Sledding with the Schipaanboord's

We had a great time on Christmas Eve, sledding at Sugarhouse Park. It was warmer weather when we got there and we took off our hats and gloves. Within 30 minutes though, a storm came in and we were all freezing. It was fun though. Jan made chili and also brought hot chocolate and doughnuts. By the end we were all shivering, except Ben. He was wondering why we were all wanting to leave. He was sad when we finally pulled him away from the hill. Also, it was a monumental day for Josh. Jake took him down with him... TWICE, against my wishes. Josh seemed to enjoy it, or at least tolerate it. We loved being together with family.

I have more pics to post, but my parents are in town for the holidays and then we are heading to Vegas for my brother's wedding, so I'll wait to post again until I have pics from their visit and our trip. We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas.

Optimus Prime... or IS it??

Today was Ben's transformer birthday party (he's turning 5 on the 16th) and I would say overall it was a success. Besides Ben's bloody nose (smacked his face on the floor when he was running around excited that everyone was here) and the furnace not working (the pilot light won't stay lit so it's getting fixed tomorrow), everything else went great. We had 14 of Ben's friends and their siblings here and it was wonderful to have them all come. Ben was so excited to take the kids on a tour of the house, since these were really our first official kid visitors since we have moved in. We played pin the face on optimus prime, decorated Ben as a transformer, and had a pull-string pinata in the garage. Ben was definitely the star today, which didn't bode well for Emma. I kept reminding her she would get presents for Christmas and her birthday was only in 3 months, but that still didn't make her feel better. It was hard seeing her brother get attention and gifts, but after everyone left, she calmed down and had fun playing with all Ben's new toys (with his permission, of course!) I love the picture of Ben blowing out the candle and Emma blowing too. I'm sure she will have a hay day being the "princess" on her birthday in March. Anyway, thanks to all our wonderful friends who came and made this day great. We love you guys!

PS No one took any cupcakes or pizza like I asked. Now I have 2 pizzas in our fridge and about 15 cupcakes that we do not need sitting on my kitchen counter! :)

I'm an AUNT... again! :)

My best friend, Naomi, had her first baby today, December 12, 2007. Hayden David Nicholes was born at 10:17am and weighed 9 lbs. and was 21 3/4". (I LOVE his hair!)

It made me teary-eyed, reading Jeremy's e-mail announcing the birth of their son. Naomi is a sister to me and we have been friends for about 15 years. They tried for awhile to get pregnant and I was so excited when she told me she was due only a few weeks after me, in August, and then she miscarried last Christmas. Thankfully though, she now has her little Hayden and her and the baby seem to be doing well. I still haven't talked to her yet, but will call tomorrow once she has had some time to rest (she went through 30 hours of labor!) I love you, Nom, and I couldn't be happier for you guys. I just wish I could be there in person to give you, Jeremy, and Hayden my love. Congrats, you guys! All my love, Jamie

Nostalgic Times

As I videotaped the kids and Jake decorating the Christmas tree, I was hit with immense feelings of nostalgia. I love this time of year for many reasons and it brings back memories of my childhood. I loved watching Ben and Emma get so excited, pulling out each individual ornament and plotting the perfect spot for it on the tree. One of my favorite things to do at Christmas time, a favorite since I was a teenager, is to come downstairs during the middle of the night, sit on the couch w/a fire going, all bundled up and just look at the Christmas tree lit up. It's so relaxing and calming. I'm looking forward to doing that very thing many times over the next couple weeks.

