Jasper @ 2 1/2

I've been meaning to write posts like these for a looooong time.  This blog will always be a scrapbook to look back on just as I've always done.  Because it's so hard to find time to sit down and just write, I've been taking notes on my phone about things I want to remember.  So really these are just things I want to notate and remember forever and ever about my adorable boy.

He is at such a fun age.  The first word I would've used to describe him 6 months ago would be Stubborn.  Now, it would be Loving.  He is still totally stubborn, but he is learning there are positive and negative things that happen for his choices.  He is a very emotional boy, though he doesn't cry nearly as much as he used to.  Much to his Daddy's relief (and our sanity!) he does not burst into tears at every little thing any more.  I've found that a quick hug or tickle will snap him out of his mood and get him redirected to the right path.

Though Jasper is stubborn, he can be fairly easily persuaded to do something.  The word he most often uses these days is "Awight".  Whether he's shouting it joyfully, or sullenly dragging it out ("awwwwwight"), if you bargain with him or explain the reason why he needs to do a certain action, he is pretty agreeable to it.  "Jasper, you can have your firetruck, but your you need to put your shoes away first".  "Awight!!"  I absolutely love this quality about him -- maybe because his sister gives us so much resistance and opinion these days!  I am soaking it up from Jasper.  :)

He has become fiercely independent and wants to do everything by himself - "I wan do it!".  From putting on his shoes, to brushing to his teeth, to getting his own water from the fridge.  Buckling his buckles on his carseat is often a battle, especially if I'm in a hurry to get somewhere.  He has relented a bit on the brushing his teeth part - he'll ask us to help him. 
He is currently sporting a spiky faux hawk hairdo and I looooove to dress him in beachy California clothes.  He has the biggest belly and it usually enters the room before he does.  He refuses to wear pants to bed, and is often running around the house without underwear on either.  One night he was sitting on his floor reading a book and he started calling me.  He had closed the book on a very sensitive part and had this terrified look in his eye. I helped rescue him and had to laugh.  Jon winced as I retold the story to him later.

His favorite toys are CARS.  Anything and everything with wheels, he loves.  He's been earning one particular brand of vehicles via his Good Behavior jar and he sleeps with all of them every night.  They are Fisher Pri@e brand and so far he has the pickup truck, monster truck, police car and fire truck.  He's currently working towards the choo choo train.  Oh, and TRAINS!! We live right near a set of tracks so he is constantly on the lookout and shouts "CHOO CHOO!!!" every time there is one or a fragment of one somewhere.  He is also the absolute best plane spotter in the family and shouts "yook, Mommy!  Airpwane!"  Inevitably we have to look for a while until we spot it too....as a little speck in the sky.

His speech is improving, but he still can be very hard to understand.  I'm pretty sure I understand probably 200% more than everyone else.  But his voice is just way too adorable that you almost don't notice you can't understand what he's saying.  Hearing him say "byyyyyye!" in his high pitched voice is the best thing ever.  He definitely learned that from his sister and Mommy.

He is now in Miss Karla's class at school, though he calls her LaLa which Karla absolutely adores.  Karla has always been Harper's favorite teacher and we have been looking forward to when Jasper would get her.  LaLa loves Jasper so much and is always whispering to him "you're my favorite".  I kind of believe her!  :)  His vocab continues to grow as he's in her class.

Our nighttime ritual is one of my favorite things.  The kids and I read a story, then pray and sing Jesus Loves Me.  He can sing almost the whole song and he is just the cutest thing ever as he sings it.  Then they go to their own rooms and as he lays down, we have the same exchange each night:
J: tay in bed! (said in a stern voice while pointing his finger at me)
M: yes, stay in your bed
J: not out!
M: That's right, do not get out.
M: When do you get out of bed?
J: cwock is gee
M: Yes, when your clock is green.  What do you do when it turns green?
J: run run run!
M: And what do you say?
J: Mommy Mommy Mommy!  My cwock is gee!!!

Then we have to do all sorts of kissing and arranging of cars on his bed.  Definitely one of my best times of the day.  Especially when he puckers out his lips and goes "mmmmmmm" as he's waiting for me to kiss them.

