Oh, The Weather Outside is Frightful...

Yes, that is my little munchkin guy in there! I knew it was going to snow but wanted to get a few things (i.e. laundry, dishes, etc) started before we headed out the door to run. Well, I think I waited a few minutes too long. It wasn't too cold though and Jared loved looking at the snow. After we got home he kept staring out the window on the storm door just watching the snow come down. It would have been perfect if only I had wipers on my eyes so I could see where I was going!

Peaking out his little window

Whole Stole the Cookie...

Jared stole the cookie from the cookie jar!

I went to go wash my face and all the sudden Elizabeth yells at me, "Mom, Jared isn't eating his breakfast. Come look at what he is eating."

I came in and somehow my little monkey had grabbed the bag of cookies sitting on the counter and started munching down. Smart little cookie!

Breakfast anyone?

This morning I got up to get Jared his warm milk. I left the room for a second and came back only to find him pulling the box of cookies off the shelf. He had been lucky enough to get one of these last night after dinner, so he knew exactly what he was going to be getting if he got the box open. I decided I needed to get some pictures of this little mischievous guy.

I told him that we weren't have cookies for breakfast and this was his response. I guess he didn't really believe me. Plus I was telling him all this as I was snapping pictures of him. He just loves hamming it up for the camera. He is definitely our little charmer.

I guess he got the cookie after all!

Adventures of the Toilet Paper Boy

Jared has found the toilet paper. In our old house, he never seemed to do much with it. But ever since we have moved in, he has become fascinated with the toilet paper roll. A few rolls have been almost completely sacrificed as part of his new found past-time. Steve snapped a few shots of him trying to carry around his loads of paper.

My Little Fairy Prince

Elizabeth has often commented that she wished she had a sister, because she can't play dolls and dress ups with a boy. However, since Jared is such an easy going mellow little guy, she can generally do what ever she would like with him. Isn't he just a doll!

Spring Time in Munchkinland

The kids and I have really been enjoying the good weather we have been enjoying off and on for the last month. Jared is still learning about grass and doesn't really move after you set him down on it, but he loves to be outside and enjoy the sounds and different sights. Elizabeth loves having picnics outside, playing buried treasure following the map of the yard she makes, and of course running around the tree! Both of them love chasing balls around the yard and looking at the birds. We sure are grateful for the beautiful world we have to live in.

Do You Know the Muffin Man?

Last week I made some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for breakfast. Jared loves to feed himself, so he loved being able to stuff the muffin into his mouth. It was an extra bonus that the muffins where stuffed full of chocolate chips! From the looks of it, he didn't like his muffin did he?

Double Ear Infections...Ouch!

Jared has been having a bit of a rough time sleeping this past week due to a stuffy head and chest, but usually I can just give him his binki, pat his back and he will drift back to sleep. However, on Wednesday night I had no such luck. I tried holding and rocking him, he just squirmed and cried. I tried nursing him, he was peaceful for a minute and then he just squirmed and cried. I tried feeding him a bottle, he drank it and then he just squirmed and cried. Finally, I decided to give him some Motrin, since he was a little warmish (definitely not a real fever). After about an hour of being up, crying and grumpy, he drifted off to sleep.

I wasn't sure if it was just his teeth coming in (I can see them coming and they should be here soon), or I thought maybe it was an ear ache. However, every story I have ever heard involving ear aches/ear infections includes screaming children that are up all night long. Since Jared didn't seem to be that bothered, I thought it was a little unlikely, but it was still an option in the back of my mind. Luckily we had a doctors appointment on Friday anyway, so I didn't worry too much and just decided to keep giving him Motrin if he seemed uncomfortable. Thursday he was a little whiney all day, although he did sleep much better the next night, staying awake for a mere 20 minutes while I gently patted his back.

But, at the doctors visit on Friday morning, the doctor confirmed that yes, he had ear infections in both ears, and was cutting his top two teeth as well. I wasn't too surprised by either one. All I could think was, "Well, if this is Jared with double ear infections, I guess I am one lucky Momma!"

Pretty in Pink

Here is the handsome devil!

Turban Heads

On Saturday night Daddy was getting Jared into his jammies for bed and he pulled his shirt up over his head and it stuck. I thought he looked so funny I had to take a picture. Well, Elizabeth couldn't miss the opportunity to get her picture taken as well, so Daddy got her shirt piled up on her head as well. Here are our little turban heads.

Almost Crawling

Jared is almost crawling and so close that it could happen any day. He gets down on his tummy and can get up on all fours, but just can't quite get moving forward. He ends up heading backwards getting farther and farther from his target. Eventually he gets so mad that he starts crying. It is fun to watch him and cheer him on.

