Miss Jetta

Today I asked Jetta lots of questions about body parts. She can successfully identify and name:
Toes
Toe nails
Foot
Legs
Knee
Tummy
Back
Arms
Hands
Fingers
Finger nails
Elbow
Shoulder
Head
Eyes
Eyebrows
Eyelashes
Nose
Mouth
Lips
Tongue
Cheeks
Chin
Ears
Hair
Belly button

That's pretty impressive for a 2 year old. :)

Talking toddlers

Cute things my kids have said lately

Bentley- "Mom, when you drink juice, does the baby drink it too?" 
Me- thinking to keep it simple "Yes" 
Bentley- "Does the baby open it's mouth?" 
Me- again, thinking to keep it simple "Yes" 
Bentley- "How does the baby keep it from getting all over his clothes?"
Me- surprised- "the baby isn't wearing any clothes yet buddy. Babies don't wear clothes until they are born"
Bentley- "But isn't the baby cold?"
Me- smiling and wondering how complicated this must sound to him "No, babies are nice and warm in their mommy's tummies."
Bentley- "oh... well he can have some of my clothes someday."


As I was laying Jetta down for a nap, I agreed that she could bring her Minnie Mouse figurine to bed. I tuck her in to sleep and say 'Goodnight Jetta'. As I walk towards the door, she lays Minnie on her pillow and whispers "Goodnight Minnie." It was pretty adorable. 

We stopped at the In-laws house before church really quick so that I could print something off for a lesson. Bentley and my mom-in-law are discussing racing and who is going to beat whom to church. As we are driving out of the driveway Bentley says "We're going to WIN! We're going to eat our own dust! But not with our teeth, with the car." Obviously he was referring to the phrase 'Eat my dust' when racing, but we got a great laugh out of that one.

Jetta's 2nd Birthday

So here's a rare blog post from Joel. Chelsey likes to make blog posts and see how long it takes me to notice them, so now we'll see how she likes it. Also, I had to change the password to log in and make this post, so sorry honey!

Yesterday we had Jetta's 2nd birthday party. Afterwards Bentley went to Grandma Janice's for a sleepover with his cousin Evan (who is visiting from Texas), so for an hour or so we only had one kid to watch at home. Jetta was so distracted/happy with her new birthday presents that we just sat there and watched her. I cannot believe how big she is getting, and how indescribably cute she is. I love Bentley, I really do. I wouldn't trade him or my time with him for the world. I love wrestling with him, playing with his cars and tractors, watching spider-man with him, and fixing things with him. I love his enthusiasm, inquisitiveness, and general joy in life. I love my son. But boy is my daughter adorable. I do not know if I will be able to say no to her when she's older. She is just so cute that I could hug her all day long and still want to hug her longer. Her hair is getting longer, she's getting taller, and she's talking more. Her voice is adorable! She says the cutest things sometimes; even when she's mad and throwing a fit she's cute. I am very happy to have a boy and a girl, because so far I've gotten the best of both worlds. I get to roughhouse with my son and see how cute my daughter is. This third child will be interesting. If it's a boy, then we'll be a "boy family", and if it's a girl, then a "girl family". I'm very curious to know which we'll be, and how the opposite gender will handle it (the girls will probably use either one as an excuse for more shopping and clothes buying).

I love my children, and I hope that I can continue to give them all of the time and attention that they deserve.

I love my wife as well. She is handling this pregnancy really well, especially for how miserable it's been making her. She's been sick a lot, and she hasn't had a lot of energy. Still she is a great mom to two young children, even though I know most days she wishes she could just stick them in front of the TV for the whole day. Chelsey is so beautiful. I love watching how happy certain things make her. Things like hanging up new pictures in our house, buying a new scent for our wick-less candles, or doing a craft of some sort. I am so happy that I get to spend forever with my best friend. She is so good to me, and for me. She probably deserves better than me, but I do what I can. She gives the best advice of anyone that I know. Literally every big decision that I've made that ended up well came from her (working at ClickBank, getting 2 internships with different departments there, calling someone up at Blue Cross and getting a job out of it, and probably lots of others I can't remember). She is definitely wise beyond her years!

I hear people talking about wanting to move further away from their parents and in-laws, and I never quite understand them. We have a great relationship with my parents and with Chelsey's. I am comfortable going over to her parent's house and just being there, and I know that Chelsey is fine going to my parent's house to hang out. I love having a good relationship with both sets of parents. I think it makes life a lot more enjoyable (the free babysitting probably helps that). I am also very excited that my children get to grow up with two active and loving sets of grandparents who live close by.

