Jordan Family

2012-02-13T19:53:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! Here I am again, ready to give you and update through pictures and words on our lives. I guess I'll start with the first photo...Brock in his Buzz Lightyear costume! He wore this nearly everyday for about two and a half months. He still asks for it daily, but for several reasons, we decided to be cruel parents and take it away from him. He was wearing this thing not just at home but out in public so consistently that people would see us and laugh and I didn't understand why. It was so normal to me!

Brock is in primary at church now, and we struggled for a few weeks at first with tantrums and tears about his new class, but he enjoys it now! Last week was the first week I was able to drop him off without a temper tantrum and when he came home he was so proud to tell us about his lesson about the Holy Ghost making us feel happy inside. We are so glad to see the progress that he makes, now if we could only convince him to make progress in the potty-training area of life!

And our crazy Ella! What a little nutcase, huh? Oh we love her! We are so happy to share that just this month we were able to have her baptized. It was such a special day for her and we really enjoyed it. We had several of our extended families come out to celebrate with us and had a great time. The baptism itself of course was beautiful (I cried but I'm sure that's no shocker) and then we were able to spend most of the rest of the day swimming and hanging out with family. It was a tiring weekend, but it was awesome!

Ella stays busy every week with girl scouts, dance class, swim class, and now that she's 8, activity days through church. We just finished selling girl scout cookies and will have to get them deliverd in a few weeks here. She will have two dance competitions this year, one in March and one in May. She is doing very well in school, above average in every subject, especially chit-chatting!

Our little Meer-cat always makes us smile! She is growing so big and we are in complete denial over the fact that she is not a baby anymore. She is spouting out not new words, but phrases almost everyday and my jaw drops in shock every time! I was trying to put toys away the other night and she very firmly said, "no mom! let go!" Then today, she was looking through a church alphabet book that my sister made for the kids and she came across M for Mommy. There is a picture of me on the page and she says to the book, "Hi Mommy! I wuv you!" My heart just melted!

Chad and I are defintely staying busy. When I spend an afternoon in the car running Ella back and forth to her activities, I often wonder how moms of several kids all involved in activites do it! Do they just live in their cars? I'm sure it will be an adventure to find out! Chad is very busy between work and his calling as Elder's Quorum President in our ward. He spends a lot more time at church now but is enjoying learning from everyone that he is working with.

We were able to make a quick escape to Salt Lake a few weeks ago just for a night to see the comedian Brian Regan with some of my family. We had a delicious dinner before with everyone and then at the show, we laughed so hard our faces hurt! He was hysterical and if you ever get a chance to go see him, do it! We stayed in Salt Lake that night while Ella, Brock, and Miri had a slumber party with two awesome baby sitters. I think they had just as much fun as we did! Take care everyone!

Photo Card

2011-12-13T20:24:00.001-08:00

Family Moments Holiday

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Happy Birthday, Happy Halloween, and Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-03T19:26:00.000-07:00

Seeing everyone start to post on their facebook page about what they are thankful for has got me thinking today about some of the things I am thankful for. I guess I'll share a few of them along with our pictures. Hopefully it won't come across as being TOO cheesey. :)

1. I'm thankful for my little boy! I can't believe he is three already! He had a great birthday and is so very happy with his new Buzz and Woody toys! He is also taking after grandpa Wyckhuyse and grandpa Carl by sharring their love of trains.

2. I am thankful for my little princess, Miri! She has surprised me in many ways and one of them is that she loves her cars, dinosaurs, Buzz Lightyear and Woody just as much as the boys do! I peeked in the nursery window a few weeks ago to see her playing dinosaurs with the boys in her class!

3. I am thankful for Ella and what a wonderful big sister she is. Just tonight she was giving Miri rides around the house in the laundry basket and they were giggling wildly the whole time. She was so careful to watch out for her brother while trick-or-treating and is ready to share her candy with Miri.

4. I am grateful for a husband who honors his priesthood, adores his children, loves and respects me. It was said during conference a few weeks ago that the best thing a father can do for their daughter is love her mother. All I could do the moment I heard those words was smile happily because he definitely does and given Ella's sick looking faces just after her dad hugs and kisses me, she knows it too!

5. I am grateful for the blessings the temple promises us as a family and am so glad that we have a temple 5 minutes from our house. The kids love stopping by and taking a walk around the grounds and I love that they are learning how important the temple is.

6. I am grateful for our heater. It got cold today and I think over the summer I've forgotten how cold it gets here. The heater really helped take the edge off. :)

7. I'm thankful that marching band season is over. I love it in the moment and I wouldn't trade it for anything, but I am certainly ready for the break and to be a real stay at home mom again! (I think my kids and husband are too!)

8. I'm grateful for wonderful parents who taught me to do my best. I'm not a perfect mom nor will I be winning any "world's greatest mom" awards anytime soon, but I do the best I can. My kids feel loved and safe and that is proof that my best is working out pretty well for them!

9. I'm thankful that I have enough. We don't drive big, fancy cars, I don't wear designer jeans, my kids don't get everything and anything they want, but we have what we need and I know that's a lot more than many people can say.

10. I'm grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. He makes me want to be a better wife, mother, and person. The knowledge that He lives brings comfort in times of need and happiness during my daily life.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I hope you can take a minute over the next few weeks to remember and appreciate all of the blessings in your life!

School Begins!

2011-10-03T09:26:00.000-07:00

I guess we've been back into the whole school scene for over a month now, but I'll post pictures anyway! Ella was excited to go back for about a day and then she was over it! She just hates having to get up early in the morning and has told me many times that she would much rather sleep in and be late to school. :) As you can see, her school is still under construction, but it is getting better! Brock and Miri were not too excited to see her go and I think they are happiest every day when they see her bus and hear her walk in the door.

Ella got to participate in a cheerleading clinic the first week of school and she had an absolute blast with that. I'd annoucne that she decided she loves to perform, but I'm pretty sure you already knew that!

Over the past few weeks we've done a handful of football games and marching band shows and the kids love coming to these. Miri was thoroughly entertained as one of the band kids let her "help" play the bells! And Brock will dance around to the band's music and let out a spirited, "GO UTES!" every now and then.

Chad and I are doing well. Thanks to my parents, we were able to escape to Salt Lake for a night and although the trip was much too short, it was nice to get away together! We are all looking forward to Brock's birthday coming up this month as well a much anticipated Halloween! Ella is going to be a mermaid, Brock is going to be his new favorite superhero, Buzz Lightyear and Miri is going to be the cutest little sailorette that ever lived! I'll be sure to post pictures as soon as possible!

Summer Fun

2011-08-17T20:56:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! As the summer wraps up, I thought I'd take a few minutes and let everyone know how ours has gone. It's been busy of course, full of parades, races and all sorts of outdoor fun. We had two parades here in Vernal, both of which I marched in with the marching band and color guard, while Brock and Miri rode along in style, and Ella and Chad enjoyed watching all the cars and horses. I can't say Miri was too thrilled after the first parade and I was nervous to make her do a second but for some reason she enjoyed the second one much more than the first! No cries of protest for that one!

We decided one weekend to get a little brave and take the kids for what we thought would be an easy hike. Well, we were severely mislead and it was quite steep! Lots and lots of climbing, but the kids really enjoyed it. Ella thought the Indian Petroglyphs on the mountain were really cool while Brock's favorite part was...the giant rocks.

We had my sister Brittany and her husband Mark come out for a weekend to visit and while they were here we went to an awesome car show and enjoyed some delicious steaks that Chad BBQed up for us.

And then of course, probably mine and Chad's favorite summer activity so far was our river rafting trip. The kids did not join us on this one, although we told Ella that we would consider bringing her along next year. The rapids were great and we had an absolute blast. We had a spilt second when we hit a rapid that I bounced up so high that we were both thinking I was about to end up in the water, but thankfully, I did not. It was a great trip and we will definitely be doing it again!

One of the most exciting things that has happend in our family most recently has been a major change in Chad's work schedule. He now works Monday-Friday with every weekend off. Horray! It has been just over two years since he has had a nice schedule like that and we are so grateful for it. He can now attend church regularly with us and I no longer have to struggle alone to maintain at least a little bit of order during sacrament meeting...now I'll have someone to help out during the struggle! :) The kids are happy too since this means that (for the most part) Chad gets home earlier in the evening and he gets to help tuck them in bed every night. They sure love that!

Now, I'm not sure when exactly when I will blog again as next week we officially go back to school and that marks the beginning of just over two VERY busy months for us full of marching band practices and shows. But, Ella is excited to start second grade, return to girl scouts and this year we will be adding dance classes two days a week for her to our schedule as well. She also has a week long cheerleading clinic with the high school cheerleaders and they get to show off what they will have learned during half time of a football game. She can't wait and I promise lots of pictures!

Brock continues to grow and learns new words every day. He is constantly asking me what things are so that he can try new words out and see how they sound. He loves having dance parties with his sisters and attempting to wrestle with his dad.

Miri is finding her voice in life as well. She still doesn't say too many words but recently, she has learned how to shriek like a wild animal. Where she learned that sort of behavior we cannot seem to figure out because there is no way she could have picked it up from her incredibly mellow and soft spoken older sibblings. ;) She too loves to dance and has even learned that getting a running start before jumping on dad makes it even more fun! All three of them are an absolute joy and we are constantly talking about how lucky we are to have them.