Here are some other random tidbits about him:
He loves to associate things with people.  I am HIS Mommy, this is Mommy's car, etc... 
To him the following words are pronounced exactly the same:
Strawberries and blueberries
Kroger and yogurt
Football and baseball
And up until recently it was very hard to distinguish between how he pronounced Harper and Jasper.  But that has gotten better.
He pronounces Noodles as Noonles.

One of my favorite things is when he tells me to "c'mere".  He looks at me very seriously and extends his arm out and summons me with his whole hand waving me toward him.
He constantly yells "YOOK!" which is "look!" to everyone else as he points to what he's excited about.
His favorite game at night right now is to "hold tight!" which is what he does with me after he gets dressed.  He hooks his arms around my neck and hangs down while I do "no hands".  He sees how long he can hang on.
He still uses sign language for some things along with the words.  Usually "please" but my favorite is still "cat".  He signs the whiskers and usually makes a really sweet face.
He LOVES to climb between my legs and it's almost always at the most inopportune time - like when I'm cooking. He pretends they are a tunnel and crawls in and out, sometimes panting like a puppy.

Sickies

We've been battling some crud here at the end of summer.  Harper caught a really nasty virus that initially presented itself as Strep Throat.  She seemed fine when I picked her up on a regular Thursday after school.  But 30 minutes after we got home, she was flat on the couch saying she didn't feel well.  I took her temp and it was 103!  She had an upset tummy that night and the next morning, and the last time she spiked a fever like that and threw up, it was Strep.  I called the doctor first thing and got her in right away.  The initial in-office test was negative, but we decided to treat her for it anyway assuming it was too early to show up.  It was Friday and we didn't want her to have to go the whole weekend without trying something.  Last time she started antibiotics for strep, she was back to feeling great about 18 hours later.  I knew it was bad when she woke up Saturday morning and wasn't better.  

She felt terrible most of the weekend, being very content to stay in her room and watch Caillou on Netflix on endless repeat.  She was very proud to say she thought she had watched every single episode at least twice.  The only relief she got was when the time came back around to give her another dose of Motrin.  We took her back on Monday morning and she had clearly gotten worse.  She diagnosed her with a sinus infection, eye infection and double ear infections.  Oy!  We had to cancel her dentist appointment and Jon and I did a lot of juggling of work days.  We had a slew of medications to give her each day including eye and ear drops.  It took her until Wednesday for her eye to clear up and for her to go the entire day without a fever.  She returned to school on Thursday - one full week later!  

We took her back for an ear check yesterday and she still has tons of fluid behind her right ear.  We knew she hadn't been hearing us very well, so yet another antibiotic was prescribed to hopefully clear it up completely.  We have another follow up in 2 more weeks.  We are praying everything is all cleared up!  

We managed to keep Jasper healthy.  At least healthy enough to not catch what Harper had.  He is now battling a runny nose and cough...  what's new???  

I managed to develop bronchitis.  I can't remember ever having an upper respiratory infection before so I was in complete denial.  I had been feeling pretty run down and had a cough.  Finally when the tightening in my chest was getting worse and I had virtually no voice, I decided it was time to go get checked out.  The antibiotics are finally working and I'm feeling much better.  

Hopefully we are all on the mend now!!! 

Our sweet girl after her second Dr. appointment.  

Showing off her newly painted nails.  Her friend stopped by and brought a get well kit including some new pink nail polish!  

Here she is feeling a little bit better and being silly.  Her right eye was super red and gooey and her nose became so raw from blowing it so much.  

 Here she is enjoying her latest round of antibiotics.  It tastes terrible and per doctor's orders we needed to mix it with something sweet and tasty like frosting.  Frosting!! That's exactly what she said.  Frosting has proven to be a little too sweet so tonight we tried chocolate milk and that seemed to go down a little easier.  What a lucky girl!!

Getting her ear drops from Daddy.

Day 11 - Monday

He's home!!!!!

The kids and I had a great morning at home and we left to go pick up Daddy from the airport.  We were all very excited after having waited a whole extra day for him to get home.