Happy Little Crawler

Mom, help!!!

Time for a rest.

I Love Food!!!

Over the past three weeks, we have slowly been introducing solid food to Jared. Because Mom has been busy with party planning and Christmas shopping, we have been introducing the fruits and veggies very slowly, but so far so good! (It probably helps that we started with applesauce, blueberries, and sweet potatoes!) Here are some pictures from breakfast this morning. Beside starting solids, he has also added 2 new teeth. On Friday the 14th, the right tooth starting poking through, and just today the left tooth has started to poke through as well. These will probably be some of his last pictures with a toothless grin!

Goodbye toothless grins, hello toothy smiles!

Open wide!

Yum, yum, yum....gobble, gobble, gobble!

Miscellaneous Monday

Okay, I know it is Wednesday, but I just love that title.
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Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful holiday weekend spent with family. It was nice to enjoy the beautiful (if a bit chilly) Thanksgiving morning by taking a walk with Steven's family. We even simplified the visiting this year and stuck to one house! Although we missed seeing everyone on Thanksgiving, it was wonderful to have a more relaxing day. It was also nice to go and visit with Steven's sister on Friday who was in town from Fresno and catch up with her before she headed back home. It was fun visiting my parents on Friday afternoon with the kids and just having a relaxing chat. Finally we had a fun Friday night and Saturday morning putting up all the decorations (Elizabeth couldn't wait!!). Thanks to all who helped us enjoy our weekend. (And thanks to BYU for winning the football game so we had something to celebrate!)

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Since the BYU vs. Utah football game was on Saturday, when we went to Steven's Mom's to take our Thanksgiving morning walk, we dressed Jared in both BYU & Utah attire, representing the split family he comes from. We thought it was a pretty cute ensamble!

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Elizabeth: Mom, can you make me some cold hot chocolate?

Mom thinking to herself: How is that possible!?!

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Go Utes?

Papa got this wig for Elizabeth from one of the recent U football games. We put it on Jared one night and all started laughing. So I snapped a few pictures to share. Here are the pictures of our little Ute (or maybe he is a Cougar in disguise, you never can tell!!)

Chunky Monkey

For those who haven't noticed (or seen), Jared is much bigger than Elizabeth ever was. He has those fat roles on his legs and arms. To me he is just Jared, but when I see other children I realize how chubby he has gotten since he was born. He is definitely our little Chunky Monkey.

My little princesses

A couple of weeks ago Elizabeth brought me one of her pink baby bracelets and told me that Jared could have it and insisted that I put it on him. I told her that boys don't wear pink and gave her back the bracelet. So, the other day when she was playing dress-up and putting on her jewelry, she decided that Jared should join in the fun. She remembered that I said boys don't wear pink, so she decided that she would put her blue jewelry on him. It looks like I still need to do some explaining about boys and jewelry. Dad joined in the fun by putting one of Jared's earrings on himself and letting me take some pictures.

3 Months Old

Here is our 3 month old little boy. We love having him around. At 3 months old Jared is a fun and happy little boy. He loves to "talk" and have a conversation with you. He loves people and smiles for everyone. He loves to take his baths and feel the warm water on his head. He enjoys the little "massage" mom gives him after his bath and smiles so sweetly while I sing to him and slather him in lotion. He is our little heavyweight, growing steadily. He is so mellow and calm even with a big sister that smothers and loves him all the time. He is a great sleeper. He loves to eat his hands, which makes dad kind of crazy when he goes to pick him up and gets all slobbered on. We are really enjoying the gentle spirit he brings into our family!

Children's Museum

Now don't go trying to find Elizabeth in these pictures. Unlike all the really fabulous blogging mothers, I don't carry my camera around with me every where I go. I got to the museum and thought, gee this would be a great time to have the camera. Maybe next time.

But, even sans camera, we had a wonderful time. The museum is really fun for the kids. If you haven't been, you should go. They have so much stuff to keep them entertained. I loved seeing how Elizabeth has changed since the first tome we went to the museum last fall. At that time she mainly just wanted to play babies and cook in the little house. This time around she loved playing with everything, even the building blocks upstairs that hadn't caught her attention last time. We got to sign up for a short art class. They were suppose to be painting Jackson Pollack style. This consisted of dancing to music while flinging paint. A fun activity, but hopefully one that won't be duplicated next time we pull the watercolors out at home. This is her rendition. She had a difficult time just flinging the paint on the paper. She wanted a much more substantial amount of paint to show up on the painting. Thanks to Lillian and Alex for spending the morning with us at the museum. We had a ball!