We hope that everyone has had a safe and enjoyable summer!

Our Spring Vacation

2011-05-13T12:17:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I hope this blog post finds you all happy, healthy and ready for summer! We sure are! Lucky for us, we have settled back down a little bit into our normal routine. April sure was a busy month for us! I participated in my first triathalon last month and had an awesome support team to cheer me on along the way. Just a few days after that, we were finally able to make our way up to Washington to visit with our Jordan/Elmore family and had a blast! The traveling part was really not so great, with a 3 hour drive from Vernal to Salt Lake, a layover in Portland and then finally arriving in Spokane. The kids did really well considering all of that, but boy they sure were happy to get off of that last flight! And of course, what would a family vacation be without jam-packing it with every possible outing? We had it all! We went to Jump and Bounce, Chuck-E-Cheese (in the same day of course!), went 4-wheeling, had a bonfire, and Easter Egg hunt, an Easter pinata, went shopping, Ella lost a tooth, Brock decided to throw in a trip to the ER for good measure (he's fine, it was nothing...literally!), and we even got snowed in on our last day there! We did miss a few people, due to the whole ER trip and then being snowed in, but we had a great time with those that we did get to see. We're definitely going to try and come around the same time next year!

Then of course, our last night there, Brock and Miri decided that Chad and I would not be needing any sleep and wanted to party all hours of the night! We of course had two more flights and a three hour drive in order to get home. We were wiped out! Chad went back to work right away and we hadn't even been home for a full 48 hours when I loaded the kids back up in the car and we drove 2 1/2 hours out to my sister's house so that we could get up the next day and run a 5K. That was a lot of fun as well and the kids did great! We came home later that afternoon and I think it goes without saying that we became serious homebodies for about a week after that.

Future plans for us are exciting as always! Ella has 2 more weeks of school before summer vacation. She and her brother and sister will spend a few days with their cousins and grandparents while I do band camp with my high school students the first week in June. Then we will be busy with marching band/color guard practices throughout all of June. I also hope to squeeze in another triathalon (not an indoor swim this time folks...brrrrr!) and start some potty-training with the Brock-man. (Ahhhh!) Ella will be doing some swim classes soon and was working hard last weekend with Chad to get her bike fixed up. She wants to run a kids triathalon in June that is a 50M swim, 3 mile bike ride and 1/3 mile run. What a trooper! Miri is always chasing after her brother and sister, never wanting to be left out of the fun! And Chad is working hard as alwas! He puts in so many hours without a complaint and no one deserved that vacation time more than he did! I'm hoping that I can kidnap him for a few days over the summer and get away, just the two of us! Take care, love you all!

Toothless!

Brock in the ER...he just looks like he's on his deathbed, doesn't he?

We were snowed in for a few hours, but Cobe and Ella didn't seem to mind!

Some of our Brock family.

Meer-Cat!

2011-02-22T12:55:00.000-08:00

Well, here we are again! I think since the last time I blogged we have had Christmas, New Year's, two birthdays, a handful of soccer games, several swim classes, lots of colds, the flu (twice!), moved Brock to a "big boy" bed, Miri started walking and Ella (with some major help from Chad) sold over 200 boxes of girl scout cookies!

I'm happy to report that everyone is doing well and thankfully we are all much healthier than we were this time last month. Ella is keeping busy with school where we were delighted to hear that she is doing amazingly well. She scored above her grade level in several areas during their testing last month. She also goes to girl scouts once a week and sold 232 boxes of girl scout cookies! Now, more than half of those orders came from Chad's work, but 75 of them were phone calls she made or doors that she knocked on. She worked really hard and is really excited about it. I'm sure we will be slightly less thrilled about a week from now when those cookies invade our house and we begin the process of delivering and collecting money! (Do Chad and I get prizes for all of our hard work?) Ella is also playing indoor soccer right now and having a lot of fun with that. The hardest thing for the kids to remember is not to steal the ball from their own teammate!

Brock has officially moved to a "big boy" bed, which he has learned to love. He definitely loves the part where he can get out of bed on his own and has even begun to be sucessful at opening his own door (yeah, I've totally tried to child-proof knobs...he just pulls them off). He and I go to a mommy and me swim class twice a week and he loves it. Last class unfortunately, we had to leave because I forgot to pack my suit in our bag (strange, they have this rule that says you HAVE to wear one in the pool) and he threw an absolute fit! He was so angry he did not get to swim. The food issues continue pretty normally but every couple of weeks he decides to randomly try something new...which is usually followed by a funny face and a dramatic show of fake gagging. Whatever, we will take what we can get I guess!

If you haven't heard, Miri (or Meer-cat as well all call her) started walking! She took her first steps officially on her birthday and is attempting to pick up the pace so she can run everywhere. I guess walking just takes too long when you have bookshelves to clear, cabinents to re-organize, laundry to unfold, and carpets to color on! She loves to explore the halls during church (whoever heard of class anyway?) and follow her brother and sister around wherever they go. She might be full of trouble, but I don't know what I would do without that adorable little smile and musical laugh of hers!

Our plans for the next few months are hopefully going to be exciting! We should be getting to WA pretty soon and then we'll be taking a trip with our Brock side of the family to Van Couver this summer. We look forward to both!

All right, hair or no hair, is she not just the prettiest baby girl in the world?

My little angels decided to raid the m&m jar when I wasn't looking!

Yes, We are Still Alive!

2010-11-13T11:24:00.000-08:00

Whew! I know some of you were sure that I'd never do this again, but here I am! We have been so busy that it's hard to know where to begin. I started coaching the Colorguard back in mid-May and since then our life has been crazy! In June, I took Miri with me to a 4-day long band camp with the high school kids while Ella and Brock split their time between Chad and my mom. Almost right after band camp, we headed off to CA to see my sister Brittany and Mark get married in the LA temple and visit with some other family down there. On our way back, we stopped in Vegas and took the kids to see the Knights At the Round Table show, which they all LOVED! Miri even had her moment in the spotlight (literally!) as Merlin came over and commented on how cute she was. Chad and I were pretty proud to have the spotlight on our baby girl and hear the entire arena give her an, "Awwwww!"

We had two parades in July that Brock and Miri marched in with me (more like rode in the stroller) lots of practice in August, and then Ella headed off to first grade! Going to school all day was challenging at first, but at this point she is doing well, constantly coming home with fun stories to share with us. During my practices during the schoolday, Brock and Miri sometimes went to a baby-sitter's house, stayed home with daddy, and even tagging along with me. They have put up with so much over the last few months, and have been great about it! A big thank you to all of our family members and friends who have helped out with babysitting as I have been at various shows and especially a big thank you to Chad for taking 4 days off of work to stay home with the kids, while I went down to St. George with my students. By the last day, I was MORE than ready to come home. Having to fight the urge to steal some stranger's child was proof that I was going through withdrawls!

As for our family, everyone is doing great! Ella is enjoying first grade, learning how to read, and looks forward to girl scouts every week. Brock enjoys walking to the bus-stop with me and he just lights up when he sees the school bus come around the corner! Miri is crawling everywhere and getting into everything! She helped herself to my wallet, Brock's sandwhich, and even dove into Moby Dick the other day. Chad was asked to take a class with his company in Salt Lake a few weeks ago and he was really excited to get to meet the CEO of the company as well as one of the founders. We had fun on Halloween, taking our little Leia, Obi-Wan, and Ewok out. For now, we are all looking forward to a relaxing Holiday season at home this year!

Brock 'n Roll Mania!

2010-03-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

What a banner partial-week this has been. I'd just like to share the events and hopefully they will give you your good laugh for the day.
Sunday: We pull into the parking lot at church, Chad parks the car, a few comments are made about having to walk across the parking lot, and then we hear a sigh from the back seat and a complaint: "Oh great. This is going to be a pain in the a$$." Both my and Chad's eyes bugged out of our heads as we quickly demanded to know where the new vocabulary word had been learned. The culprit? George of the Jungle. A legnthy discussion followed on how we don't need to use that word, and gave her some acceptable substitutions. And then, if we continue to use such words, all movies will be taken away for an extended period of time. She said she was sorry and wouldn't do it again. We felt she was being genuine, so we were glad.
Monday: Doctor visits for Miri and Brock, who's coughs will just not let up! Brock diagnosed with RSV (again) and Miri is given an RSV test that comes back negative. While at the doctor Brock is climbing all over the exam room, standing up on a chair and nearly falls off. Thanks to mom reflexes, a potential disaster is averted. I have to add how sensitive and kind Ella is about her brother's and sister's feelings. She rememberd getting an RSV test a little over a year ago herself and when the nurse comes in to do Miri's she cowered in the corner, knowing how difficult this is going to be for Miri. I love how she loves them!
Tuesday: While doing my hair, the phone rings. I answer, forgeting to close my bathroom and bedroom door, providing a perfect window of opportunity for mischief making. I hang up only to find that the house is quiet. Too quiet. I find Brock sitting on my bathroom floor...holding a bottle of body wash...opened...all over his fingers...smeared around his mouth. I didn't think he had eaten much because the look on his face did not exactly say, "yummy!" Just to be sure, I call poison control. Brock is is normal self the rest of the day.
Wednesday: Brock discovers Ella's spray watter bottle. While I cook, Brock (in a matter of minutes) manages to drench his face and jammies, and I notice the hallway carpet feels damp. He thinks its halarious and is proud of his new skill.
Thursday: Outside, Brock discovers a pot still containing soil. He begins to play in it and I think, "What harm can this do? Boys get dirty." I take Miri inside, put her down, and come back outside to get Brock. I lean down to pick him up only to find that he has potting soil in his hair, on his hands, down the front of him, and caked around his mouth. As we are washing, he throws up. Once again, I am on the phone with poison control. While on the phone with them I look over at Brock and see that he is standing in a puddle of pink strawberry smoothie, leftover from our afternoon snack. He then decides to take off and tracks smoothie and soil all through the kitchen. As I'm cleaning that mess up, I remeber that I didn't put the baby gate up. And sure enough, Brock is in the kitchen, making an attempt to climb the stepladder which was leaning up against the wall. And it's only Thursday! Two more days to go still! But before you decide to call child services, I'd like to defend myself: I'm usually more put together than this! (Sorry, that's the best I could do right now!) I don't know what else to say. I suppose my husband said it best when he said that the kids have really let me have it this week.
But just when I'm not sure what to do with them anymore, they flash me a smile and my heart melts! I sure do love those silly kids! Miri is great, as always. (I'm sure her trouble-making days will arrive soon!) She is starting to smile at us and has become a bit more social. It is fun!
Wish me luck in surviving the rest of my week (Chad will be home, so I'll have re-enforcements) and hopefully next week will be better!