I took lots of pictures and video of the reunion with he and the kids.  It was a very memorable moment. The kids were so thrilled to see him and he was very relieved to be back home.

Day 10 - Sunday

Well we got disappointing news late last night.  Daddy's flight was cancelled out of Brazil and we didn't know when he would be able to make it back home.  :(   We had been so looking forward to picking him up, but it was quick consolation to Harper that we would be going to church instead.  I love how much she loves Sunday school.  Jasper does too - he just can't vocalize it as well yet.  

I decided to keep ourselves busy to help distract from the fact that Jon wasn't going to be coming home today after all.  After church we went to lunch with some of our great friends with kids the same ages.  So fun! 

We came home for naps and we decided to go ahead and read the final card and open the presents.  Just like the first day, Jasper got a car and Harper got more bows!  They LOVED them!  

Afterwards we walked across the street to Baby Cora's 1st birthday party.  Nothing better than cupcakes, air hockey and helping open presents!  The kids both love Cora and had a great time celebrating her 1st year with her.  

After that we headed over to our dear friend's house.  Today is mine and Jon's 6th anniversary and I was really looking forward to having him back home!!  I gladly accepted the invitation to come over for dinner so I wouldn't have to be alone with just the kids.  The kids love visiting with them and we all had tons of fun.  It was a welcomed distraction!!!  We met up with more friends for ice cream and while there I got a call from Jon.  He is in Miami and should be flying home to DFW in the morning!!!  Woohoo!!!!!!!  

Day 9 - Saturday

We are so excited that Daddy comes home tomorrow!!!!  

Today we had to go get Jasper new shoes.  He grew out of his two main pair this week!!!  He's not allowed to grow that much, especially while Daddy is gone.  :)  We headed to Kohl's, and as usual, I found a million other things to buy.  We found the duplicate pair he already had in the bigger size which he was thrilled with since he loves those shoes.  I'll have to use my Kohl's cash to go back and find a pair of tennis shoes since they didn't have anymore in his size at that store. 

We hit up Sam's and came home for a nap.   The kids woke up and played for a while.  It was incredibly hot outside, so they did a good job entertaining themselves with games and activities.  First they played dress up.  I was doing laundry and they came and greeted me dressed up and ready to go shopping with their shopping carts.  Harper was wearing about 4 skirts, pink wings and pink bunny ears.  And her princes shoes of course.  Jasper had allowed her to put a skirt, wings and bunny ears on him as well, and the sight was too much!!!  By the time I had gotten the camera, I think he was embarrassed and had taken the skirt off.  But I managed to get this picture anyway.  Great blackmail for future years! 

They then proceeded to play this game which I found very amusing.  One would ride the rocking horse holding two baskets of puppies while the other would push them around the house.  They were very serious about it and had so much fun.  Jasper copies everything Harper says these days and once they made one pass, Harper would say "okay, other way!"  Soon Jasper started saying "other way!" too. His vocabulary has been exploding lately!!!  

Nana came over so I could go to book club tonight.  They enjoyed pizza together and watched Toy Story and had a great time of course.  We didn't read the final card or open presents.  We are saving them for tomorrow before we go pick Daddy up from the airport!!!  

Day 8 - Friday

This morning I was awakened by Jasper at my bed.  This is nothing unusual -- usually he wakes up at 5:30am every day to have me help him go potty.  However this morning he was whining more than usual and it was so dark (and I was so asleep), I couldn't figure out what was wrong.  He was saying "Shirt, Mommy! Shirt! Help please!"  I HAD to take a picture because 1 - I needed the flash to help me see and 2 - I knew I would want a picture of whatever had happened!  

I was right.  He managed to get his arm all tangled up in his sleeve.  He is hiding his face here because the flash was blinding him.  He was actually laughing about it. 

Harper has such a helpful, tender heart (most of the time) and has really been exhibiting some great mothering tendencies towards Jasper and kids younger than her.  When she's around babies, she just wants to hold, tickle and help them.  It's very sweet.  She has been trying to help Jasper do more things, but he is exerting much independence these days and hardly lets her.  For instance, she likes to try to help him put on his shoes, but he either thinks she's taking them from him or he wants to try to do it himself.  

