Happy Happy Birthday Baby

Jerzi is one year old!!!

(Ok, so really she is 14 months now, because i'm that slow at updating.)

I know it's Christmas time, but I really wanted to hurry and post this before I posted about Christmas stuff. Her birthday is Oct. 27th. Hadley was in Pittsburgh for her real birthday, so we celebrated it a few days late.

She loved the cake... and the candle. She wouldn't put it down, the whole time she ate.



She was one happy, messy little girl.




One thing about Jerzi....she already has a few things that she love, love, loves! For some weird reason, she LOVES babies. Don't ask me how or why, cuz we didn't even have one in our house. We don't know where she got this love for them from, but it's true. She got a baby (actually 2) for her birthday, and she was so excited! I don't remember Jete getting as excited over things at one year old as Jerzi does. It was so fun to watch her.




She knew just what to do with it too. I really don't know how she knew how to do this stuff.
It's really weird to me. Talk about they're born with it, geesh!







Here she is in love with her two new babies.





The balloons and babies were a hit! Yay!!!

For her birthday, we carved pumpkins. Well....me, Had, and Jete all carved one, but she wanted to play with her babies and balloons.

[I'd show all of the finished pumpkins, but someone carved something a little inappropriate that I don't want my little neices and nephews to see (if you know Had, you can guess what he carved). Needless to say, we got a lot of strange looks from people walking past when they were out on our doorstep.]

We are all so happy to have Jerzi in our lives. Jete now has a partner in crime, and always wants to know where she is. He loves playing on his bed with her, and always asks if she can sleep in his bed with him. It's fun to watch them play together. Jete has loved Jerzi from when she was first born.

Nothing has changed. He still loves her so much and most of the time wants to do everything with her.

We can't imagine our life without either of these two!

Things I want to remember about Jerzi at 12 months:

*She loves food-she eats anything and everything.

*She loves books-she goes and picks out the book she wants, then brings it to us to read to her.

*She climbs up on the couch by herself, and gets so proud of herself that she can do this.

*She likes hot cheetohs.

*Her daddy says "she's definitely a girl" because she is happy and smiling one minute, and crying or throwing a fit the next.

*She loves shoes and boots- she wants to wear all of ours, and tries to put them on and when she can't get them on, cries until we help her.

*Started walking at 10 months.

*Only has her 2 bottom teeth.

*She can say a few words- hot, night-night, brush, hi, pretty, balloon.

*When she waves to anyone, she turns her hand backwards and waves to herself.

*She loves babies, dogs, and footballs.

*She loves those little knit/cottony receiving blankets, and loves having them touch her face.

*She has to have 2 binkies to go to sleep. One is for her mouth, and the other one is in her hand, and she pulls one out and puts the other in, and keeps switching them until she finally falls asleep.

*As soon as I get her out of her crib, she wants to go find Jete.

*She figured out how to ride Jete's 4-wheeler by herself, and loves it.

*She goes to bed at 8 P.M. and gets up around 7:30 A.M.

*She takes a morning and afternoon nap.

*She has the best, squishiest, poky out little bum ever.

*She likes to drive Jete's cars around, making brmmmm noises.

*She is very feisty

*If you have something she wants, she comes and slaps you (I'm trying real hard to stop this, but nothing seems to work)

*She throws big tantrums, like throws her head back on the floor, and kicks her feet.

*Although she loves food, she doesn't eat very good when other people feed her. She just wants her mommy. :)

*She wakes up from the tiniest sounds.

*She loves her coat. She goes to the closet and cries for it.

*She is really shy when she gets around others. She buries her chin in her chest and does what we call her "shy face" when people talk to her.

I can't even describe how much I love this girl. It's been so fun to have her and watch her grow and learn new things. She is so fun and I love seeing her big personality come out of this tiny little body.

We love you Jerz!

Tis The Season To Be Jolly

I know there are probably tons of people out there that love this time of year, but I really, really LOVE it! Everything that has to do with this time of year makes me so happy. I just feel really happy and blessed, so I thought I'd share some of my favorite things (my computer is having issues so I have no pictures, and no updates for now).

