10 Weeks and Counting Down!

Well as of today I am at 30 weeks pregnant!!!!! Only 10 weeks left to go. Right now things are going well other than I think I have lost my mind. I am not sure I had much more of a functional brain before the pregnancy but things just feel foggy these days. Maybe its the lack of sleep. 10 weeks doesnt feel that far away to me right now. Justin goes back to school Monday and 10 weeks puts him exactly at spring break. It will be nice to have him home for that first week- as long as the baby decides to come on time.

So weird happening yesterday Brett went to school and was really tired in the morning. I kinda thought he just needed sleep. Justin went to pick him up early to take him to the movies and they said they were getting ready to call us. Brett was completely freezing cold, white hands, and glossy eyes. they said he perked up a bit when they feed him. Checked his temp 2x and he was at 95 degrees with an ear themometer. He had not been outside other than being in a cold car going to school. After a little research and a few calls to Dr.s it sounds like it could possibly be Hypoglycimia but really the only recommendation was next time it happens bring him in for blood work. By the afternoon he was warm, with red checks and a good atitude. He was a little onery and tired when we went to visit Matt and Whitney for Christmas but totally himself again. Justin is with him this morning and said he is acting fine just a little tired. He was up awfully early this morning because he had a bad dream about a bird bitting him.

Last night we got to see Matt and Whitney for Christmas. After we got home Brett played with his new Remote Control Motorcycle. I will have to get video of him playing with it. He LOVES it! Thanks Matt and Whitney!

Baby's Room

Our soon to be baby now has a room. That is such a relief to me. Justin goes back to school next week and teaches up until Spring Break which is when the baby should be coming. So this was the perfect week to do it. We decided to do lab puppies because we had some pictures already. I have also ordered some lettering for over the crib- Snips, Snails and Puppy Dog Tails...... Brett is really funny about the whole thing. Sometimes he wants to help out and is so excited and then the other day he was sad saying- But when the baby comes no one will play with me anymore. The funniest thing is when he told me the other day to "Shut my mouth". I couldnt believe he would say that to me and I got on his case. He explained he wasnt being mean he was just telling me to shut my mouth so the baby couldnt hear him tell me a secret about what he is going to do for the baby. So even though it sounded really bad it wasnt what I thought he was saying. He told me he is going to buy the baby a rattle and make it giggle by saying underwear.

Merry Christmas Again!

Today we got to have Christmas with Justin's parents. Silly old me had a camera in her hands at one point but never snapped a shot! Darn! We got to enjoy a great lunch at Iggy's with them. Brett had his favorite spinach dip and spaghetti.

Anyway Brett once again was so excited. He got another new Wii game- Toy Story Mania! He had a blast playing that and then a game a Scooby with his nana. He also got a book from their trip to Hawaii that he could color with all different types of fish. He has stated once its all colored he would like to take it to school for Show and Tell. He also got a toy rifle and a Toy Story magnet board he got to play in the car (Deb and Steve could not have had better timing with this one as we took and impromptu trip to Alpine to sell our flat bed trailer today)

Justin got his Deer antlers from this years Deer Hunt mounted and ready to hang from his parents and I am so excited to get to schedule my massage and hair cut!

All in All it was a wonderful Christmas. Brett told me last night how sad he was that it was all over, and today it was totally Christmas again!

Oh forgot to mention that the baby got some diapers, soaps and some material for some cute receiving blankets to be made especially for him by his nana.

I just have to stay how wonderful it is to be a part of two such great families. As far as the holidays go I just can not even imagine not having such a wonderful family to share it with.

Thank you to everyone who made our Christmas so memorable! (and I dont just mean the presents)

Merry Christmas

On Christmas Eve Brett was so excited. I let him open his new PJ's to wear to bed. He was so sweet and Thankful for his Scooby Doo PJs.



