Happy Birthday Brock!

Hi everyone! I just wanted to do a quick post of a few pictures of the birthday boy! We are so excited that we made it through the first year! I'm telling you, those first few months were pretty rough and some days felt like they would never come to an end! But I'm proud to say that we made it! That first year made me the most nervous since that's where my child-rearing experience was seriously lacking. But I had a great teammate (Chad), a fabulous assistant (Ella), and a very forgiving victim (Brock).

We had a good birthday for Brock, although we didn't do too much yet since his party is not till next weekend. I let him have a cupcake after his lunch and he certianly was not shy about eating that! Today, I let him have another one, and after I got him down, I went to wipe up all of the crumbs off of his seat. He saw what I was doing, came back over, stood up against the legs of his high chair, and began grabbing what crumbs he could from his seat and shoved them in his mouth as quickly as possible. I think he likes cupcakes! Of course, he was totally clueless to the fact that it was his birthday, but Ella was excited for him. We kept singing "Happy Brithday" to him throughout the day, and every time we did, he would smile at us (or maybe it was more of a, "you guys are nuts" face...I don't know).

Now, for those of you that are perhaps overly conscious about gender-appropriate toys (uncles and grandpas), and are troubled by the picture of Brock sitting in his sister's princess chair, not to worry. There is a very large box sitting in our entry way right now that contains a red, Lightening McQueen chair so that he doesn't have to use his sister's anymore! Maybe we'll let him open in tomorrow on Chad's day off. The rest of his presents, he will get to open at his birthday party, which is on Halloween. Don't worry, I will be sure to post pictures of the birthday party as well as the Halloween parties that the kids get to go to!

Of course, Ella is greatly anticipating several things over the next week. This week is red-ribbon week at school which includes many things! Funny Sock Day on Monday, Funny Hat Day on Tuesday, Backwards Clothes Day on Wendesday (as well as trick-or-treating at the library), Red Shirt Day on Thursday, and Career Costume Day on Friday. For Career Costume Day, she is going to go as an artist! Friday, she also has a Halloween party at school and some greatly anticipated guests will arrive (Grandma and Grandma Wyckhuyse, Aunt Brittany, Alexis, and Spencer)! They will then stay for Brock's birthday on Saturday. And of course, after the party, there will be another Halloween Party to attend, at church. Whew! I didn't see till now what a marathon week this week will be! I'll be sure to get lots of pictures and post them as soon as possible!

But for the time being, I think Ella and Brock will keep themselves (and me!) busy playing, having more stuffed animal parties and building fort after fort! I sure do love those silly kids! Be sure to check out the new cartoon, "Ella-isms", and poll for now! As you can see, we're having a tough time deciding on a name when there are so many, um, interresting onces out there!

You Know You're in Vernal When...

