Wheat

I added a jar of wheat to my staples area, tucked right in between Honey Nut Cheerios and my favorite breakfast item, Coach's Oats (available at Costco).

Mike thinks that I have gone overboard on adding wheat to our diet, and honestly, he is right.

I add wheat berries to the following:
Ground hamburger or turkey (taco meat, casseroles)
Oatmeal
Breakfast potatoes
Stir Fry

We now have 45o lbs. of wheat (in buckets) neatly tucked behind our loveseat because I have nowhere to put it! Gotta love food storage.

Do you have any great wheat recipes or favorite dishes to add wheat to?

Jasper's First Dental Visit

Officially it's called a "smile check", and Jasper's first one was Oct. 30 -- the day after Trunk or Treat. We left Trunk or Treat with NO CANDY. Jasper doesn't really know what candy is yet, and I figured that Jasper has a lifetime of Halloween candy ahead of him.

I am guessing that not many patients show up in their dinosaur PJ's. I was not about to wake Jasper up before I needed to. We just did a quick outfit change after we got there.

Being a first time mom, I had no idea that baby teeth are supposed to have space in between them. Jasper's top teeth have that space, but his bottom teeth are right next to each other. The dentist told us clean his bottom 2 teeth well, as there is no natural space for food to pass through.

He chose a blue car from the toy box. If I would have known they hard cars in there I would have asked if he could have had the car in the beginning he would have been more willing to sit still.

See you in one year Dr. Campbell!

Little Blue Pillow

Since we made Miss J's baby brother a tiny pillow, I thought it would be fun to use some scraps and make one for Jasper too.

It works great to put behind his back when he is riding around in the top of the shopping carts. He usually has a lot of extra room in the top of the cart, so the pillow makes him a little more secure up there.

Jasper just likes to carry it around the house.

Las Vegas Temple

In Nevada Oct. 31 is not only Halloween, but it is also Nevada day. Mike had the day off work, and our friend Heather watched Jasper so we could go to the Las Vegas Temple in the morning. It is not too close to us, so we are usually gone for 4 hours total.

We had a wonderful time and can't wait to go again.

As we were leaving, we saw a family taking photos in the courtyard of the Temple, and I recognized one of my friends who I have not seen in 10 years. Six months pregnant with her 5th baby, she looks as beautiful as ever.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw her, because she lives in Ohio. But I did know that her family is from Las Vegas. Tacie and I went to SUU together. What a treat to see her and meet her entire family.

1 Year Old Photo Shoot

While Jasper and I were in Utah this summer we had our photos taken by Elisha Snow, and I have never posted the photos.

Jasper was 11 1/2 months old, and he had just started to really walk well on his own.

Once we let him loose, he was impossible to stop as he toddled down the trail. We were on the Lagoon trail outside Lagoon in Farmington.

Afternoons with Miss J

For the last few months Miss J has been coming to our house once a week or so to join Jasper and I in crafting and sewing.

She has 5 other siblings, so her mom doesn't have oodles of time to sit around and sew. :> She is 8, but acts like she is 18.

If I am on my game, I have a loaf of bread that finishes baking upon her arrival.

We like to have a slice of hot homemade bread and chocolate milk for our snack before we start our projects. It helps you sew better, you know.

Last week we finished a taggie blanket for her new baby brother. She picked out the vintage cowboy print because her family is "a little bit cowboy".

Previously we made a matching pillow with an applique initial "F", which she was happy to present to her baby brother as a Nevada Day/ Halloween present. Apparently he loves it. :>

Favorite Truck: Follow-up

Just a little evidence that Jasper does EVERYTHING with a truck or car in his hand.

I really don't know anything that he can't do while toting a car or truck.

He spent 30 minutes playing on his climbing toy WITH his truck in hand at ALL TIMES. He is all boy!

Mike's Kitchen Tools

For over a year Mike has been requesting a drawer to house his favorite kitchen utensils. He if often frustrated when he can't find what he needs in the jam packed utensil drawers.

















A couple of weeks ago I finally did a complete reorganization on all of the kitchen drawers. And guess what I discovered?

Mike doesn't even need a whole drawer. his items fit perfectly in a little crock. He is quite happy, AND I didn't have to give up a drawer.

The takeaways from this story are:
(1) My husband is so easy to please.
(2) I should not have put this task off for a year. I put it off because I did not want to give up one of my utensil drawers-- and in the end I didn't have to.

