Happy Thanksgiving

Jared's first Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving here. Lots of good food and good company. My sister Susanna came out with her family and we had fun visiting and eating. I cooked my first turkey ever and it turned out really well. Turkey bags are great! We had all the traditional foods and enjoyed our day.

The Turkey Before

And After

Our Feast

Lisa and the drumstick

I have so much to be thankful for!

*Mark = Love forever and then some!
*Jared
*Mark's job
*A nice home
*Strong Personal Testimony
*Nature
*Books
*Modern Conveniences
*Family and Friends
*Holidays

This list could go on and on and on!

I think that being grateful is one of the most important things in life to make you happy. I think its really important to express appreciation daily and to take time to think about all that we have. Its much nicer to think of what we do have then what we don't.

I AM THANKFUL!

To get you in the Holiday Spirit

One week till Christmas decorations! Stores are decorated and some radio stations are playing only Christmas carols and I am so excited. Over the summer Mark and I were shopping in a baby clothes store and Mark found this cute Christmas outfit. (Sometimes its so hard to walk by all the adorable little girl Christmas dresses!! But we will find the perfect outfit for Jared) He insisted that we buy it even though they only had it in a newborn size and it seems very unlikely that it will still fit Jared at Christmas time. So just to make sure it was documented we did a practice Christmas card photo shoot. We need to practice some more, we will see how long Mark can last having his picture taken in a similar pose over and over again.

"Dear Santa: I've been good all year! ask my mommy."

He has been so good all year. We got pregnant in January and my pregnancy was so easy and he has not disappointed us since getting here, he is such a sweetheart. We love him!

I think its great that Jared is sticking his tongue out and the outfit talks about him being good all year. What a great sense of humor this kid has.



Only 30 days till we'll be home for Christmas!
We tried a pajama picture but I don't like it enough to send out so we will try again, suggestions?

Look at that smile!

Last week Mark got his braces off! He got braces put on while we were in Egypt but waited a little too long to get them on so he still had them on when we came home. Once we got to Greeley he went to an orthodontist there and he took off the Egypt braces and put on new ones. Mark has had them on for about 27 months. Unfortunately in the process of taking off the cement and brackets the person taking them off chipped off some of the enamel on two of Mark's teeth so he has to go to the dentist and get it fixed. The orthodontist was very nice though and he called Mark personally and apologized and said that as soon as Mark got it corrected to please send him the bill and they would pay for it. So Mark's bottom teeth are a little sensitive but he is enjoying having his braces off, me too!!

Mark and Dr. Kloberdanz

One fabulous month later

October 14 2009

Its amazing that Jared has already been with us for one month. He is such a sweet baby and we are so glad that he is here in our family! I am really enjoying being a mom, it makes me so happy. I appreciate Mark working so hard so that I can stay home with Jared and I appreciate all of Mark's help with Jared when he is home. The first month has gone really well (and fast) and we look forward to all the ones to come. We are a happy family!

November 14 2009



Look at that tummy!



*I had Jared weighed on Tuesday and he was 9.4 pounds. He is growing so much! He is also becoming much more alert when he is awake. It's so fun.

Mail

I love getting mail! Having gone without real mail service for 2 1/2 years once upon a time in my life I really appreciate The United States Postal Office. I don't even mind the long lines that are often there or the fact that stamps increase in price every year it feels like. (Maybe I do mind that a little are they trying to make those of us who still try to send real mail stop?) Since Jared has joined our family we have been getting lots of fun cards and packages which makes me like the mail system even more. Well yesterday Jared and I went on a little walk (in the beautiful 60 degree sunny fall weather) and stopped to get the mail and we got the funniest letter in the mail. As you may recall about 6 weeks ago we got a letter in the mail from a local Toyota dealership expressing interest in our 2007 Corolla because they had a shortage on their lot. Well yesterday we got a letter in the mail from the same dealership expressing interest in our Toyota Highlander because they had a shortage on the lot and if we were interested we could bring it in and trade it in for a 2008 or 2009 model. I read it over and just burst out laughing and then shook my head at the ridiculousness of the letter. Hmmm, yes I would like to trade in the car that everyone wanted and that we just bought a month ago. Silly Silly Silly, that was a waste of a 44 cent stamp if you ask me. But it did give Mark and I a good laugh so that was nice.
Jared also got his first official piece of mail addressed to himself yesterday, his social security card came. It also made me laugh to see an envelope addressed to my 3 week old from an official government agency. So now we have 3 copies of his birth certificate and his Social Security Card so he is perfectly legit should anyone question him.

So again I love the mail it makes me happy, and sometimes it even makes me laugh.



And this made me laugh too, it looks like he is trying to scare us, BOO!



Just because he's adorable!

The weekend

On Friday I took Jared to his 2 week appointment and got the great and reassuring news that Jared is doing so good. He is up to 8.2 pounds and is 21 inches long. He did have an "accident" on the scale when the nurse asked me to take off his diaper to weigh him but other then that it was an uneventful appointment. I really like our pediatrician he is great. I was a little nervous about the drive over there because we had 2 snow days this week so the roads were pretty yucky Friday morning when I took him in. (Note to self, never schedule an appointment before 10:00 again! although we did get there 5 minutes early, yay for us!) It made me really happy that we had traded in the Corolla I just have very little bad road condition experience, growing up in California and all, I felt much more confident in our Highlander. It was fun to go to to the appointment and hear the Jared is doing so well. The Doctor said that since Jared showed no problem gaining weight to go ahead and let him sleep as long as he wants at night. So far he is a very regular 3- 3 1/2 hour kid but maybe he will go a little longer every now and then. Its just nice to know if he wants to sleep it won't be a problem. If I asked any lactation specialist she would never allow that!
What has been nice this week is that we had those 2 really cold snowy days and then Friday was sunny and 55 and all the snow melted! I am told this is the norm here and am really looking forward to the winter, Saturday was the most perfect fall day. We went to the store and got a stroller for Jared and went on our first family walk. Next week is supposed to be beautiful also so I hope to put the stroller to good use before it gets too cold. We were were going to wait to get one in the Spring but I think we will get some good use out of it before then. I do have to remind myself to take it easy though because going on the walk did make me a little sore and pretty tired but it was so nice to be outside and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. I think it was good for Jared too.

I just love the fall!!

We only got 2 trick or treaters last night but we also went over to some friends house to play games so who knows if more came. It was our first "night out" with Jared and it went well. It is strange to be the one who has to take a break in a game to feed their baby. I am glad we went out. I need to get out and just figure out how to do it. My mom got this cute outfit for Jared that had these cute little dinosaur feet so we put it on Jared yesterday as his costume.