This morning, however, he finally let her help him get dressed.  And Harper was so excited about it!  I only got a picture of the very end where she was helping adjust his shirt, but he let her help him put it over his head and help get his shorts on the right way and pulled up.  It was so sweet to see him let her to help.  He was willing to let her help with his shoes, but had a little trouble, so I finished the job.  

Friday is Show and Tell Day for Harper and over the summer, they can bring whatever they want (as opposed to the school year where they need to try to bring something related to the curriculum).  Harper was so excited to bring her superhero costume to show all her friends.  When she put hers on, of course Jasper had to wear his!!!  I felt very safe driving to school with two strong superheroes in the car with me!  

We read Daddy's letter after dinner and then opened tonight's present.  Jasper got a Spiderman activity book and Harper got a Princess coloring/activity book.  Jasper was not in the mood for pictures, but Harper was more than happy to show off her gift.  

Day 7 - Thursday

Today was a better day! 

The kids got 2 presents tonight to make up for the lack of gift last night.  We opened them both after dinner.   First we opened the presents from last night -- Harper got a really cute sticker book - stickers are her favorite!  Jasper got a fire truck which he immediately fell in love with.  He even took it to bed with him!!  

We then read Daddy's letter and then opened the gift for Thursday.  He got them superhero costumes!  They LOVED them and Harper practiced her pretend punches while Jasper enjoyed running with his cape flowing behind him. 

Day 6 - Wednesday

Today was our hardest day by far.  The morning was pretty usual, however it all started going downhill when I went to pick the kids up after work.

I discovered that Harper had taken her bracelet and necklace she got from Daddy to school.  Not only had she taken them to school, but she had purposely snuck them to school in her pocket because she knew she wasn't allowed to bring them.  Little stinker!  

I didn't get mad at her, I simply put them in my pocket, but that was enough to send her over the edge.  I guess she already knew she had done wrong.  

We had several time outs in her room, but those only got her more worked up.  Thankfully Jasper was in a wonderful mood and we actually had a very pleasant evening together when Harper wasn't screaming or throwing a fit.  We eventually made it through dinner and bath and we were starting to work towards bed when the doorbell rang.  It was our dear friend bringing us Christmas in July cookies that she had made!  Unfortunately she came during the worst time and got to witness the house being a disaster and Harper a total basket case.  However it was a perfect distraction and such a nice surprise!!! They were delicious and we were so thankful for the lovely thought. 

Because of the horrible mood Harper was in, we didn't open presents, therefore I didn't take pictures.  We did read Daddy's letter which was wonderful as usual.  

Day 5 - Tuesday

Today was another good day.  The morning went well and when I picked the kids up from school, I had some fun news for them:  We were going to chickalay to meet up with some friends for dinner.  I realized later that this was the first time we had eaten out since Daddy went on his trip!  I figured we would've logged at least 3 or 4 meals out by now.  :)  We had a great time and the kids got to play AND have ice cream.  

It was already past bedtime when we got home, so we did a quick bath and read Daddy's letter and opened presents.  His letter tonight was about praying for each other if we miss them.  Jasper got another car and Harper got a necklace and bracelet.  They LOVED them!  

Day 4 - Monday

Today was our first day going to school and work, doing the whole morning routine without Daddy here.  We've done it before plenty of times of course, but it feels a little different now that we can't call and talk to him.  We miss him a lot but we know we will be seeing him soon!

Harper started another week of soccer today.  She loves soccer and wanted her hair in braids for the occasion.  Not one braid - two braids.  She was very specific.  And then she wanted a headband too.  When I mentioned headband, Jasper wanted one too, so he found one of the headbands from the 4th of July and put it on.  So silly.  

We read Daddy's letter at dinner tonight and he had written "Jesus Loves You" on the front of the card.  I felt it was a perfect night for heart-shaped suckers! 