I love that Jake and I are developing our own family memories and hopefully they will become meaningful to our children, like our childhood memories have become to us. You really see the "magic" happen when you look into your little kids' eyes and see their excitement. Okay, enough cheese. :)

PS Take a look at the last pic. Yes, we got dumped on... AGAIN! I'm happy to report though, our Honda Odyssey made it just fine during the snowstorm. We went to our Ward Christmas Breakfast this morning at 8am and had to plow our own parking spot with the front of our car. It was quite the experience. Jake was nice enough to get our Christmas tree right after the breakfast, even though it was still snowing. He shoved the tree in the back of our van and put it up in our living room while it was still wet (hoping it would dry faster than in the garage, so we could decorate it soon.) As we put it in the stand, I held it straight as he tightened. I looked at the tree after he was done and noticed it wasn't straight (this happened four times), then I finally was okay with how it looked (even though it's still a tiny bit "off.") To say the least, Jake was not happy I made him get down on his hands and knees that many times with the melting snow dripping on him, just to move the tree a few inches. Sorry, babe. That's what you get for marrying someone with anal tendencies. :)

Grammy's Birthday Party

It was my Grammy's birthday yesterday. I'm not sure if she wants me broadcasting her age on the internet, so I won't, but let's just say she is still very young! We went to my Aunt Teresa and Uncle Kristen's house for a little party. It was fun to chat with everyone, eat ice cream and Texas sheet cake made from scratch (yum! Thanks, Teresa), and watch Grammy open her presents. This was the first time I can remember spending Grammy's birthday together with her. I feel very lucky to be living so close to my grandparents, especially now that I have my own kids and they can develop a close relationship with their great-grandparents. All growing up they lived in southern California and we lived in Oregon, so we didn't see them much. Plus, they served in Guatemala for 3 years as Temple President and Matron, served in Chile for 1 1/2 years, in Ecuador as Mission President for 3 years, and in Colombia helping with the Perpetual Education Fund for over a year and came home because of health reasons. Anyway, they have been out of the country for almost 10 years, off and on, and although we know they were doing what the Lord wanted them to do, it was still hard for us and them to miss out on so much with the grandkids and great-grandkids. Hopefully they are here to stay now, barely 20 minutes from our house! I love them both so much. I have always felt a special closeness with my Grammy. Maybe it's because I'm her oldest granddaughter. Who knows. I'm just very grateful for them and their examples. Happy 29th Birthday, Grammy!

My Adorable Joshua

It's hard to believe my little guy is four months already. Being the third child, I sometimes refer to him as "the forgotten one," not because I "forget" him but because the older two desire constant attention and Josh many times gets his needs met last. He is such a patient and sweet baby. He melts my heart with his gummy grins and loud squeals and coos. I know I need to document more of him now because he is changing so fast. It's hard to believe that a year from now he will be walking around, playing with his siblings. He really is a joy in our home, just like the rest of our kids.

The first picture is of Josh his first time out in the snow. I bundled him up and then put him in my sling and wrapped my coat around him. He seemed pretty content, even with the cold wind blowing at him. (Don't you love those cheeks! They are so fun to kiss!) The next two are of him and Truman getting some alone time, which rarely happens because the kids like to huddle around Josh and protect him. The last two were taken after Truman left. Josh is definitely my sweet little guy!

The Kids' Rooms (UPDATED)

Jake's mom came over and helped me finish up the kids' rooms today. What do you think? When Jake saw the first coat of pink in Emma's room he said "My retinas are burning." He says it's fine now, just too much pink, but what do you expect with a 2 1/2 year old who LOVES pink?! After we were all finished, Emma came in and said "Mom, I LOOOOVVVE my room. It's pink." That was all I needed to hear to make the day worth it. I'm excited to really start decorating it. I'm going to put up some white valances. I'm still trying to decide what I want to do with Ben's room. (By the way, I realize the letters above his bed are a bit high but we plan on buying him a headboard and footboard so I tried to compensate for that.) Ben wants to help me decorate his room so I'm betting we are going to have pretty "creative" things going on in there. I'm just excited for them to finally have a space they can love and call their own.

