Luke and Noah...

The Spitting Image of...

Britax Carseat Giveaway

Here's a great chance to win a Britax carseat. Check it out!
CLICK HERE to enter.

Carseat Giveaway

I've been a huge fan of Britax carseats since Luke was born and we bought our first one for him. We have since bought on for Noah as well. They are always highly rated in tests for safety and it makes you feel good about putting your precious child in something that will keep them safe from harm in an accident.
Emi is giving away a beautiful new Britax Marathon CS carseat valued at $299. Don't miss out on this opportunity.

CLICK HERE to enter.

Ready or not

The past few weeks Luke has been really funny about diapers. He would cry sometimes when I changed him and sometimes he would start pulling on them trying to remove it. I thought that he was just trying to itch a few little bug bites that he had on his lower abdomen, but I talked with a friend and she said that maybe I should take it as a sign that he's about ready to start potty-training. We've had a little potty for about 5 months now. Before or after baths I would let Luke sit on it. Sometimes he would and sometimes he wouldn't, and usually it was just a little sit for a second then off he went onto better things.
Two days ago, we set Luke onto the potty and he stayed! Then the miracle happened. Of course, he got lots of loves, claps, and a cookie. Yesterday, he peed in it 5 different times-getting a reward at each time. Okay, here's the dilemma, last night he was able to use the potty, but when it came time to put a diaper on he had a fit! He was wanting potty and candy! Oh dear. I want to reinforce using the potty. I know many of you have been through this process. Do you have any advice?
Thanks.

Blogs

I'm so excited my sisters have started (or updated) blogs. It's so awesome to read about the activities and thoughts of my friends and family. It makes me feel like I'm not so isolated. And, there are things that go into blogs that you really can't get from a phone call or anything else. I love to read blogs!
Keeping my own blog updated is a different story all together. I'm bad. REALLY bad. Elizabeth is amazing! She gets a little something into her blog everyday. It's so cute. If you're not a crazy, check it out because she's a super-blogger.
Yes, that vacation, birthday(S), and super-exciting-ness has yet to be written about. But, whoever you are thanks for hanging in with me. I know you get tired of checking and... nothing. But, you are a true friend.

Modest is hottest!

Touches of Retouching

I wish that Jessica and I were professional enough photographers to take picture-perfect photos right from the camera, but until then, photo editors work wonders. After refinements in Photoshop, images that once looked ready for scrapping become worthy of scrapbooking:

Do you want some cards?

My cute neighbor from back in the day is having a contest on her blog. Check it out. You could be the winner of some gorgeous handmade cards. Here's the link...
http://craftynat.blogspot.com

"The Horsies"

The view from the back of our house. Living in the country has its advantages. Lots of love from the backwoods of Missouri!

Good Stuff From Japan

When I was a little I loved looking at a photo we had taken at Disneyland. I must have been about Luke's age. It was one of those old-time photos where you dress up in the vintage costumes and this great picture come out all sepia and old looking and you imagine you just stepped out of the 1800s or something. I ran across this cool program from another blog. You upload your own photo and by the magic power of computers it turns all faded, wrinkled and old. Check it out!
(IF YOU CANNOT READ IT-Click English on the upper-right area of the site.)
Emi-This probably won't be a problem for you.

Pictures Only

Do you have what it takes to WIN?

The first 5 people to respond to this post will receive something made by either Jessica or Jared. What we make will be our choice, but it will be made just for you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. We make no guarantees that you will like what we make!
2. What we create will be a Jessica or Jared original and it will be made just for you.
3. It'll be done this year (might be December 31st, but you WILL get something) and we will post all of our original creations as they are completed.
4- You will get no clues what it's going to be. Heck, we don't even know what it will be. We might paint or draw something. We might compose a jingle or short song. We might even write a short play just for you. Who knows? Whatever it is, it will be a surprise!
5- We reserve the right to do something extremely strange :)

The catch? The catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog.

Happy commenting (AND posting!)

There are Few Sounds Hungrier Than a Vacuum

In case any of you are still doubting my literacy from reading my last post, I'd like to share a poem from a couple nights ago. After vacuuming in preparation for a baby shower that Jessica was hosting, listening to a grating excerpt of Schnittke viola music on public radio, and trying to feed an uncooperative baby, I wrote:

There are few sounds hungrier than a vacuum,
Its gaping maw muffled just slightly by carpet,
Except maybe a baby, who also sucks but is very soon satiated,
Subsiding to sleep in arms
Lulled softly from anxious to tranquil.
But some voids will never be plugged
Or vacated, except perhaps by a flip of the switch or power outage.
Funny how in space
You can’t even hear a vacuum scream.

