Mike in Motion

Tonight I (which really means WE = Mike and I) watched our friends' kids so that they could go out to dinner and celebrate her husband passing the Utah Bar.

Let's just say that their baby girl was NOT HAPPY to spend a few hours sans her mom.

The only thing that ever stopped her from crying was Mike putting her in the football hold and literally running around our family room.

This photo is a little fuzzy because Mike is in motion.

Thanks for the rescue Mike! You're the best!

Sing, Sing a Song

Jasper and I love to sing songs out of our mini Children's Songbook.

My favorite is when he sings to me. Especially when he sings off the prelude music pages -- with no words on them.

Still

Last month Mike snapped this picture of Jasper being still...well, somewhat still.

This may be the first time that Jasper has ever laid on my lap in Sacrament meeting.

He helps lead songs, likes to sustain people, stands on the corner of our pew (his perch) to see what everyone behind us is doing and loves to take the Sacrament. But still he is not.

We have taught Jasper that going to church is a wonderful thing he really thinks that it is. On Saturday we always talk about how great it is that we can go to church the next day and then Jasper starts smiling and clapping for joy. We repeat this "hooray, we get to go to church" routine on Sunday morning.

If you don't like going to church, please keep it to yourself, as right now Jasper thinks it's the best part of his week.

Church really was great today. The highlight for me was Kim and Martin being confirmed members of our Church and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Mike was asked to participate and was excited to be a part of their special day. They sat behind us and I think they were glowing.

I thought it was a little ironic that the Gospel Principles Sunday School lesson was on missionary work.

Rachelle taught a great lesson about friendship. It has really made me grateful for my friends and all that they do for me. THANK YOU!

Happy Day

Today we were blessed to attend the baptism of Martin and Kim.

We met them last month when they came to church and became instant friends.

Kim has a sweet daughter who is 5 months younger than Jasper. We feel lucky when they sit with us at church. Jasper does a lot better in Sacrament meeting sitting next to Shelby.

We've had fun swimming and playing with them, going to their house for dinner and a missionary discussion. We thrilled to share their special day with them.

I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and Mike did his best to keep Jasper at bay.

Our friend Holly organized a nice buffet meal with dessert so everyone could stay and visit.

Jasper was thrilled to eat chocolate cake and was pretty much covered by the time we left.

Here's one of my favorite quotes from my talk.

"The Holy Ghost is the Comforter. As the soothing voice of a loving parent can quiet a crying child, the whisperings of the Spirit can calm our fears, hush the nagging worries of our life, and comfort us. The Holy Ghost can fill us "with hope and perfect love" and "teach [us] the peaceable things of the kingdom".

I love this quote because I feel like as a mom I can understand how soothing my voice can be to Jasper when nothing else can calm him.

Not Our Best Week...

This picture of Jasper sums up our week.

We've been down and out, but hope to be back to normal in a few days.

I've been under the weather with a bad cold that's included and incredibly stuffy head, cold, killer sinus headaches and even puking.

And Laryngitis. Whew!

Nothing like a "whispered yell" to warn your toddler of looming danger.

I went to the Dr. on Thursday and have been sleeping much better since they gave me some RX cough medicine. I am on the mend, but still only at about 70%.

Little J has had a bad ear infection for a week and a half, so he is not himself either. This is his first ear infection since he got tubes, and we are experiencing all of the interesting GOOP that drains from his ear now. Eeeeewww!

Breakin' Out

I knew the day would come when Jasper would figure out how to escape from his pack n' play.

Jasper chose to demonstrate his skills on our trip to Beaver for the 24th of July.

All he needed was to pop his little toe up on the side and out he went.

The funniest thing is that once he figured out how to get out, he climbed back in. And out, and then back in.

As of today, has not escaped from his crib...yet.

Snugglin'

Just a few photos of my boys taking a break on a Saturday afternoon.

All Wrapped Up

Every morning Mike takes a shower with Jasper.

It's just part of their morning routine and Jasper loves it.

He even loves to be all wrapped up in his towel afterward.

Nothing like spending time with daddy.

Video Party

Jasper loves to watch videos of himself.

In case you are missing your daily dose of Jasper, here's our latest video uploads.
Jasper 1

My videos are listed under "AcademyGirl99" -- no spaces in between.

2 Year Dental Check-up for Jasper (and Mickey)

Last Thursday we went in for Jasper's 2 year dental check-up.