Welcome Miri!

2010-02-22T00:56:00.000-08:00

So I know that Miri is officially 8 weeks old now and I still haven't had time to do a new post yet, but deal with it people! My days are so full of Miri feedings, Brock snack times, getting Ella ready for school, putting kids down for naps, cooking for the family, 10-15 diaper changes, baths, and a shower for myself, that I hardly have time for much else! Although I love to blog, it has definitely taken a backseat. The priorities are making sure the kids are clean, fed, and each get 5-10 minutes of one on one time with Mommy. If I happen to have any extra time, I try to get a quick workout for myself in and then start attacking the laundry and dishes at warp speed! (And to prove my point, I am sitting here at 2am writing this blog, although I probably won't get to finish it for at least another day or so.) It certainly is busy, but I'm learning to manage.

Since I haven't blogged since Miri's arrival, I'll share that story. And to save all of your stomachs, I'll just pick up at the part when we went to the hospital. We had a scheduled induction for the morning that she arrived, and I ended up waking up just a few minutes before our alarms were to go off, only to find that my water had broke! When we got the the hospital though, I still wasn't in labor, so they gave me some Pitocin. Once the contractions did start I called for the epidural. It didn't help much! Around lunchtime, my parents and sister Brenda arrived to check on us for a bit. They hung out for awhile and figured they would go see Ella and Brock and wait for us to call. We joked about them staying if it was time to push, but figured I'd still be a few more hours. Only a few seconds later I felt like it was that time! The nurse came in to check as my Dad and Brenda excused themselves and I was under strict orders to do absolutely no pushing until my doctor arrived. This was because she was nearly out. The doctor raced in a few minutes later, I gave 3 pushes right in a row, and Miri just kind of fell out. It was a fabulous way to have a baby; I highly recommend it!

Things continue to go well at home. Miri is a great baby who really enjoys sleeping for long stretches at night (again, something I highly recommend!). She eats well and has the cheeks, 2nd chin and thighs to prove it! She takes good naps and simply requests to be held every once in awhile. She is a FABULOUS baby! I keep saying that if I knew for sure that they would all be like her, I'd be more than willing to have 10 or 20 more! But since we don't think this is very realistic, I think we'll stick with the status quo for a few years!

Brock is happy with his baby sister. He loves her so much and gives her giant slobbery kisses all day long! When she cries, he tries to shush her and will even attempt to rock her. It really is cute. He surprises us every day with how much he understands, and how much he tries to get away with! He gets this adventurous look in his eye and smile on his face, and you know that he's up to something! Of course, with this desire to explore comes some not so fun things....you know, the tantrums that are inevitable when we have to take away Ella's scissors from him, or close the bathroom door so that he doesn't play in the toilet again, or tell him no, he can't have cookies and m&m's for dinner. He can be a troublemaker, but he also has a mellow side. At least once a day, Chad or I will go to check on him and find him in his room, sitting quietly, looking at his books. Brock just LOVES his books. Of course I get a little sick of the same ones over and over, and am proud to say that I know "Old Hat, New Hat," "Pajamma Time," and "Snuggle Puppy" all by heart. But Chad and I both love that Brock loves to read so much.

Ella is doing very well in school and her reading skills are coming right along. She has had her frustrated moments with it but gets excited when we point out to her how much she has improved in just a matter of weeks. We had her parent/teacher conference just last week and she is above average on just about everything. She's also above average in the "talking a little too much at her table" department. There's a shock! She is also a tremendous helper at home. She sometimes gets frustrated that Brock and Miri both still need so much from Mom and Dad, but usually she is pretty understanding and ready to jump in and help. One of her favorite ways to help is to read with Brock or play "puppy" with him while I feed Miri. It always makes me laugh to see the two of them crawling around the floor, chasing each other, barking, or panting, tongues out and all! We are still trying to get over the shock of her transition from "little girl" to "tween" though. She chooses the Jonas Brothers over Princess now and tells us how Chad Dillon Cooper on the Disney is the handsomest Chad she knows. And then of course, she remembers that her dad's name is Chad and reluctantly adds him to the list.

Chad of course is not thrilled about many of these developments, but what father is? He's just hoping that she will give us a few more years before she brings home her first date! And between Ella, Brock and Miri, Chad doesn't have time for much else besides work. When he is home, he helps me as much as he can, so much that I wonder how I handle it all when he's NOT home! He was proud to be able to bless Miri at church last week, with my dad, Ian, Eric, Mark, and Chris. We were so happy to have so many Priesthood holders in our family that could participate. While it was a great day, know that those of you who could not be there were missed, Loyal and Javier especially!

For the moment, what are we looking forward to? Full nights of sleep from Miri, Brock turning 18 months old so that he can go to nursery at church, and Ella is always looking forward to the next play date. And we are looking forward to a trip to CA in June. My sister Brittany will be getting married to her long-time sweetheart, Mark, whom we love! When they are married, we are going to be able to have my entire family in the temple together for the first time and we know that those moments will be so special. To sit and be reminded of the love that God has for us and of the blessings He wants to share with us, will be beautiful. We miss you all and pray that God will be with each of you!

Brock is walking!

2009-11-30T17:20:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I think I've been doing a little better lately at this whole blogging thing, you know, posting a little more often so that people can actually see pictures of the kids and hear how they are doing more than once a month (or two!). But don't get used to it! Who knows how it will go once "baby girl Jordan" arrives. Yes, so far, that is still her name. And honestly, we don't have a name decided, it's not that we're just trying to keep it a secret.. We have a few that we both like, but nothing that we are just loving right now. Chad is still pulling for Baby Blodwyn though...anyway! We had a great Thanksgiving and hope that everyone else did too! We took off for a few days and spent it out in Elk Ridge with my parents and family that was around. The drive wasn't too bad on the way out there, Ella complained a bit, just because she was anxious to get there. Brock did great though, with minimal problems! The day before Thanksgiving, we spent at the mall, just doing some window shopping and enjoying being out in the holiday hustle. And while we were out, I finally got that fruit smoothie I had been aching for! Thanks Mom! But by the time the day was over, I was definitely ready for bed. Just wandering around the mall really wore me out! I don't think I'll be spending that much of a day on my feet again, at least until a few weeks after the baby comes! Of course, Thanksgiving dinner was great, and it was nice to be able to visit with some of my family that we hadn't seen since Cheriss and Chris' wedding back in August! Unfortunately, we are pretty sure that we won't be heading out that way again for a few months! The car ride home the next day was miserable, to say the least, for Brock and myself. Brock was so sick of being in the car that he just cried for most of the last 40 minutes or so. And then, my legs and back were pretty sore from riding in the car and so that made me even more cranky! We did enjoy the time we got to spend visiting, but like I said, I don't think we'll be jumping up to do it again until the baby is a few months old.
Other than that, I guess the biggest news right now is that Brock is walking! It is official! He really just started taking off last Sunday and every day since then, his walking spurts have been getting longer and steadier. He is doing so well, and of course, so proud of himself! Ella, as always is my little helper. She is doing very well in school and earned all of her Indian Feathers for the first trimester. There were 10 things the kids needed to be able to do, such as knowing half of thier letters, being able to write numbers 1-5, basic shapes, and knowing some basic grouping skills. For each of the 10 requirements, they were awarded and "Indian Feather" that was then put on a head-dress for them to wear as Indian Chiefs and Princesses. She was so proud that she got all 10 and so were we! Work is going well for Chad and he finally is getting a good amount of time off during the week to spend with us. We all miss him on the days that he works because we rarely get to see him then, but when he is home with us, we sure do enjoy it! Ella looks forward to those days very much, by counting down how many work days left. And Brock notices too, I know. Just today as I was putting him down for a nap, he kept calling out, "Dada! Dada! Ou ooo!" Translation: "Daddy, daddy, I love you!" And I think the one that took the cake for me today was when Ella was lying down, watching tv, and Brock went up to her, without being asked or told to, and just wrapped his arms around her in a big hug. They may be almost 5 years apart, but they do have a good relationship, and for that I am so very grateful. I just had to smile and thank my Heavenly Father for blessing me with such a beautiful family. I hope that everyone else is doing well and that the upcoming weeks bring joy to your homes and families as well! By the way, this last picture of Brock is him watching the very beginning of the BYU vs. Utah football game (aka Daddy's school vs. Mommy's school). Comfy chair, bottle, blankie and a bunch of guys beating on each other! What more could a boy ask for? I guess we would have been happier if we had won, but it was still a pretty good game!

