What the HECK?!!

Yes, I realize my post has a lame title but really, this is exactly what every Utahan is thinking today. Check out the first pics that were taken yesterday. It was sunny, blue sky, with weather in the high 70's. The kids and I spent all day outside. We went to the zoo for a couple hours and then spent the afternoon in the backyard, playing hide-and-go-seek and swinging on the swings. It was a beautiful day (I think all of us got small sunburns!)

Now here is the picture I took 5 minutes ago! It's 36 degrees and SNOWING! Thank goodness for Malaysia... 80 degree weather sounds wonderful right now. Only 8 days until we leave!! Sunny weather... here we come!

Utah Bar Results Are IN...

Jake found out this morning that he PASSED!!! I was at a friend's baby shower and he called my cell. Here is how the conversation went, practically word-for-word:

Me: "Hey."
Jake: "Hey. (breathing heavily) So bar results are in."
Me: "And? You passed!"
Jake: "I failed it."
Me: "Whatever. You passed."
Jake: "Yeah, I passed."
Me: "That's awesome! Good job, babe!"
Jake: "Thanks. Okay, bye."

Here is where the results are posted on the web:

http://www.utahbar.org/admissions/february_2008_examresults.html

(His ID # is 18525.)

When we found out Jake passed the Oregon bar in 2006 it was a monumental day. We called everyone we could think of and shared the exciting news. We had family and friends stalking the Oregon Bar's website that day, waiting for the results to be posted. Now, being the second time around, it's still exciting but the moment definitely wasn't as dramatic as it was 2 years ago. Even though we're not calling everyone we know, shouting it to the world, I hope Jake knows how proud I am of him. He is incredibly smart and a very talented man. I'm so lucky to be married to him. Good job, babe!

Some of Our Favorite Things...

JAKE'S FAVORITE THINGS

Jake LOVES his Blackberry phone he got for his birthday. He likes getting his e-mails at a moment's notice, checking scores on the internet, and having a phone that is solely HIS. We have shared one cell phone for years and now we both have our own.

Jake lives for baseball. He's currently in a Fantasy Baseball league (has done it for the past couple years.) He LOVES the Red Sox and just wishes he lived closer to Boston so he could have season tickets to Fenway. He just bought Ben his first glove and a few balls and enjoys throwing the ball around on Saturdays. (I think Jake enjoys it just as much as Ben does!)

JAMIE'S FAVORITE THINGS

I get a rush when I find cute clothes for great deals. My favorite (and cheap) places: DI and garage sales. I can't wait for garage sale season to start up. (All the clothes above were bought at DI over the past couple weeks.) I admit it, I have a problem. :) I remember going to garage sales and DI with my mom when I was younger. At the time I didn't like spending the time to rummage through crap and spend hours looking only to come out with 2 shirts and 1 pair of pants... but, now I thrive doing it. Of course with three kids it's kind of hard going through 10 racks at DI, but you learn to go fast. :)

I heard many people thought Jack Johnson's new album was ho-hum, just like all his other albums. Well, I have to say I LOVE track #4, "Angel." If you haven't heard it yet, listen to it on Youtube. It's a really short song, but so pretty. I play it a couple times in a row in our car and Ben has asked me twice now "Why is this song playing again?" I can't help it. It's just that good. Give it a listen and tell me what you think.

BEN'S FAVORITE THINGS

It seems that Ben is going through a "camo phase." The last couple times we have gone to Old Navy I told Ben he could pick out something. As you can see from above, we have a theme going. :) (I also forgot to include in the pic his camo swim trunks he picked out two months ago.)

Ben has loved Mariokart for years but has just discovered this little gem, Cruisin' USA for Nintendo 64. He told me a few days ago that this game is "just SO COOL!"

EMMA'S FAVORITE THINGS

Emma and I share a bowl of cereal every morning for breakfast. Her latest craze is Lucky Charms and I have to feed her the pink marshmellows first, of course.