Things that I love:

• Listening and singing along to Christmas music
• Going to the stores and watching the hustle and bustle of everyone trying to find gifts.
• Seeing decorated Christmas trees
• Driving around looking at Christmas lights
• Watching all the cheesey Falalala Lifetime Christmas movies while I fold clothes
• Winter storms
• Drinking hot chocolate
• Cuddling with Had under a blanket while watching a Christmas movie
• Even though I'm done with school, and Had is basically done with school, I still get excited when I hear that schools are being canceled
• Wrapping Christmas presents secretly
• Taking a walk outside at night when everything is white with snow and the sky is so light
• Making (and eating) Christmas goodies
• That Jeter is old enough that I can threaten that Santa won't bring him toys if he's naughty
• Christmas shopping for kids
• Nativity Scenes
• Christmas Parties (to an extent)
• Spending time with family
• Decorating for Christmas
• Teaching Jete about Baby Jesus and the real Christmas story
• Watching huge snow flakes fall
• Being snowed in
• Seeing the "giving spirit" in people
• Reading Christmas books
• Watching Jerzi's eyes light up every morning when I bring her downstairs and she sees the Christmas tree
• Making gingerbread houses
• Making paper snowflakes
• Hearing little kids say what kind of a present they would give to Jesus.

I know there are tons more things that I love about this season, but these are just the ones off the top of my head. I am sad that we're not going to be able to go home and spend time with our families for Christmas this year, but I'm also really excited to have our own Christmas and start are own traditions. It has already been so fun and I have been able to enjoy all this stuff a lot more instead of just running from place to place. I love my husband and my sweet kids more than ever and I'm very grateful to have them with me. I'm especially grateful for the Savior and what he's done for me and for the chance we have to celebrate his birth.

Big Bad Biker Babes

For Halloween, Jeter said he wanted to be a bull rider again. I told him NO. :) I know, i'm mean, but how boring is that? He was that last year. He said to me, "Well then i guess i'll just be nothing." He kept saying how he wants to be nothing, and that he just wants to ride his motorcycle. So I thought of this great idea. He could be a biker dude, and ride his motorcycle around to trick or treat, putting the candy in his saddlebags. Jerzi could be his biker chick. It was gonna be so cute. After I told him about it, he was really excited and told everyone he was gonna be a Narley (Harley) Dude, and Jerz was gonna be his biker chick.

Then when the night came, they both foiled my plans. After I spent hours making their costumes, and talking it up so Jete would be excited to wear it, he let me get him dressed. We went to the church for the trunk or treat. Jerzi wouldn't get on the motorcycle with Jete. She wanted to be on it by herself. She doesn't know how to steer, so Jete rode it by himself. He rode to like three trunks, then got off and said he's done. When I tried to convince him to get back on so he could get more candy, he said, "No, I only want a few pieces of candy Mom." I asked him what his deal was, and he said, "I don't like everyone seeing me and laughing and telling me I look cute." Poor Jete.
Needless to say, I had to dress him up again a different day to take pictures in his leathers.

The Harley Dude and The Biker Babe

Grandpas and Grandmas, they are ready to ride with ya!

Biker butts, drive me nuts!
Oh how I love those little bummies.

Jerzi wasn't shy or afraid of people seeing her. She knew just what to do and dove right in to get her some goods.

Hurry and end October!

This post is for you Had. This is what we've been doing since you've been in Pittsburgh this month. We all miss you so much and sometimes have a hard time coming up with things to do. Other times, we laugh and play a lot and have fun together. But every day, we think about you and miss you like crazy!

The kids fingerpainted a picture for you!

We've built lincoln log houses.

I get sick of making them the same food all the time, so we had to take a little trip to McDonald's. (Jeter really loved it, he just likes to pull faces for the camera.) As you can see, Jerzi ate her own Happy Meal, at 11 months. :) She still loves food, and out-eats Jete!

We go for walks and pick out our favorite trees.

We dance like crazy.
(I love that he turned around to tweedle his little bummy for me.)

This is all Jete's doings. He combed his hair out, got it all puffy, then stuck the pick in it and came and showed me "how cool" he was.

Meet Little Man

Since you've been gone, Jete discovered his new best friend. (He's had this dog for about 2 years now, and has always liked it, but now it's his "best friend".) He finally decided to give him a name-Little Man. He goes everywhere with Jete now. He wants to watch shows with Jete. He wants snacks like Jete. He has to go potty, and even says prayers and folds his arms with Jete. He really is his best friend. Good ol' Little Man!

Here's a pic of the sweet little Jerz-meister, as Jete calls her now. She's walking all over the place, and has a mean little temper, but man, when she smiles....it's all i can do to not kiss her little face off.

Jete is getting more daring, if that can happen. He's doing tricks off his dresser onto his bed now. Here's his favorite- Suupermaaaan! He wants to do a flip off of it, but I'm not willing to let him do that yet.

He loves giving rides to his friends on his motorcycle, and he still wants to ride it every day.

We also have been playin the piano and singin all the primary songs. Jete loves for me to tell him the stories about the pictures in the songbook, and Jerzi just loves to play and here the "music."