** Update: So, I updated the post with pictures of the kids' rooms with stuff on their walls. I was going to use some cute Sorry-eyed Doll (I think that's what they are called) pictures that Jake's dad had on his wall as a kid for Emma's room, but when we got Michael's to get frames for them, Emma spotted the Princess pictures (50% off right now!) and she had to have them. Of course, this turned into a "Mom, I want something on my wall too" from Ben and he said he wanted a Transformers poster. We headed to Shopko and I'm very glad they had a wide range of kids' posters. Ben was able to pic a transformers poster (1 out of 3 to choose from) and then he wanted a CARS poster. He can't wait to show dad when he gets home from work... neither can I. :)

HUGE snow storm

We woke up this morning and it was snowing, and it kept snowing, and snowing, and snowing. It didn't stop until late this afternoon and we got over a foot of snow. The picture of the house was taken about an hour after it stopped snowing. The others pics were taken yesterday. You can tell there wasn't that much, until today's storm. The kids are excited to play in it! Also, take a good look at the last picture. Yes, we have a flying dog. Truman's new game is jumping over the small hedges in our backyard. He thinks he's a ballet dancer, leaping through the air with such grace.

Pink Eye & First Attempt at Solids

So, I realize the last few posts have been mainly about our new house and we definitely have more news than just that (although, it is BIG news for us.) Here are a couple other "happenings" in the family.

#1 Ben has pink eye again, the poor guy. He had it at the end of September and now has it again. Thank goodness I kept the eye drops. I dropped him off at his last day of preschool this morning and when I picked him up I noticed his eye was all goopy. There is nothing better than spreading acute conjunctivitis to your friends as a final goodbye. Ben is washing his hands constantly now and we are doing lots of laundry. I'm hoping no one else gets it. Emma got it from him last time. YIKES.

#2 (I'm not putting these two events in any order of importance, they are just the order I downloaded the pics... didn't want you to think I don't love my little Joshua.) Josh had his 4-month well check-up today. He is 50% for weight and 92% for height... he's definitely a Schipaanboord! The doctor said he looks like a 6-month old. When she put him on the table on his tummy he was trying to move all over and she said he's a strong little guy... but we already knew that. I attempted feeding him rice cereal for the first time tonight. He wasn't too sure of it (as you can see in the first picture) but then he was okay with it after a couple more bites. He's such a sweet little boy. I'm really blessed to have such beautiful children.

#3 Pictures of the inside of the house are coming, I promise. It took a little bit longer than planned to do Ben's room. We are painting Emma's on Saturday, and I'm trying to do the main bath as well. I don't know if I will get it done soon though, too many projects and so little time (and money!)

All Moved In

Let's just say, it's been a long couple of days. We all know moving is a pain, but you seem to forget how horrible it really is until you go through it again. Jake and I realized this is our 8th move in our 6 1/2 years of marriage. We are hoping this was the last one for quite some time! (The picture was taken the day after we moved in, on our way to church. Whitney was so kind to take it. Emma was a little grumpy because she was cold. Josh looks warm and toasty though.)

We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. As frustrating as moving can be, it would have been much worse if we didn't have so many great people helping us out. Thanks to Whitney, who came up for her Thanksgiving Break and got much more than she bargained for (more than just turkey and stuffing!) She made the whole weekend a lot easier on us. Also, thanks to all of Jake's family who are always here when we need them, and so willing to do whatever is needed. Thank you Grammy and Grandpa, Kristen, Teresa, Shilo, Tom Christopherson, and James Harris. If we were rich I would buy you all something real nice, but since we're not, a nice little "thank you" will have to do. ;)

As for the house, we LOVE it! If I would have known owning a home felt this good, we would have tried to buy sooner. Jake and I feel very blessed to be in such a beautiful house. We went to our new ward on Sunday and they were all very welcoming. In fact, the Bishop took us to each of our classes (even the kids' to their classes) and everyone seemed to flock to us, wanting to meet us. It felt wonderful. We learned there are two families just a block away with boys around Ben's age. There are two girls who are almost exactly Emma's age too. I'm excited to start planning some playdates.