In conclusion, I love my wife and family. I love my job (I would have talked about that more, but Chelsey tells me it's boring). I'm excited for what the future holds, and I'm excited to go through it with the people who are currently in my life.

5 Years

5 years ago today, Joel and I got married in the Boise, Idaho LDS Temple. It's incredible that 5 years have come and gone. It went so fast! I'm grateful that I married this man for eternity and not just 'until death do us part'. He is my best friend and my biggest ally. He is my better half and a wonderful dad. We've grown a lot in our time together. Who wouldn't after 5 years of spending time together. I have not once wanted to divorce this man and I don't see myself ever wanting to.

I'm really glad he decided to be bold that one day in Band and tell me he liked me... even though I was dating someone. :) He is ornery, smart, a goofball, funny, and handsome. It's fun to have known and been friends with him for 7 years before we finally got engaged. We dated for a total of 6 months before we were engaged.

Joel- I'm glad I accidentally told you that I loved you. That will always be a special memory.

Here's to another year of happiness and time together on earth! I hope we get many!
Love- me

Baby #3

Well, I am almost 12 weeks into being pregnant with our 3rd baby and we are excited and oh so very nervous. After we saw the positive test, we both smiled really big and hugged and then I think almost immediately thought 'oh man, what did we do!' It was a little scary to go from 1 to 2 kids, but still seemed do-able. Now with the personalities of 2 individuals and a 3rd personality on the way, I am thinking how do people do it?! But- we are excited. A little baby is always fun.

Not fun- morning sickness. I have had this with each of my pregnancies and with each one the on-set was a little later and a little stronger. With Bentley, I sat around feeling nauseous but pushed through. With Jetta, I ended up getting pills to help curb the nausea and make my day do-able. With this little gummy bear (I call all my babies gummy bears when it's this early because that's what they always look like in the first ultrasound. Bodies with little nub arms and legs) anyways.. with this little one, I am so incredibly sick it isn't funny anymore. I am taking anti-nausea pills 3 times a day, B6, Unisom, and Zantac... It doesn't touch how sick I am. I remember with my first two saying "I don't throw up, but I sure want to." You won't hear me say that this time. I throw up plenty. Sometimes more than once a day. I can eat almost exactly 1/4 cup of food before I am SO full that it is going to just fall back out if I even think of bending over. I've already lost 6lbs. My poor children must feel neglected. Poor Joel is a single parent at night. 

Today I managed to drink about 4oz of apple juice, 1.5 slices of toast, 1/4 portion of ramen noodles, an entire glass of water, chewed on several orange slices, and started a 2nd glass of water before my stomach and abdomen were screaming to stop. I think this is the most I've managed to keep down in the past 3 days. Sigh... hungry tummy. It growls for food and then growls again if I give it any.

Here's to hoping for better days soon.

New words and growing up!

Lately the kids have been saying some funny things and I thought I'd take a moment to try and write a few down and remember them. My little Jetta is growing up so fast! She is a big talker and LOVES to sing! She is constantly trying to sing songs or hum a tune. It would probably help if she could say more words and less gibberish. I am finally making sense of some of her gibberish. For instance

Buh-HE: Bentley
Boo-ba: Toothbrush
Mil: Milk
Co-'or: wants to draw or color
Peeease: Please
Tank Hough: Thank you
'b' ball: any ball, basketball or not
bee bee: baby
ah-side: outside
Applesauce: she loves apple sauce!
kay: cake
Jew: juice
Sto-wee: usually means she wants you to read to her
Sockie: socks (she has a weird fascination with socks)

I love hearing her repeat our words. She's mastered mommy and daddy. Grandma is mama, and grandpa is papa. She loves her papa. Every time we visit my folks' house and my dad isn't there, she looks around asking about papa. Her hair is getting so long too! I can all her hair in 1 pony tail now. It's so different from having a boy!

Bentley has been acting very silly lately. He loves to make people laugh. It is ADORABLE when he makes Jetta laugh a big, hearty, belly laugh. Usually he's smashing her on the floor or pushing her into the couch, but she thinks it's hilarious and of course he keeps doing it because she laughs so hard. I wish I could catch it on video.

He has taken to using made up words a lot. Some times it's funny, usually it's met with little enthusiasm. We are trying to break him from inserting "poo poo" into his splay of words. It's proven a little difficult. I don't think he says it thinking about poop or pottying, it just flows off his tongue nicely.

We have progressed a little past the constant "why" and a little more into the actual wanting to understand "why." "Mommy, why doesn't the kitty potty in the big potty?" "Why do we need money to buy things?" "Why is that his name?" "Why does it rain?" He also really likes to know what is going to happen in the day. For example, we went to a carnival at our church last friday and I told Bentley earlier in the day that it wouldn't be until after daddy got home. Joel gets home and Bentley wanted to know what was going to happen in what order before we were able to go to the carnival. He needed to know what to check off his list.