Hi everyone! I know it's been a long time since I've done this, but we're almost actually settled now, so I thought I'd update the blog with some pictures. To help those of you who have never been to Vernal, I thought I'd start off with a little list I've complied of ways to help you know when you've arrived.
Top Ten Ways You Know You're In Vernal, UT
1. Local children wear cowboy boots to school. And church.
2. Two words: Bull Ring.
3. The only minivans you ever see are in the school parking lot.
4. All trucks must include one of the following items: a large grill, smoke stacks in the back, or a bumper sticker that has to do with hunting, cowboys, cowgirls, or rednecks.
5. You can count on more than one hand the number of men wearing a cowboy hat, flannel shirt, wranglers, and cowboy boots at wal-mart. And it's not Halloween.
6. Dinosaur everything! Dinah Bowl, Dinosaurland Pediatrics, Dinoland Golf, Dino Pub, Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo, Dinosaur Inn...there's more!
7. You see flyers posted in the window of your bank for the national sheepdog competition.
8. High School students ask each other for dates via fast food marquees.
9. There is an add in the phone book for genuine hand-crafted Amish furniture (apparently they have a community in WY, not too far from here).
10. You fall asleep at night listening to the melodious braying of the neighbor's donkey.
Okay, all kidding aside. We actually are liking it here. Sure, it's a little different sometimes, but it's not like we moved to Mars. Chad and Ella both had last Thursday and Friday off, so on Friday, we took a drive out to Red Fleet Lake. It was only 20 minutes away and it was very beautiful! We took a picnic out there and then went for a walk around the water and on the doc. It was chilly, but we all enjoyed spending the time together. Then on Saturday night, we got invited over to our friends house so the kids could play while the dads when to Priesthood meeting. Chad couldn't go because he had to work, but Ella, Brock and I went over to our friends and had a great time, eating pizza, playing with their awesome toys (Ella is now requesting a car she can drive for Christmas) and playing with their puppies. Thank you Dalls and Battys! We had fun!
Chad finally has an official work schedule, and actually gets scheduled time off now! Horray! He now wants to save up for a gun so he can go hunting with some of his friends out here, and he even bought a camo hat to start his camo collection! Wow! Who would have thought that he would be the first to go country!
I am doing well, and we're hoping to get involved pretty soon with the ward playgroup to help us meet some more people. Although I like it here, I'm not quite ready to jump into the culture with open arms. I'd rather do my shopping online than start dressing my son in work boots, jeans, and a flannel for church. Yeah, I'm still scratching my head at that one: work boots in infant sizes? In case I need to send my baby out to chop wood, plow the field, or clean out the stalls?
As for Ella and Brock, they make me smile and laugh everyday. One of their favorite things to do is to get Ella's tent out, or to make a fort out of blankets and the card table! They also love to tease me...like when I'm trying to get Brock dressed after a bath, he doesn't want to be still, and in the time it takes to reach over and grab the diaper, he is off! And of course, Ella is standing in the hallway going, "Hurry Brock! Run away from Mommy!" They both think it's hysterical.
Ella is doing well in school and having fun. Last week, she came home telling us she was holding hands with her "secret love" at school and she was planning on kissing him the next day. Wow! Was I meant to be her mother or what? (For those who don't know, I spent every recess in kindergarten chasing a classmate, determined to kiss him.) I explained that we just want to be friends and not make anyone feel embarrassed by asking them to kiss. She asked if it would be okay to kiss him if he wanted to. I then explained that kissing at school is never appropriate, no matter how old you are, and she counters by asking if it would be okay to kiss someone when she gets old enough to go out on a date. Ahh! Do we really have to have this coversation? Her other obsession with kissing right now is in regards to Chad and I. Out of the blue, she decided to ask me if I ever kiss him at night. I told her that's the best time of day because she and Brock are sleeping. So every night she warns us not to kiss because she will be spying on us. And then in the morning, she asks about it. We try to explain that mommies and daddies are allowed to kiss, but she won't hear of it. How I dread the day we have to talk about the birds and the bees!
Brock of course, is a cutie. He is using the furniture to help him move around a lot more and I can tell that walking will be coming very soon! My guess is around Christmas. Of course he has learned some other things that he thinks are really great. You know, going through the bathroom trash is fun, pulling on the toilet paper and watching it unroll is awesome, and pulling everything out of the kitchen cabninent and then climbing inside is really cool. And oh yeah, when Mommy says, "Come back here!" it really means: look over your shoulder at her, grin really big and then take off crawling even faster. He did have a haircut today (which explains the diaper only photos) and he screamed the whole time. Unfortunately, the sides are a little long still so I've got to do some doctoring tomorrow, but it shouldn't take too long!

And of course, last but not least, our pregnancy is going well. We are excited to announce that this baby girl won't be the youngest on the Jordan side for very long because Chad's brother and his wife are going to have a baby a few months after us! We are starting to notice a trend....every time Johni or I end up pregnant, the other one isn't too far behind! What can you say about those Jordan boys huh? We know what their hobby is!

Hope everyone is well! Make sure you check out all of the new "Ella-isms", the poll, and our new cartoon! It's a good one!