Mickey came along so he could be the good example and go first.

Everything went much better than last year.

One thing was the same -- Jasper is in love with the stairs at the dental office.

Dr. Campbell said that Jasper has some build-up on his lower teeth and that we need to floss his teeth as they are really close together.

My response to the flossing: Don't all of these teeth fall out anyway?

I know, bad attitude for a mom. I picked up some kiddo flossers for $1 (per Rachelle's recommendation) and we'll see how that goes.

Lucky for me, Mike is 100% in charge of the bedtime routine -- which includes brushing and flossing. Thank you Mike!

After the dentist we met Mike for a quick lunch at In-N-Out and Jasper was in heaven with his chocolate shake.

I'd like to just put a plug in for Dr Campbell and Tuscano Dental if you are looking for a dentist. Did I mention they are open on Saturday's? And they have a high end massage chair to sit in while you wait. We love them!

Brusha, Brusha, Brusha

In preparation for Jasper's 2 year dental check-up we had a little chat about going to the dentist and toothbrushes.

Jasper brushed his teeth, then had fun seeing what kind of noise the toothbrush made when he ran it across objects other than his teeth.

Here's the link for a little video of his excitement with the toothbrush.

Sous Chef

Jasper is my trusted assistant in the kitchen.

He gets up on his stool and he is ready to work.

Tonight we whipped up some smashed potatoes.

Watch out Gordon Ramsey -- you've got some competition.

The Difference Between a Tortoise, a Turtle and a Terrapin

One of Jasper's favorite Birthday gifts from my parents is the Encyclopedia of Animals. (You can pick one up at Costco if you want one too).

It is an even a bigger hit than I imagined.

Jasper and I love to learn about all the animals and look at all the great pictures. And of course we make as many of the animal noise that we know.

I got stumped on "Anteater" today. I improvised by doing crazy, noisy kisses up and down Jasper's arm until we were rolling on the rug laughing.

Mike and I are now quizzing each other on animal trivia that we learn when we read the book with Jasper.

Do you know the Difference Between a Tortoise, a Turtle and a Terrapin?

Ever since we caught a glimpse of Sheldon we are really into turtles...uh, I mean tortoises.

Does anyone want to make these with me?

My friend Steph in Alaska made these magnetic alphabet tiles for a Relief Society Super Saturday project and I think they are super cute!

The photos below are from my friend Heather' blog -- but it's private -- so I copied her photos so you could see how cute they are.

Heather said that her kids love them. They are practicing their spelling and having fun with them. Heather says that her front door has metal in it, and that her kids use the magnets on there too.

I'm not sure how much it would cost to make them, but I can't imagine it would be too pricey. They are made on 1 x 1 inch tiles with a magnetic backing. Steph emailed my the template to print the letters out. I am happy to buy the supplies in bulk if anybody else wants to make them.

If you want to come craft later this month, let me know by Sept. 12th.

As always, everyone's invited.

2nd Birthday Celebration at the Firm

Since last year's birthday celebration at Mike's firm was so much fun, we decided to do it again.

We had a delicious Dairy Queen ice cream cake and a fun time singing, visiting and laughing.

All of the ladies just love Jasper to pieces and had fun as he entertained them.

People would ask Jasper a question and he would say, "No". It became a little comedy hour to see what questions people could come up with for Jasper to answer.

One partner said, "Jasper, should we give your dad a raise next year?" Jasper gave his standard answer for the hour "No." (I quickly chimed in YES!)























Grandma Sharon brought in a broken telephone and he had a lot of fun doing some pretend phone calls with Mike's secretary.

She also gave him a CD player that he loves to carry around the house and jam out to. I call it his boom box.

And then there was the immense fun found in taking the lid on and off of the orange juice. It's the little things.

Of course his favorite things was seeing his daddy. He claps every time that we drive by the firm.

Happy Birthday Jasper --again!

1st Birthday Celebration at the Firm

Well I am only 1 year behind on this post. :>

Last year we had a little party for Jasper at Mike's office.


















































Sometimes I feel like he is the firm mascot. All of the ladies love to know how he is doing and see how big he is getting.

Of course Mike is a proud pappa and loves to show off "Mini Mike", as they call Jasper at the firm.

Grandma Sharon gave him a fun basketball set for bath time, and Rosey gave him a phone that lights up and talks back -- he loves both of them.