Christmas morning Justin and I were laying in bed at 7:30 wondering why he hadnt woke up yet. We thought he would be up very early. Finally at 8 we couldnt take it anymore so Justin turned lights on. The second Brett woke up he was ready to open presents. I had put my camera by the bed to take pictures and couldnt find it. The night before Brett had been in his room wrapping something for me that he thought I would love. I helped him with tape but wasnt allowed in. This morning I found out he wrapped up my camera and put it under the tree. What a sweet kid. He just knew I would love it!

Brett was so excited about everything. He loved everything from the chocolates, to puzzles, to toys. His biggest gift was just a Series 2 Gromiti Mountain of Fire thing. It was way expensive on Amazon and at walmart when I finally found it at Target for 27.99. I bought it right away. I must say that if I had spent the 65.00 everyone else was asking for it I would have been mad. Brett loved it though.



Brett also had so much fun picking out a present for his daddy. Brett had said he knew the perfect gift for daddy was a new radio. I ended up getting some speakers for his shuffle. Brett knows daddy loves his music and was so proud at what he picked. What a sweetie.



Santa Claus was a little presumptuous and purchased a present for daddy and brett an extra PS3 paddle so both boys could play. Santa also got daddy a 2010 Madden NCAA football game with Bryan Johnson on the cover. Right now Brett and Justin are playing it and I can hear Brett just giggling about tackling players. Its not a great game for him to play because its hard but he sure loves the time with his daddy. They have high fived about 100 times already.



Brett also got a Scooby Doo Wii game. He and daddy have already cracked one case. I am not sure what mommy should do with herself today. The boys are occupied. hmmm maybe a nap for me.



Here is brett with all his loot.


We all had such a great Christmas. Brett has been beaming ear to ear since he woke up. I also had a great christmas and cant wait for my couches in a few weeks. I also got a great wall hanging and a coat.

The other successful news of the weekend was that the babies room is now put together!!!! We still have some pictures to hang and a few odds and ends to get but whenever the baby comes they have a place to sleep!

More Christmas Pictures

I just think this is the cutest picture of Yia Yia, Papou and Brett!


Brett on his new big bike from Yia Yia and Papou.... He is still little wobbly on it but in a few more tries I am sure he will be fine on it.

Fun Weekend

Our weekend sort of went a little crazier than anticipated. But even with the craziness it was a very nice family weekend.

To start if off my parents came up to visit. Since we are converting our extra bedroom into a nursery we didnt have an extra bed anymore. They had a sofa sleeper in their basement and brought it up for us so we still have an extra bed if needed. We also went out to a yummy yummy Texas Roadhouse dinner and exchanged presents. One of the presents I got was an electric can opener. Justin and I have been married 12 years and he thinks electric can openers are for the birds and that hand openers are fine. The only way I would ever get one is for a present from someone other than justin. So my parents gave me one!!!! Anyway when I went grocery shopping sunday I bought lots of cans that needed opening!!!! I also got a Snuggie type blanket with Arms. It is the softest thing in the world! Brett keeps stealing it from me. So here is Brett and I on the new sofa pull out watching G force- notice I am in his spider man blanket and he is in my snuggie! My mom and dad spoiled us again! Thank you for everything!



The other thing that happened this weekend was that with the new couch coming we decided to sell our old couches on KSL. Justin had an idea to put both sets out there and see what happened. On Saturday morning we had 3 people come and look and sold both sets. So now we have a sofa sleeper upstairs but nothing in our front room. Earlier in the week Justin sold a gun on KSL as well. So put the 3 sales together and boom I GET NEW COUCHES!!!!!! I can never doubt jusitn's love for me knowing he sold a gun so I could have new couches! He has always hated our couches downstairs because he actually ordered a different couch and while he was away elk hunting I decided I hated them and got different ones instead but for over 10 years we have enjoyed them. They guy who bought the couches was a very chatty fellow who spent 3 hours just sitting on the couch seeing if he liked it and talking to Justin about football. He was an engineer as well who shared Justins exact feelings on almost all football things. It was a very long sell. After he finally left we ran to a store and found a set via picture that we really liked and were on a good sale- but only until 6 pm (it was 430). We wanted to go look at others so we drove down to Ashley Furniture in a hurry to decide what to do. On the way there traffic was awful. We figured road construction but finally found out it was an overturned semi truck with onions spilling all over. Let me just say as a pregnant person the smell was over whelming. We got to Ashley and had only like 20 minutes to look and finally left and made a call to buy the set from the other place for a great price. I really hope its comfy. Bad news is that we wont have a couch until the week of January 11th. So Christmas morning we will all be on the floor!!! Brett and the dog are enjoying the extra running room. Its going to be weird we got really dark brown leather couches so its going to be a huge difference.


