Jergensen Journal

What we've been up to...

2010-09-27T19:11:00.001-07:00

My best friend from childhood, Katie, was married to a wonderful guy. Brandon and I took a quick trip to the wedding without the kiddies. It was over too fast. :)

Carly started her second year for preschool. She is so happy to be back in school but has already decided that she doesn't want to go to kindergarten.

We had an extra cool summer this year and didn't have many beach days as a result. This was a beautiful day and we had a great time. This is Carly with her BFF, Kaylen.

I captured my nephews infamous stink eye!

Tyler really enjoyed playing in the sand which was a first. By the end of the day, he was completely covered in sand!

Three peas in a pod. Blaine couldn't stand having Tyler sit on his mama's lap and so he climbed on too!

We had the first Webb Family Reunion this year. As many of you already know, I'm not the greatest photographer so I didn't get many pictures. I did get a picture of Tyler with his new cousin. Her name is Daisy and my cousin and his wife adopted her in June. She has Down Syndrome just like Tyler and we already consider her a kindred spirit.

Last but not least, Emily and Chad and their kiddies were in town so we joined them at Disneyland. It was so great to see them and spend the day together. We miss having them close by!

Tyler turns the big 2!

2010-09-20T19:06:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we celebrated our sweet boy's 2nd birthday. We did a train theme for his party and had a little family party.
Brandon picked up some train conductor hats for the party.

Tyler was so excited to open his presents! Well, he wasn't completely aware of what was going on but this is a rare picture where we actually captured a smile!

He did enjoy pulling the paper off his presents and making a mess. :)

Here's Tyler's birthday cake. I got this great idea to make a train going up a mountain. Another fun cake to make that I think turned out fabulous not to toot my own horn. :)

Tyler getting ready to blow out his candles. He had a little, well, a lot of help from his sister. :)

Shoveling cake in as fast as he could!

Do I have something on my face?

We are so thankful for our sweet boy. He loves to give hugs and kisses. Tyler loves to play with his sister. He is always happy. We are so grateful to have such a special spirit in our home and for all that he has taught us.

Carly's 4th Birthday

2010-08-15T18:56:00.000-07:00

My sweet baby girl turned the big 4 about three weeks ago. Here are some pics. (Better late than never right?)
The celebrations started with a party at Build-A-Bear on Friday. It was so cute!

Princess cupcakes at the mall food court. The kids loved it and I loved not having to set-up and clean-up at my place!

Carly asked for a Cinderella cake this year. Many of you know I have a tradition of making birthday cakes for my kids. It can get a little stressful but I actually had a lot of fun making this one and it wasn't as hard as Ariel was last year.

Princess Carly getting ready to blow out her candles on Sunday, her "real birthday". :)

Aunt Aarean riding in on a Princess bike was the highlight of the day.

Isn't she precious on her princess bike with her princess helmet in her princess dress. Every day is princess day at our house.

I just love her smile in this picture. My mom gave Carly this outfit and it's still under debate if it is a costume or real clothes. :)

Carly loves to sing and dance so we got her a Hannah Montana microphone that plays, wait for it, "It's the best of both worlds...!" Miraculously, it hasn't driven me crazy! :)

I still cannot believe that Carly is really 4. She is such a sweet little princess who is so smart. She constantly baffles me with her questions and her insight. I love her to pieces!

Lost

2010-05-25T11:34:00.001-07:00

Sunday night was the series finale of Lost. Brandon and I were looking forward to having all of our "questions" answered this season. After watching every episode and staying up until 11:30pm to watch a two and half hour finale, I'm still lost.

For your amusement!

2010-04-22T17:02:00.001-07:00

Carly never ceases to find ways to amuse us. Lately, she has become a clothing expert. Notice the lovely outfit she put on below! She thinks of clothes more as an accessory than as a necessity. I've had to explain to her many times that what you put on the morning is what you wear all day. Otherwise, she would change her clothes ten times a day!

After getting her Ariel crown for easter, her outfit was complete!

Carly is allowed to wear dress up clothes. On this day, Sleeping Beauty came to lunch wearing her easter bonnet! You cannot refer to her as Carly when she is in character!

And I wanted to add a couple funny stories.
Carly really likes listening to the wicked soundtrack. Her favorite song is #3. (I'm not sure of the name) The other day she informed me that we were going to OZ and I needed to pack my bags for three days. She then went to her room and packed her suitcase. She packed clothes, underwear, socks, shoes, pjs, and sweaters. She was all ready! I was really impressed. She was quite heartbroken when she found out that OZ was a pretend place. She kept telling me that we could just follow the yellow brick road!

Carly has recently started watching the Little Einsteins a lot. On Monday, we went to the grocery store and we got one the carts that has a car on the front. For the entire time we were there she sat in the car pretending it was the rocket ship on little einsteins. "Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat! Pat faster! Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat! Now put your hands in the air! Blast off!" I hope the other people at the grocery store were highly entertained! It was great for me because I was able to shop without hearing "I want that, I want this!"
Never a boring day at our house! I love my little girl!

Easter!

2010-04-22T16:49:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely, peaceful Easter this year! The Easter bunny came. We went to my parent's house for an easter egg hunt and dinner. And didn't even feel the 7.2 earthquake that rocked southern California and northern Mexico!

Tyler sure enjoyed looking through his easter basket!

Carly loved the Ariel crown that the easter bunny brought her. (And yes, those are her reindeer christmas pj's!)

Tyler didn't get to enjoy the easter egg hunt. He fell asleep on the floor!

Princess Carly loved the easter egg hunt. She commented several times to our amusement, "The easter bunny sure is tricky!"

My sweet boy!

2010-04-02T17:22:00.001-07:00

Tyler is now 19 months and he is just the sweetest little guy ever. He just learned how to do a one arm army crawl. It's hilarious! It's really hard to get him to do anything on command so I'm still trying to get it on video. (He also doesn't like to look at the camera let alone smile!) He loves to give kisses and hugs. And he thinks Carly is fascinating! I'm looking forward to the day when they will play together. I have a feeling he's going to be playing a lot of what she wants to do. :)

To anyone who still checks my blog...

2010-03-24T20:53:00.000-07:00

I am now an entrepreneur! My best friend and I decided to spend our free time crafting. First stop, decorative wipe cases. We just thought they were so cute we decided to try selling them! You can visit this website below to check them out.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/hankyswanky
Let me know what you think! Coming soon hair clips and possibly headbands and more! The possibilities are endless!

Love you all!!

Why I don't blog more often...

2010-02-24T17:33:00.000-08:00

PICTURES!!!
Everyone always wants more pictures. Well, first of all, I'm just not the best photographer. I don't take the best pics, I don't always remember to bring my camera and I don't always remember to take pictures even if I do remember my camera. Second, then I have to take the memory card out of my camera and download all of my pictures. Then finally I get to upload them to a new post. It just takes too many steps and time so I usually decide to do something else. Then I saw this amazing new invention on the Today Show.

This little card sends the pictures you take wirelessly to your computer! I'M SO EXCITED!! Now all I have to do is save my pennies and get one. Don't hold your breath though. They are pretty expensive and I currently do not have a lot of pennies to save. Kudos to all of you who are good photographers and good bloggers!

Halloween

2009-11-19T15:07:00.000-08:00

Okay, so Halloween was a while ago but I figured since we still have Halloween candy I could still post our pictures. :)
Carly and Tyler at our ward trunk-or-treat. Winne the Pooh and Sleep Beauty!

I dressed up at butterfly!

Tyler hated his costume and tried to pull it off. He finally gave up and just started crying until we took it off.

Here's the cutest little kitty at her preschool Halloween parade. So sweet!

We carved pumpkins with Brandon's family for Family Night. (I'm still working on my picture taking skills b/c I didn't get any pics of anyone but Brandon.)

My pumpkin is a bat!

And Brandon's is a tree that saysHappy Halloween. Very cool!

On Halloween we went trick-or-treating with Carly's BFF Kaylen and her family. They were the most beautiful princesses.

Carly loved to ring the doorbell and was practically pushing kids over to get to the door first!

Tyler did not like his Pooh costume!

He also made a very cute bug!

Gap Casting Call

2009-10-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

Gap is doing their annual casting call auditions. We put Carly's picture up on the site and want your help to make her the "Fan Favorite" Go to the casting call website, look up her pictures and then vote for all her pictures. The website is:

http://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/galleries

and our Member ID is wjerg001 so you can look up here pics. This is not one of the pictures- we didn't want them to think she has a mustache!

You can vote 1 time per day so make sure you go back every day and vote. The voting ends on November 17th!

Happy October!

2009-10-14T08:23:00.000-07:00

On Monday we made our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch. We found some lovely pumpkins and enjoyed the kiddie entertainment!