Day 3 - Sunday

Today we got up and got ready for church.  Getting out of the house on a Sunday morning can be a pretty hectic event in our house.  Thankfully this morning went pretty smoothly despite Daddy not being here! The kids were great and excited to be going to church.  We did leave about 10 minutes late, but that was mostly due to a last-minute potty break requested by Jasper.  I think it was a very vacation-heavy weekend, so I still had plenty of time to get the kids checked in to their preferred classrooms and find myself a seat.  

Before we left for church, Harper made the comment "I wish Daddy was here to go to church with us".  It was said in a very sweet way, not a sad way, so I agreed with her and we were reminded to pray for Daddy and be thankful for the times he is here with us.  

Following church, we stopped at the grocery store so I could pick up a few necessary items for a dessert I have been wanting to make. We got home, I made lunch and got the kids down for a good nap.  I started reading my book (I'm almost done with Catching Fire!) and was overcome with sleep, so I gave in and ended up getting a great nap!  Too good I think.  I woke up completely groggy and feeling horrible.  I'm pretty sure my allergies are acting up... grrr...  With it being so hot outside, Sarge has been digging in the mud outside and of course had brought tons of it inside.  I bribed the kids with a movie to stay in the play room so I could vacuum and mop.  MUCH needed!  

I fixed some dinner and got dessert prepared.  I didn't tell the kids what I was making until their dinner was gone.  

Worms & Dirt!!!  

They loved it!  Well, Harper loved it and Jasper loved the worms.  He is not always a sweets lover and didn't care for the cookies and pudding.  I'm not always convinced he is my son.  

I completely forgot to take pictures of the kids' gifts tonight, but I did videotape the letter.  Harper got a lettering pad where the paper looks just like the papers she uses at school so she can practice her lettering.  Jasper got a new coloring book.  The only bummer about giving them their gifts right before bed is that they want to play with them.  Duh!  I think I will start giving them their gifts at dinner so they have time to enjoy them before bed.  

Day 2 - Saturday

Day 2 started out great.  I was feeling pretty groggy after the big day on Friday, but managed to get the kids breakfast and settled in with a movie.  One of their favorite things to do (and mine now) is to watch a movie when they wake up.  It's turned out to be a good transition time for them, and, let's face it -- it gives us more time to wake up too!  I've been having them stay more in the play room so they can feel like they can spread out with their blankets and pillows and things and not have to hear me ask them to clean up their stuff a 100 times per day.  It's working out great!  

We had a 1st birthday party to go to, so once I had cleaned up the house a bit, we got ready and headed out.  It was baseball themed for a sweet little boy in our home group so the kids had lots of friends there.  It was a nice time for them to hang out!  

Harper with the Birthday Boy.  He doesn't look too happy here! 

All the kiddos!

After the kiddos woke up from their nap, I had considered taking them to the splash pad.  But it was 109 outside so....  yeah, that didn't happen.  I knew they were kind of getting bored with watching movies, so I decided to make a fort for them.  They LOVED it and it made me wonder why it took me so long to build one with them!! I always made forts with my brother and sister.  This one was not as dramatic as I used to make, but it was a good first one for them since they don't know the difference.  and the funny thing was -- a movie now seemed really appealing!  So I found a new one on Netflix they hadn't seen yet and set them up with snacks, drinks and the iPad and they were occupied for a good 45 minutes until they started needing to go potty, wanting more snacks and just wanting me in general.  That seemed like a successful adventure!  

We had a small dinner (they weren't too hungry after eating their snacks from the birthday party and the snacks while in the fort) and they looked forward to opening their presents and reading the note from Daddy.  Tonight their bags contained playing cards.  Harper got Bible Heroes, Bible matching and Sight Words to help her with her reading.  Jasper got Noah's Ark, ABC's and Shapes and Colors.  They were very excited and Harper loved going through the Bible Match Game cards and talking about them.

Day 1 - Friday

Our day started early on Friday morning.  

Jon was packed and ready to go, so we just had to get ourselves and the kids ready and out the door.  We had to be at the airport at 7am.  

