Funny Cartoons

Jerry is really starting to like cartoons more, which makes me happy since they are my favorite thing to watch. He watched Monster's Inc. and thought it was so funny. I finally got him laughing at it on video but I think he gave a few fake laughs at first.

A good book

Jerry is snuggled up in our bed reading his books. He loves to get in our bed especially after he takes a shower and get under the covers.

Mom's little projects

Or so I call them my projects. I've been redecorating a little and got some creative ideas from some blogs I've looked at.

My spring centerpiece. I made the basket by unraveling grapevine and then filled it with moss, little green flowers and tulips.

I bought the grapevine cone and then covered styrofoam cones with black yarn and the other with black and gold beads.

I covered balls with moss to create these.

I was really tired of just having a candle in this vase so was happy when I found these tall twigs at hobby lobby. Filled it with rocks and put moss at the top.

Gotta love moss.

I covered more cones, one with natural jute and the other with burlap.

I made my first rosettes with the burlap.

Another burlap cone. My mom got me these gold ornaments from The Heart of Country in Holly. I love them.

Once I get the sewing down I want to make some throw pillows for our bed and put some rosettes on them. I love rosettes. I also want to make some pillows for our sofas. I would like to change the color scheme in our house a little. No more red in the living/dining room. That is why I want to change it to a shade of brown. I can do so much more with neutral colors. And I am so excited to paint our front door black. I've wanted to do this ever since we painted Amber's salon. I also asked Jacob if he would help me build a bird cage out of wood and chicken coop wire (I don't know what else this wire is used for). I want to fill it with plants (fake of course) and put it on top of the pantry. I am trying to come up with a new idea for above the kitchen cabinets. It's all a work in progress. Like I said, my head is filled with ideas.

He speaks...

FINALLY - Jerry is starting to talk more. I have anxiously been waiting to hear his little voice say words and say mama. I can't wait to have little conversations with him. I've heard him say words but he won't say them when you want him to. He is a stubborn boy - and is definitely going at his own pace. His first word was dada and we've heard it nonstop but mama is another story. He said it a few times and then refused to say it (to me) again. Others have heard him but not me. Finally, this last week he started calling me mom (not mama). Ugh, I never say mom to him - it's always mama. So where did mom come from??? Of course I will take what I can get. It was going to happen eventually.

He knows so much more than he lets on. We read books all the time and he knows what most everything is in the book but won't tell me what they are - I ask him and he points to it. And he loves to look at books on his own (he does this a lot during the day) - I was listening to him and he would go through the pages and whisper what things were. I couldn't believe it. He speaks! He knows so much. Maybe he is just shy???

I figured going to the zoo would be so much fun for him to actually see the animals that we look at in the books. He did say some the animal names and we are going to keep working on them. I'm thinking about getting a zoo membership so we can go more often.

I have really been working with him on learning the primary colors. He know red, green, yellow and blue. He will say these words but of course only when he wants to. Once he gets the colors down we are going to start working on our numbers 1-10. I figure one thing at a time.

Ok now on to an update about me...MOM :)

I have been wanting a sewing machine for awhile now and THANKS to my fabulous mother-in-law, I now own one. THANK-YOU! THANK-YOU! THANK-YOU!

Now I am not an experienced seamstress. I sewed in home-economics and my Grandma let me play with her machine a few times. But I have so many ideas that I want to do / learn how to do. I started out with an old sheet and cut it up and am practicing sewing on it. My first lesson - sewing a straight line. It's harder than you would think. I am reading some great blogs that have tutorials on sewing. They have everything now on blogs. Love them. I'm addicted to blog surfing for creative ideas.

So I keep practicing with my sheet until I get good enough to start in on some good material. I'll post pictures once I make something. Could be awhile :(

But in the meantime I started to do some other crafts. I plan on getting pictures of the stuff I've made. I think summer will be good for me. I have spent so much time in the house that I now want to repaint my red walls a brown and paint my front door black (inside and out). I love black. I think I am driving Jacob crazy. But he loves me and lets me do it if it makes me happy. What a sweet guy:)

And speaking of him, he just got home. So I am off to get chipotle for dinner and buy the movie The Blind Side.

Oh, and the turkeys are back. They just showed up in the back yard. First time since before Thanksgiving. There's 12 and one is albino. Very exciting!!!

Our Afternoon at the Zoo

We had planned on taking Jerry to the zoo last Thursday and we actually did drive there but I think all of Wichita was there so we decided to go get ice cream and go home and play in the yard instead. Jerry didn't mind as long as he was outside.

I have really been wanting to take Jerry to the zoo and since today was too beautiful to be inside we spent the afternoon at the zoo.