What a Weekend!

2009-11-01T20:55:00.000-08:00

We certianly have had a busy, but very fun week and weekend! All of Ella's "silly" days at school this week were a lot of fun for her and her friends, and since this week was also Red Ribbon week, she came home wanting to enlighten us on all of the bad things that drugs do to you. Horray for Red Ribbon Week! Of course, Friday and Saturday were our busiest days, Friday we baked a total of 3 cakes: 2 to take to Chad's office for his birthday, and 1 for Brock's birthday party. The stegosaurus turned out great, thank you to my mom for her help! And of course Friday was a day full of anticipation as we waited for my parents, my sister Brittany, and my niece and nephew, Alexis and Spencer to arrive. Finally they did, and the kids had a great time playing together.

Of course, they were up early the next morning, but we had told them that it was not okay to wake any grown-ups until it was light out. They waited as instructed, but then woke Brittany up to a picket line in the living room, chanting, "WE WANT BREAKFAST! WE WANT BREAKFAST!" They even made signs out of Ella's art supplies to give the full effect! I swear, it was only 8:30 in the morning! They were not about to starve! I woke up to some loud whispering in the hallway, and apparently, they were planning out their protest. It sure sounded like Ella was the ring leader! Surprise, surprise, right?

Our party got started at about noon, with an extra 10 people in our house: my parents, my sister, my niece and nephew, and our next door neighbors (a family of 5). Brock was not at all excited to get up from his nap to see his house overrun with a bunch of people and burst into tears. But I was able to help him slowly work out of it, and he did okay from that point on. We tried to get him to open presents, but of course, he wasn't really into it. And when he did get into it, he was more attracted to the wrapping paper than the gifs. And as for the cake? Well, that took him some time as well. He didn't really love the texture of his frosting, so he was pretty hesitant to break into it. But by the time he was done, he had sucessfully place frosting all over his face, throughout his hair, all over the high chair, and even on the wall behind him.

The kids got to still play for a little bit after the party, and while Spencer and Chad played with the remote control car, the girls decided to paint each others faces. I suggested that they do some cute little butterflies or a flower and well...they didn't exactly take my advice! And then, they asked to paint Chad's and my face. I declined (I know, what a boring Mom) but Chad stepped up! What a guy! I think it started out as Indian warpaint, and then once a pirate mustache was added, he became a "Captain Hook Indian." It was quite the look. After sadly sending our guests off, the kids caught quick naps before the Halloween party. That of course was fun, complete with games and then a trunk or treat. They both had a great time and when it was time for bed, we were ALL more than ready to get some sleep. I don't think I have ever been more grateful for that extra hour than I was this morning! It was definitely a fun weekend. Unfortunately, with all of the excitement yesterday, Chad's birthday today got a bit overshadowed. But this year I didn't end up bursting into uncontrolable sobs like I did last year on his birthday, so I figure it at least had to be a step up, right? (Reminder: Brock was born just several days before Chad's birthday, so my hormone levels were taking a nosedive at the time, thus, the sobbing.) As you can see, it's been quite the weekend for us! But we had a great time and are now anxiously awaiting Thanksgiving when we should be able to get out to my parents house for a few days to visit.

To finish up my post for today, I have complied another top ten list. This one is "10 Ways You Know You're Submitting to the Small-Town Culture"
1. You start referring to the 2 blocks in the center of town as "downtown."
2. It's not uncommon to have a gun or hunting magazine lying around the house.
3. You are starting to think that camo is the new black.
4. You get excited whenever Vernal is mentioned on the news, even during the weather.
5. Your daughter asks if she can start wearing a large belt buckle and cowboy boots.
6. Your daughter suggests that you start wearing a large belt buckle and cowboy boots.
7. The sight of roadkill no longer upsets your children.
8. Hunting stories fascinate you.
9. You consider attending the cowboy poetry reading.
10. The thought of standing in line behind one person at the post office is an outrage.

All right, in all seriousness, we are enjoying it here, and are doing well. The baby is doing great, and should arrive right on schedule. As for her name, "Kavindra" won the poll, but Chad is still pushing for "Blodwyn." He says it has more of a ring to it. Take care everyone!

Happy Birthday Brock!

2009-10-24T20:53:00.001-07:00

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...

2009-10-04T20:30:00.000-07:00

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!

Wedding Bells

2009-08-21T16:15:00.000-07:00

We finally got Cheriss and Chris married this past weekend! The wedding was greatly anticipated, especially by Ella, who couldn't wait to get dressed up in her fancy dress (made by Grandma Wyckhuyse) and see Daddy wear a pink tie! All of the brother in-laws were good sports, but Ella thought that seeing the boys wear pink was hilarious. The wedding took place in the morning at the Draper, Utah temple, and we all made it and on time too! The kids stayed home with a baby sitter and had a blast with her. Chad and I of course went down for the wedding and I can't remember seeing my sister so happy as when she walked into the beautiful sealing room with her soon-to-be husband. Now, one would think that an August 15th wedding (also my dad's birthday) would be more than warm, but if you look at the picture, you'll see that was not the case! It was freezing cold and pouring rain at several different times, but they were still able to get some good pictures. Afterwards, we got some lunch, ran home to get the kids, and went back down to Orem for the reception. The decorations were beautiful and the kids all looked great! The girls (Alexis, Ella, Lilly, and Gracie) all had matching dresses, and the boys (Spencer and Brock) looked great in their suit/tux. The kids had a great time eating chocolate covered strawberries, cake, drinking punch, and of course, dancing the night away! Ella's dancing especially, was entertainment for everyone! No one in our family was lucky enough to snag the bouquet (better luck next time!) and Brock and Spencer were both hoping for the garter, but that too was caught by someone else. Brock was disappointed, but he figures he has plenty of time still. Spencer (he will be 5 next month) on the other hand, was so disappointed, he cried! Anyway, we sent the newlyweds off on their honeymoon with all of our love and support for a strong, Christ-centered marriage. Now, we are now focused on trying to get our house packed up to move! We are so excited to have a good job after such a long time that we are not at all nervous about moving to a brand-new area. Some of Chad's colleagues were surprised at my willingness to move to a VERY small town that I have never even been to before. He just told them that I'm a very obedient wife....yeah right! We all got a good laugh over that one. We sure are going to miss everyone here in Bountiful, and we know that all sides of the family were hoping we would get closer to them, but we are looking forward to the excitement that a booming metropolis like Vernal will bring! Ha! Ella is doing well, excitedly looking forward to starting kindergarten on Sept. 2nd. Of course, she is a great help to me as always, and always has some fun "Ella-isms" to share! And if you haven't heard, she has some interesting ideas of what to name her baby sister. Brock is moving around the house like a little rocket, and constantly pulling himself up to furniture around the house. His newest trick is letting out a big roar when you ask him what a dinosaur says! Our baby girl is doing well too, just nameless for the time being. Hopefully we can take care of that over the next few weeks. We are open to any realistic suggestions (or fake ones for a good laugh I guess) but can't say that we'll be disclosing the decision until her birthday! Chad is definitely working hard at the new job and working a lot. Hopefully when we get moved out to Vernal, he will be able to find some time for us too! As for me, I am excited for the move and am disappointed that I have to take a break from school, but am now looking forward to having more time for my kids. So one final question about the last picture there...the two guys on the outside look a little goofy to me, but I think I've seen the hottie in the middle before, anyone know where I can find him?

So, when did we get a teenager?