 He currently has a fascination with "cranes." Cranes are anything that has a rope or wire of some sort and picks things up. So... a tow truck has a crane on the back. The machines with toys in them where you move the lever, drop it and try to grab a toy are also cranes. Construction equipment that even remotely resemble cranes, are cranes. It's kind of fun to watch him play pretend right now too. He has such a fun imagination. The other day I heard him in the other room with a couple kids I baby sit. They were all on the top bunk of the bunk bed and Bentley would hold a baby doll over the edge and say 'Oh no, the baby is in trouble. We have to save him!' And then someone would grab the doll and they would do it all over again. I just purchased a new area rug for our living room this last week and Bentley informed me today, while pointing at it, that there were sharks down there. (The rug being a water-y color)

I love my kids. They are so fun.

It's January

Today I am feeling down. I think it's a combination of the gloomy weather that winter brings and not feeling well. The congestion and pain in my sinuses and feeling a bit dizzy. My sinuses just don't like me. I just want to lay in bed all day and do nothing. But alas, children require a little work. I'm grateful to be going to school so that it helps me get out of the house and have a little socialization. I can't wait for the sunshine! Overcast days for months and months is just so gloomy. After the Christmas excitement is over, the January to March stretch just seems so LONG. I prefer cold weather to hot...but I prefer cold and sunny :)

Looking towards happier days!

I am a Mormon.

The point of this 'journal entry' (because that's what this blog is to me) is to remind myself why I became a Mormon.

As a child, I had this urge to go to church. My family didn't go, and I had a desire to go. On the few occasions that I went, and with lots of pondering in between (and I mean lots. years), I slowly came up with what I thought about church and God and religion.

1. I didn't think it was right for someone to go to Hell purely because they were not baptized. There are so many people who have never heard of Jesus Christ let alone know that he asked they be baptized in order to enter Heaven. In my 6th grade brain (because this is the time I remember thinking about it the most) "That isn't fair"

2. My mother taught me to listen to my feelings. Not the "I am angry" or "that makes me sad" feelings. The ones that in my gut would tell me something was right or wrong. A specific memory, I was at Fred Meyers with my best friend and her family and we thought it would be SO COOL to dress up as the same thing for Halloween. "Lets buy them now!" "What a brilliant idea!" "I'm sure my parents will be okay with this and pay you back as soon as you drop me off!"... only, I wasn't sure. And as we walked out to the car with our oh so cool Halloween costumes, I stopped dead in the middle of the parking lot because my feelings told me something wasn't right. From the doors of Fred Meyers to the door of the car I fought with these feelings. I wanted to do something fun but it didn't feel good. I politely asked if we could return to the store and take it back. And I'm glad I did. My mother taught me to listen to those feelings and act on them. And I did.

The first time I went to a Mormon church was when I was 17 years old. I started dating a boy who was LDS and at this point in my life, I was looking for a church. I wasn't actively looking. But thinking back, I was looking and didn't know it. We sit in the pews and the feelings I have are those of excitement of a new environment, shyness, and an over-whelming feeling of calm. The calm was what stood out to me. During that first visit, words were put to something I had already formulated in my mind and strongly believed. That 'feeling' I followed was the impression of the Holy Ghost. Finally, someone gave words to something so important to me. I know other Religions believe in the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit but this was the first time it was talked about.

I was excited to ask my boyfriend more about his religion. If his religion could describe one thing I believed, maybe his religion could describe others too. And sure enough, it did. There were times during my discussions with the Missionaries that they would teach me something and I didn't need to think about whether I believed it. The spirit was SO strong and bore such a powerful witness to me, that I accepted that concept and we moved on to the next. It would feel like they were teaching me things I already knew. (Even though I had only been to church a handful of times with friends, and had only read Genesis and Exodus in the Bible). Other times, they would teach me something and I would have lots of questions. Never did I feel like a concept was a "make it or break it " idea. This is not to say that I have never struggled with a concept in my church. There have been times that I had to really ponder and question, to be sure I believed. In the end, all I can say is, no matter how much I struggle or how far I fall, I can NEVER deny the spirit I have felt and the things it has witnessed to me. I may fall away or become complacent with life (I hope never to be these), but never can I deny that spirit. Once you know Christ is true and that he is your savior and that he died for YOU, you can never "un-know" this. It will always be in your mind.