Maybe next year Tyler wil be old enough for the rides!

Cousins!

2009-10-13T19:21:00.000-07:00

Carly and Tyler had a lot of fun getting to know their cousins in Utah. Well, their second cousins, first cousins once removed, second cousins once removed... I'm still not sure!

We went to the Discovery center at the Gateway mall. Carly loved sitting on the horse. I had a hard time getting her to share or eventually leave!

Here's the garden with a nice sweet onion waiting to be picked! (I couldn't help myself!)

While we were in Utah, we went to the zoo with our cousins. The zoo had a baby elephant, three baby tigers, a baby giraffe and a baby snow leporard. The kids loved it!
We weren't sure who the monkeys were in this picture!

Carly had a lot of fun with her first cousins once removed. :)

The zoo had a really cute animal merry-go-round. They didn't have shamu but Carly did find a dolphin.

Tyler was such a good boy but didn't seem to care too much about any of it!

Fun in Utah!

2009-10-13T19:12:00.000-07:00

We were lucky to be in Utah when the leaves were changing colors. We don't get big seasonal changes here so it was a special treat for us!

We also were able to get together with our friends from dental school, the Calderwoods. Cody has an amazing office with an amazing view. And our kids really enjoyed playing with each other. We wish that we lived closer!

Dinosaur Museum

2009-10-13T18:59:00.000-07:00

While we were in Utah, we checked out the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving point with my grandparents. It was a really neat museum and it was so fun to see Carly try to understand how big these dinosaurs really were. She was a little scared and we had to keep explaining that all the dinosaurs died a long time ago.

Carly enjoyed digging for dinosaur bones. Maybe she'll be a paleontologist when she grows up!

Temple Square

2009-10-13T18:39:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we made our annual trip to "Mecca" aka Salt Lake City. We took the kids to Temple Square. I had forgotten how beautiful it is. There are a dozen waterfalls and the flowers were fabulous! Carly loved seeing all the brides around and wanted to give all of them hugs!

My sweet boy!

Disneyland Again!

2009-10-13T18:28:00.000-07:00

In September, we went to Disneyland again. We had passes that were for three days and we only used two days before. We decided to go up and get our moneys worth.

Carly turned into a daredevil over night! She went on the Toontown Rollarcoaster twice!

Firsts for our family!!

2009-10-13T18:08:00.000-07:00

On August 27th, Carly had her first day of school ever! My little baby girl started preschool. I was all prepared for the separation anxiety and tears. We arrived at school, Carly gave me a hug and walked into her classroom and didn't even look back! I called her name and waved to which she smiled and waved back. So much for separation anxiety!!

On September 1st, Tyler celebrated his first birthday! Yea! I made him a Winnie the Pooh cake which he enjoyed. We had the grandparents over and ate cake and ice cream and opened presents. He's such a sweet, cuddly boy. I hope this next year is better than the last with no hospital visits!!

Pictures!!

2009-08-18T19:39:00.001-07:00

Due to recent comments from family and friends, here are a ton of pictures! And I do mean a ton! Enjoy!

One of Tyler's new favorite activities, playing with Carly's stroller. Don't tell Carly!

Sweet boy! I've had the hardest time getting a picture of him smiling.

Checking out his new cousin.

Eating his new cousin. So tasty!

Sleeping peacefully, loves his daddy, I love this picture!

Carly's Ariel birthday cake. Made by ME!! Yes, I'm proud of myself!

Carly and her BFF Kaylen. I have the hardest time trying to get Carly to look at the camera!

Carly is so excited to open her birthday presents!

Carly chose to go to the beach for her birthday. She loves to play in the sand, can you tell?

Carly loves her little brother! Tyler loves Carly as well even though his face doesn't show it!!

I got this castle for Carly for her birthday from Michaels. I planned on helping her put it together. I thought it would be easy. Nope! I pretty much did it all myself and it took me all day!! Never again!

We took Carly and Tyler to Disneyland for the first time! Carly talked about Goofy constantly the day before but freaked out when she got to the front of the line to meet him! Hilarious!

The happiest place on earth and dream come true for Carly!

Carly's first ride was It's a Small World. She was a little apprehensive about the whole thing until she saw Ariel!

Tyler's new girlfriend, Snow White! She was quite enthralled with him!

One of Carly's favorite rides was the merry-go-round!

Tyler was a great sport and went on most of the rides. Here is Brandon and Tyler sleeping in line for Pirates of the Caribbean.

Carly was so excited to meet Minnie Mouse and see her house in Toon Town.

We had to get the family picture in the entrance to Disneyland. It's a tradition!

Carly got all of the characters to autograph her book.

Carly was so so excited to meet Ariel. She was shaking while she was waiting her turn. It was her most favorite part of going to Disneyland!

King Brandon at breakfast with the princesses!

Carly on Dumbo with Grandpa B. She loved Dumbo!

Tyler snoozing on the 4th of July while waiting to ride the train.

It was so hot on the 4th. I could not get the kids to cooperate for a picture. Tyler wanted his hat off!

So sweet. Snuggle time with Daddy!

I'll try to be better about posting pictures in the future. No guarantees though!

Diet Coke-aholics Anonymous

2009-07-12T16:28:00.000-07:00

I am a diet coke-aholic. It has been three weeks since I gave up drinking diet coke. :) Yes, I finally decided that I needed to get rid of the diet coke in my life. I do allow myself to have one a week as a treat but I must say that after 3 weeks, it doesn't taste as good anymore! Please note for all the diet coke lovers out there that I gave up diet coke for health reasons. Most of you lucky people do not have the health issue that I do and can drink diet coke in peace. I, however, feel a lot better when I don't. So farewell sweet, dark, bubbly drink! May I find another drink to replace you. Any suggestions?

Update and Pictures!

2009-06-29T20:36:00.000-07:00

Here is the briefest way I can think of it explain what we've been up to. (I also like it when people do this on their blogs.)

-We're all currently healthy and no one is in hospital. Yeah!
- Restarting potty training after brief siesta due to hospital stays. I loathe potty training!
- Tyler in the 5th percentile for weight and 3rd percentile for height but taking leaps and bounds everyday.
- Tyler loves his bungee bouncer and squeals and babbles as he bounces around.
- Carly is really into movies right now. Shrek and Ice Age are her current favorites.
- Carly talks and sings all day long no matter where she is. The best are her made up songs as we're shopping.
- Brandon finally got his surround sound and I'm hoping the neighbors won't hate us. :)
- Brandon turned the big 3-0 last month. He doesn't seem too concerned about it.
- Lastly, we're just enjoying summer and looking forward to a few little trips we have planned!

Here's a whole bunch of pics. Enjoy!

Saved by the Bell reunion!

2009-06-09T13:04:00.001-07:00

For those that don't know- Jimmy Fallon is trying to do a Saved by the Bell reunion. He had Zack Morris on his show last night and it was hilarious. I know you all watched Saved by the Bell and will even stop while flipping through the channels now to see if you remember the episode! (and we do remember every single one!) Mark Paul Gosselaar and Jimmy Fallon are great in the clip so enjoy!

Um... Let me think about it...

2009-04-09T20:44:00.000-07:00

I must confess, I have a tendency to approach new challenges in life with a game plan that I think couldn't possibly fail or have any flaws and that I will accomplish what others have failed to do in record time. Oh, and I also think that my children are smarter than other children. Nine times out of ten I come to find out that my game plan did have flaws and I am just like everyone else.

My newest challenge: Potty Training Carly
My game plan: Flawed
My results: Day 4 and we are having success. Only two accidents today, one #1 and one #2. However, she doesn't tell me when she has to go.
My conclusions: 1. Putting your child on the potty every half an hour really does work. 2. Lots of time and patience are required. 3. Bribery works every time. 4. It's not an overnight process, more like an over weeks process. 5. Knowing when you have to go potty is a concept that must be learned.

When I asked Carly on day 2 why she didn't tell me when she has to go potty she said, "Um, let me think." And proceeded to stare off like she was thinking. When I asked her again she said, "Hold on, I'm thinking!" She never ceases to amuse me!

Just one question: When will she understand the concept of telling me when she has to go?

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig!

2009-04-07T18:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry this is a little late. Tyler is finally home!!! He was discharged from the hospital last Wednesday afternoon. We're so happy and so relieved that his hospital stay is over. He has been doing great at home. He is still on one IV medication for his fungal infection and some other oral medications for his heart. Tyler is such a happy little fellow and so easy going. It's fun to be moving on and starting to hit all the baby milestones that he missed while he was in hospital.
Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. We have truly seen the hand of the Lord in his recovery and have learned so much from this experience. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends that have always been so willing to lend a helping hand. Thank you! We love you all!

Pictures to come!

Things are going great!

