Happy Second Birthday Little Man

So Friday was Joseph's 2nd birthday. The initial plan was to go out to lunch on Saturday as Josh was working Friday. Well, his job fell through so we decided to do something on Friday too.

I don't know why I didn't think of it before, but we decided to go to the museum at the Air Force base. Joseph loved it. He loved looking at all the planes. We looked at the planes outside first and when we walked inside, he got upset and wanted to go back and look at the "manes".




Once he realized there were planes inside, he calmed down a little. By the time we were done inside, it was snowing pretty hard outside. But Joseph still wanted to go out and see the planes. The planes fly right over our house on their way to maneuvers and Joseph loves to look out the window and watch them. Like I said before, I can't believe I didn't think of the museum earlier.

After the museum, we went to Toys R Us and a pet store and let him look at toys and animals. Basically we were just killing time until his doctor's appointment. Hooray!!! He's finally on the curve again. He's been dropping of the weight curve since he was 9 months. Finally he's back up to the first or second percentile. He's 23 pounds 6 ounces. And he's 34 inches tall. He's gained 3 inches since his last appointment. So we have this tall skinny little boy. I don't think he has an ounce of fat on his whole body.

Saturday we did some more celebrating, we took him out to lunch and gave him his cake.

Last year I made his cake. It was more than I ever want to deal with again. I spent over 3 hours and 30 dollars on his cake last year. I figured, if we ever do a decorated cake again, it will come from a bakery. So we ordered a Lightning McQueen cake for his birthday. He loved it. He's been playing with Lightning ever since.


All in all, he had a fun birthday and we are trying to get used to having a two year old around. We love our little boy and love watching him grow into a little man. Hope you had a great day, Joseph. Happy Birthday.

So Little Time

I can't believe how much has happened since the last time I posted. On Saturday (6th) Josh and I went out to dinner and a movie for our anniversary. It was a nice relaxing day.

The next day I wasn't feeling too well so I skipped choir practice and took a nap before church. At church I started feeling better until the last hour (Young Women). Luckily with it being the first Sunday, I didn't have to teach a lesson. I just sat there feeling not good. After class I went to get Joseph and knew something was wrong. I told Josh we needed to go to the hospital.

We went home, changed and drove to the hospital. When we got there they confirmed my suspicions that I was having a miscarriage. I spent the next three days bleeding and cramping. Not too fun.

It's taken me about a week and a half to get better. I still get really light headed when I stand up. I know I lost a lot of blood. I didn't even know a person could lose that much blood and still be okay. But I'm getting a lot of my strength back and I'm starting to feel better emotionally.

I'm so glad we have Joseph here. He has helped me so much. Even though he has kept me from getting the rest I need, he has also kept me from getting too depressed. I was also greatly blessed with loving friends and family who have visited and brought meals and love.

Thanks to everyone who has sent prayers, love and concern our way.

Happy Anniversary

So today is Josh's and mine 5 anniversary. In some ways I can't believe we are already at 5 years and in other ways, it feels like we've been married a lot longer than that.

Tomorrow we have a hot date of dinner and a movie. It's my turn to plan this year (I have the odds he has the evens). My initial plan was to go snowshoeing during the day, then have dinner, and finish it all up at Crystal Hot Springs. Well, with my fall a couple weeks ago and all the avalanches they've had lately, I figured that wasn't a good idea. Then the whole pregnant thing makes going to the Hot Springs not a good idea. So we did a lot of last minute modification. But I really don't care what we do, as long as we are together. And we get to go out and leave Joseph with a babysitter. Not something that happens very often. Very excited about that.

I love being married to Josh. Sure, we have our moments, but I think every married couple does. But he really is my best friend. He's the only man I know who will keep the kitchen spotless and cook so I don't have to be around food any more than I have to (sure way to kick off the morning sickness). He is truly a blessing in my life.

Jennifer = accident waiting to happen

So my body has just recently gotten over falling off a chair and almost breaking my ribs. My breastbone finally stopped hurting every time I put pressure on it.

I celebrated too soon.

Yesterday we had Julie de Azevedo come do a workshop for our stake (so good). On the way to the stakehouse (1 block away) I slipped and landed hard on my tailbone. I have hardly been able to walk. I can't stand up or sit down. Luckily Josh has been around to clean the house and make food for Joseph and I. I hope this doesn't hurt for too long, because being laid up is not helping anyone around here. Maybe I should just not go anywhere or climb on anything.

On another note, today in church the family that sat behind us has a little girl about 6 months younger than Joseph. She had a bag of chex snack mix and was sharing it with Joseph. Every time he tried to get her attention he'd say "baby, baby" I kept trying to explain to him that they are almost the same age and she is not a baby. Silly kids.

Do you know HIM?

So today our Young Women lesson was on coming to know our Savior. We talked about people we know (famous people etc) and people we really KNOW. I thought a lot about how well I know my Savior. I know there are times in my life I've been closer to Him than I am now (mission for one) but there are also times I've been farther away from Him than I am now. I hope I can teach Joseph (and any siblings he may get) how to come to know his Savior.