This is my testimony. I am a child of God. I gained my love of Christ at the age of 17. I still struggle and learn what the Love of Christ has done and is doing for me. The spirit of the Holy Ghost has bore witness to me that the Book of Mormon is true. I know Christ has risen from the dead and made it so that someday, I too may regain my body and become perfect through him. I know that if I make a mistake, I can repent and be forgiven. I know that my baptism was the first step towards living with Heavenly Father again and that I must constantly remember Him and keep Him in my life. I know that my children are happier and my home is happier when I am doing the things to keep Christ in my life. I know that the scriptures are there for ME and are for me to search and ponder. They are not a milestone to be met. Reading them is not a milestone. Reading them makes me better. A happier person. A more forgiving person. A more forgiving mother and wife. I know that having the Priesthood restored to the Earth is important and I am blessed because of the men in my life who stay worthy to hold that power. Priesthood power is from God. I want my children to know that I love the gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I want them to know that I am not perfect and that I need His help. And most of all, I want my kids to know the love of Christ and the comforting feeling of the Holy Ghost. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Another baby?

Immediately after Joel and I were married, I couldn't wait to have a baby! Joel wanted to wait a year and I wanted a baby PRONTO. We compromised and didn't get pregnant for 6 months :) After Bentley was born, I was in LOVE. That boy was the center of my world and was the perfect child. When he was about 8 or 9 months old I started to have that desire to have another one. Joel thought I was crazy so we waited 3 or 4 more months before my desire was so strong I wasn't waiting any longer. After Jetta was born, Joel and I looked at each other and said "how do people have MORE kids?!"

You can see why it is strange to me that I am not having a strong desire for another one. Even now, with Jetta being 18months old, I find myself strangely content with what we have. It's an odd feeling considering that I want a big family. 4 to 6 kids. (sometimes! haha) We passed a deadline that I set for myself a while ago for getting pregnant. That deadline came and passed and I felt at peace with it. I've set a new possible date for thinking about 3. Who knows, maybe 2 is all that's in the cards for us. That's a strange idea, but I love my kids. A boy and a girl. It would be fun.

Happy New Year

Here it is, January 1st of 2014. I once again have to get used to writing a different year on everything. Why is it so hard? Is it just me?

So many plans for the year. Joel and I are trying to use our passports before they expire. We are currently planning a trip to Germany in June. I am hopeful that all the pieces will fall into place so the trip can happen.

Measured how tall the kids are earlier tonight. In the last year, Bentley has grown close to 2 inches and Jetta a whopping 5! I know kids grow fast, but man, what a reminder of how fast that can be.

Jetta is talking so much. In the last couple days she has been saying (instead of signing) thank you. It's pretty cute the way she says it. I love this age when you can ask them to repeat lots of things and they'll actually do it. A few words she loves to say right now.
- appi-sa: apple sauce
- wa-er: water
- mi-ew: milk
- baa: ball
- mommIE: mommy (emphasis on the capitals)
- daddy: daddy
She doesn't love sitting still so I can fix her hair. Her hair is so long that it's constantly in her eyes so I try to do something to help. One trick that seems to help is to count the number of times I wrap the pony-tail in her hair. Its usually 2-4 times depending on the rubber band I use. BUT... cool moment... I was fixing her hair so once a couple days ago and started the usual 1... and she chimed in "TWO THREE FOUR!" Her words were clear and understandable and I was so proud! My baby counting with me at 18 months. I'm positive she has no clue what it means. But that she memorized the order of numbers and was so proud of herself as she did it... It was pretty cute!


I was taking Bentley and Jetta out for lunch a few weeks ago and pretty much any time we leave the house, Bentley is positive it is for the purpose of "seeing the Library being built." He doesn't understand why it's taking so long. Obviously the "tractors" and "cranes" are not working fast enough. Back to my story. We're going out for lunch and Bentley says to me "can we go see the Library being built?" to which I respond "Not today buddy, we aren't going that way. We're going to get lunch". He then responds in a very confused voice "But how can we eat lunch if we don't see the Library being built?".... "uhhh...we just do." We have some pretty interesting conversations sometimes. Favorite game right now is hide and seek. I can't blame him. I love it too. He's terrible at it... For one, you're not supposed to announce where you hide. 2. You're not supposed to immediately hide where ever you find mom or dad during their turn. 3. You're also not supposed to talk to the seeker while they are searching for you. We'll work on it. He's better than when we started. :) The saying Planes, Trains and Automobiles... ya... that's my kid. Except his would be Trains, Planes (the movie) and Construction Vehicles.

School starts towards to the end of January. I'm not sure how I feel. During finals week I was NOT looking forward to another semester. Now I'm feeling like it's do-able but do I want to. Joel is preparing for another actuary test. We're a fun group.