2009-07-06T10:25:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a whirlwind of activities we have had the past few weeks. May and June were very rainy weeks and we enjoyed every minute of it, including a BBQ in the rain! Brock was bundled up so tight in an adorable hoodie that was way too big (we didn't have a jacket to fit him, thinking, who would need a jacket in the summer, right?) and Ella and the rest of the kids rode their bikes in their rain coats. Of course, Ella was drenched by the time the evening was over, but we had a blast. A few days later, we had some great surprise visitors...the Farfans! We were not expecting them, and they didn't get to stay long at all, but we had such a good time with the kids! We got some pictures taken of all 9 Wyckhuyse grandkids (which I still haven't seen, by the way, hint! hint!) and of course, no one could resist the opportunity to give me a hard time about the picture only being valid till January. I just keep blaming it on Chad! Anyway, after the picture, we had ice cream, Ella, Kaylie and Brandy got their picture taken with Hello Kitty, and they spent the rest of the weekend prancing around Grandma and Grandpa Wyckhuyse's calling themselves Team Kitty and doing little cheers together. It was cute! Not too long after that, we were able to make it up to Washington, thanks to Nancy, Carl, and Pat. We even were able to extend the trip a few extra days thanks to Loyal and Valerie. We are so lucky to have so many people that love us and want to take care of us. The weather was on and off rainy while we were there, so the swimming suits we brought stayed in our suitcases the whole time, but we still found things to do for fun. We went down to the park one day with Nancy, Cobe, Johni, and Harper where the kids fed the ducks, we got treats to eat, and we rode the carousel. We went to three of Cobe's baseball games and enjoyed watching him play. He had some good hits too! After the games we would go over to Russ and Johni's house for some food and to visit some more...well, we always enjoyed it, but Brock and Harper struggled a bit. Brock needed to borrow a few things of Harper's for a bit, like his high chair, and his walker, but Harper wasn't so sure he liked the idea. He tried to show us he was unhappy by pushing Brock across the kitchen...Brock on the other hand, was not at all offended, but thought it was fun! While Harper screamed in protest at his temporary replacement, Brock laughed hysterically. It was quite funny and so of course, we couldn't resist snapping some pictures. We had lots of dinners with our Brock family and friends and Ella had fun running around with all the bulldogs and loved to feed them treats. They discovered very quickly that a good place to sit at dinner was near Ella and Brock. They gobbled up quite a bit of bread and several graham crackers that had been dropped on the floor! We went out to the cemetery to visit Ella's Mommy Kirsten's "remembering stone" and she got to choose a bouquet of flowers to leave. When we got there, we told her to just set the bouquet down, but that wasn't good enough for her. She wanted to pull the bouquet apart so that she could lay them her own way and "make it pretty." We felt like this was an okay thing since it was coming from her heart and it was very sweet. Not too long after we got back from Washington, we had a chance to take Ella on her first camping trip. We left Brock with my parents overnight (no, I didn't cry...almost, but I didn't) and went up to Hobble Creek Canyon. Ella had a great time and she was such good helper with setting up the tent and sleeping bags. The creek ran right along our campsite and so we went down to it several times to play and stick our feet in. We did a puzzle, played a game, cooked dinner, and of course, made s'mores! She didn't fall asleep till about 11:30 that night but was up by 6:30 the next morning, climbing in between Chad and I, jumping on us, trying to tickle-fight, and more than ready to be awake (of course, she fell asleep pretty quick on our way back to my parents though!). So we got up and had breakfast, took a few more walks, and got packed up to head back. As we were leaving, the campground manager came over to talk with us, and come to find out, there was a bear in the campground the evening before! We never saw or heard it, but we heard what turned out to be the gunshot of the manager shooting it. Some adults tried to scare it off by yelling at it and throwing rocks at it, but it was not afraid and started to charge at the campground manager. So, unfortunately, he had no choice. But fortunately for us, we knew nothing about it! All in all, we enjoyed our trip and we will try to do it again next year. I'm not sure if we'll take Brock on that one either, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. So maybe now, you're wondering why I choose the title that I did for this post. If you take a look at the Ella-isms, you won't wonder as much anymore. All of a sudden, our Ella has turned into this teeny-bopper! She's been watching all of these "big-girl" movies like Princess Protection Program and Princess Diaries, she can't get enough of Hannah Montanna or the Jonas Brothers. She has a Hannah Montanna flashlight, jammies, and vitamins. Of course we draw the line there and refuse to buy her anything Jonas Brothers, especially clothes. Sorry, I'm just not ready for my five-year-old to be wearing a boyband t-shirt! That didn't stop her from begging and she even told me that she would even put back the pony shirt she had already picked out if she could just have the Jonas Brothers one. Still, the answer was no, and as we walked away, she couldn't help but grab the bottom of the shirt and give it a kiss. One word: Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! We were slightly horrified. And of course, every day we get at least a taste (and sometimes a feast) of the good ol' Ella attitude. You know, hands on hips, rolling eyes, and disghusted sigh followed by a "Daaaaaaaaad!" or "Moooooooooom!" Brock is growing too of course and just this week he showed us that he can clap his hands and give high fives! He is very proud of himself and we are proud of him too! Ella just adores him and almost always cries that she doesn't want Brock to take a nap. She wants him to stay up so that she can play with him instead. They are our joy, day after day and can't wait for the love in our family to grow with the addition of the next one. Speaking of, my belly is growing, although it's still hard for people to tell. Those darn 20 lbs Brock left me with are not being very kind. The things we do for our children! I have another appointment in about a week and a half, and after that one, we will have a date for when we will find out if it's a boy or a girl. We will be sure to let everyone know as soon as we do!

Surprise!

2009-06-04T22:26:00.000-07:00

Well, we've had another few weeks of one event after another! Ella had graduation programs from both of her schools where we got to see her sing and dance, which of course is always a lot of fun. She did so well and we know that she is going to do very well when she starts kindergarten in the fall. We are so proud of her! Brock is doing well, he is just such a happy little boy! He's been teething recently, so he's had a rough time with that, but we're getting through it. Something else pretty big has surfaced over the past few weeks and it has definitely caught us by surprise! Sometime after the first of the year, we are going to add child number 3 to our family! Yes, if you haven't heard yet, we are pregnant again, due on January 10th. This puts Brock and our new baby a little less than fifteen months apart. Yikes! Of course, we are very excited, shocked, but excited. Ella could not be happier and is hoping that we get a girl this time. Her reasoning is that she wants the girls to be winning, not the boys. Brock is voting for a little brother though so that he will have a partner in crime. Chad doesn't care what we get, he's just proud of himself, and me? I'm just praying that God will bless me with patience, sanity, a self-cleaning house, and a baby that sleeps through the night from day one! Of course, this does mean that we'll have to adjust some of our plans a bit, such as moving to a little bit bigger place, and I'll have to take a break from school after this fall semester. We're not quite sure when I'll go back, I'm hoping for fall 2010, but we'll just have to see how it all goes! I've added of course a new poll to our blog as well as a new section I have called "Ella-isms." These are just funny things that Ella has said to us during different daily activities. She's a hoot and I'm sure she will teach her siblings some great things!

Ella the Honeybee

2009-05-16T22:00:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update to start off with: my sister's twins are doing great and are home now! They got to go home last night and so far are doing very well. Of course, the night was a little bit longer than usual for Shelene and Eric, but I think they'll get through it. So this means that we can finally get pictures of Ella and Brock with the twins (all they were able to do at the hospital was look through the window) and we will be sure to get down to see them as soon as Chad and I work through our colds. If you are interrested in seeing some more recent pictures of the girls and their family, just check out the link to the right (Westover). They're adorable!
Well, we had a fun but busy day yesterday! Ella had field day in the morning at preschool and even got to take a sack lunch. She felt so very grown up and I was so proud to hear that she shared some of her crackers and one of her cookies with a friend who had no lunch. That afternoon while Brock was napping, I made her lay down with me and take a nap as well. Of course she protested over and over again, reminding me, "I'm NOT a baby!" but I still made her. She had her ballet recital later that night, and I knew if we wanted to be able to get through it with a smile, she would need a little extra rest. Her recital went great! Grandma Wyckhuyse was able to come up for it and we were so impressed with her precision! She is the absolute best at finding her correct spot once they get out on the stage. It was a lot of fun and she was excited. You know, we really appreciate the ballet school for allowing her to continue to come right now. We were going to have her quit to save some money but they told us that she was welcome to come anyway and she sure does enjoy it! She even gets to add a jazz class this summer, which we know she will LOVE! The picture with the older ballerina is the student teacher that has helped out in Ella's class all year long. Ella loves her! And sorry the picture of our family is a little cropped! There was so much going on that Brock was easily distracted and mom had to snap the picture quickly when he was looking!
As for everything else, we are doing pretty well. Chad enjoys getting to the gym as often as he can and spending extra time with the kids. And of course, we love it too. He sure did put up with a lot a few weeks ago when I was dealing with finals! Let's just say I was a little on the cranky side! But he's such a good sport and a great husband, he never once complained about it! He's the best! I am picking up running again and have decided to shoot for a half-marathon in October and a marathon in November. Any takers? It sounds so far like my mom is going to join me in the half but we would love some more company! If I can do it, anyone can! Ella is looking forward to "graduation" this week and then she cannot wait to start kindergarten in the fall! We already had kindergarten round-up where we met her teacher and she did great! When they announced that they were going to take the kids to go see the kindergarten classroom, Ella was the first one to jump up and follow. She is so ready! And of course, Brock is learning and growing everyday! He is rolling over a lot more and I'm nervous for the arrival of mobility! AHHHHHH! He loves to give kisses now (they are very slobbery) and occasionally he will even give them without being asked to. It's cute! Be sure to vote on the poll! It's another fun one!

Happy Birthday Grace Elizabeth and Lillian Jane!

2009-04-17T23:57:00.000-07:00

So if you haven't heard already, my sister's twins arrived today! They were delivered by C-section at 1:13 and 1:15 this afternoon, and each are 16 1/2 inches long. One is 4 lbs 6 oz and the other is 4 lbs 8 oz, but I don't remember which is which! Sorry! But they are both beautiful! They both have very dark brown hair and I think it's more than what Brock has now! I went down to see them tonight and they are beautiful! Because they are in the NICU, Brock and Ella are not allowed to see them, so just I went down. I was the last visitor for the night, but I got to be the first (besides Eric and Shelene, of course) to hold them! Horray! They are beautiful and of course, so tiny! I took some "measurements" so I would have something to show Chad and Ella. So from the top of their heads to their chin, is about the size of my middle finger...thier eyes are about the size of my thumbnail, and from their elbow to wrist is about the size of my pinky! But they are doing so very well, and so is Shelene. Shelene should be home on Monday or so, but the babies will be a bit longer. Before they go home, they have to learn how to eat on their own and that is a process much easier said than done! The first two pictures are of Gracie and the second two are of Lilly, and the last picture is of the kids on Easter Sunday. Once we get to see the girls a little bit more and Ella and Brock get to see them, I will post some more pictures. By the way, select carefully when you vote on the poll or you might have a few people after you!

