Brighter Days

Last week was Miss J's 9th Birthday. I was all too happy to pay a visit to Walker Elementary and stir up some fun in my pink gorilla costume.

Rachelle made chocolate chip cookie to share and we were very well received.

The Best Day of Jasper's Entire Life

My friend and her daughters very sweetly hosted Jasper yesterday afternoon and evening so that I could rest.

They ended up hitting the Boulder City McDonald's and I am told that Jasper loved the playland.

When they brought Jasper home last night Miss E. announced to Mike that, "Jasper just had the best day of his entire life".

After he woke up this morning Jasper crawled in bed with us and I kept saying, "Jasper, please tell me all about the best day of your entire life." He squawked and squealed and we all laughed and laughed.

Tonight Mike watched our neighbor Evan for a few hours. Since I feel pretty crummy, Mike took both boys to McDonald's so that Jasper could have the 2nd best day of his entire life.

Recovery

After 5 weeks of pregnancy, things have unfortunately come to an abrupt end for our little baby.

My friend Becky dropped me off at the St. Rose Sienna ER around 10 PM last night. I was bleeding and cramping really bad. I left the boys at home to sleep, as I suspected that we could have a long night and next few days ahead. Mike slept for 2 hours and Jasper slept the whole night through.

My hCG (pregnancy hormone) levels have not been rising as quickly as they should, which has caused my OB (Dr. Kenneth Jones) to suspect an ectopic pregnancy from day one.

My ultrasound in the ER confirmed that our baby was growing in my tube, right near my ovary. I was bleeding and things didn't look too good, so my OB came in and operated at 4 AM laproscopicly and terminated the pregnancy.

I feel very blessed that we caught things in time. I was able to keep my right ovary and tube. They are slightly damaged, but should heal almost completely.

I was so happy to see Mike and Jasper in the recovery room at 7 AM this morning. Jasper crawled onto the gurney with me. Hugs and kisses from both of my boys was just what I needed post-op. I am home now and resting.

Because we were worried about the viability of the pregnancy from the beginning, I chose to be open about the fact that I was pregnant. I felt like it would be easier to talk about losing the baby if my friends and family knew what was going on from the beginning.

Thanks again for your prayers and support.

Hold on for Dear Life

I made the mistake of leaving Jasper's trike inside after a ride last week.

When Jasper spotted it, he staged a small protest, hoping for a ride.

1/2 Mile Walk

This afternoon Jasper and I went on a walk to deliver a birthday gift to a friend.

On the stroller ride over Jasper clutched his "item of the day" -- a green spatula.

When it was time to head home Jasper didn't want to get back in the stroller. He walked the entire way home...with his green spatula in hand.

I think he'll sleep well tonight.

(Yes, it was warm enough to wear shorts here).

Jasper's Favorite Granola

My friend Bonnie gave me some of this super healthy granola. We've been addicted to it ever since we tried it. Bonnie said to share the recipe -- so I am!

It is super healthy and delicious! I like to eat it by itself or as a topping for yogurt. Bonnie likes to eat it as cereal with milk.

Jasper loves it. He often stands at the fridge and begs for some until I give in and give in.

Except where noted, I get most of the ingredients at a health food store, like Whole Foods, in the bulk foods section. If you have any questions about the recipe, let me know. Enjoy!

Granola Recipe
4 cups quick oats (You can use food storage oats from the LDS cannery)
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup wheat bran
1/2 cup raw, unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup flax seed
1 cup craisins (Costco)
1 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 cup pepitas, roasted and salted (at Whole Foods these are in a prepackaged container near the bulk foods section)

-- stir above ingredients together
-- add in 1/2 cup olive oil, and stir

in a separate bowl, mix:
1 cup honey (spray measuring cup with Pam before you pour honey in so it won't stick)
2 TBSP vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon

Keep refrigerated

Mini Stay Puft Man

We borrowed a snowsuit from some friends so Jasper can play in the snow when he and I go to Utah.

We decided to try the snowsuit on to make sure it fit.

Jasper's legs are so short that the lower half of his body is basically a square, because the snowsuit is so puffy. His hips look huge!

Jasper really enjoyed going down his slide in the snowsuit. It was extra slippery, so he really picked up some speed.

I am very excited for him to get the chance to really play in the snow and hopefully do a little sledding.

Neighborhood Valentine Delivery

We delivered Valentine's to our friends on Saturday afternoon.

Mike pushed Jasper on his trike and Jasper thought he was hot stuff.

Valentine Delivery at the Firm

Jasper and I did our annual Valentine deliveries at Mike's firm.