Sunday Brett and I put icing on Christmas Cookies, put together puzzles, went for 2 bear hunts, and just had a blast.



This just made me laugh a little. Today I made home made manicotti. It is the only thing that I can make from scratch that is just wonderful. Justin and I love it. Its not too hard to make but takes a ton of time. So after all is said and done- Brett still prefers Ravioli out of a can.... Silly Kid!

Merry Christmas Santa

I was able to track down the pictures of Brett on Santa's lap from a few Saturdays ago. I had forgotten my camera but there was a lady taking photos. I made a few calls and finally found them hanging in the cafeteria at Davis Hospital. The good news is now that I have photos I can stop searching for another Santa Claus to get pictures with.

Christmas came early.

Justin has been wanting to get Brett a rubber band gun for a while now. He has been searching the local stores like Cal Ranch, Sportsmans, etc and couldnt find them anywhere so he went online and found some rifles and handguns. Of course he couldnt just get Brett one and they have such a variety of different types so both boys got a Handgun and a Rifle. Justin got himself a Desert Eagle pistol. He wants one in real life so this is the next best thing. I just love how much fun they had when the UPS man got here tonight. It was priceless. It also gave us the opportunity to teach a little gun safety. All of our guns are locked up safe but it still doesnt hurt to talk about gun safety.


After a little practice with soda cans and He-man figures the boys went on a bear hunt. Here is the poor bear.


Brett and daddy sneaking up on the bear. Bretts little pants just wouldnt stay up.


Mommy even got into the fun, but the only goggles I could find came from a little kids tool kit


We are not running a terrorist camp here, but it kinda looks like it.


Brett practicing.

So a week ago Brett told Justin that Ritz cracker's smelled so bad they made him want to puke. Last night after eating a whole package of skittles he went up stairs and justin was eating Ritz again. Brett started to gag, ran down stairs and puked all over his carpet- Blue. Once he started to puke he couldnt stop. The reason he said he puked- the smell of ritz crackers. Now I understand from being pregnant that certain smells can make me vomit. This is the smell of the bathroom at my work mainly- but ritz crackers. He use to eat them.

Snowy Weekend

Our plans this weekend included driving to Price to exchange presents with my parents. There was a storm warning that included Sunday saying 1-2 feet of snow in the mountains so we decided not to go because Spanish Fork Canyon is horrible in the snow. We were kind of going back and forth on what we should do but when we woke up on Saturday we realized we made the right choice. We already had 2 inches of snow by 8 am. Its now 1 pm and it hasnt let up snowing at all. If I look at the news it still says- chance of flurries. We sold our 4 wheeler with plow this year so we are greatful to my parents for giving us their old one. I am so jealous of my in laws who are in Hawaii in 80 degree weather right now. Justin in his hat snow blowing... He wears this hat everywhere these days.
My little snow angel
I ate snow as a kid too and I am still alive.

We had a few accidents in Brett's bathroom lately. First it started with the porcelain garbage can breaking and then before I even replaced it the soap dispenser broke. Everything in there was white and purple with flowers so I decided since it will be a bathroom for 2 boys I might as well let them ditch the flowers. I went to the store to get something cool like spider man but all I could get was zoo animals. Brett's reaction was great. I thought he would think they were a little babyish but he loved it.