The last couple of days before he left, Harper had been crying a lot, very sad about the idea of Daddy being gone for 10 days.  It broke both our hearts and we tried our best to reassure her that everything would be okay.  Thankfully for everyone, she did not cry when we said goodbye to him at the airport.  Both she and Jasper were in great moods which made it a million times easier.  

On my way to pick the kids up from school, a HUGE storm blew in to town and there was flash flooding and crazy winds as I drove.  It seemed like it literally came out of nowhere and I checked the radar and it was not in the forecast.  I had planned on taking the kids to a few places once I picked them up and had hoped to be home by 7:30 since Jon thought he was going to be able to call at that time.  But the storm was so crazy and knocked out signals and caused so much traffic, we were a little hurried.  We made it home right at 7:30 but, as we found out later, the wifi on the plane would not work more than 100 miles off the coast of the US.  Bummer!  The kids weren't expecting it though, so no harm done.  The kids were in great moods and despite the storms, it was a good night.

Jon and I had come up with the idea to have little notes and presents to give to the kids each night he is away.  We are used to him being gone for dinner, bath and bed time during the week due to his work schedule.  But we call him each night and are able to Face Time so we can say good night.  We knew we wouldn't be able to do that obviously, so we thought this would be something for the kids to look forward to each night instead.

Here they are after bath, looking a bit stunned.  They've just found out about the notes and presents.  

They loved reading Daddy's note and LOVED the presents.  Harper got 4 hair bows and Jasper got a "monster truck" which he practically has not let go of since Friday night.  

In his note, Jon requested that we look at the map of Manaus, Brazil and the Amazon so we could know where he was.  

Jon's Mission Trip - Pre-departure

So I'm attempting to document our time while Jon is away.  I know the kids probably won't remember the time that Daddy went on a mission trip to Brazil, so I thought I would do what I could to help us remember what we did and how we felt.  

Jon took a few days off before he left.  He needed to get some last-minute things done, and I took the 2 days off before he left to help him and spend some time with him.  We didn't have many plans (or so I thought), just a movie together and running errands were on our To-do list.  

Tuesday night, we went in the backyard to play some baseball.  

Wednesday morning I got the kids to school while Jon finished up the lawn.  That was on my list of things for him to do before he left.  :)  We had decided to go see Spiderman, so we hit the cheap show - the first one of the day.  We loved it!!  It was a good entertaining movie with no cussing and very little (if any) gore.  It would be a good movie for the kids to see when it comes out on video.  

We went browsing for some last minute things for Jon and had lunch together. Did some more browsing around Target and eventually Jon looked at his watch and said "uhhh.. we need to get going".  What?  We didn't have a schedule and we didn't need to pick the kids up yet.  I eventually got it out of him -- he was taking me away for a night!!!  We needed to get home and pack, pick the kids up, and drop them off at Nana & Papa's house:  We were going to The Gaylord!  I was so shocked - he has never surprised me before.  And honestly I was so glad he had taken care of everything ahead of time, because I would have thought of a million reasons why we "shouldn't" do it.  But since he had everything planned already, I couldn't argue ...  and it was awesome!  

The kids were so excited when we picked them up and told them, so that made things easier.  They love an adventure and spending the night at Nana & Papa's house was sure to be an adventure. 

We made our way to The Gaylord and changed up our initial plans to go to The Glass Cactus, instead choosing to stay at the hotel and eat and walk around there.  The next morning I hung around the room while Jon left to go pick up the kids and drop them off at school.  I LOVED every second of the night and the morning of not having to take care of anyone else!!!  I could just hang out and do what I wanted.  It was awesome!  Jon came back and we hung around a bit more, then checked out and headed to the water park they have on-site.  I had 1 goal in mind: to float down the lazy river!  And I did.  And it was fabulous!!  We found some lounge chairs and I promptly fell asleep to the sounds of waterfalls.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time, even if it did seem a little short.  We left by 1pm so we could go home and take care of a few more things that afternoon.  That overnight trip has caused the Vacation Bug to bite me big time!!  I can't wait to go away with Jon some day!  

The night before his trip, he read books and gave lots of kisses and cuddles....

And did some wrestling of course!  

We were up late getting everything ready for him, and we knew the next morning was going to come much too early!