Jasper wore his bow tie and looked cute as a button.

We had a basket full of fruit snacks and some red vines to hand out with our little Valentine cards.

Jasper enjoyed getting some lovin' from Grandma Sharon. She gave him an apple that Jasper was still eating on our way home.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you have a great Valentine's Day full of love and happiness!

I couldn't decide which picture I like better, so I printed both! :>

Ball Boy

Jasper is so into balls.

In this photo there are 8 balls.

He loves to bounce them and play catch. His favorite thing is to lift the balls high over his head and hurl them at you. His yellow beach ball is a favorite.

Busy Day with a Busy Little Man

Jasper decided that he needed ride around on my shoulders while I prepared dinner tonight -- which meant it took quite a while to prepare a simple meal.

Even though I am exhausted at the end of the day, I am very grateful for the chance that I have to spend my days with him.

Swinging and Sliding

After story time this morning Jasper and I met Whitney and Brenna at the Paseo Verde Park.

Whitney and I were friends in college, and I haven't seen her in years. It was so great to see her and catch up.

Our play date didn't last long -- as both of our one year old's were ready for their naps!

New Game in Town

Jasper loves playing with his ball sorter. I got this fun toy used for 50 cents -- only problem -- no balls. :>

I finally got a 4 pack of ping pong balls and Jasper went to town.

I love it when he puts his hands down the holes in the top to see if he can grab the balls on their way down.

Our Colors

Choosing the colors for all 3800 square feet of our home just about made me crazy.

When we bought our house the colors were extremely obnoxious, so we had no choice but to paint. When I say extremely obnoxious, I mean -- metallic gold bathrooms, metallic blue and metallic silver bedrooms. We even had a metallic silver ceiling in one of the bedrooms AND the kitchen ceiling was green. Enough said.

I tried to take photos of our paint colors, but I found that it isn't easy to get a photograph to portray the exact color. Our contractor used Devoe paint, and unfortunately they don't have photos of their paint swatches online.

We chose tan, brown and blues for our color scheme. I tried really hard to have "flow" in the house with the continuity of color. Jasper's room is a little brighter and doesn't really blend as well with the other colors. It is a great blue for his room though and looks nice.

Before I go any further I must say that I am VERY GRATEFUL to my friends who came over and gave me their opinion on the colors, as I was burning through quart after quart of paint to find the right color. It helped me to be able to bounce my ideas off others. THANK YOU!

We have a very large cut out in our stairwell that we had painted Deep Brown. It is a color that is similar to our dark brown hardwood floors. Using Deep Brown is my attempt to tie the color of the hardwood floors into the entire color scheme. Our family room, downstairs guest room, and the craft explosion room have dark brown hardwood floors.The back wall of the family room and our front door is Fudge Cookie. We tried to pick a color that brought out the cinammon colors in the slate on each side of this wall.We decided on Spa Blue downstairs for an accent wall and some architectural beams that frame the family room and kitchen. The tile in the formal living and dining room has some blue in it, so I was trying to bring out the blue in the tile.

Upstairs we used it on our bathroom and on an an accent wall in our bedroom. The marble in our bathroom floor has a lot of dark brown and our bathroom cabinets are a dark cherry wood. SPa Blue looks great with the floor and cabinets.

I love Spa Blue, and I was very tempted to have our entire room be this color. But it is a little heavy and looks a very dark at times.My office (sewing room, a.k.a. craft explosion), the guest room, and most of our bedroom is Mild Wind. This color looks great with the dark brown hardwood floors, and surprisingly it looks really good with the tan carpet in our bedroom too.
Jasper's room and sink area are Blue Hydragnea.
The main color of the house is Camel Tan. The downstairs hallways, most of the formal living and dining room, and most of the family room is this color. The stairwell, loft, and upstairs hallways are all camel tan as well.
Mike's office, the laundry room, and Baby #2's room and bath are Traditional Tan. So are 3 of the bathrooms. And no, that is not an announcement that I am pregnant. We're just being hopeful. :>


This color is just one step down from Camel Tan, and you can barely tell the difference, since the rooms that we used it in are smaller spaces than the large areas where we used the darker shade of Camel Tan.

Another Story Time

We are obsessed with story time. We're having so much fun that we signed up at the Gibson Library for story time with Miss Marcie on Tuesday mornings.

I was worried that it would just be a repeat of our Thursday story time at the Paseo Verde library, but I was very wrong. It is different AND wonderful.

Miss Marcie encourages the kids to dance around and explore the whole time. That is right up Jasper's alley.

He had a great time climbing around, and even sat in my lap for a couple books today.