2009-03-29T19:33:00.001-07:00

This is just a quick update on Tyler- as you can see from the picture things are good. Tyler is now off all his respiratory help and is breathing on his own. We are very excited about this and know that we are closer to bringing him home. We still don't have an exact time frame for when he will be able to leave the hospital but hopefully soon. The next step is taking out the feeding tube he has in his nose. To do this he has to show the doctors and nurses that he can drink from a bottle and swallow effectively. This may take some training due to the fact that he hasn't had to do it for a month. He was transferred out of the Pediatric ICU last week and is now in intermediate care. He is showing all the nurses his great personality and they all love him! We were finally able to get a picture of him smiling- it is so great to see him smile and play- he loves the attention! Yesterday he would cry in his room until someone came in and then stop crying immediately. Once that person left he would resume crying until someone came back into the room. The nurses all thought this was pretty funny and knew he just wanted the attention. Tyler has been through so much over the last 5 weeks and through it all has been a real trooper. We love him and can't wait to have him home.

She might be part fish!

2009-03-11T19:47:00.000-07:00

Carly loves water! She loves to swim and play in any water she comes across but most of all she loves the bath. She could spend hours in the bath. I will often leave her in the bath and go into the next room. I listen to her splash and will call her name occasionally to hear her reply. Last night I was checking my emails while she was bathing. I called to her and got no reply, so I called again, no reply. So I jumped up and ran to the bathroom and she was just playing and ignoring me. Great! I asked her if she wanted to get soapy to which she replied that she wanted to play some more. I left and went back to checking my emails. A few minutes later I called her name and got no reply again. I called out, "Carly, what are you doing?" To which she replied, "I'm not answering you!" Thanks!
Carly also has a new best friend, SHAMU! We went to build-a-bear to make Tyler a bear and apparently they now have shamu stuffed animals. Carly wanted shamu so so bad so we gave in and got it for her. Now shamu goes every where she does, and I do mean every where! To bed, at the dinner table, in the car, in the store... she was mad at me for about an hour on Sunday because I told her she couldn't take shamu to church. Every night when she does to bed, I have to say goodnight and I love you to Carly and shamu. Heaven forbid shamu should get his feelings hurt! I have a feeling we will definitely make use of our sea world passes this year!

Quick update on Tyler. He is still in the PICU but is doing well. His heart is working well, his fungal infection is starting to go away, and his throat is healing (He had a hard time coming off the ventilator). Right now we are trying to wait patiently for his throat to finish healing and his breathing to return to normal. I think once he is breathing completely on his own, the doctors will move him to intermediate care and then home shortly thereafter. The hardest part is that his recovery is based completely on him and he doesn't seem too concerned at speeding things up. :) Thanks to everyone again for your love and prayers!

Despite it all...

2009-03-03T14:55:00.000-08:00

Heading out to Grandma J's with her backpack like Dora!

For those of you who have been wondering, Tyler is doing well. We are headed down the road of recovery. We're maybe not moving at the fastest speed but each day Tyler is overcoming another step and doing great. He is the probably the oldest baby in the NICU due to the fact that he would have gone to the PICU if it weren't for the heart bypass machine he needed for a few days. The nurses all find him to be quite entertaining and quite busy. I tried to tell them but I don't think they really believed me until they took him off the sedation medication. We're currently on the waiting list for the PICU due to the fact that they are filled to the brim. Meanwhile, he will continue to progress happily in the NICU and keep the nurses entertained with his little antics. (Blowing raspberries, trying to pull on anything he can wrap his fingers around, and attempting to wiggle out of his bed which he is almost too big for!)
Carly continues to amaze me each day through all of this. She seems unaffected for the most part. We talk about Tyler every day and how he is still at the doctors getting better. She informed me the other day that she needed to go wash her hands so she could go see Tyler. It was sad to have to explain to her that they only let mamas and dadas into where Tyler is. Last night she asked me where we were going to go next, "Grandma B's, Grandma J's or KK's?" It came out as just a general question like it was normal life that she would go play some where while I went and saw Tyler. And in the middle of this, she is picking up some spanish from watching Dora the Explorer. Yesterday, while playing at McDonalds, she announced to her two new friends, "Vamanos! Arriba!" She keeps me quite entertained and I'm pretty sure she's the smartest 2 1/2 year old around!
Thanks to everyone for their prayers! We have seen and felt the impact they have had on our current situation. Love you all!

Where do I begin?

2009-02-25T21:27:00.000-08:00

Last Friday night we sat outside the PICU waiting for Tyler to come down the hall from the operating room. We'd gotten fabulous news that his surgery went better than expected and the doctors were very happy with the results. Just then a doctor approached us and said the two words no parent ever wants to hear. "Bad news." She told us that everything went great for about an hour after closing Tyler's chest and then his blood pressure dropped. To make a really long story as short as possible, the surgeon and doctors don't know what happened but Tyler's little heart was working fine and then just got tired. They put him on a heart bypass machine and sent him to the NICU instead of the PICU. For three days, we waited, watched and prayed. Yesterday we got the great news that Tyler's heart had gotten the rest it needed and they were able to take him off the bypass. Whew! Today he did great! His vitals are all good, the doctors are lowering his medications, and now it's talk about when he gets to move to a less intensive unit.
This has been a week that I will remember for the rest of my life and yet want to forget. Thank you to everyone for your thoughts,prayers, and phone calls. Despite the situation, I did feel a lot of comfort that everything would turn out okay in the end. We love our little boy so much and are thankful that he has so much love and support from family and friends.

Tomorrow's the big day!

2009-02-19T20:05:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry to all of you who are finding this out for the first time on such short notice. I meant to post this earlier and well, time got away from me.
Tomorrow we are taking Tyler in for his heart surgery! After 5 and half months of waiting, it's finally here. Just to recap, Tyler has an A/V septal defect which has to be corrected by open heart surgery or he will eventually have heart failure. Scary! So the poor little guy gets to go in for a 6 hour surgery and then spend between 7 to 14 days in the hospital recovering.
Today we spent 5 hours at the hospital doing all the pre-op work from drawing blood to an x-ray to meeting with the surgeon. It was a long day and Tyler did great! We got the go ahead for surgery tomorrow.
Despite how scary all of this sounds, I have really good feeling about this. I know it is something that has to be done and I've had 5 months to prepare myself. I do feel at peace about it. It's a great hospital with wonderful nurses, doctors, secretaries, etc.
I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers. We feel so loved and so thankful to have such wonderful family and friends in our life.
We'll keep you updated!

The True American Hero

2009-01-17T16:27:00.001-08:00

Last Sunday started up the new season of 24!!! We love 24! And like every season, we were reminded once again, that Jack Bauer is the MAN! The true American! He not only has amazing skills but he is SMARTER than anyone else in the government, in the U.S. no, the world! If we cloned Jack Bauer and created an army, we could take over the world. We are left with just one question. Where is the real Jack Bauer? Where is that guy that can save our government from itself? So here's to another 20 hours of Jack Bauer. May he kick some butt, blow off some knee caps, go where no man has gone before!!!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-10T21:01:00.000-08:00

Whilst I was enjoying one of my hobbies of blog surfing, I noticed a lot of people posting about their memorable moments of 2008 and their resolutions for 2009. I thought it would be fun to join in, and maybe, just maybe, it will help me stay committed to my New Year's resolutions. We'll see...

2008
January - The year started off with a bang when we found out we were pregnant with baby number 2! A bit early than originally planned but welcomed none the less.
February - We celebrated our 6th year wedding anniversary. Wahoo! And I was spending a lot of time praying to the porcelain goddess.
March - Nothing big comes to mind, still praying to the porcelain goddess and counting the weeks until week 14 when the praying can stop! :)
April - My mom, sister and I took a fun road trip to Vegas to visit my other sister.
May - Brandon turned the big 2-9. (Nope, not 30 yet) The Jergensens gathered together in Palm Springs for some family fun!
June - Brandon's little brother, Jason, left on his mission to Leeds, England! And is doing wonderful!
July - Carly turned the big 2! We had a fun, Elmo themed, pool party. My sisters came in town to help celebrate.
August - I had lovely surgery on the day the Olympics started. Later in the month I celebrated my 27th birthday.
September - The 1st day of the month, our sweet little boy entered the world.
October - Again, nothing big, just enjoying our new little baby and getting use to being a family of four. :)
November - The Belnaps gathered together in Hawaii for some family fun during the week of Thanksgiving.
December - A month full of Christmas fun. We had lots of family come into town to visit and we tried to squeeze in as much celebrating as we could. I think I gained 10 pounds from all the baking!

2009
What I'd like to accomplish this year...
1. I'd really like to lose the rest of my baby weight and even more if possible! (No weird diets!)
2. I want to finally get down to business and do our food storage. I thought about doing it slowly but I think it's time to just do it quickly and call it a day! (Thanks Aarean for inspiring me!)
3. I want to start doing family home evening on a regular basis.
4. I want to plan a family vacation for our little family and make it a yearly tradition.