A New Adventure Every Day!

2009-03-06T00:09:00.001-08:00

With two these two kids, life is never dull! Chad and I know we have th best and cutest kids around and we could not imagine life without them! Ella is the greatest big sister, always wanting to help give Brock a bottle, read to him, hold him, and play with him. She also likes to play baby every now and then, which usually involves climbing in Brock's car seat and crying. Ella loves going to school, making art projects and she has recently discovered photography. She likes to take pictures of her stuffed animals, me, Chad, Brock, and yes, herself! Nice self-portrait, huh? We think it's a winner! She recently discovered a new talent: playing the trumpet! While at my mom and dad's Aunt Brittany got out her trumpet and had taught Ella how to make some noise on it. She was doing pretty well! Aunt Brittany even gave her an extra mouthpiece to practice on at home. She loves it and we are looking forward to the day when she can start some lessons! Ella looks forward to American Idol each week and is not at all shy about expressing her thoughts on the singers. It is never a dull moment with her and we love it! Brock is also doing well, growing bigger every day and thickening up a bit now that he's getting enough to eat. Funny how that works! He had his first "haircut" a few weeks ago, which was actually more of a trim. He had a bit of mullet action going on so we took care of it. I did the holding, Chad did the trimming, and Ella did the photography! Not bad huh? Brock is also starting to enjoy his bath time a little bit more, especially since his Aunt Monica and Uncle Ian bought him his duck tub! He loves it and gets rather impatient if he sees it getting set up for a bath and I take too long to get him in. Brock also goes with me to babysit once a week while Ella is in school. The twins we babysit, Tessie and Tamry, just adore him! When we arrived just last Thursday, they saw us pull up, came running to the door, and started jumping up and down shouting, "Lel-la! Bock! Lel-la! Bock! Lel-la! Bock!" They just love to get crazy with Ella and help take care of Brock. We sure do have fun with them! We are certainly looking forward to a lot of upcoming visitors over the next few months like my Uncle and his family, Chad's brother and his family, Grandma and Grandpa Stites, and of course, the big arrival of the Westover twins! I'll be sure to post more then! In the mean time, we hope everyone is doing well. Be sure to check out Ella's poll and vote!

Christmas Break

2009-01-10T11:42:00.000-08:00

We certainly enjoy our Christmas break, but boy did it fly by! Once I finished up with my finals, I ran around like crazy trying to get Christmas together and we just barely made it! Of course, I was up till 3am, wrapping presents, and we didn't begin unwrapping presents till 2pm, but who's keeping track right? I tend to think that it won't be as stressful next year, but we'll just have to wait and see! One of the highlights for Ella this Christmas was the magnifying glass that Santa brought to her. It was one of the first gifts that she opened and she had to use it to inspect each and every angle of just about every present after that! At some points we were wondering if we were going to be stuck there till next Christmas! She uses her magnifying glass now to be a scientist, a palentologist digging up dinosaur bones, or play detective. It's fun to watch. Just a few days after Christmas, we were lucky enough to have all of my family together and some friends for Brock's Baby Blessing. For those of you who may not know, this is just as important to us as an infant baptism is in other faiths. It's very special because Chad gave Brock his blessing, just as he did Ella after she was born, and my dad, Javier, Ian, Eric, (all brother-in-laws) Adam (a close friend), and our Bishop were all able to particiapte. It was very nice, and of course afterward we had some delicious food to eat! A big thank you to Shelene, Kristen, Mom (Wyckhuyse), and Monica for helping out with all of the food! We were so glad to be able to have so many people come like the Bakers from northern Utah, my cousin Ashley from California, and the Farfans all of the way from Oaklahoma! Of course, those of you who were not able to attend, you were sorely missed, especially Mom and Dad Brock, who even bought tickets to come, but that darn snow would just not allow it! After the blessing, we had a full week to be able to spend some time with the Farfans, so Ella, Brock and I made several trips down to my mom and dad's. One night Ella even got to stay the night with Aunt Brittany, Aunt Melissa, and her cousins for a New Year's Eve slumber party. They played games, ate junk food, stayed up past midnight, and the best part was, Chad and I had a quiet night at home! Of course, we had Brock with us, since he hasn't yet reached the appropriate age requirement for cousin sleepovers, but maybe next year! And one of the kids' favorite things over at Grandma and Grandpa Wyckhuyse's house these days is Grandpas TWO drumsets! That's right! Not one, but two! So the kids had a giant "jam session" and Brock even got in on the action! He had his first drum lesson from Grandpa! And in other news for the Jordan family, Chad still is working like crazy and trying to get to the gym when he can so he can be the next Arnold! Most nights when he comes home, I put him to work right away either making dinner, doing dishes or doing laundry! He's awesome and never complains! I don't know what I'd do without him! I start school again on Monday, so between that, the kids, and doing the music in primary (the childrens group) at church, I usually am running around pretty crazy! Ella is doing well in school and the best big sister ever! We've been trying to plan a few extra special things every now and then to thank her for helping and to encourage it along! Brock had his two month old check up the other day and he is right where he should be for his weight, and he's pretty tall! The doctor was also pretty impressed with his leg stregnth, but said we need to work on his shoulders. I think that if we put him on his tummy a bit more, that should do the trick, but Chad figures that a few trips to the gym and he will catch up in no time! Of course, his appointment meant shots, Brock cried of course, and as I was trying to comfort him, I look over at Ella, only to see that she's crying too! And the fact that she was so concerned for her brother made me get teary-eyed! Ella needed a lolipop to help her feel better and kept telling me that she was sorry for crying, but I thought it was very sweet! Just more proof of how much she adores her baby brother! Well, right about now is when I would say to check out the new book of the month, but I'm not going to do that anymore. Instead, yhe book club I participate in keeps a blog and I added the link on my list up on the right. We did add something new though, and we're going to call it "Ella's Poll". For this month, it's a list of some of Ella's favorite treats and she wants to know what everyone else thinks. Vote as much as you want! Also, I had so many pictures from the past few weeks that I posted some more down below! Check them out! We hope that each of you enjoyed your Christmas!

Christmas Pictures

2009-01-10T11:19:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving

2008-12-08T22:45:00.000-08:00

Sorry that it has been so long since I've updated the blog, but what can I say? Between the kids, school, attempting to keep my house in order, trying to spend a few minutes with my husband, and a new church calling, life is crazy around here! We had a great Thanksgiving and we hope everyone else did too. We went down to my parents house to spend some time with everyone. Ella had a blast playing with Alexis, Spencer, Aunt Brittany, and "Aunt Melissa" (she's an honorary family memeber!). Brock of course got all kinds of attention and didn't spend more than five minutes at a time in his bouncy seat! He loved it! And he certainly did enjoy his "bonding time" with daddy and grandpa! What a group of good looking guys! We were so excited to hear that Shelene and Eric are going to have a baby. Alexis and Spencer will be great helpers! The one bad side of Thanksgiving though, was that we discovered that Ella, like Chad is allergic to cats. Each time she would go downstairs to see Aunt Monica's cat, she would come back up with red, itchy eyes! Oh well, not much we can do...I finally took Brock to get some pictures done of him. They are in, I just need to go pick them up, and then most of you should be getting one in the mail pretty soon. We're not going to do Christmas photos this year like we did last year...I want to wait a few more weeks to try and get rid of a few more pounds before we take professional pictures again! But we will do those soon! As for Brock's pictures, if you want to view them or order any, go to thesmilestation.com, enter my name and access code: LTTT0883106342TAR. I have to forewarn you though, the ones with me in them are horrible, I was not planning to have my picture taken and so my hair was in a pony tail, and I was wearing no make up. Not to mention that towards the end of the photo session, Brock was crying and wanting to eat, but the photographer insisted on trying to get this picture, making me just a little cranky. Then they kept trying to sell me this horrific photo with me in it and the girl couldn't understand why I didn't want it. Finally I was sick of her pushing it on me, so I said, "Yeah, don't even pull that one up again, because it's awful and I would never even consider buying it." She didn't bring it up again. Ella is doing great, cracking us up all of the time. I was told by one of the primary leaders about one of her funny little answers last week. They were going to talk about the three members of the Godhead but they were giving the kids hints so thy could guess. The teacher said, "The three..." and Ella shouts out, "Billy Goats Gruff!" She is a great big sister, always wanting to help out. Sunday, she was on the floor with him playing baby, and today, I came out of the bathroom to see that she had built a "tent" for him. Be sure to check out our new book of the month; it's a great one! Take care and Merry Christmas to all!

Welcome Home, Brock Alan Jordan!