We do lots more, (and we do lots less somedays), but I left out some stuff for a reason. I didn't show you pics of the tantrums Jerzi has, or when Jete makes me so frustrated cuz he won't eat any of his meals. I didn't put pics of the crying and screaming either of them do, or the dirty dishes in the sink, or the piles of laundry that need done. I didn't post pictures of my receipts from the money we've spent, or me without any makeup, or actually getting dressed for reals. We just want to make sure that you stay excited to come home to see us! We love you!!!

More Summer Stuff

I used to think there was nothing like running in the rain. Until now.

We planned to go on a bike ride one day with some of our friends. We saw that there was a chance of showers, but there was a chance of showers all day, and it still hadn't rained by the evening. So we headed off. We stopped at this lake for a little break and noticed dark storm clouds in the distance. Instead of continuing on like we had planned, we decided we should probs turn around and head back, so we could make it home before we got soaked. About 20 seconds after we got on our bikes, it started pouring. We were still a good 4 miles away from home. So we just pedaled faster, and trekked it through the pouring rain, with our 4 kids in tow. I was a little worried about Jeter, cuz he hates getting his face wet, but he did good. In fact all four kids acted like it didn't even phase them. I think Jerzi LOVED it. She was smiling the whole time. We all couldn't stop laughing as we rode down the trail, and tried to look at each other through the rain streaming down our eyes and faces. We got tons of weird looks from people in their cars. It was such a fun ride though. We loved it!

What do you know? It stopped raining as soon as we got home!

BERRY PICKIN
There are u-pick farms all over out here, and I decided to pack up the kids and go to one and pick raspberries. All my hard-workin, berry-pickin days at Sonderegger's when i was younger paid off. HAHA It was fun to just go and pick as many as i wanted, and let the kids eat a few too. Ok, so Jerzi ate a little more than a few. It really was a good thing that i picked fast, cuz she ate them fast. She ate tons!!! Well, I was excited to get all these berries so i could make raspberry jam. These two little munchkins were there to help me every step of this process.



They helped pick.
(even if it was out of my bowl)

We played and had fun.
(the most important part)

We cooled off with a little ice cream treat.

We all took turns mashing the berries.

The finished product. Delish!

Summer Memories

Summer is officially over. I'm kinda sad about it. I love just about everything about summer, except for sweating after I just get out of the shower so my make up sweats off and my hair goes flatter than it already is, and well... that's about it. As soon as football starts, it seems like it instantly has to get cold so that it will be nice and fun to go to the games and freeze as you watch them. And that's what happened here. It went from 90 degrees one day, to 58 the next. Bam, instantly FALL! I do love the fall in Ohio though. I love the trees, the crunchy leaves, all the football to watch, the good smelling autumny scenty's, and of course to me it means my basketball season is starting. YEAHHH!!! So now that it's getting colder outside, and I switch my temperature thing in my house from heat, to A.C. and back to heat in the same day, I feel like all the things we did this summer happened so long ago. We had lots of fun and I haven't posted about any of it. So here's a quick (or not so quick) recap of why I love summer.

First I gotta start with Little Miss Jerzi Girl. Her personality came out more this summer and she has got a little attitude. It's hilarious to watch her try and get her way. But she is also one of the biggest cheesers ever. She is always smiling. I love it and can't get enough of her squishy little cheeks.

Jeter has also gotten more of a little attitude this summer, sometimes good, sometimes bad. His dancing always makes me laugh though and realize how much I love this little man.

Jerzi's first sparkler

Playing with other girls

Jete was so excited to watch fireworks this year, he went and sat in his seat before everybody else sat down and started screamin and cheering for them to start. I love to see him get excited!

4th of July parties

Karaoke night

Eatin popsicles on a hot day

Parades, cute little bummies, and more parades

Playin catch

Watching these two play together has gotta be right up there with when Had comes home from work. I love it!

1st tooth
(I know you can't see it. She won't let me take a picture to show it.)

Ridin a Harley through Amish country. I was tryin to sneak pictures of them all along our ride. The country is sooo pretty out there, and it's crazy to see their buggies drivin down the roads.

Jeter loved his motorcycle ride, but once again, didn't love me takin pictures of him, so his hand came up to block.

Jete had to get a new helmet after a cop stopped them and told them that his little borrowed pedal bike helmet wouldn't work. Oopsies :) Haha

We thought Jete wasn't going to get a motorcycle, but Had's aunt did some searchin.... and she found one! So Grandma Pocock got it and had it shipped to our house. Man, he was one excited little dude. He has now informed me "now I need a dirt bike and I'll be really happy." (This kid is way too spoiled!)

Loads of swimmin

4 wheeler rides and pretending to be monster trucks spinning cookies in the kitchen.

We got a lot of visitors over the past month too, so those posts will come later, but for now I'll say goodbye to summer but I'm keepin my flip flops out until there's snow on the ground.