Jerry loved it. We saw the farm animals first. He knows what most of these animals are and he would say a few of the names; cow, pig and chicken and horse is hor - he leaves out the se.

After we would leave one exhibit and walk on the to the next he kept saying more...more...

The bears always seem to put on a good show for us.

He did so well in the new jogging stroller that I got and he could see most of the animals sitting in it and then I let him out to see a few animals and tried to get pictures but he wanted the camera instead - like always. This is why there haven't been very many pictures lately. They all look like this one.

He had fun crawling on the rocks and playing with the other kids.

After getting to play around, he didn't want back in the stroller - of course. He tried to run off a few times and then I told him to push the stroller and it made everything better.

Almost tall enough!

I love this picture. He looks like such a big boy.

We watched the elephants get a bath.

By the end he was ready to go home, the orneriness was really starting to come through. He tried so hard to fall asleep on the way home but I wouldn't let him. I kept asking him about the animals and he would point out the window and say more. I was hoping he would crash as soon as I put him in his bed but instead he cried and said outside (or what I know to be his outside word). Poor guy just can't get enough. We read one book and he was out.

Toast or Toes

This morning I asked Jerry if he wanted some toast for breakfast and he looked at me with a confused look and pointed to his toes and said toes???

Biker Boy

Just my size!

Grandpa Kalma got these little choppers for Jerry.

This kid already has more toys than his daddy.

Mama isn't too sure what to think of this. Good thing we have a few years to decide since he has to grow up a lot before he can ride these.

Our New Master Bedroom

This is the new furniture we got for our bedroom. I love it!

I'm looking for a chair to put in the corner by the windows and dresser, some drapes for the windows and another night stand and then the room will be complete. Oh, and when I get my sewing machine I plan on making some more fun pillows for the bed! :)

Jerry loves to climb up in the chairs to get whatever is on the table.

This time he decided to read daddy's papers.

Bubble boy!

Jerry got to get in the tub with mommy this time. He didn't like the bubbles. He kept flinging his hands trying to get the bubbles off. He doesn't get to many baths with bubbles because he always drinks the water. He is such a water baby. He lays on his tummy in the water and puts his head under and blows bubbles. I plan on getting him signed up for swimming lessons this year.

being silly!

Happy Birthday Grandma

Happy Birthday Grandma!!!

We wish we could be with you today to celebrate.

Grandma, I painted this picture of me and you eating your birthday cake together.

I hope you like it.

Love, Jerry

This is a picture I painted for my daddy. It's our dog Max.

Mom will get pictures of me today to post so you can see what a big boy I am.

Hope you have a great day!!!

Love ya!

Where have we been???

We're still here:) Sorry there haven't been any posts lately. It is getting harder to get pictures of Jerry. Every time he sees the camera he wants it to take pictures himself. So most of the pictures I get are of his arms reaching out for the camera. Those (mostly) are still cute though.

Well, Jacob and I got to spend our first weekend away Feb 5-7. Grandma and Grandpa Kalma's anniversary was Feb 5th and they got to spend it at our house with Jerry while mom and dad went to Kansas City for the weekend. They got in around 1pm on Friday and I had to work that afternoon with Jacob then we came home and said our good-byes that night and drove to KC. They said he only cried for a few minutes and then was fine the rest of the weekend. We came back Sunday morning. Our weekend in KC was really nice, other than Jacob being sick. Although when I asked him how he was feeling he always said he was good or feeling better. He was being such a great sport especially since we were all over the city shopping and eating. I know he really felt bad (sick).

And we did get to eat some great food, which was probably what we were most excited about. KC has some great restaurants with fun atmospheres. We also bought lots of fun things for the house. A new plasma 50" t.v. for the basement since our other t.v. died on us. A new bedroom set for our room. Our bed was a platform bed that Jacob built and it was really nice except when I was pregnant it was so hard to get in and out of. The new bed is really high off the ground and we now have a dresser. Yay!!! I love it! Oh and I forgot to mention, since we got the new bedroom set we ended up having to paint the bedroom. Ya, that process was not so fun but it turned out really good. I'll get pictures soon. I also got a new vacuum and a few other things too.

Grandma and Grandpa had lots of fun with Jerry. They brought him a new guitar and some books, which he loves. They said Jerry slept good and was up only a few times at night, which sadly is still normal. When we got back on Sunday Jerry looked like such a big boy to us. (We thought he also looked a little chubbier) Grandma and Grandpa made sure he ate well:)

We got lots of snow that Monday, Feb 8th which Grandma and Grandpa ended up driving home in. Thank goodness they had the roads all clear for them. That was a long drive. Jerry didn't get to go outside to play in the snow so we brought a little snow inside for him to play with. He was entertained with it for awhile.