2008-10-26T21:45:00.000-07:00

As hopefully all of you have heard by now, we welcomed our little baby, Brock Alan, Thursday morning at 7:13. He weighed in at 7 pounds 15 ounces, and measured at a nice, long 21 1/2 inches. Mom started out with some early labor Wednesday morning, and as the day progressed she was pretty sure it was time! But after a trip to the hospital, we were sent home, told that yes, we were in labor, but Mom was not making enough progress at the moment. Mom and Dad were not home for more than a hour when her water broke and we were on our way back! Things really got going then and Mom was able to handle the labor until about 3am and then she broke down and asked for the epidural. Boy was that fabulous! Mom, Dad, and Grandma Wyckhuyse were able to nap for a little while until the nurse and doctor started expressing a bit of concern for Brock's condition. Each time Mom would have a contraction, Brock's heartrate would drop down a little bit lower than where it should be. So the doctor presented the idea of a C-section and said they would monitor Brock's condition for a little bit longer before a decsion was made, but they wanted us to know that it was a strong possibility. But fortunately, he hung in there, and his heartrate went up again. So by the time Mom was ready to push, the doctor said we could proceed as planned. Whew! Everyone was so impressed with Mom's fabulous pushes and after only 40 minutes, we had a baby. As Grandma Wyckhuyse explained it, after his head was out, the rest of him just kind of fell out! We discovered the reason that his heartrate would drop during contractions was because his ambilical cord was wrapped around his neck once, but the doctor had it under control and fixed the problem before we even had time to worry about it. Of course, as Mom and Dad looked at our new baby, they couldn't help but be amazed at the little miracle we had just taken part in! And Dad and Grandma were just so amazingly supportive the whole time, Mom could not have asked for a better support team! Shortly after Brock was born, we found out that our friend and neighbor, Tia, was just around the corner from mom with her baby girl who had arrived the night before. So, Mom and Tia had fun going back and forth throughout the day to visit with each other, and hold each other's new babies! Brock passed all of his newborn tests with flying colors and we are all so happy now to have him home with us. We are all doing well, and Ella is so happy to FINALLY have her brother. She loves to sit and hold him, give him kisses, brush his blonde hair, and help in any way that she can. Last night, Mom was feeding Brock and was supposed to be singing Ella bedtime songs, but she was falling asleep! So after a few minutes, Ella decided she ought to take over and began singing lullabies to Brock. It was so cute and almost made Mom cry! Words cannot express how happy and gratefull we all are, not only for our new baby boy, but for Ella and for the joy that she brings to our family every day. Thank you again to all of you for your continuing love, support, and well-wishes. We are so blessed to have so many people to share our joy with. A big, giant thank you, to Dad, for being an amazing support to Mom before, during, and after the whole labor and delivery process. He is taking such good care of us all! Another big thank-you to Grandma Wyckhuyse for being there with us, and one to Shelene for sending out pictures to everyone right away. We love you all!

No, No Baby Yet!

2008-10-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

No, he hasn't come yet! So, it's been awhile since we've updated our blog, but we have been crazy busy lately! With school, play dates, babysitting, and of course getting ready for little "Chad Jr." (no, that's not his name....just thought we'd clear that one up since many of you asked). But it's been a lot of fun. One of Ella's favorite things to do lately is have her friend, Savannah over. Ella told mom that Savannah is her very best friend. They are adorable together and so very silly. Here they are watching a video, wearing Daddy's socks.
A big huge thank you to Shelene, Grandma (Eileen), and Brenda for putting together a baby shower for us. It was a lot of fun and we were given some adorable clothes, blankets, and much needed items for "Chad Jr." And although Angie Fennemore from our ward was not able to attend the party, she brought over a gift for the baby and for Ella! It was a kit, containing a magic wand, tiara, journal and purse to decorate. Ella was so excited, but it had to wait for a few weeks because she was insistent that all three of us decorate them together! It took us awhile to find the time, but we managed! Mom decorated the tiara and purse, Ella did the journal, and Daddy decorated the magic wand. And a lovely magic wand it is! Thanks Angie! It was a hit! Another gift was a new baby doll and bottle from Grandma Thelma and Grandpa Jerry. Ella was so excited, and for several days, she didn't do much except take care of her babies! She feeds them often, puts them down for a nap, and we have to whisper when they are sleeping so that we don't wake them. Even though their clothes are pink and purple, they are both boys, and since there are two of them, Ella thinks it would be neat if we had two babies too! No thanks! We'll just take one at a time!
Yesterday we took Ella on one last "only child" trip to the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. She loved the jelly fish, sharks, "nemos", and "dorys". She was even brave enough to reach out and touch a starfish in one of the touch pools. Then, that evening, we saw our first snow of the year! That's right! About a week ago, we were still in the 80's and then all of a sudden the temperature dropped like crazy! It snowed enough to stick and Sunday after church, we put our snow gear on and went out to play! We make a giant snowman, snow angels, had a snowball fight, and then topped it all off with mugs of hot chocolate when we came inside. We don't think the snow is going to stick around for much long since we are supposed to hit 70's again by the end of this week, but it sure was a fun preview of winter!
Well, this is a very exciting time for us as all of you know, since we are anxiously awaiting the any-day arrival of "Chad Jr"! Mom and Dad of course are pacing the floor for the big day, but Ella is just as impatient. Just this evening, Ella announced to us that she was going to say a prayer for her brother to come, and sure enough, she did and she prayed that he would come "very, very soon, like the day after tomorrow." So I guess we'll just have to wait and see how her prayer is answered! We will try our best to keep you all updated, and we apologize in advance if we overlook anybody! If we do overlook someone, it's not that we don't love you, it's that the arrival will have Mom and Dad both just a little scatter-brained! Thank you to all for your love, support, and beautiful gifts! Don't forget to check out our baby's week by week development (39 weeks) and our book of the month.

Yes, We're History Nerds!

2008-08-20T14:53:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we heard that an original copy of the Declaration of Independence was going to be at our state capital, so on Saturday, we headed down for a quick look. Apparently there are only 25 copies left out of 500-1,000 that were originally printed in 1776 (quick history trivia for you!). Well, seeing the actual document certainly was quick (we had just enough time to take a picture and look over it) while the line was anything but! From the time we got in line to when we were finished looking at the Declaration, it was just under four hours. Yes, we know, that pretty much puts us in the nerd department. And Ella? She was fabulous! We took turns for the first little while taking her for walks around the capital and got to see where the Supreme Court meets, where the Utah House of Representatives meets, and a few other places. In one hallway, there were some stone busts of a few past politicians and they reminded Ella of a few weeks ago when we were at the church conference center and saw the busts of the prophets. She pointed to Lincoln's bust and goes, "Look mom! A prophet!" After Ella explored much of the capital building, she was tired of wandering around and decided she wanted to wait in line. Of course, we did not come prepared with a coloring book and crayons (perhaps it would be a wise idea to keep and emergency set in the car.....) but Mom happened to have a pad of paper and a pen in her purse. So we played pictionary for a good portion of the time, and then during our last 20 minutes or so of waiting, they provided us with a sheet of paper that had pictures of different items in the capital on it. The search game was fun to play, but it would have been a little nicer to have it at the beginning of the line! Anyway, we finally got to see it! And when we got back in the car, Ella gave a sigh and said, "Wow, for a minute, I thought we were going to stay there forever!" She behaved so well (a perfect angel compared to the behavior some of the older kids and young teenagers were displaying) with so few complaints that we decided to take her out for some dinner as a treat. We were headed to Applebee's and then she saw a McDonald's playland on the way and changed her mind! We gave in because she had been so good and made it through cold french fries and room-temperature hamburgers. To treat Mom and Dad for putting up with McDonald's we went to Coldstone's Creamery! Yummy! It was quite the day! Well, other than all of that, we are counting down the days till we start school (Mom on the 25th and Ella on the 29th) and of course counting down the weeks till our due date (much to Mom's dismay, we are not quite at days yet). Mom and Dad are finally realizing that it's really going to happen, and Ella keeps asking WHEN it's going to happen! And she is still quite insistent that the next one be a girl so she can have a sister. Yikes! Once Mom and Dad are able to experience this whole labor process, we'll decide how soon we'll have another one. 5 years, 10 years, or never! So this last picture added to the blog is Ella and the first sign of "regression" she's shown so far. She found the baby bottles and wanted to drink from one. Well, Mom wanted to tell her to forget it, but she had just finished an article a few weeks earlier that said that it was okay to let them regress a little. The article promised they would get bored soon enough, decide that being a big kid was better, and move on. So Mom decided to try it, filled the bottle with water, and gave it to her. Ella quickly realized that the hole at the top was extremely small and it wasn't easy to get the water out! Less than ten minutes later, she decided it was too much work and tossed the bottle in the sink! Don't forget to check out our baby's development for this week (31 weeks as of 8/18) and our new book of the month called, "I Am a Mother."

Happy Third Trimester!!!!!!!!