If felt great to go through every single drawer and organize and it really is easier to find things. :>

Favorite Truck

For memory sake, I want to document Jasper's all time favorite truck (so far).

I bought this beauty at Goodwill for a quarter, ran it through the dishwasher for a round of sanitizing, and it has been in Jasper's hand ever since.

This truck is frequently using it's large tires to roll over just about everything, including sippy cups.

If Jasper gets grumpy while you are changing his diaper, just do a couple of "vroom, vroom" noises and run the truck over his belly a few times. He thinks that is so funny.

Yes, that's a little trick that Mike made up. Because honestly, I think more along the lines of tickling, not running body parts over with cars. That's the difference between boys and girls.

Secret Cheerios

In an effort to try not to say "NO" to Jasper all day long, we have a special cabinet that houses Cheerios. It is actually the colander and bowl cabinet, but it now doubles as the secret Cheerio cabinet.

When Jasper gets into cupboards that he is not supposed to be in, I direct him to his special cabinet where the answer is always "YES".

I keep a handful of Cheerios out on the shelf, and Jasper just wonders over to his special cupboard when he gets hungry and starts snacking. This is helpful, because then I know he is hungry.

Lunch with Mike --- and a visit to the firm

I went to the dentist and my friend who watched Jasper said that he was not too happy this morning.

I thought that maybe lunch with daddy might be a nice pick-me-up -- for both of us!

After a quick lunch Mike said that we could come into the firm for a visit since it was still the lunch hour.

Jasper loves to see everyone. His first stop was the office supply closet, where he immediately got the vacuum out and and tried to push it out into the hall. Grandma Sharon tried to helped him vacuum, but he mostly just wanted to push the entire vacuum down the hall.

Next Jasper was off to the recycle bin, which he thought was some kind of a ball pit, only with water bottles instead of balls. He kept climbing in the recycle bin and playing in the sea of water bottles.

Jasper was happy to drag his dad in a gift of the empty bottle wrapping.

Jasper loved going into Mike's office to see him -- even though Mike was trying to get some work done. Jasper LOVES his daddy.

Thanks for a fun visit everyone!

Feeling Blessed

A few things....

** This morning I had my bi-annual check-up with my Hematologist at the Comprehensive Cancer Center of Nevada. I had my blood drawn last week and my results came back fine.

Dr. Kinglsey says that I am still a mystery and that I can stop coming to him until I get pregnant again. I will be on blood thinners for the entire pregnancy. It is only 1 shot per day -- so not too bad.

I started going to Dr. Kingsley because when I was 8 months pregnant with Jasper I got a subclavian DVT -- which means I had a blood clot near my lung. I spent a week in the hospital after my left arm turned purple and swelled up.

Over the last year Dr. Kingsley has ordered MANY blood tests, ulrasounds, x-rays, and even a mammogram. He was worried that my blood clot was a precancerous sign, but he just can't find anything wrong. I feel blessed that I seem to be out of the woods...at least for now.

** On Monday Jasper and I were heading out the door to run some errands. When we opened the laundry room door to reach the back door we were hit with smoke from an electrical fire. The washer was running and we think the motor burned out. Regardless, our washer is toast. After a few days, we have almost cleared out the horrible smoke smell.

I feel SO GRATEFUL that this happened while Jasper and I were home. If we would have already left, I am afraid that we would have come home to a major fire in our house.

** While Jasper and I were driving home we passed a mom in our neighborhood walking up the hill to our house from Von's. It is 2 miles and uphill all the way. She was pushing a stroller with 3 kids that was loaded down with groceries. I turned around and pulled over to see if I could give her a ride home.

I completely take for granted that our family has 2 cars, and that I can run to the store whenever I want to.

I feel very blessed...for all of the above and much, much more.

First Sucker

Today at Costco I was filling out a positive comment card for J.D. in the Auto Center (he very sweetly checked my tire pressure and topped my tires off with air).

Meanwhile, Seth, who works in customer service, was trying to make friends with Jasper. He knew that a chocolate sucker would do the trick.

I gave my nod for Jasper to begin devouring the sucker, and boy oh boy --suckers are messy business. By the time we made it out to the van, Jasper was so sticky he felt like he'd been doused in Karo syrup.

He loved the sucker, and Seth was so proud that he has given Jasper his first sucker. We'll be sending you the dentist bill Seth! :>