Brett is such a wonderful help to me for doing chores. Today he cleaned toilets, counter tops and mirrors as well as moved laundry to the laundry room for his mom whose back hurts. He was having so much fun and even though it slowed me down a bit it made the whole process enjoyable. After it was over he got to pick another toy from the basement. (He is still trying to earn them all back). Anyway Justin just loved that he picked his old Construx toys. He has had them for a while but had no interest in them as of yet. They keep him occupied for 2 hours this morning. It was great. I think Justin kind of enjoyed the whole thing as well. we looked it up on the internet and they havent made those toys since 1988. It sure makes you feel old when you realize your favorite childhood toys are more than 20 years old.


This is the first weekend that Brett is not having a nap at home since they are not napping at school either. Brett is very excited about this- I am a little sad because I am guessing if he doesnt nap I wont get to either.

Syrup/Brett

I got asked for the recipe for the syrup mentioned in the below post and am very embarrassed at just how easy it is to make this syrup and its 100% better than the bottled stuff. So here you go.

1 cup water- Bring to boil
Add 2 cups sugar to the boiling water.
1 cap full (probably a tsp) Vanilla extract
1 cap full (probably a tsp) Mapeline

Bring it all to a boil and remove from heat and viola your done. We usually make it and eat it nice and warm right away. Then just pour the extra into a plastic container and microwave it for about 30 seconds to heat it up each time. It stays good for a long time. Simple! I usually buy the mapleline in the blue and white box.

As for a Brett update- He is doing okay this week at school. They are trying something new with him. He is in the 4 year old class in the morning until 11 and then moves up to the kindergarten class for the afternoon. He is still struggling some at school but learning how to calm himself down without being destructive. The morning teacher just needs a little break. The good news for Brett is that he doesnt have to take a nap now!!!! He gets to play outside with the big kids instead. That might be a blessing or a problem for the teachers though as they have 2 extra hours with him awake- however...nap time was the worst time of day for him. Brett has been okay at night without a nap but is for sure ready to bed when we put him down at 8. He is still waking up around 7. With the bigger kids if he chooses to hit or kick one of them- they make sure he gets hit or kicked back harder. Its one of those lessons brett needs. So far he is doing well and holding his own. Instead of the complete and major break downs now he is crying instead and calms down faster. All in all its still a work in progress. Brett is also doing really well at home we have had a few normal 4 year old days but overall he is behaving well. Time out is no longer a struggle and usually with a little counting he provides the desired result. Brett is just a little to smart for his own britches- Hmmmm wonder where he gets that from. Brett also seems excited for the baby to come. 3 more months!

Justin picked up Brett early today and the power ended up being off from 1pm to 530 pm on a horribly cold day. They lasted until around 4 and then went shopping to get warm. I had to work a little late in Sandy and was able to meet them at TGIF's for dinner. Brett ate his favorite spinach dip, a bite of pizza and fries. I enjoyed my favorite pork chops, garlic potatoes and a yummy yummy ice cream and brownie! I must admit that sometimes splurging a little, having great food I didnt have to cook, and smiles on my boys faces is just the best way to come home for work! I am really lucky to have such a great family.

Sibling Class/Santa/Christmas Presents

On Saturday I took Brett to a Sibling Class at the hospital. Due to the weather there were only 2 attendees at the class. Brett was 4 and Wyatt who was 8. Brett was so fun. he had all sorts of answers for them. They asked him "Who do you think your mom will call first when the baby is born?" Of Course the answer was suppose to be himself but he said "the Dr.". He also told them that he didnt have to worry about a messy room because his mommy would clean it for him. We all know I am not the cleanest freak on earth..... Anyway it was pretty fun he got a shirt at the end that said "Im the big brother". When they were putting blankets on and holding the babies Brett bear only ended up on the ground a dozen times.





As we were leaving they said if we rush we might catch Santa in the parking lot. We drove around the hospital as fast as we could. I saw a reindeer being loaded up and luckily santa was still there but leaving. We rushed out of the car into the snow to catch him. He got a hug and got to see Santa but silly mommy left the camera which was there in the car. It would have been the most adorable picture. they were in falling snow on a sleigh and brett was smiling so big! I cant believe I did it but since they were packing up I didnt have time to grab the camera.

