Lake Mead Drive

We went shopping for a spa tonight. We ended up getting a tour of the factory, which was very interesting.

Afterward we took a nice drive out to Lake Mead to look around. It was too windy out to walk around, but we did have a beautiful drive.

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

I made Jasper squeeze into this 12 month onsie for our day at Disney.

I bought it for him when I was at DisneyWorld for a work conference while I was pregnant with him.

At the time I didn't know if I was having a boy or a girl. I was 13 weeks along, and I just knew I was having a boy.

I just didn't know how cute he would be!

I sang the Mickey Mouse club song while I shot these photos, and as you can see in the last photo, Jasper was singing and dancing along. It's quite a show tune move. Sorry you can't see his jazz hands in the photo.

Disney Day

Jasper and I took a quick trip down to California to take advantage of the promotion at Disneyland to get in free on your birthday.

What a fun day we had!

We drove down the morning of my birthday. We were lucky enough to meet my high school friend Katrina and her daughter Kimberly.

Spending the afternoon and evening with them was wonderful.

Jasper's favorite ride was our first ride, Small World. He loved all of the characters singing to him. I included a 12 second clip from the ride at the end of this post in case you want to get the Small World song stuck in your head.

The Casey Jr. Train was a lot of fun. Jasper let out a big "Wheeeeee" on the roller-coastery part. Waiting in line almost put us under. Overall, the rides were great and standing in line was hard for Jasper. He did not want to stand still.

The meltdown continued on the Carousel. Luckily the refried beans at that Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill helped to settle Jasper down.

Jasper and Kimberly liked the Tikki Room. The birds were very enchanting to them. Katrina and I really enjoyed our Dole Pineapple Whip.

We hit the Pirates of the Caribbean and again Jasper let out a few "Wheeee's" on the 2 waterfalls. Katrina always had us sit at the front of the boats so the kids could have an unobstructed view.

Jasper's favorite part of the Jungle Cruise was when the baby elephant squirted his outstretched hand. We topped the night off enjoying the fireworks display.

The kids were absolutely exhausted at the end of the day. (Actually, we all were).

Note the kettle corn on top of the stroller. Katrina bought us each a bag to nibble on during our drive to her house. We both love Kettle Corn.

Thanks for a great day Hiramoto ladies!

Comfort Item...of the Day

Jasper's comfort item of choice changes daily, and sometimes even a few times each day. His latest favorite choices are an ice scraper and a tape measure.

Jasper scoots around the house with his scraper. He even begged to take it in the car with him. He grips is tightly like a blankie.

We had 2 different sales guys here today to give us quotes on window coverings, and Jasper was so happy to help them do all of their measuring.

I shot this 1 minute video of the "tape measure dance", that can be seen hourly at our house. Yes, I had my camera turned the wrong way (again). Sorry.

Down and Out

Mike started feeling sick on Sunday afternoon and things just went downhill from there. He was up sick all night.

By Monday morning Mike was at Urgent Care hooked up to an IV for the day. He had lost a lot of fluids and needed some anti nausea medication.

The entire scenario of when we both got a bad stomach virus Thanksgiving weekend last year.

I am happy to announce that after some much needed rest he is doing a lot better.

Every Day

Every morning we have peaches and oatmeal for breakfast.

Not too exciting, but definitely delicious.

While I finish cooking our oats, Jasper gets started on the peaches.

Mike is only home with us for breakfast on Sunday (and sometimes Saturday). He kept commenting on how many peaches Jasper could shove in his mouth at one time.

What can I say, he really loves peaches.

Happiness Is...

Clean counters!

I am ashamed to say that this is the first time since we have moved in that the kitchen table, counters and island have all been clear and clean...and it feels so good!

Squeaky Clean

We headed over to our church parking lot bright and early this morning to support a fundraiser for boy scout camp.

The car wash turned out to be quite a social event. We had a great time, and our cars look great!

--Yes, I am looking great in my work out clothes :>

Family Home Evening

I will be 100% honest and say that there are weeks when I wonder if anything that we teach Jasper in Family Home Evening on Monday nights will sink in.

Then there are nights like tonight when I think -- This is what you should be doing.

I was in charge of the lesson tonight. We usually have our lessons out of the Nursery Manual: Behold Your Little Ones. Tonight our lesson was "Heavenly Father has a Plan for Me". Yes, we just had this lesson a few months ago, but I really like it.

At times Jasper was more into seeing how many crayons he could pick up at a time than anything else.

We made the corresponding mobile for our activity. Jasper really likes to watch the blades spin on the ceiling fans these days, so I figured that he might appreciate a mobile to add to his viewing pleasure.

If I were to make these again, I would have photocopied the backside too, as the pictures are blank on the back, which doesn't make for great mobile viewing. I think we'll stick some pictures on the back.

As a side note, I cut the photos from the Nursery Manual and made one coloring book-type page per lesson and put them in a book with page protectors. This book can take a beating better from Jasper. If you want a PDF file of this little masterpiece of mine, email me and I will send it to you.

Letters from the Laundry Room

Every once in a while my husband will receive an email from our laundry room -- yes, our laundry room has it's own gmail account.

Today's message went a little something like this:




From: 1151 Laundry Room

Dear Michael,

When you feed Jasper RED fruit snacks at church and then he drools RED down the front of his WHITE dress shirt, please do not casually toss the WHITE dress shirt on my floor. I do not magically stain spray items that have been tossed on my floor.

In the future, please rinse the stain in cold water and scrub with Spray 'n Wash.

IF you are unable to do the above, please hand the shirt to your wonderful wife and say -- Sweetheart, this WHITE dress shirt has a RED STAIN on the front of it and it needs attention RIGHT AWAY.

Otherwise, the cost for Jasper's stained clothing under your care (due to your stain neglect) will be deducted from your secret candy stash budget.

Thank you,
The Laundry Room

First Day of Nursery

Today is the day. Jasper is a whopping 18 months old and is joining the ranks of Primary.

Would anyone mind telling me where the last year and half went? Because I feel like it just flew by!

He was dressed in his Sunday best and ready for whatever Nursery may bring him. I am still recuperating, and wasn't able to go to church today.

Mike is the Jr. Nursery leader, so it's not really a big adjustment for Jasper. Mike is so excited to have his little guy in Nursery with him now.

Jasper has gone in Nursery here and there before, but I have not had him attend earlier than now because Mike has his hands full with a big group -- 16 little ones today.

Mike likes to joke and say that I haven't put Jasper in Nursery early because I am just not ready to let him go. Anyone in Relief Society knows that on most Sunday's I am more than ready for Jasper to be in Nursery. Especially on the Sunday's that I am teaching.

I don't think the sisters are going to miss Jasper's antics for one second. I am quite sure that Cydnee Schroeder will be thrilled to not have Jasper plunking away on the keys as she tries to play the piano.

I am not sure what I will do with myself during Sunday School and Relief Society. I guess I will sit down and listen to the lesson. Something I haven't really done for a year and a half.

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.