bed about 30 minutes ago and so far I am pretty sure he went right to sleep (awesome). Now the real test will be what happens in the morning. We hid a video monitor in his room so we can watch and see what he does. OH, and about falling out of the bed...we put a big soft blanket down on the floor just in case he does (mom, don't panic). But the bed isn't really that high so I think if he does fall out he'll be okay. We're going to see how he does and then come up with some other solutions if necessary. In the meantime, enjoy this cute video of him I took while we were setting it up this afternoon: