March "MADNESS"

What do you get when you combine horses and a gate needing to be climbed in order to get to them?

This is what we got.

We spent the week in Burley visiting my family while Blaine was out of town. Jace and Jenna loved it (and I loved all the babysitters). On Wednesday, Jace came in crying and holding his wrist. My dad later reported that he fell off the gate while trying to pet the horses. Throughout the day he seemed to get better and I thought it was just a sprain. That night climbing the stairs before bed, he tripped and fell on it again. I finally got him calmed down after much screaming and crying (or maybe it was the Motrin talking!) The next morning he seemed fine again, a little sore, but better. He was playing outside and came running in to get those who were in the house for something when- you guessed it- he fell again. The kid only has one speed and that is running- I don't know how many times he has fallen or hurt himself because he was going 100 mph. Anyway I finally decided to take him to a doctor just to check it out. I didn't think anything was really wrong, I just wanted to make sure. So after I finally found a doctor in town (it was Spring Break) and was able to get squeezed in, when trekked in to the doctor. Jace was adamant that he didn't want to go to the doctor and insisted that his arm was better. The doctor asked a few questions and immediately sent us over the the hospital across the street to get xrays. Those were taken and Jace did really well. We went back to the doctor's office and waited for the results. And waited.... and waited. Finally she came up and got us and reported that he had fractured both of the bones in his arm right up near the wrist and needed a cast. Oh great!! Putting on the cast went pretty smooth (it is up past his elbow and not at an angle where he can reach his mouth, I might add) and we were soon on our way home to report the news and settle the wagers that everyone had set. He had some trouble getting used to it at first (it is on his right arm...of course!) and after his first bath we went throught two pairs of pajamas because it kept dripping water even though we had it wrapped in a plastic bag- obviously with a hole! Blaine was surprised to say the least when I reported the news to him that night. Jace is now doing really well with it now, has become a pretty good lefty, and only asks to have it taken off once in a while. In three weeks we will return to Burley to have the cast removed and hopefully everything will look okay. But until then, we will continue to try and protect ourselves and Jenna from the arm that has become a weapon.

Did I mention that it was last March when Jace got that herpes virus in his mouth (most likely from the airport or plane- YUCK!) and had trouble eating? Yeah, that was also fun. From now on, we are staying away from Burley during the month of March.

I Know What I Want to Say......

...I just can't get my mouth to say it. That is what happened to Jace a couple of weeks ago and I need to document it so it won't be forgotten. I still get a kick from it. We were having some sort of chicken for dinner and Jace (who has to dip everything) wanted more ketchup to dip his chicken in.

Jace: "Daddy, can I have some more chi....chik.....chikup.....chik....chikup....."

On and on he tried to say ketchup, but couldn't get chicken off his mind. It was so funny because we could see what he was trying to say and what he wanted and also that he was getting frustrated because it wasn't coming out right. So finally.....

Jace: " I want THAT!!" pointing to the ketchup.

What a funny kid!

Spring Fever

Here are a few things that we've been up to while waiting (and waiting) for spring to come. Just when you thought the cold was behind us, the storms come and snow is on the ground once again. Oh, just lovely!!

I found a few of cool things in the dollar aisle at Michaels. This particular one is a helicopter that we punched out of a piece of wood, then put it together, and Jace painted it. He loved it and I wish I would've grabbed more. Another was a biplane that we put together and painted. We still have a little car to do. That may be our project tomorrow. But Jace loves to play with them and they are still in one piece. Jenna is also growing fast and is ever closer to crawling. She is starting to pull herself up onto stuff, but during these projects she was content and happy just to watch. I don't know how much longer that will last.

Then Jace and Blaine made a great snowman when our last storm came through. Jace hurries to check on him every morning and is disappointed that he keeps getting smaller and smaller. We keep telling him that when it snows again we'll make another snowman to replace his little friend who no longer has any facial features.

Little Miss Jenna

Some fun eight month facts about our little Jenna J!

- she still isn't crawling. she acts like she wants to. it will probably just click sometime soon.

- she is a great little eater.

- she is content---most of the time.

- she still just has the two bottom teeth.

- she has many nicknames (JJ, Jenna J, etc.)

- she still sucks on her two fingers.

- she doesn't really even roll over. since she can sit up, it's been hard to teach her that laying down is ok.

- she loves her brother and he is the best entertainment.

- now that she doesn't have as much hair, I have tried headbands, but she won't hear of it.

- she is a beautiful baby girl and we love having her in our home.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Steve Martin: "Where is your hand?"
John Candy: "Between these two warm pillows."
Steve Martin: "That is not a pillow!!"


Ha ha ha! A classic for sure and a good way to introduce my post (even though it is just about trains.) We took last Saturday and made our way down to Ogden for a train show. Blaine and Jace are into trains and we have been looking forward to this for a while. The show was at the Ogden Train Depot and we were able to explore 5 real engines. At first Jace would not go near the engines. I have to admit, they are pretty intimidating because they are so huge. It took him a while to warm up and understand that they weren't going anywhere. After that he was in heaven (and so was Blaine for that matter). Then inside the depot, there were hundreds of model layouts of all different sizes and designs. They were in there for over two hours and still had to pull themselves away before they'd seen everything. This is something we will definately be doing again. We had plans to also visit the Hill Air Force Museum, but ran out of time so that adventure will be saved for another day.

Don't Give Up On Me

I know I have been such a slacker. Not much has changed in our lives, but I thought I would give you an update on the kids. Jace is now in Sunbeams (for a couple of months now) and he seems to enjoy it once he gets into class. He always insists that he doesn't want to go and throws a minor tantrum when he is dropped off. Lets hope he grows out of this before high school! He has two really great teachers, Brother and Sister Rhoades. Jace has taken to Bro. Rhoades quite well. We think it's because they are the only boys in that class. The last few weeks Bro. Rhoades has been gone and when we asked Jace where he was, he said something about sheep and rugs. We didn't understand, so we just nod and smile. Yesterday Sister Rhoades pulled me aside and asked if Jace has ever seen a sheep being sheared. I told her no. She said she had to laugh because when she explained to the kids that Brother Rhoades was not in class because he was gone shearing sheep, Jace piped up and announced that the sheep had to get their rugs taken off! Now I'd like to take the credit here for teaching my kid something, but the real credit (I must sheepishly add) has to go to PBS. He loves trains (just like his dad) and him and I take a little time each day and work on numbers and the alphabet with some cool little workbooks I bought. He seems to enjoy learning, but I'm sure he just has the end goal in sight-- a treat!

Jenna is growing so fast. She is our good little eater, such a difference from Jace. She crinkles up her nose when she eats and drinks. Add that to her big, blue eyes and it's pretty cute. She has been sitting up for a couple of months now and seems to be content at that. Blaine and I can't help, but to compare her to Jace (I don't know why we do because they are so different) and Jace started crawling at 6 1/2 months and walking at 1o months. She is just starting to be interested in moving toward things, but hasn't quite figured out how to just yet. Her hair is lighter and thinner than when she was born and will no longer hold a clip. Jenna rarely cries--only when absolutely necessary. She still sucks on those two fingers and is just as happy as can be.

We love having both of them in our family.