He's a "Superstar"

This little boy is potty trained! I thought that this monumental occasion deserved a post. Jacob likes to do things his own way so I was very anxious to start the whole process of potty training, but he did wonderfully! We had about one week of serious craziness and another of just a few accidents and now he is holding his own. I am so proud of him and can now call him a "Big Boy."

He struggled a bit at first so we decided he needed some better motivation. We went online and let him pick out a new knight for his castle that he would get when he went for a whole day without an accident. It took a few days to come in the mail and ended up being just the right thing to inspire him to make an effort. We tried the potty treat thing but, true to his character, he decided he didn't like tootsie rolls anymore after the second day.

It is so fun to see him growing up but sad at the same time. He also started sunbeams this year and I was so bummed I didn't get a picture of him on his first day. Sundays have been a little crazy for me with my calling and I am so grateful for David for holding down the fort.

We were wondering what Jake would do when he finally did get into Primary. He decided that he didn't want to stand up for the "welcome song" but other than that, had no issues. (At least that his teacher will tell me.) He loves to be in there with his older brother Caleb and can't wait to see his teacher every Sunday. He doesn't like to sing primary songs, because he claims he doesn't know how to sing, but he loves to listen to them. He is quite a character and I wouldn't trade him for anything.

Brats in the Bathtub

On New Year's Eve this year, we were surprised to have at least 10 tornadoes in our area. One was a category EF3 with winds around 160 miles per hour. It was quite awe inspiring actually, to see all of the damage that a tornado can cause.

The storm hit around noon and I called our friends over for our traditional "Brats in the Bathtub". (The first time we had it, we had just been cooking Bratwursts on our grill for dinner and decided it would be fun to eat them in the bathtub while we waited for the storm to pass.) They have only rooms with windows and live just down the street so we like to cuddle up in our downstairs bathroom when the sirens go off! The best part was that we were potty training Jake, (post on that to come) and while we were all in there he decided that he needed to go #2. It was pretty hilarious with him sitting on the toilet and all of us watching.

We were very lucky. The storm hit about five miles South of us then jumped over us and hit just North in the city of Ballwin. It was pretty exciting but I am glad that everyone we knew was safe.

After that, we all had a quiet evening at home while watching movies and playing Wii. We ordered our annual Chinese takeout for dinner and had fun reading our fortune cookies. We let the boys stay up till eleven (Big Mistake!!!) and then put them to bed. David and I didn't last long after that and called it quits as soon as midnight rolled around. Not as exciting as the afternoon for sure, but it was pleasant for the most part. Happy New Year and here's to having all of our wildest dreams come true!

The Holidays

The holidays were very exciting this year. We started off with a trip to Utah for Thanksgiving. We decided, against our better judgement, to drive the 1300 miles, in the winter, over the river and through the woods to get to grandmother's house. The drive was long and full of blizzards and white knuckles on the steering wheel, but we were so blessed to not have any car trouble or sick kids. They were troopers and stayed cheerful for the most part.

I, on the other hand, was sicker than a dog. Car trips and morning sickness do not mix. The thing that made it worth it was being able to see all of our family and meeting my three new nieces and nephew.

We spent hours and hours visiting, eating and playing. Caleb and his cousin Zac were inseparable and had so much fun being with each other talking about Star Wars and other boy stuff. Apart from the "Fizzard" of 2010 getting in the way a bit, we were able to play to our hearts' content. The good bye's were extremely hard for all of us but we are so excited to see some of you again this summer! Thank you Dads for letting us come. It was so worth it!

Christmas was really nice and laid back this year. We started off Christmas Eve, and headed to the St. Louis City Museum. David and I have been dying to go, but the cost is pretty expensive. Well, through some diligence on our bishop's wife part to get a church rate and generosity from some friends, we were able to go! It was crazy fun and we were so glad to be part of such a fun group of people. (There is a video at the bottom.)

After the museum, we came home and got ready for a feast with our friends, the Williams. We had soup in bread bowls and lots of goodies. We also decided to decorate gingerbread houses, which turned out to be a good way to show off all of our quirky obsessions. Can I just tell you that the kit is the way to go. The kids had a great time eating all the "extra" candy and the clean up was so easy!
Christmas morning came with lots of surprises and fun. The boys got a castle and knights from Santa and haven't stopped playing with them since. We were truly spoiled this year and want to thank everyone who gave and sent us presents. It was hard to be away from family but we love being our own little unit too. We were able to relax and then headed to our friends, the Speidels, for dinner.

Lonie is an amazing cook and we felt like one of the family over there. Thanks for having us Lonie! It was so nice visiting with you and your family.


Me at sixteen weeks. I figured I needed to put at least one prego picture on here. Can't you tell how excited I was to have it taken? My mom made me this beautiful sweater and I love it. It will be great with my expanding tummy!

To the forgotten posts

I realized I didn't blog much of the fall and I didn't want to miss documenting some photos, so here is a slight recap before I blog Christmas.
We found an awesome miniature golf place for super cheap just down the street from our house. There were some definite issues with it but we were the only ones there and had a blast. The day was beautiful and perfect for running around.




Halloween was nice. Since it was on a Sunday and our neighborhood isn't the most spiritual place on Halloween, we voted to just do the ward trunk-or-treat on Friday. It was a hit! The boys had a great time and so did we. They got a ton of candy and were completely satisfied.