Emma LOVES her pink clothes and I'm having trouble getting her to wear anything that isn't pink, have hearts, a bow, or flowers on it. Her two favorite pieces of clothing at the moment are pictured above (her new heart skirt we got at Kohl's yesterday and her Old Navy heart swimsuit, the one she tells everyone she is going to wear at the beach in Malaysia!)

JOSH'S FAVORITE THINGS

Josh loves swinging in the backyard. We just bought this from Lowe's and hooked it up to the swing set. Josh could stay swinging in this for hours if I let him.

He loves crawling at lightning speed to Truman's dog dish, stuffing a handful of this yummy goodness into his mouth before I catch him. (GAG!)

I'm too cool to nurse

Josh, now 8 1/2 months old, has decided he is finished nursing. We are going on our fourth day now of him not eating and I'm really quite sad about it. I thought at first he was just sick, maybe Emma shared her ear infection with him, but no... he's perfectly fine. It's so odd! I nursed him Thursday night and then Friday morning he didn't want to have anything to do with it. I tried 5 different times that morning and nothing, just crying and wanting to sit up. I thought maybe he wasn't hungry so made a bottle to test that theory, and lo and behold, he chugs down nearly 8 OUNCES! I have tried to feed him when he's in a great mood and all he does is bite my nipple and then smile at me as he's doing it... OUCH! (Thank goodness he only has two teeth!) I'm really having a hard time with it. I love nursing Josh in the morning right after he wakes up and right before bed time, to let him unwind. I guess it's just weird to me now because I've always been the one to start weaning the kids but this time, Josh is the one in-control. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. :)

Also, I was thinking yesterday how this could be it for me. Jake has mentioned several times how he feels three is a great number and he is happy where we are at. I hate being pregnant, but still thought we would have one more. It's not to say we won't for sure, but still, it's a huge possibility that we could be done and I guess I'm not emotionally prepared for that, especially with my little munchkin deciding he's too old to nurse. I thought I still had a good 4 or 5 months left with him. Oh well. I just better savor this time as he crawls around the house, eating Truman's food and giving me big slobbery kisses. Soon he won't want to have anything to do with me... SIGH.

(As for the pics: 1. I took this one today after we got home from Costco. He was in such a happy mood (which he usually is, 99% of the time!) 2. Josh loves Truman and when I put the dog outside, Josh will pull himself up to the window and stare at him. The last two pics are of Jake's dad feeding Josh nutella and whipped cream. As you can see... Josh is in heaven!)

My new love

We bought a new Whirlpool washer a week ago and I'm in love. This is the first new appliance we have ever bought. It has no bells or whistles, the bottom of the line model, but we don't care. It's quiet, drains well, and most importantly, washes our clothes. :) Our old washer was one my parents gave us (bought in '99 I think.) It's been a great little washer for the past couple years but the past two weeks it was acting weird. It wouldn't drain completely and at the end of the cycle our clothes were still sopping wet. They had to be wrung out and many were still soapy. We figured it had had a good run, nearly 10 years, and it was time to buy a new one. Hopefully our new washer will last 10+ years too.

Glencoe Class of '99 Reunion Blog

I've received e-mails over the past few months asking about our 10-year reunion next year and decided to create a reunion blog. Here is the link:

www.glencoe99reunion.blogspot.com

Feel free to forward it on to any who graduated with us and I will make sure to update it with the latest plans the Senior Class committee comes up with. Also, please send pictures and your life update too so we can post them for all to see. I will eventually make a slideshow from all the info I get and will play it at the reunion.

It's weird to think we have been out of high school for 9 years now. I feel like such a different person from where I was back then. I think I'm a little more mature now (hopefully, right?!) I have a husband, three kids, mortgage, and a college degree under my belt. I'm happy to say I'm exactly where I want to be at this point in my life. I have long-term career goals I've set for myself and know one day I will accomplish them. For now, my children are my first priority and I wouldn't have it any other way.