Brett is getting so big it amazes me. He has such a fun and challenging personality. I have to tell you Saturday was one of those challenging days. Coming home from the hospital class in Layton all the way to West Haven should only take 15 minutes. Due to the weather it took over 1 hour and 30 minutes. We just creeped home behind a truck salting the road. We even got to see Santa driving by on a fire truck. He said "wow he is fast" since we had just left the other santa at the hospital. I cant tell you how many accidents I saw. Brett was miserable. He had a good nap but then later on we took him to the grocery store. Justin, I and Brett let me just say no matter how bad my back hurts and I like the help Justin offers Brett is staying home from now on. He cried the whole time about how we got all the food we wanted and Brett didnt get any. He was even mad that we bought the dog 2 bones. While we were there we ran into someone from the day care who told Justin "We always know when Brett is mad... he is so loud the whole school knows".... nice reputation to have.......




Brett took a picture of me. I really hate having pictures of myself on the blog but as far as memories go I guess I better throw one in here very once in a while so Brett remembers his mom.


For Christmas each year for neighbors I have always just gave them store bought cookies. This year my mom gave me an idea to do our homemade maple syrup in cute bottles. Justins mom taught me how to make it. Its super easy and so good I cant even eat the store bought stuff anymore. I thought they turned out cute. I have only made the first 4 so far but I really liked the way it turned out and it actually looks like I took the time to make something homemade. In all it costs less than $1.50 per bottle and only around 15 minutes to make 4.

TGIF

Thank goodness its friday because if this happened on a monday I might not have dealt with my morning with as much humor as I did being that I know its the last day of the work week!
on my way to work after dropping brett off I coughed and gagged and puked up my chocolate milk from this morning. I havent thrown up for about 2 weeks so I was totally caught off gaurd. It was just at Thanksgiving that I took my barf bag and extra shirt out of the car for those just in cases. I couldnt pull over or hold it so I made it to the cup holder. Right on my coke and cell phones for work and home. Went right down the black berry cover. all over the cup holders down my shirt. I pulled over and cleaned up what I could with wet whips and put the coke outside the door to deal with later. So I forget about the coke and with the windows open I pulled away and drove right over it and it exploded over the whole car and into my open window. I had a meeting at 8 am with 10 people that I was in charge of so no time to go home and get a new shirt and shower. There was an old denim button down I have at my office so I put that on. I spent my lunch cleaning out my car and taking it to the car wash but I am still icky and need a shower ASAP. My Blackberry case got the worst of it. just a few more hours til the weekend! Cant wait!!!

This weekend should be quiet I know I need groceries and Brett has a 1 hour sibling class about how to be a big brother- holding, changing, and feeding. I hope he enjoys it.

Its begining to look a lot like Christmas!

I just love this time of year. I really just like being at home with family for Christmas. I had all my shopping done well before thanksgiving and we dont have any real Christmas traditions I just like having the house decorated and the music playing. I also love the smell of cinnamon and Christmas movies. We have already watched a few: 4 Christmas', Home Alone, Jingle All the Way, Curious Georges Christmas, The Grinch that stole Christmas (cartoon) and I am sure more will come. It all just makes me happy. Its so fun having Brett around who gets so excited about everything. Brett was not that excited to shop for a Christmas tree today, however when we got home and ready to decorate he was bouncing off the walls wanting to help with everything. After we got done we walked to the mailbox to finally mail off his letter he wrote a while back.






Brett has been so silly lately. He loves to sing but he takes a song and makes up his own nonsense words to it to be silly. Usually the songs include words like underwear, booty, fart, etc. So to get him really signing is a treasure not to forget

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Jackson 3 had a very nice and quiet Thanksgiving at home. Brett started it out by saying he was thankful for everything. When I asked him about the Pilgrims he said they came over on the Flower May. I figure for a four year old thats pretty darn close. We all had plenty to eat and tons of left overs. Brett chose to only eat ham dipped in honey and a roll. He did not want to partake of the yummy turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, Cranberry sauce, olives or corn. also we baked 3 pies this year. Brett insisted on a blueberry pie. When I found out they dont sell them at the store I got him cherry instead. Justin had dutch apple and I had pumpkin. But when it came to pie time Brett didnt want to even taste the cherry pie. For dinner we told him he can have whatever left overs he wants and he ended up eating fruit loops and toast! Funny kid. I am too stuffed to have any left overs!