2008-07-20T15:29:00.000-07:00

As of Monday, July 21st, we are officially in our third trimester! Hopefully only 13 more weeks to go! (Check our week by week development page, week 27.) And mom is no longer praying to have the baby early because we found out that Ella's primary program at church is on October 19th (baby is due 20th)! Especially since it is her first, Mom and Dad really don't want to miss it, so they're just hoping to go into labor right after it's over!
Well, we've had a crazy and very difficult past month because as soon as we got back from California, Daddy was "asked" (more like forced) to work the night shift for a few weeks. Aft first we were told it was going to be from 6pm to 3am, but it ended up being 4pm-4am (sometimes 4:30, 5, or even 5:30). It was miserable for all three of us! But Mommy and Ella tried to make the best of the situation and found some things to do so that the house would be quiet for Daddy to sleep. We've spent a lot of time wandering around stores, playing at the park, playing with friends, and we even went to two different museums. The best one was the museum at Thanksgiving Point, and we took along some friends. We had Ella and Mommy, Eric and his mommy (Trishia) and Ava and her mommy (Marci). With 6 of us in the car, it was very full! We even got to use our third seat in the Highlander for the first time! The kids loved the different exhibits, mainly all of the dinosaurs, and they loved digging in the dirt, pretending to be paleontologists (and yes, Ella can not only say that word, but if you ask her what it is, she will tell you the correct answer: someone who digs for dinosaur bones!). Ella wasn't too crazy about the shark but I convinced her to stand in front of it for a picture. We were only there for about two hours, but by the time we got in car to go home, the kids were wiped out! All three of them got some much-needed sleep on the way home. We had a great day and are looking forward to doing it again in a few months. Ella and Mommy also went down to Elk Ridge to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Wyckhuyse for a few days, which was fun and a good change of sceen for us! As for Daddy's schedule, we are all very happy to say that it's normal again! His sleep patterns are still a little off but hopefully we can get back to normal sometime this week! We've added a new section to our blog called "Book of the Month." Check it out!

California

2008-06-17T15:37:00.001-07:00

Well, we made it to California and back safely! It was quite a trip with us leaving earlier than planned, being gone nearly 10 days, daddy having to work part of the time, a graduation, and of course Disneyland! Ella and I got to relax for the first few days, but unfortunately, Daddy was asked to work some of those days and the office was too far away for him to stay with us. The day after he got back, the McCarters and Westover/Whipples arrived and we went to Cheriss' graduation (the kids stayed behind with a sitter)! Now shortly after arriving, Daddy thought he spotted Ronny James Dio (former lead singer of Black Sabbath and lead singer of his own band Dio). Dad, Uncle Ian, and Grandpa spent the whole graduation trying to decide if it was him or not, but this was a difficult task since we were sitting behind him and all we could see was the back of the head. Well, Daddy and Uncle Ian were determined to find out, and sure enough it was! They were so excited! They asked him if they could take a picture with him and here it is! Uncle Ian and Grandpa got one with him too (he was very nice about it) and I think that it made their night (Sorry Cheriss!)! Anyway, we all had a great time together that night at the party, but all of the Farfans (especially Kaylie and Brandy) were missed! By the end of the day, there were just a few people that were wiped out! Ella climbed up on the couch with Aunt Cheriss and I think they were both out in less than 10 minutes! The next day we headed for Disneyland! We had churros, saw Princess Jasmine, Alice in Wonderdland, Peter Pan, Woody, and Jesse. We rode Dumbo, the Teacups, the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Carribean, and Ella even braved a roller coaster! Now, Mommy was pretty nervous about the roller coaster, but Ella loved it! Mommy and "brother" weren't allowed to ride but Daddy rode with Ella and he said she had her hands up in the air and screamed with joy! Nearly the instant they got off she was begging to do it again! Unfortunately she was not quite as fond of the Haunted Mansion. We had explained to her what it was and she said she wanted to try it, but once we got in the elevator and they blacked the lights, of course, everyone screamed...and it was all downhill from there! By the time we got off, she was crying and yelling, "I don't ever want to do that ride again!" But as soon as we got off of Pirates of the Carribean,

she was happy again and singing, "Yo-ho! Yo-ho! It's pirates for me!" To finish the day we bought our little princess a pink hat, complete with minnie ears, a tiara, a veil coming down the back and we even had her name put on the back for her! She loves it! As for Ella's little brother, he is growing like nothing else and becoming very active! Don't forget to check out his progress with our week by week developmental chart! As of 6/16 we are 22 weeks along. Only 18 to go...we hope!

Our Little Lamb

2008-05-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

We've been able to do a handful of fun things this month, including the zoo, playing with friends, having Grandma Nancy come to visit, and a dance recitial. We have been busy little bees that's for sure! But one of Ella's favorite things to do when we do have some down time is to play hairstylist on daddy. About once a week, daddy will end up wearing pretty hair clips, colorfull headbands and even a shiney princess crown! Ella just loves it, but daddy...well, not so much, but he sure is a good sport! At the zoo, we saw a baby giraffe that was taller than daddy, bears, rhinos, and Ella's favorite, the elephants! We also were able to have our new friend Eric over and Ella was such a great helper! She became a little concerned when Eric wouldn't use his fork to eat and so she decided to help him so he wouldn't make a mess! She is going to be such a good big sister! Then of course, as most of you know, we had Ella's first ballet recitial last weekend. Grandma Nancy was down to visit and so she was lucky enough to be able to go with us. She and the rest of her class were Bo Peep's little lambs, ears included! It was so cute and everyone loved it! One of the teachers told us later that just before she walked onto the stage, she proclaimed proudly, "Here I go!" And she was great! She watched "Bo Peep" very carefully and did her dance very precisely, just like she was supposed to! In my completely unbiased opinion, she was the best one! We did purchase a video, so when we come visiting over the next few months, we'll be sure to bring it along so that some of you will get the chance to see her dance.

In the group picture, she is the lamb that is centered, with her arms out, doing the dance! We were so proud of her, and when we told her how great she was, she sighed and said, "Yes, I really was." No self-esteem issues here! By the way, "baby Jordan" is doing well and is growing at a good rate. Mom just kind of feels more fat than pregnant right now, but that's okay! We should find out on Friday if it's a boy or a girl. Check out our week by week development chart on the top right of the page (as of May 19 we are 18 weeks along). Take care everyone and to those of you in California, we look forward to seeing you in just a few weeks!

March Madness!!!!!!

2008-04-01T16:54:00.001-07:00

Well, no, it has nothing to do with basketball, but we certainly have had our own version of March Madness! What a crazy (but fun) month! We started off with our big announcement that we're having a baby! We got to hear it's heartbeat and we couldn't be happier! We are all so excited and Ella continues to pray for our baby to come as soon as possible. We also had a fun weekened with Alexis and Spencer coming for a slumber party. The girls of course enjoyed all of the Barbies, but poor Spencer wandered around feeling a little lost and asking several times, "Do you have any boy toys?" Not in this house, that's for sure! He was also very concerned that he was going to get sick from me until I assured him that morning sickness was not contagious! But anyway, the kids sure had fun with their movie party and plenty of treats! Easter weekend was also quite a bit of fun with decorating their own little bags, coloring eggs, and then of course the Easter Egg hunt! We stayed the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house and Ella was more than excited to see all of the treats that the Easter bunny brought for her! And finally our other big news is our new car! We have been shopping around most of the month and finally last night made the purchase! Since it was the last day of the month, they were pretty desperate to get rid of the car and we are pretty happy with it! Of course, it doesn't spin and make us dizzy like Ella requested, but we're excited! It's a 2005 Toyota Highlander, with leather interrior and seat warmers on the driver and passanger's seats. It sure was cozy last night on the drive home! We took Ella with us to the dealership and even though we were there for 2 1/2 hours, she was soooo good! Tonight when we go to the store we are going to get her a special treat!

Sick, sick, and sick!

2008-03-01T16:18:00.000-08:00

Well, we've had a rough two weeks! Just after Valentine's day, Chad came down with a nasty cough and cold, and then just a few days later, Ella caught it from him! They were both pretty miserable

although Ella did enjoy her fair share of popsicles, ice cream, and shakes!

I was pretty busy too, and when I wasn't tending to the sick ones, I could never decide if I should attack the mountains of laundry, dishes, or homework!

But we got through it! Chad and Ella are both coughing just a bit still, but hopefully they are on the mend! Ella has pretty much turned back into her normal adorable (and of course crazy!) self! She still loves to dress up and one of her latest hobbies is talking on one of her many phones to her "boyfriend" Samuel! (Oh dear!) She's also as

silly as ever and came to me the other day with a stretchy headband over her eyes, holding her stick-dinosaur like a baseball bat and says to me, "I'm ready to play pinata!" I just had this vision of our house in shambles and trying to explain to Chad when he got home from work what exactly happened....."well, you see, Ella wanted to play pinata and....." anyway! Luckily I stopped her in enough time! She's a cutie, always bringing a smile to our day!

Our Trip to Washington

2008-02-01T09:05:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I know it was over a month ago, but I figure since I never shared the pictures in the first place it was a good place to start. We had a great time! We went to church with Grandma Nancy, shopping, sledding (which I had never done before!), and spent time with family and friends, but I think Ella's favorite part was Christmas! Shocking, I know, but she was so excited! She got to open presents Christmas eve, Christmas day, the day after Christmas, and when we got home, there were even more presents to be opened! Some of her favorites include a new dress-up dress from the "other" Jordans, her 2 new "Murphy doggies" and of course, her monkey and monkey blanket from Grandma and Grandpa Stites. We also enjoyed having our Wyckhuyse family over after we got back and spending New Year's Day with them. We had a great holiday season and we hope everyone else did too!