Surprise!

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

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!

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!

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

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

Thanksgiving

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!