As I've been looking through my yearbook, e-mailing old friends, and brainstorming ideas for our reunion, it's been a weird and nostalgic experience. When I was elected senior class president I knew one of my main jobs would be overseeing the planning of all reunions and at the time I wanted nothing more than to be right in the middle of all the "fun." Now I'm wondering what that crazy 17-year old was thinking!! :) All joking aside, I'm excited to start working with my committee again and meeting up with friends I haven't seen in years. Come on over to the blog, my fellow '99 classmates, and we will get this ball rolling!

It's been crazy!

I figured it was time for a much needed update. I don't know about the rest of you but man, it seems like life just got crazy these past few weeks. We have had all sorts of fun things happening in the Schipaanboord household.

I'm trying to write everything in chronological order (past events to most recent) but just had to put these two pictures of Josh up first (even though they happened today) because I believe they are worthy of first place in this massive post. My dear brother-in-law, Jake, saw Josh drooling over his white cake w/strawberries and whipped cream tonight. He let Josh have a little lick and Josh instantly turned into a ravaging monster. This little sugar binge kept Josh wired all night. He could turn into a sugar addict if we're not careful!

Emma and her two cousins, Hannah and Isabelle, went with me and Melanie (my sister-in-law) to see Disney's Princess on Ice on the 15th. They had a blast and Emma was in heaven (except for the part where Maleficent turned into a dragon and spit out fire at Prince Phillip.) Emma put her hand on my leg and told me that was scary. Other than that though, the princesses enchanted her and she had the time of her life. To be honest, I had a great time too. I've never been to a show like that and it was fun to see Emma so excited.

The biggest news is Jake turned 29 yesterday. I planned a surprise party for him and invited all his good friends from high school and our closest friends from law school. I had to be so sneaky and told hundreds of lies during the week, just to keep it a surprise. I had our neighbors pretend they invited us over for pizza to celebrate Jake's birthday. To say the least, Jake was not thrilled about spending his birthday at our 50-year old neighbors' house and he let me know his feelings quite a few times during the week. We got there and had a great time talking with them, enjoying their company and I got the signal from the party folk (my cell vibrated) and so I let Susi (our neighbor) know it was time and she asked Jake to get some ice for her, since their ice maker was broken. Jake went home to get a bucket full and all our friends were in our kitchen, waiting for him. It was great! Jake had no clue and felt pretty guilty afterward about all his whining and complaining all week. It was a wonderful night. Thanks to all our friends for coming, and thanks to the Mabey's for being such great neighbors and helping me lie and deceive my husband! Happy Birthday, baby. I love you. :)

Last, but not least, Easter. Our Easter was wonderful. I came out of our church meetings spiritually fed, so grateful for the life of our Savior and the gift He gave to us all. As for the festivities, we spent most of the weekend with Jake's family coloring eggs, flying kites, nice dinner, playing with Katie and Jake's rabbits, egg hunt, etc. The kids had a blast, and so did the adults. I love weekends like these, creating special memories with the family. There is nothing better. It reminds me again of how blessed Jake and I are to be back in Utah, with a great job, wonderful house, and near a lot of family.

Now we are caught up to the present. Ben is sick with a 102 temp. He said he didn't feel very good after church and was lethargic all night at Grandma and Grandpa Schipaanboord's. The poor guy is miserable. Hopefully a good night's sleep will help him feel better. I also forgot to mention an update on my wisdom tooth extraction a few weeks ago. It went great... probably the easiest thing I have ever done! I got a couple shots to numb me, I heard two very short cracking sounds (no pain though) and the tooth was out (yes, there was only one!) I had gauze in my mouth for the night and then after that I was good to go. Piece of cake! Jake reminds me if I would have had all four out it would have been much worse, like what he experienced. Well, I'm thankful for my sweet luck. I'll take one wisdom tooth over four any day. Also, my bronchitis seems to still be lingering. I thought I was getting better for a few days and now I'm back to this annoying respiratory crap. I have a bad cough and sound like a chain smoker. I'll tell you, I'm so ready to be 100% healthy. I told Jake how annoyed I am about this because I can't go running when my lungs are at 50% capacity! Hopefully our household will be 100% healthy very soon!