Brett finished swimming lessons last night. He did so well. On the last day of class they turn on the equipment for 10 minutes. Brett had a blast. I love that he is so confident in himself that he can be brave in lessons and different surroundings.







On the baby front everything is going well. The due date is still March 11th and the baby is moving around a lot these days. Brett loves to feel him kick and then likes to yell down my throat to tell him to stop. Next weekend he will be going a sibling class. Its just a quick 1 hour class where they teach them how to hold, diaper and feed the baby. more just to teach being gentle than anything. Brett has days he is so excited and then the next day he wont talk about it.

Last Home Football Game

Last night Brett, Justin, Yia Yia, Papou and I went to the last Utah home football game. Only one game left at BYU next weekend and then a bowl game. Its been fun to have tickets this year with family there. We have had Nana, Grandpa, Matt, Whitney and Luke all join us for games. I must say I am kinda sad its over but after how cold it was yesterday I am kinda glad its over before it gets colder. Over all it was a blast. Last night we took Brett to the bookstore to get a sweatshirt. He was wearing his Weber State on there due to lack of anything red. While he was there he just had to have a football jersey! He really doesnt get that into the games, and would rather play with friends than go but its still a nice family outing. Here is a few pictures after we got home.




Before the game Brett went to a birthday party that was 2 hours of very physical play. He was so exhausted by the end of the day. Usually at night he lays in bed and reads to himself or plays with his animals but last night he said. Mommy I am exhausted please just turn the lights off." For being so tired he sure was a good kid all day.

Brett's letter to Santa

Brett wrote his letter to santa today.

It reads:

Dear Santa,
I would like a

Toy Motorcycle
4 wheeler black
Series 2
Bat Man Car

For christmas.

I will be good.

Brett



He told me he knows 4 wheelers are expensive so if he got a new one from Santa we could save his blue battery powered one for the baby so he could have one too since they cost so much money. So it would save us money. silly kid.

Sick/Art Area/1st fun snowfall

Well I think we are almost over this whole sick business. We took this weekend off to just relax around the house and get to 100%. Brett has been better for quite some time. Justin and I are about 90% now. We both ended up with Pneumonia but just have a cough now. Its been a rough 3 weeks. I think if we take it easy this weekend by next week we should be okay. On top of being sick Justin had very sad news as one of the professors in his department- Dr. Bob Summers passed away last weekend due to a sudden heart attack. Dr. Bob was Justin's favorite professor when he was a student at Weber 12 years ago and also now a colleague. Instead of a funeral he had a celebration of life at the billiard hall at Weber state. Both justin and I agree thats the way to have it. People were sad but it wasnt like a regular funeral where everyone was just crying. They had a slide show of him and people were talking about good memories.

Brett has been better for a while but with all this Dr. business he has been playing Dr. a lot lately. I can not even tell you how many times we have been to the Dr. lately. The funniest thing was when Brett told me to go and check the sick bear and then hide. I hide and then he just kept hiding. I asked what he was doing and he said he was the Dr. so he had to make them wait before he could walk in. Its pretty sad when a 4 year old can pick up on something like that enough to put it in their play.


The computer in brett's room finally gave out and Brett is so good on the computer now his daddy isnt nervous to have him use his Mac. So we took out the computer and made a little art area for coloring and work books. Brett has been having fun coloring there.



Today we had the first big snow fall. It was very windy and cold but Brett and his buddy Seth had a fun time out in the wind.



The best part was coming in for hot chocolate. Who knew that if you hid 6 cherry's under the whipping cream that you could keep 2 boys happy for an hour.