The last three pictures are of the kids "helping" me pack last week. I had to throw those in there because it was too funny. They loved playing with all the boxes and Emma actually grew quite attached to one box and was sad to see it go when we finally had to use it. Why do we even buy them expensive toys?? I say 5 cardboard boxes for each kid this Christmas and they will be set!

By the way, I'm working on getting some pics up of the house. Jake's mom is helping me paint the kids' rooms tomorrow, so I will make sure to post pics after we are finished. Keep checking back for more fun at the Schipaanboord's!

Officially HOME OWNERS!!!

Jake and I are officially home owners. We closed on our house today. It was pretty overwhelming, feeling like you're signing your life away. There were so many papers to initial and sign. I just hope we didn't promise the bank our firstborn child (we very well could have!) We are excited though to finally have a place to call our own. We get the keys tomorrow morning and then we are going to start moving what we have packed during the week. The "BIG" move is on Saturday at 9am... so if any of you are totally bored and have nothing else to do, come on over. We promise to be done by the U/BYU football game at noon, and we will have doughnuts and gatorade for everyone... is that bribery or what?!!

My Cute Kids

So, even though I've been feeling rotten, the kids are still here being as cute and funny as ever. They have been very attention-deprived this last week and a half, with me on the couch with a blanket most of the day... but they are troopers and will pull through. :) Aren't they cute?!! (And don't ask me what Ben was laughing at, I have no clue!) As for the pneumonia, I've been on meds now for about 2 1/2 days and I already feel a lot better, still weak, but much better than I was Monday morning. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers, groceries, and dinners. We have such wonderful friends and family!

Pneumonia

Pneumonia: an inflammation of the lung caused by infection with bacteria, viruses, and other organisms.

So, here I thought I was slowly getting better. On Sunday night I woke up twice in tears though because I couldn't breathe and was in a lot of pain. Jake had been telling me all week to go to the doctor and the superwoman inside me said "no way, I can ride this out." Well, I finally broke down yesterday and saw a doc and now I have full blown pneumonia, exactly what you want a week before you move. Of course, Jake was right (yes, I did just say that.) Now I'm just trying to take it easy and hopefully by the end of the week I'll have most of my energy back.

My Sweet Husband

These pictures were taken last night. I still have the flu and Josh was being fussy. He wouldn't nurse so I finally put my finger in his mouth and he sucked on it and fell asleep (obviously, so did I.) The best part about this is that my husband was so sweet as to take a picture of me looking like death. Then he took it one step further and used the first picture as our computer's screensaver. It's nice to know my husband has a sense of humor during times like these. :) (love you, honey!)

The House

So, we had the appraisal done last week and found out on Monday the house appraised for 7K less than what we offered. It turned out to be in our favor because the owners negotiated and now we're getting the house for less. It looks like we will be closing on Nov. 19th and moving in the weekend after Thanksgiving. We are excited and know the Lord is guiding us to where we are needed.

Love to all,
Jamie

PS I'm in a drug-filled daze right now, as I type this at 1:26am. I started getting the chills yesterday and feeling nauseous. Hopefully I'll be 100% very soon.

Halloween 2007

Halloween was a success! The kids were counting down the minutes (literally!) until it was time to trick-or-treat. Emma LOVED getting primped. We curled her hair, put on her tiarra, and she even got to wear some of mom's pink lipstick. She adored the "girly" attention. Ben was a little sidetracked all night because he earned a trip to Toys R Us for doing 10 good deeds for Jake and I. So, two hours before we headed out I took him there and let him pick out one toy (of course it was a Pokemon ball with Croagunk in it. He's holding it up in the pic. If you're wondering, just ask!)

We went down to Jake's old neighborhood and trick-or-treated at Grandma's house and a few others in his parents' ward. (I bought a bag of candy from Costco and put it in a bowl and left it on our porch because we knew we wouldn't be around much last night. Well, when we got back around 8:30pm, it looked like not one piece of candy had been taken. Then we only had 3 families come trick-or-treat and that was it. To say the least... we have a lot of unwanted candy at our house right now! If you want some, PLEASE come over!!)