Ever A Helpful Boy

So this morning I, Jared, am here tending the young 'uns. Sorry if I lapsed into Hick for a second there. Sometimes that can happen, living as I do, in semi-backwoods Missouri.

Anyway, I was feeding Noah, who was ravenous. Luke, ever a helpful boy, brings me Jessica's milk pumper. He was even holding it up to his own chest like he has seen Mommy doing.

I tried to explain to him that only moms can produce milk. Daddy doesn't have that capacity and neither will he when he's older.

A little later, he tried to feed the baby trail mix. Next, he had found some glucose tablets that I keep by the bed in case of low blood sugars, dumped them all out, and was eating those.

That'll teach me to take my eyes off him, even if my attentions had been focused on getting an agitated Noah to sleep.

I really do think that Luke means to be helpful. Jessica and I will just have to train him to channel his eagerness towards activities that everyone agrees are helpful.

Speaking of helpful things, I just got the baby to sleep. What a relief! Before that, I was one-handing-it trying to type. Of course, Luke has now joined me at the keyboard . . . asdfj35533

No, I haven't regressed from Missouri Hick into illiteracy. Luke was just helping me with my blog post!

Jared's Parent's Mission and Other News

This is Jared writing. My parents have left on their mission to Winnipeg, Canada. They've been called not only as missionaries, but as mission mental health advisers. They're in the MTC now, but in another week they will leave for the mission field. En route, they're going to stop by and visit us. While this isn't exactly their most direct or scenic route, we're sure glad that they can come to visit. Luke and Noah especially are going to miss Grandpa and Grandma during the year and a half that they're away. Still, we know that, as missionaries, they'll bless the people greatly in Winnipeg. Love you, Mom and Dad!

Anyway, the other day, I was sitting in our La-Z-Boy rocking chair burping Noah after feeding him. Luke comes up, babbling away in his own language, and starts hitting me on the leg. At first, I told him, "No, Luke, don't hit. Do you remember that book we read called Hands Are Not for Hitting?"

Luke says some words, but he understands quite a bit more than he can verbalize. He certainly knows what it means not to hit. However, when I started rubbing the baby's back instead of patting, Luke stopped hitting and imitated my motions. I realized that this wasn't naughtiness. Luke was burping my leg!

In other momentous news from life's fleeting moments, this past week I turned 33. Hard to believe, I know. Unfortunately, in spite of Jessica's loving efforts, my birthday itself was rather awful. My insulin pump had stopped delivering insulin due to some faulty supplies. Minimed, the manufacturer, agreed, after a long night battling with alarms, conversations with technicians over the phone, and out-of-whack blood sugars, to send me a new loaner pump. That didn't fix the problem, but a different set of supplies that they have sent me since did fix things. What an ordeal!

Thankfully, I'm in better shape now, and we were able to celebrate my birthday in a more festive, healthy manner this weekend. Ok, so cheesecake isn't exactly healthy, but at least I was feeling better. Most of all, I feel blessed and grateful to have my beautiful, sweet wife and bright, energetic boys.

Sister Oberholtzer, who has been tending the children as Jessica has started working a few days a week as a dental hygienist, explains our boys' energy well. She likes to say that "Luke has been very busy." He moves chairs to enable him to climb on things and is able to reach many items, things that I was just sure he couldn't possibly get his hands on. Luke never ceases to surprise and amaze me!

Noah is quite possibly the smileyest baby ever. Whenever you look at him, he's so happy to see you. Unlike Luke, he loves to have his diaper changed as he lays there, kicks with delight, makes little cooing noises, and smiles and smiles.

Well, thanks for enduring to the end of my lengthy post. Hope that I've left you smiling because I'm feeling happy now.

Hello world, I'm alive.

By now the readers of this blog have ZZz. Oh, I guess YOU didn't notice. Everyone else has stopped checking this blog only to find well, nothing. Sorry about that. Yes I know there is a lot to catch up on. That's why I've been in such a major blogging funk. Then I go..WHOA...There's Noah growing, Luke talking, CHRISTMAS!!
For now, however, just know that we are alive and well. Thanks for checking.

Anyway, I just ran across this on as a friend calls it "the good site." Check it out...

If you are looking for a simple way to watch and share brief, gospel-centered videos, visit Mormon Messages, a Church-sponsored YouTube channel that is updated each week with teachings of our basic beliefs, stories of hope and inspiration, and more. The website is www.youtube.com/MormonMessages.