And I think that's about it! I'd love to hear other New Year Resolutions if anyone wants to share!

Hawaii!

2008-12-18T12:18:00.001-08:00

For Thanksgiving we went with my family to Hawaii. I know, I know, these pictures are a bit late since it's almost Christmas but hey, better late than never! I decided to do something a little different this time for our pictures. I'm going to give you the behind the scenes look at our trip. Enjoy!

Carly and Brandon having fun!

Just hanging around!

My sister Jessica and her um, husband Ben. Why is it that guys can't just smile?

Our little encampment by the pool for the day, including baby tent! The pool was great, complete with water slides, pirate ship, and waterfalls.

Tyler snoozing by the pool.

Here's Brandon pretending he's Bear Gryllis from "Man vs. Wild"!

The rest of us chose to stay on the shore and throw rocks in the water. Carly thought it was great fun!

Here's the girls hang out on the beach, enjoying the sunset.

Here's Brandon trying to push over the IOA Needle. This was our second trip b/c the first time we went, it was closed off due to rain!

Carly had a great time running around while waiting for Brandon to finish his bet with Natalie. He had to run up and down the stairs to the look out 7 times for $20! There were 133 steps. No comment.

We made Brandon a little tunnel to run through when he was finished. Definitely not worth $20!

Our second day in Hawaii, we took the advice of a local and took the scenic route back to the resort. It was a long, narrow, windy road and we all wanted to throw ourselves off the cliff about half way through.

Carly and I spent most of the drive asleep after realizing the views weren't really that great!

We went to dinner at Cheeseburgers in Paradise. Brandon decided to buy Carly a real lei. It only cost $11!!!! And she wouldn't wear it even for the picture!

Thanks Mom and Dad for the wonderful trip! We had a lot of fun and it was nice to take a break from the everyday!

I WIN!!!!!!

2008-12-11T21:46:00.000-08:00

I'm wiling to admit that I'm stubborn, many times very stubborn to be exact. And of course, in all fairness to my mom and dad, I ended up with an often stubborn child. Today stubborn mama and stubborn daughter went head to head.

It was an average morning. Carly was sitting in her high chair, eating peaches and watching her favorite cartoon, Max and Ruby. And like every morning, instead of telling me when she is finished, she dumps the remaining peaches out of her bowl and onto her tray. Well, I've gotten tired of cleaning up the dumped food which usually is just on her tray but sometimes ends up on the floor as well if I'm not paying good enough attention. I asked her to help me put the peaches back in the bowl. I put most of them back in the bowl while she sat and watched so I told her to put the remaining peaches back in the bowl and then she could get down and watch some more Max and Ruby. To which she replied, "No, you pick them up." And thus the battle began.

Forty-five minutes later, Carly was still sitting in her high chair, crying and occasionally screaming and thrashing about but still refusing to put the peaches back in the bowl. And I was still sitting nearby on the couch telling her to put the peaches in the bowl and then she could get down.

After another half an hour, most of which was spent in time out in her room, Carly finally gave it up and put the peaches back in her bowl. I won!!! And despite how frustrated I was, I kept my cool and didn't yell. I think my magazine I was reading on the couch helped. :) In conclusion, I guess I still win for being the most stubborn!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-17T16:02:00.000-08:00

Due to popular demand, here are some more pictures of my cute kids and what we've been up to!

The first Sunday of November, we blessed Tyler. It was a wonderful blessing and a great day with family and friends.

This was the best picture we could get when we attempted to photograph two kids at once. Tyler was not a happy camper and the only way I could get Carly to wear her dress was to tell her it was Ariel's party dress!

Carly was not interested in carving pumpkins. She said they were yucky. She did enjoy painting her small pumpkin.

Below is one of Carly's favorite activities. She calls it "helping mama do the dishes" but it's really playing in the water. She could be entertained for hours with water and a few cups and bowls. It's just too bad we're on the verge of a drought otherwise I would let her do it all day long!

Here are my Super Charger Fans! #21 is Landanion Tomlinson. I guess I need a jersey so I can join the picture. :)

Here is Carly with her BFF, Kaylen. They love playing and fighting together!

I love this picture! One of those rare moments when Carly said "cheese" and looked at the camera!

Carly and her cousin, Christian, at Grandma and Grandpa J's house doing another one of Carly's favorite activities, Coloring!

Tyler lounging on the couch. So sweet! One of his favorite snoozing spots.

One of those sweet moments captured on film! Carly is very sweet to her brother and gives him hugs and kisses.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Halloween Fun!

2008-11-06T10:26:00.000-08:00

Our Halloween fun began with dressing up for our weekly storytime. We love storytime!

Next we visited the pumpkin patch to select the perfect pumpkin. This was actually our second trip to the pumpkin patch. Our first trip was to Bates Nut Farm which was cut short due to heat, flies, and awnry children.

Tyler thoroughly enjoyed the pumpkins!

Princess Ariel and her pumpkin all ready to go trick-or-treating!

We went trick-or-treating with Carly's BFF, Kaylen, and her family.

They held hands for moral support at some of the "scary" houses.

Here's how Tyler spent his Halloween night.

The next morning, Carly wanted to go trick-or-treating again! Then on Sunday she asked to wear her "Ariel dress" to church. She was finally able to put her dress back on and have some fun with cousin Christian in his spider costume.

Tyler in another pumpkin outfit. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Zwick!

"Protecting Marriage to Protect Children"

2008-10-19T21:45:00.000-07:00

My sister's father-in-law emailed us this article from the LA Times. It's an opinion column written by a liberal democrat who is for Proposition 8. I know, who'd have thought. But I really liked what he had to say about the importance of marriage in relation to children. Here is the address to the article, just copy and paste. Let me know if it doesn't work.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-blankenhorn19-2008sep19,0,2093869.story

Check it out and VOTE YES FOR PROP 8!!!

Vote Yes!!!

2008-10-08T18:53:00.000-07:00

We need your help! Next month while most Americans will be focusing on who they are voting for president, Californians will be voting on something even more important, MARRIAGE. Eight years ago, Californians voted to keep the definition of marriage between a man and a woman. The vote passed by 61% but here we are again faced with the same problem and in order to prevent this from continuing, we are proposing to amend the Californian constitution with Proposition 8.

Voting YES on Proposition 8 does 3 simple things:

*It restores the definition of marriage to what the vast majority of California voters already approved and what Californians agree should be supported, not undermined.

*It overturns the outrageous decision of four activist Supreme Court judges who ignored the will of the people.

*It protects our children from being taught in public schools that “same-sex marriage” is the same as traditional marriage, and prevents other consequences to Californians who will be forced to not just be tolerant of gay lifestyles, but face mandatory compliance regardless of their personal beliefs.

It is so important to us to protect marriage and protect the future of our children. If you are a Californian, please vote yes on Prop8. If not, you can still help. You can go to www.protectmarriage.com and learn more and donate. Every little bit helps. You can also contact your church leaders and offer your time to call to people in California and make sure they are aware and understand the importance of Prop 8. You can use any form of communication you have to get the word out; blogs, texts, myspace, etc. We need your help! And for those of you who are thinking that this is just a problem for Californians, think about this. California is just the beginning, what if your state is next?

Being a mom of 2...

2008-10-07T12:46:00.000-07:00

Of 2 kids or of a 2 year old, which ever way you want to interpret it. So every morning I wake up with a few specific goals in mind. Nothing big. Just the usual things, take a shower, clean up some clutter, take care of my kids, do a chore or two. And yet here I sit, taking a break to gather myself and keep my sanity, having accomplished only one thing on my list at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. I spent the morning trying to feed and dress a creature who takes every opportunity she can to run away or just simply be uncooperative. My mom was nice enough to take my creature to story time during which I spent my time taking care of my new little bug who decided to spend an hour eating and not to got to sleep until right when my creature got back. I just finished eating my burnt pizza lunch which became burnt after I had to clean pizza sauce off the hands, face and arms of my creature who was quite upset about having to now go take a nap. So to all the moms out there, I know how you feel and to all the dads out there, this is why it looks like your wife did nothing all day. When in reality, the fact that we manage to do anything and keep our sanity is, on some days, a miracle. But if you ask us, we wouldn't trade being a mom for anything in the world. It would be nice to have a day off once in a while though.

Update!

2008-10-01T16:25:00.001-07:00

Well, Tyler is now a month old and is doing great. He is a wonderful baby who hardly cries and sleeps a ton. Carly loves being a big sister. Granted, she has her moments when she wants me to put Tyler down and hold her. (I've learned how to hold her and feed Tyler at the same time.) Carly is very loving and gives Tyler lots of kisses and wants to help change his diapers, feed him and give him baths. And Tyler is a very good little brother. He has tolerated being poked, covered in stickers and had a ball bounced off his head with little or no response. Brandon and I are surviving having a newborn and getting through the day with less sleep. Brandon is great about helping me in the middle of the night and being supportive of my new mom hormones and recovery from my c-section.
Medically, Tyler is doing great. The cardiologist said his heart is doing well and he is still on schedule for surgery at 4 to 5 months of age. He also gave us the okay today to go to Hawaii for Thanksgiving! We've had this planned for almost a year and it's exciting to know that we can still go.
Here's some pictures and hopefully, I'll remember to take more. (I'm sad that I didn't get a picture of the sticker moment.)

Tyler is here!

2008-09-07T16:57:00.001-07:00

I am not very good at posting- Carissa is usually the one that does it! For those that don't know, Tyler William Jergensen was born on September 1, 2008- yes labor day (fitting for Carissa) and for those that have been waiting- here are some pics of the cute little guy. Sorry they have taken so long to get out. For those doing the math right now and thinking that Carissa wasn't due until the end of september, yea he was born 4 weeks early! Carissa started feeling contractions at 2:30 on Monday afternoon so we headed over to the hospital and they checked to make sure she was in labor, which she was and 7 hours later little Tyler was born. We had to do a C-section because he was breech, that went well, just a little pain still but she is recovering good. Now onto Tyler. When he was born they noticed that he had many features that are present in down syndrome babies and they also noticed a heart murmur. He was taken into the NICU and they made the decision to transfer him down to Children's hospital in San Diego. He has been in the NICU at Children's for the past 4 days and every day is getting much better. Today they decided to take him out of the NICU and into an intermediate care room. Hopefully he should be home in the next few days. YEAH! We are pretty sure he has down syndrome but they cannot say for 100% until the chromosome test comes back which should be sometime this week. He does have a heart condition that is very frequent in down syndrome babies called AV (atrioventricular) septal defect. You can look it up if you want- I have explained it soooooo many times! They control it with meds for the first 4-6 months of his life and then do a surgery to repair the defect. The success rate is very high and we have been comforted with all the blessings and prayers that others have given to us and to Tyler! We are very excited to have this special spirit in our lives and can't wait to beable to bring him home. Here are some pics of the cute guys and if you want more info feel free to call Carissa or I- it is a lot of info to try and write in a blog!

Baby Slings?

2008-08-28T20:24:00.000-07:00

So I've decided that I just have to have a baby sling for my new little bundle that's coming in 4 1/2 weeks! I googled baby slings and got about million hits. So I thought I would ask the moms I knew which slings they recommended, brand or website. Thanks!

Also, just an FYI for all you who are wondering what happened to the Jergensens over the past month and a half. We've had a million and one things going on and I'm sure I have a million and one pictures to go with them. One of these days, I'll post some. I think the best thing that happened was that Carly turned 2! My baby has become toddler! And about 2 weeks after her birthday, I had to have minor surgery. Don't worry, the baby is perfect and I am now doing a lot better. I know you all hate the missing details but I'd rather not share on a blog. Feel free to email or call if you just have to know. It's been a long three weeks of recovery but I'm on the upside. I am forever grateful to my family and friends for the hours upon hours of help, love and support they have given my little family and me. I feel truly blessed to have them. Hopefully the next 4 1/2 weeks will go smoothly and we'll be able to bring a new healthy and happy baby into the world. So forgive the lack of posts and info and don't get too excited for very many in the near future until life calms down some. Thanks.

Oh, the joys of pregnancy!

2008-07-15T12:57:00.000-07:00

The old saying goes "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Well, I was starting to wonder what happens when life gives you too many lemons and you don't have enough sugar to make lemonade? Yes, I'm one of those women who does not enjoy pregnancy and I'm baffled by women who do. I've now reached 28 weeks which means it's time for the dreaded gestational diabetes test. I had diabetes with my last pregnancy and when I failed the 1 hour glucose test, I thought "here we go again!" I then had to do the three hour test which leaves you starving and looking like an intravenous drug user. As I walked into my doctor's office yesterday, I was mentally saying goodbye to cookies, candy, cake, ice cream, chocolate, etc. for the next 2 1/2 months. Not to mention watching every thing you eat and testing your blood sugar four times a day. When my doctor finally came into the room (it seemed like I waited for a really long time!) she announced nonchalantly "You results came back fine." I was shocked and made her repeat what she said. Then I exclaimed, "I'm so excited!" to which she laughed. And I practically skipped out of the office to my car. Just when I thought I couldn't handle any more lemons, life gave me sugar to make lemonade. Thank goodness!

Out of the Ordinary Summer Fun!

2008-06-25T15:50:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we ventured over to Coronado to hang out with our friends, the Godfreys, before they moved out of the country. They took us to the Navy Seal Base where we had the opportunity to watch feeding time with the Navy Seal Dolphins. It turned out to be a little more than watching and a ton of fun!

We were able to get up close to all the dolphins.

The trainer offered to let Carly and I feed the dolphin but we both declined at the sight of the fish.

I'm now an official dolphin trainer!

Brandon gave the dolphin a belly rub. We couldn't convince Carly to touch the dolphins at all! She did enjoy watching watching the dolphins jump and do other tricks.

It was one of those amazing experiences that you usually only find backstage at Sea World for a high cost. Thanks again to the Godfreys for letting us tag along!

By the way, for those of you who may want to know, the Navy uses their trained dolphins to help patrol the waters. The dolphins swim with the boat and look for swimmers and other things that should not be in that area of water. The dolphins mark the swimmers with a beacon and the coast guard picks them up.

Bye Bye Jason!

2008-06-12T21:12:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday, Brandon's little brother Jason hopped a plane to Preston, England to the MTC to begin his mission. We had a great opportunity to attend his setting apart and spend a last few hours with him before saying goodbye for two years! We know that he will be a great missionary and two years will be up before we know it. Good Luck Elder Jergensen!

Palm Springs

2008-06-12T20:41:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, we spent about a week in Palm Springs with the Jergensen Family. We had the whole gang there which totaled 19 people and it tons of fun. It was the perfect vacation for a large group with six little kids. We spent most of the time at the pool playing in the water and working on our tans. We also visited Knotts water park for which Carly still talks about falling down at the beach (a wave knocked her over at the wave pool). "Carly fall down at the beach" she informs me almost everyday. It was great to spend time with the whole family and for Carly to get to know her cousins better. Here are some pics:

Carly and Brandon enjoying the pool.

Carly did not like the water slide!!

Brandon and his brothers getting soaked at the kids' castle.

We were able to also spend some time with Grandpa and Grandma Zwick.

The whole gang at dinner.

Carly hugging her cousin, Cami.

Uncle Jason with all the grandkids.

It's A Boy!!!

2008-05-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

Surprise! We're having a boy. I thought about putting the ultrasound picture confirming that it's a boy but I then I thought that would be a little inappropriate. :) I'll just save it to put in his photo albums to show his future dates! Brandon is so excited to get his boy. He has probably already signed him up for little league in four years, Baby Boy Jergensen. And of course, I'm excited too. I'm a little wary coming from a family of all girls and having a girl but I'm sure I'll catch right on. :)
This past week has not gone the way I'd planned. Our car, honda passport, finally called it quits last friday when Brandon was driving home from work. It was a great car, always reliable through many long road trips. May it rest in peace. On a brighter note, we did get a new car, a honda pilot. Yea! Carly gets so excited every time we get in the car. "New car! New car!" My girls' weekend at my sister's house was basically ruined when I woke up sick on the second day there. I pretty much spent the next five days on the couch. Many thanks to my parents for helping out with Carly. It was really disappointing getting sick but I wake up each day feeling a little better so I'm hoping by Sunday when we leave for Palm Springs that I'll be good to go. I guess it's better luck next time as far as girls trips go!

So Excited!!!

2008-05-15T12:56:00.000-07:00

Not that anyone but me really cares but I just felt like sharing for anyone who's blog surfing and looking for something new to read. I'm really excited for the next couple of weeks! First I get to take a girl's trip with my mom and sister to visit my other sister. This is a much needed break to just recharge and relax. I have to admit that I was a bit apprehensive about going. I've never been away from Carly for this long and yes, I'm worried that no one else can take care of her like I can. Silly I know but I can't help it. Then when I get back, I have my appointment to find out the gender of our new baby! For those of you who are wondering, I have no thoughts or premonitions as to what it is. I just hope that the baby cooperates and we aren't left wondering. Next, my youngest brother-in-law has his missionary farewell! He is going to Leeds, England and we are all very excited for him. Plus, all the Jergensen clan is coming to town which will be crazy fun! Last, after the farewell we are heading for Palm Springs! Another vacation! I'm so excited to get away again and spend time with Brandon's family. I'm really excited for Carly to get a chance to play with her cousins. She doesn't get to see most of them very often and I want her to enjoy being with her cousins as much as I did growing up. Plus, I love hanging out by the pool and getting a nice tan. So exciting!
So I'll make sure to post pictures and let you all know what the gender of the baby is. Anyone venture to take a guess? I haven't has very many inputs this time around. See ya!

My Funny Girl!

2008-05-07T15:08:00.001-07:00

I thought I'd share some of the things Carly has done recently that have cracked me up!

Last Sunday while I was getting ready for church, Carly came down the hall like this. I thought she looked just like a bag lady! What you can't really see is that she is wearing no pants and she had been walking around the house collecting things just like a bag lady!

Here's a few fun phrases as of recent. With Carly it is no longer just "no", it's "no way!" If you ask her a question that she doesn't know the answer, she just replies "yellows". Every ball is a "basketball" no matter the shape, size or color. If you ask where anyone or anything is, she usually replies "went bye bye!".

And now a little bragging on my part. Today Carly tripped and fell and I asked her where it hurt and she actually said her knee and pointed to it! We were walking to our clubhouse for song time and I wasn't paying attention and missed a turn. Carly pulled on my hand and pointed to where we were suppose to go! At first I thought she was wrong but she kept pulling until I got a clue. Maybe she inherited Brandon's sense of direction b/c I don't have any!

One last story, I just had to share. Last Saturday, we went to the pool. Carly and I were on the edge of the pool playing with toys while my sister was swimming. I was chatting and next thing I knew, Carly bent over too far and did a face dive into the pool and was completely under water! My sister was right there and scooped her up. She came out sputtering and I just couldn't help laughing! I would assume most parents would be more concerned for their child but I was wishing I'd had my camera or video camera to document her first falling in the pool experience! Is that bad?

How did she...

2008-04-29T13:45:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I put Carly down for her nap as usual. And as usual, I could hear her chatting to herself for a little while. After about 5 minutes the chatting started getting louder and then turned to complaining/crying. I decided to go into her room to have a talk about going to sleep. When I first went into her room, I couldn't figure out where she was. I turned on the light and the above picture is what I saw! Carly had somehow gotten herself stuck behind the bumper in her crib. I had to untie it just to get her out! That was after I yelled for Brandon to come see and we both had a good laugh! Carly never ceases to amaze and amuse me!

Is it me or is it them?

2008-04-23T13:04:00.000-07:00

So I like to consider myself to be fairly even tempered person with a good amount of common sense but recently I'm starting to really wonder. Are people in general just getting more annoying and dumb or is it that I'm becoming more easily irritated? Here's a few scenarios to give you some examples:

A few weeks ago, Brandon and I went and saw Vantage Point. It was a Saturday night and the theater was full and some how I found myself sitting next to a little girl who was probably about four. Yes, a four year old at a PG-13 movie on a Saturday night. I just kept looking over at her mom wondering if they were in the wrong movie. So all during the movie, the little girl was obviously bored and kept poking her mom to which her mom would tell her to "stop it". Then as the movie is ending, the mom comments to the person next to her, "well that was a bunch of #$%^" and proceeds to turn the ringer back up on her cellphone as Dennis Quaid is still talking! It took everything in me not to go off on what a horrible parent she is and selfish and self-centered and inconsiderate to the people sitting around her and... Brandon got an earful though!

Every week I take Carly to storytime at Borders. She absolutely loves it. Miss Susan reads book and sings songs with sign language or actions. "You got to shake, shake, shake your sillies out..." So I like to get there early to get a good seat. Well, last week Carly and I are waiting for storytime to start and some lady with two kids squeezes herself into the space next to me which was too small for her. I'll admit I have an issue with personal space but I tried to be nice and scooted over some. Then as it was starting, she calls over two more kids equaling a total of four kids! All during story time her kids are tripping over me and each other. About half way through I notice that one of her kids has a goopy eye that looks rather pink, which could be nothing other than PINK EYE! And extremely contagious! Blah! And the little girl was reading the store books and running around touching other people. I was so disgusted! I couldn't decide if this woman just didn't know or if she didn't care. And i wanted to say something but I couldn't think of a good way to inform her that her daughter is infecting the general public with pink eye!

And these are just two of my experiences. It's like I can't go out in public without some person doing something irritating, invading my personal space, bringing beer to a community pool in the middle of the afternoon... It feels like it happens so often that maybe it's not them, maybe it's me. Does anyone else feel this way?

Oops!!

2008-04-10T13:20:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I was minding my own business when I heard CRASH!!! I went to investigate. The entire bucket of cleaning supplies had fallen off the dryer and all over the laundry room floor. I got lucky because only the lysol spilled and it was on the tile not the carpet. While I was cleaning it up I got some lysol on the bottom of my pants. Laundry was on the menu for the day so I threw my pants with a load in the wash. Later as I was switching the clothes over you can all probably guess what was sitting at the bottom washer. My beautiful pink razor! I loved that phone. Always got great service and worked just the way I wanted it to! It was completely destroyed! So off to verizon we went because like many today's society, I can't live without my cellphone. No, I'm not a super texter, it's my security blanket. Well, I was three months shy of being able to sign a new 2-year contract but lucky again, the manager took pity on me and waived the three months. So while my phone was destroyed, contacts lost, customized ringtones gone, I got a new blue phone at their special rate. So while I joined the ranks of cellphones destroyers, alls well that ends well.

Pictures, pictures, and more pictures!!

2008-04-10T12:42:00.000-07:00

You know the old saying, "Better late than never"? Well, I'm going to apply that to this post. Here are a bunch of pictures of what we've been up to lately including Easter. It's a lot but I hope you enjoy them!

This is how Carly would spend all her days if she could. Who needs clothes anyways?!

Carly always gets excited when it's time to vacuum!

The Edman's stopped by for a visit!

Carly and her friend, Darcy.

Carly and her second cousin, Parker.

Carly's surprise from the Easter Bunny!

Getting ready for the Easter Egg Hunt!

So many eggs, so little time!

Yea! The best part was inside the eggs! Candy!

Going out is always an adventure!

I've been tagged!

2008-03-07T13:00:00.002-08:00

Well, my cousin Rachel tagged me. I will state for the record for those of you with superior memories, I have been tagged before but this one is different questions so I thought it would be fun to answer since I enjoy reading everyone else's answers. So here goes nothing....

What was I doing ten years ago...That would be 1998 so I was a junior in high school and it's March so that would be swim season. Wow, so I was spending about 2 1/2 hours at the pool five days a week, going to school, and as many teenagers do, hanging out with my friends. My friends and I could probably be found at one of our houses, the mall, the beach, or out to eat. We use to go off campus for lunch at least twice a week and we always went to Taco Bell. Thank goodness for high metabolism back then!

Five places that I have lived... I'll put them in order so first was Atlanta, Georgia where my dad went to graduate school. Then we moved to San Diego, California where I spent the remainder of my childhood. Then on to Provo, Utah for my college career. Next Baltimore, Maryland where Brandon went to graduate school and now I am back in San Diego to hopefully stay for a long time. I think that's five.

Five things on my to do list for today... let's see...take a shower (which actually becomes a chore once you have kids), go to story time at Borders bookstore (Carly and I go to story time every Friday, they do stories and songs and Carly is just mesmorized), pick things up around our condo (I still find it amazing how much of a mess one tiny little person can create and in such a short amount of time!), laundry (I probably try and find some excuse not to :) ), and clean out my car (I need to clean out the toys and crackers and water bottles that have accumulated in my car during the week. Carly always wants to take at least one toy whenever we go anywhere!)

Five jobs that I've had... my first job was as a dental assistant in my dad's office which I did on and off until I got married. Then I worked as a receptionist at a Pediatric office in Utah which was a blast. Next I worked as a customer service rep for BYU Independent Study which was interesting but we could study when we weren't helping someone which was nice. Then I worked as an administrative assistant for the director of the National Museum of Dentistry in Baltimore. Yes, there is such a place and it's not nearly as glamorous as it might sound. My last 8 to 5 job was as a secretary for two doctors at a Urology office in Baltimore which I mostly loved. When I interviewed for the job, I didn't even know what Urology was so I learned a lot and made some great friends. And now I have the best job as a mom! (even if it is 24/7)

What I will be doing in ten years... Well, for starters I will be done have kids. (Still undecided on how many) Carly will be 11, almost a young woman! Right now that sounds fun but I probably should be more fearful. :) We will hopefully be living in a house with a backyard, maybe a pool and a dog. Who knows what I'll be involved in, probably my kids' school, church, maybe working part-time... Like Rachel said, just working as a mom to keep life running smoothly.

Now I'm suppose to tag some other people but I reserve the right not to so thanks for reading!

If you're happy and you know it, shout YIPEE!!

2008-02-28T15:39:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite activities during the day, Carly and I, is to sing. I've been singing to her since she was just tiny. And she always gets the biggest grin on her face. Now granted that she doesn't really sing, she loves to do the hand motions. Her favorite song is what she calls, "Spider", otherwise known as the "itsy bitsy spider". She always wants me to sing spider over and over and over again with all the hand motions. She also loves "If you're happy and you know it." Carly can't say "hurray!" so we say "yipee!" (Yes, she can say "yipee" go figure.) She also likes "The wheels on the bus" which she calls "bush". We sing everything from "There was an old woman who swallowed a fly" to "Give said the little stream" to "Never smile at a crocodile." And unlike American Idol, she doesn't care if I sing the notes right or if I make the song my own. It's important that the "sun came up and dried up all the rain" and that "the spider wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her." And some of the best memories I have as a child is singing with my mom and sisters. We would sing in the car all the time and even around the table at lunch time. And when Carly gets older, we'll start on the great musicals, "Meet Me In St. Louis", "Singing in the Rain", "Oklahoma", "My Fair Lady"... (Somewhere Brandon is groaning.) I just think everyone should enjoy and love music in any form but singing your favorite song is the best part!!

Fallen off the map...

2008-02-17T16:04:00.001-08:00

Yes, it appears our little family has fallen off the map as of recently. You would think that after the holidays, things would be a little slow. But not here in sunny San Diego. We've been enjoying a variety of visitors including my sister Jessica and her husband, Ben, and their dog, Gus which were shortly followed by Brandon's sister Amanda and her two angels, Trent and Camryn. We had tons of fun with our guests. Brandon and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary last Friday and treated ourselves to the Melting Pot which was fabulous as always. And we, like everyone else it seems, have been dealing with the joys of cold season. First Carly, then me and it will probably skip Brandon, as usual. So forgive us for being absentee in the blogging world and we'll see if can't make an improvement over the next little while.

Carly and her bff, Kaylen. I just love bath pics!

We went to the Mormon Battalion celebration in Old Town. You can judge from Carly's expression how she felt about making a pioneer doll!

Carly's first shooting lesson. We were just sad that Uncle Ben couldn't be there to share in the moment! :)

We even got the opportunity to roast bicuits on a stick!

It seems the skill of eating peas with a spoon requires one arm air while the other
scoops. So cute!

In case you are wondering where are the pics of our anniversary and the fun we had with our families, well, I'm still working on my capturing important moments on camera skill. :)

Our Beloved Prophet

2008-01-28T13:41:00.000-08:00

Last night, we lost our beloved prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley. While we mourn his death and feel a great loss at his absence, we know that he is in a better place and feel honored to have lived under his guidance and love inspired from above. We are so happy that he is now reunited with his wife and after years of hard work, he has completed his mission here on earth. We are so thankful for all his words of love, support, and guidance that he has given over the years. He was truly a great man and will be missed by many.

ELMOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-01-21T21:04:00.000-08:00

Elmo has taken over my life. It's one of the first things I hear in the morning and one of the last things I hear at night. We have elmo movies, elmo dolls, elmo cups, elmo clothes, elmo coloring books, elmo's world, elmo books, and more. So as you may have guessed, Carly loves Elmo. He is the cure- all, he can turn any frowning face upside down. She will actually sit and watch Elmo for stretches of time, no other show or toy can do that. When we go anywhere, I must bring Elmo just in case. When she woke up in the middle of the night because of an incoming molar, what one word did she say? Elmo! But despite all the Elmo that I endure every day, I don't really mind. I don't find Elmo to be as obnoxious as some shows, and Elmo's world is educational. And, like most moms, if something will entertain my child for even 10 minutes, it's wonderful. So for now it's Elmo, Elmo, and more Elmo!!!

Why we do it...

2008-01-13T12:59:00.001-08:00

Many people often wonder why people love San Diego so much. Why they pay such high prices to live here. I'm sure many of you have rolled your eyes, laughed or said "yeah right!" when we suggested you move to San Diego too. You wonder how or why we would pay such high costs of living when there are plenty of other wonderful places to live. Well, today is a perfect example of why. While all of you sit in your spacious homes, bundled in sweaters, pushing the lever closer and closer to 80 on the thermostat, dreading going outside to church, we bask in the sunshine. It's a wonderful 79 degrees in San Diego today. All the windows are open and you can hear your fellow Charger fans yelling during the game. Birds are singing and you stop to wonder to yourself, maybe this is paradise. So later this month when you get your heating bill, don't forget to think of us in our flip flops enjoying the sunshine at the park or maybe even the pool. (It's open all year!) Just remember, you're always welcome to visit!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-05T12:35:00.000-08:00

I would like to dedicate this to all of you who have made another New Year's resolution to lose weight! May the year bring you self control and the shedding of pounds!

"T'was the month after Christmas, and all through the house
Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse.

The cookies I'd nibbled, the eggnog I'd taste
At the holiday parties had gone to my waist.

When I got on the scales there arose such a number!
When I walked to the store (less a walk than a lumber).
I'd remember the marvelous meals I'd prepared;
The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared,
The cakes and the pies, the bread and the cheese
And the way I'd never said, "No thank you, please."

As I dressed myself in my husband's old shirt
And pr epared once again to do battle with dirt
I said to myself, as I only can -

"You can't spend a winter disguised as a man!"

So, away with the last of the sour cream dip,
Get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip
Every last bit of food that I like must be banished

Till all the additional ounces have vanished.
I won't have a cookie, not even a lick.
I'll only chew on a long celery stick.
I won't have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie,
I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.

I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore ...
But isn't that what January is for?

Unable to giggle, no longer a riot.
Happy New Year to all and to all a good diet! "

(FYI - I did not write this, it was an email I received and just loved!)

What we've been up to...

2007-12-17T16:12:00.000-08:00

For those of you who just love the pictures, here are a bunch of Carly...

For reason still unknown, Carly likes to take the baskets out of the coffee table and stand in one while she eats a snack or colors at the table. Sometime she'll sit on the edge. It's rather funny to watch!

Carly got her little bag (which actually is suppose to hold a beach bolling set) put her water in it, put it on her arm and informed me she was ready to go by saying "Bye Bye!" She also really likes the shirt she is wearing. She points to the flowers and says "Pretty."

We took Carly bowling with us. Her favorite part was to watch for the balls to come back up after knocking pins down.

Carly really enjoyed petting the deer at the Wild Animal Park. Even after one deer tried to kiss her!

Santa made a stop at our ward Christmas party. Carly was not a fan! She obviously doesn't understand who he is. Maybe next year!

Mele Kalikimaka!

2007-12-06T22:17:00.001-08:00

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!I made this about a month ago but didn't realize they could be posted until I saw it on a friend's blog! I hope you enjoy it. It is my brothers Josh and Jeremy- at least my family got a kick out of it!

We love the zoo!

2007-11-27T15:15:00.000-08:00

We finally took Carly for her first trip to the zoo, but not just the zoo, the World Famous San Diego Zoo!! Wahoooooo! The gorillas were our favorite. The one in the picture was quite the showman and even pounded his chest and the glass for everyones' beneifit! I was quite glad the glass was so thick!

Brandon's favorite animals were the hippos! He was fascinated by the way they sat under the water and would just stick their nostrils above the water when they needed air. All the hippos needed was a 42" flat screen TV and they would be set!!
We thoroughly enjoyed our day. We also got a video of Carly saying "Roar!" at the lions' den but all my attempts to upload it didn't work. So I'll keep trying and maybe it will be up in the future.
For those of you who want to know, we had a lovely Thanksgiving with the Jergensen family and we hope that everyone enjoyed their holiday. We are looking forward to Christmas and seeing family and friends and all the wonderful celebrations!

Couldn't keep her eyes open...

2007-11-14T13:13:00.000-08:00

I've seen pictures and I've heard stories but this time I witnessed it for my own eyes. Carly and I were enjoying a nice lunch during a beautiful San Diego afternoon. About half way through, I look over and Carly can barely keep her eyes open. Her mouth is still moving and then her head goes down and she was out for the count! It was so funny! One of the great things about motherhood is that your child(ren) will never cease to amaze you.

Tagged!