It's quite a daunting task for a mother. But I know I'm up to it.

On another (yet totally similar) note. About a week ago I was in the kitchen getting breakfast for Joseph. I looked out the window and the world looked all white (I know, I know. There's snow on the ground). The trees were all covered in thick frost and the fog of the morning was just breaking. The sun was shining through the trees and it truly was a beautiful sight.




I know Christ lives and loves us. Why else would he bless us with something so beautiful?

Happy 2010

So it's been a while since I blogged. I do have an excuse. It's not an excellent one but it does give a reason. Shortly after my last entry our desktop computer started slowing down big time and after about three weeks it crashed. We took it to my brother Jeff to fix it (he's a computer genius). Needless to say, it's still in ICU.

Since I haven't blogged since July, I should probably catch up.

Joseph is growing like crazy. He had his 18 month appointment in August (finally hit the 20 lb mark). The doctor asked how many words he could speak, I said around 30 (total guess). The next week I decided I should count and wrote down all the words I had heard him say. After 130 I finally gave up. I just wish he'd put some of those together. We're still waiting for multi-word sentences. He does say "thank you" and "there you go" but that's about it.

At the end of June I was called at the Laurel advisor in our ward. I love the Young Women. We have some really good laurels in our ward. July brought girls camp. That was an experience. Joseph spent the first night at girl's camp with me. Didn't get much sleep that night. But it sure was fun to see the girls play with him.

August my sisters came back from Finland. It was good to see them after 3 months of visiting Mom and Dad. It has been fun to see pictures and hear stories of things they did with Mom and Dad. They brought everyone back a moose from the Arctic Circle (the real one not the burger place). Mom gave them all a hug, so they could give everyone a hug from Grandma. Joseph sleeps with his (and his daddy's) moose. So he gets a hug from him Grandma Brown every night.

Also in August, Josh started a new job (finally regular paychecks) and school. We're hoping he'll be done with his Spanish degree in May. Then just one more semester to finish his social work degree.

So September and October were mainly filled with work, homework, school, and me and Joseph taking walks while Daddy was busy with other things.

November came crunch time as Josh prepared for school to be out. Thanksgiving was fun. And a well deserved break. We went to the zoo and got family pictures taken.

After the zoo we went to my brother's house for dinner. It was the first time to be together with my siblings since conference.

Once Thanksgiving was over, Christmas started. I made afghans for the people we had for Christmas. That means five afghans. I actually started them shortly after Halloween. The last one is not quite finished yet, but I ran out of yarn so I need to get more.

Joseph loved Christmas. he loves the snow, he loves snowmen and santa and reindeer (moose as he calls them.)

The weekend before Christmas we spent at my brother Matt's house. It's actually my parents that they are house sitting until Mom and Dad get back next year. It was so nice to spend a whole weekend with my siblings and nieces and nephews. Joseph had fun playing with his cousins. He's finally getting to the point where he can play with other children.

Christmas was wonderful. We spent the day as a family, just enjoying the spirit of the day. We are grateful for the spirit of Christ that has been in our home this year. We hope it will continue throughout the year and forever.

Proud to be an American

So today is the 4th of July. Such a wonderful day. Today we remember all those who have done so much to give us this great country. I am so grateful for those who risked their lives so we can have the freedoms we usually take for granted. Grateful for that wonderful document that many men signed at risk of death stating that we can be free to worship how we may, free from oppression of governments, kings and principalities, free from so many things we don't even question because it's become such a part of our lives.

I am grateful for the opportunity to show and teach my son what a wonderful country we live in. How this is the promised land. What a blessing God has given us. I thank Him for it.

We started our Independence weekend yesterday. Our city had a car show last night and we went and looked at all the old cars and tractors. (only in a small town do the "classic car" shows include tractors). After we got home we had a little cool off session.
Joseph thinks playing with the hose is the coolest thing in the world. Even after he is shivering from the cold water, he still yells when I take him in the house.

Today I ran my second 5k. My time was 39:21. That's almost ten minutes faster than the last one. And my training has been atrocious lately. A big shout-out to my two boys who ran the last mile with me and pushed me to be my best. I sure love them.

After the race, the city had a breakfast and then a parade. It was fun to watch Joseph at the parade. He loved the fire trucks, horses and the ATVs (again, only in a small town).

One of the best parts of the parade is right behind this old firetruck (cool siren, I tell you what), was a truck with the flag. Everyone stopped and they sang the national anthem. It was so thrilling to see my little boy with his hand over his heart, even though he had no clue what was going on.

In a time when people think you are radical if you wear a shirt with a flag on it, or honor our founding fathers, call me a radical. I'll never change and I'll always love this country, what it stands for, and those who sacrificed so we can have what we have.

God Bless the USA!!!