Then on Tuesday, Jacob took Max in to get neutered. He brought him home that night and Max had a cone on his head. He was still so hyper and jumping up wanting to play fetch and would bash into everything/everyone since he couldn't see much with the cone on. Typically dogs need to stay kenneled 5-7 days but the vet told Jacob that Max needed to be kenneled 10 days. Oh fun! Then somehow he broke the end of his tail open and when we let him out of his kennel he would wag his tail so hard into the walls it would spray blood all over. Yuck!!!! It was a mess. So back to the vet to get the tail fixed and Max got to come home with an even bigger cone. What fun. We will all be so much happier when he is better.

Um, what else...Jerry is really taking after his daddy more and more. He is starting to climb on everything. He has figured out that he can climb on the chair to get on the table and get all the neat stuff up there that mommy put so he couldn't get it. Great! He also climbs up on his high-chair and will stand up in it. He will even take the tray off if it's on there. Not a good thing either so now when it's not in use we have to put it in the guest bedroom. Grandma Holdren said Jacob was the exact same way.

We have been working on our words more and more. He knows what so many things are but won't say them. Not sure why. I think he is being stubborn. He is learning body parts and will say those words...ears, eyes, nose, teeth, hair, toes, pee pee. Yep, pee pee. Which I guess is okay. Maybe knowing what it is will help with potty training??? I don't know. I'm trying to teach him that when he farts (which is all the time) to say excuse me. He thinks his farts are so funny (mostly because they are to me and Jacob). If he is in his high-chair and he needs to fart he actually lifts up and does it, then laughs. Again, taking after daddy:) Boy am I glad that Jacob can't write things on here! LOL

Well, I guess I'll end this post on that subject.

For My Brother

He would have turned 31 today.

We miss you so much and still think of you everyday. Your in our hearts forever!

I know this is how most everyone remembers him.

who do i look like

I see so much of Grandma Holdren in this picture.

He has become such a big boy. I can't believe how fast time goes by. We got Jerry signed up to attend Pre-school in the fall of 2011. He will attend Honey Tree Academy. The website is www.honeytreeacademy.com so you can check out where he will be going. We took a tour of it on Thursday. I am so excited for him.

Last night was the first time in 17 months that Jerry slept the entire night. From 8pm to 5:30 am and then I was able to get him to lay back down with me at 6 until 7:45. I hope this continues. I stopped nursing him last Tuesday and I think this has contributed to his sleeping longer nights. He still takes 2 naps a day and they usually last and hour or more. I would like to get him down to one nap a day if he sleeps better through the night. Right now if he misses a nap he is a BEAR the whole day. It's just hard to go do anything - everything has to be planned around his naps.

I finally joined the Y. I had to get over being a germaphobic and just put Jerry in the daycare. I think it will actually be good for him since he doesn't have anyone to play with, besides me. He needs the interaction with other kids. Hopefully it will help his social skills and maybe even start talking more. He talks constant at home but won't talk to other people.

I've started to do more of my crafts again. This has been put off for a long time. I've been blog surfing and have found several projects I want to start or learn how to do. I really want to take up sewing. I'm looking for a cheap sewing machine to start off with. Just to see if I will be any good at it. Susan, I so wish you were here with me so we could do a lot of these sewing projects together. Maybe, someday:)

Jacob and I are taking our first weekend vacation without Jerry. Grandma and Grandpa Kalma are going to come up on Friday and stay with Jerry until Sunday when we come back. We are going to go to KC for the weekend. We are very excited. BUT...I have to admit, I am already kinda missing Jerry. It's crazy I know, how can I miss him if he is right here, but it's the thought of missing out on a day with him and doing all of the little things with him. I love our routine and how I know what he wants/needs for everything. He is just one amazing little boy.

He is getting his top molars in now. The poor boy has had a rough time getting them. Last week he ran a fever off and on and his nose has been running constant. Yucky:( I can't wait for him to just have all of them in and be done with it. Of course, then it will probably be time for him to start losing teeth.

Jerry's new favorite place to play...under the table. The cats will usually hang out under there, but not anymore since Jerry starting playing there. The only bad thing is him hitting his head every once in awhile and the occasional getting stuck.

Jerry looking at books in the Big chair. We have books everywhere in our house. We are in desperate need of a bookcase for his room. I'm searching for a used one that I can refinish.

Snow

We got about 6 inches of snow over the weekend. This is a picture from our backyard. It looks so pretty.

Jacob took Max hunting on Saturday and didn't have much luck. All that walking through the snow and snow drifts for only 3 birds. They both came home exhausted but they still had fun.