2007-11-01T15:39:00.000-07:00

So apparently there is this game going around blogs called Tag. It's kind of like those emails you used to get. "Do you like Coke of Pepsi, Last five movies you saw..." I'm not sure how most people feel about things like this but I like them. I think it is fun to read what people write and get to know them a little better. Like who knew that Chad and Emily have seen Wicked 9 times! So I like to read them but not too sure how I feel about writing them so bear with me. Here are the rules: A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning. B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves. C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. I love to organize everything. I like files, drawer dividers, containers, labels... anything that makes things more organized. I will organize and reorganize things in my spare time. I have more accordian file folders than I have papers and I don't want to throw them away because I never know when something may need to be reorganized. I like everything to have a place and my dream is for everything to be in its place but... I have a 15 month old who resembles a minature tornado.
2. I am obsessed with Diet Coke, chocolate (Dove, Sees, not hershey), Target, buying clothes for Carly, decorating my condo, chewing ice, changing my hair (highlights, color, cut), making sure Carly has a balanced diet, looking at people's blogs, meal planning
3. I love San Diego because a lot of my family is here, the beautiful weather, there is always so much to do, my best friend, Amy, lives here, good mexican food, excellent customer service, people actually want to come visit you, palm trees, better drivers,
I miss Baltimore because of all our good friends, rainstorms, McDonalds on Wednesdays, Arundel Mills outlet mall, trees, and Old Bay.
4. I am not a morning person. I have the hardest time getting going in the morning. I have to force myself out of bed when Carly wakes up which better not be before 7am. Then I need a couple of hours to just sit around and wake up. When I have to go places in the morning, I usually feel frazzled by the time we get out the door. And now that Carly only takes one nap, it is better to do things in the morning before her nap so I've been working on getting over this. I often wonder how I made it through 4 years of early morning seminary.
5. I love my T.V. shows: Monday - Prisonbreak, Chuck, Heroes, Tuesday - Bones and House, Wednesday - 'Till Death and Lost (which hasn't started yet?), Thursday - The Office. In the morning, I like to turn on the Today show and leave it on all morning for background noise and listen as I do stuff.
6. I love to read. I could spend hours at a bookstore and want to buy 10 books or more. I like to read in bed, on the beach, in the bathtub, during any spare time I have... If I really like a book, I'll read it more than once. Most of what I read is fiction and I love love stories. (as long as they're clean) I think it is so fun to get lost in another world or in someone elses life. My favorite time period is Civil War - Gone with the Wind, In My Father's House, Faith of our Fathers series... But I'll read anything if it's good. (P.S. If you're looking for a good book, I have one word for you, TWILIGHT!)
And that's all I have to say. So now I would like to tag Jayne, Amanda, Liz, Jessica A., and Amy. And if you really don't want to do it, that's fine with me!

Another Memorable Halloween!

2007-11-01T14:22:00.001-07:00

As is tradition, we took Carly to pick out her very own pumpkin for Halloween. We went to this cute little place called the Pumpkin Station which included a petting zoo. The goat seen above is named Daisy and she was my best friend the moment we walked in. I'm pretty sure she was using me for whatever goody she thought I had in my diaper bag. Carly sure enjoyed herself and proclaimed "Baaaaaaa" when she saw the sheep.

Carly's favorite part of the Pumpkin Station was the Merry-go-round. I had to hold her back while the other kids got off and she cried when her turn was over. For the rest of the time we were there she kept trying to run back for another ride.

She didn't care about the pumpkins but she did like the scarecrows. And as you can see, she is very good at pointing out noses.

Our ward Trunk-or-Treat was a funny experience. Carly was very overwhelmed by all the people and costumes and wanted me to hold her the whole time. Even during the trunk-or-treating part she was not interested in walking. In fact, as you can see in the pictures, her favorite part was sitting in the trunk and passing out candy. Go figure!
I was excited that she kept the head part of her costume on most of the night and loved carrying her doggy candy bag which I did not get a picture of! And don't worry, Brandon wore her hat when she didn't have it on!
We hope everyone had a fun Halloween!

Fire Update!

2007-10-23T20:05:00.000-07:00

We have had quite an eventful couple of days. Yesterday morning my parents had to evacuate their home- my dad went to work and my mom came over to our condo. Work for me had been canceled because the office is in an evacuation zone. We sat around until 4 o'clock and then went to Carissa's parents. Her mom is in Utah so we sat around there for a few hours and my dad came and met us there. As we watched the news we heard a reporter broadcasting from the street right above my parents house and that it didn't look to good for the homes at the bottom. We got a little worried- whenever you see a local reported so close to your home it makes you a little nervous! After a couple hours of waiting and wondering what was going on, they went back to the same reporter and she was standing on my parents street! This time it was good news that the fire had burned right up next the the house and all the hills in the area but every house had been saved and that a firefighter was standing on every driveway of that particular street. All our worries had been erased, we just wanted to see how close it got to the homes!
About an hour later, we got a reverse 911 call at Carissa's parents that said we needed to evacuate their neighborhood so we went to a stake center downtown and I had the priveledge of sleeping in a tent with the family dog! It turned out the 911 call to the neighborhood was a mistake and we could have stayed at Carissa's parents all night.

So today we were hoping to go and get a look at my parents home. We started the drive over and were met by a road block and this:

Yep- armed guards! We decided to risk our lives and sneak around through a gated community behind our high school and go to the neighborhood. It really is amazing that not one house was burned in their area. The fire came right down the hill across the street from my parents but no homes were touched! I hope you can see the black on the hill and were everything was burned, but to get the real picture you need to see it for yourself! We also went to other neighborhoods where homes were burned to see the damage- it really was amazing to see what damage can be done. There are a few pictures of that as well! Carissa, Carly and I are doing great as are our families. Thanks for all your support and prayers, we really do appreciate and know it had a hand in protecting us!

P.S. if you click on the photo it will make it bigger!

Looking across the street from my parent's house

Two houses that burned in an adjacent neighborhood

video from where the reporter stood the night before and all we saw were flames behind her! My parent's house is to the right down the slope (not visible).

2007-10-22T08:06:00.000-07:00

For those that don't know: San Diego is having a huge fire! I saw this caption on foxnews.com and had to download it. Many members of our stake have been evacuated- including my parents but we are fine at our house. It is a scary situation, but we should be fine. It is sad to see so much damage and destruction so close but are thankful we are OK where we are. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been hurt or lost homes.

Mine!

2007-10-18T20:28:00.000-07:00

The second picture is to remind those of you who have forgotten, that Brandon IS the Chargers' BIGGEST FAN! And he is just so proud that his little girl requested to wear her pink LT jersey last Sunday. I'm pretty sure she would have worn it to church if I had not been there.
The first picture is what I call a poor child's playhouse. We built Carly a playhouse out of our moving boxes and she loves it! She especially loves that she can take markers and crayons and color it. I'm just waiting for the day when she decides to try that on one of the walls in our condo. I have to say that she never ceases to amaze me. Today she took the TV remote from me and said very firmly, "Mine!" and then proceeded to change the channel from Ellen to Dr. Phil! I had to explain to her that we don't watch Dr. Phil. Yesterday, we were at a kids clubhouse playing and she informed the little boy in the firetruck very loudly that "Na, Na, Na, Mine, Mine!" Apparently he was in her seat! Maybe some people would be concerned that, after this behavior, their child was going to be a handful. I can't help but be happy to know this early that she will not be a pushover and that she will be able to hold her own in our ever increasingly tumultuous world. And that's my thought for today.

Finally!!

2007-10-13T10:30:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are not aware of the significance of this photo, kindly direct your attention to the two little pigtails on Carly's head. Yes, after 14 months of patiently waiting, I finally have some hair to work with! She may still have a mullet, but at least some of her hair is long enough to pull up. It was a very happy and exciting day. And it only took about five gummy bears to get her to sit there and hold still. And she looks so cute!!! Now I only have to wait for the mullet to grow out and then real pigtails!

Welcome to our new blog!

2007-09-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

Welcome to all our friends and family to our new bog! For those of you wondering, our previous website was through Apple. However, that only lasted a year and then they wanted $100 from us for another year. Well, we being the poor, poor people who are trying so hard to buy a condo and get a start in life, we said no way to apple and are joining the world of Blogspot.com! We are hoping that this new blog will stay more current than the last.
A brief update for those of you interested. We just moved into our condo about 2 weeks ago and have joined the ranks of homeowners! Yea! We feel so lucky because our condo is everything that we hoped it would be and is in a great location called Sabre Springs. We are right in between both of our parents and it's a younger community which fits us just right!
Brandon is happily situated at Drs. Belnap and Pierce's office and is in search of another office to join to pay for our new condo and expand his patient list. Carly and I are enjoying spending lots of time in the sun and in search of new friends to create a west coast McDonald's group. (Which is harder than it sounds and we definitely miss our Baltimore friends.) We are hoping our new ward will have lots of potential friends. We've already made friends will several dolphins, seals, and whales at Sea World and are looking forward to hitting the World Famous San Diego Zoo in the near future.
We love checking out everyone's blogs and we hope you enjoy ours too!!