First Crush

Stone: I kiss Laaaaaaila! They say stop.

Me: You kissed Laila?

Stone: Yesssss.

Me: Did you kiss her A LOT?

Stone: Yesssss.

Me: And they had to tell you to stop?

I think Stone has a crush on Laila. If you don't remember who that is, click here.

We're good friends with Laila's parents, and we often switch off watching each other's kids for date nights. You may remember me saying that I watched this girl last semester while her parents were finishing up their Master's, and Stone was in heaven when she would come over. Well, turns out he kisses her. A LOT.

That was our conversation last night, so at church today, I asked about it, and sure enough, YES, he sure did kiss her. BUT, they didn't say, "stop". They said, "soft." (I think rough housing with daddy has generally made him play rough altogether). But it makes sense that they said soft, because after I asked if they had to tell him to stop, he pet my arm and said, "sofffft, mommy. soffft."

He's only 2, and apparently he watches mommy and daddy too closely. Woops.

30 Weeks!

This pregnancy has gone by SOOO fast. Perhaps it's because we waited a little longer to tell people, or maybe it's because I already have one at home with me to keep me busy. This pregnancy has definitely FLOWN by.

We went in for our 3rd trimester ultrasound today, and things look great! Believe it or not, she still is a girl! She has the cutest little face, and I am so excited to have her get here! However, I have pleanty to get done before she gets here, so she can take her sweet time. I'm not yet uncomfortable, so until I'm sick of being pregnant, I'm okay that she waits. Here are some 30 week shots Cliff took of me. He's got talent behind the camera, which is why it's so fun to do our little photography hobby together.

I feel wierd posting pictures of JUST me, but here you go:

Some thoughts...

...on potty training.

Just a random picture of him stealing one of my cameras, just before doing his business and bathing. I know...why would I let him play with my cameras? eeek. He's actually got some great shots...

We are day 7 into this training, and things are still going well. I'm not yet completely brave enough to take him in public for long periods of time in his undies. That's my goal this week. Every day I think we all get a little more confident with this whole process. So here are some thoughts and some things we've been doing with this training:

• It's kind of like breastfeeding (and that's not supposed to begin for 2 more months!). When you breastfeed, life kind of revolves around it. You time errands perfectly to correspond with baby's feeding schedule. As soon as you're done, you rush out to get as much done as you can before the next feeding approaches, but you always know you're limited in your time out. Same with potty training.
  
• What color of undies?? When we are out and about, I continuously ask Stone what color his undies are, or what is on them, so he remembers he has them on, and therefore, will not wet them. He LOVES his different undies. He gets mad when I put a diaper on for him at night time and naps (no, I'm not brave enough to let him go to bed in undies yet...nor to our 3 hour church block today).
• The negotiator: I have always been quite the negotiator. Apparently, I have passed that down to Stone. Without getting graphic, we've changed our potty prize mentality a bit. He now only gets his potty prizes for "big time" potty results. He quickly learned that if he broke up his business into 4 or 5 trips to the potty, he could get 4 or 5 prizes. He negotiates which type of prize he gets each time he goes. I now reserve the "big ones" (dollar toys) for a big job well done. ...he tried outsmarting the system.
  
• Sleeping in: I thought I got this for another couple of months before baby #2 gets here, but not so. Sometimes Stone will come in with some toys, and he knows I want a few more minutes to rest my eyes. But now, he knows if he comes in saying, "poopy mommy, let's go!" ...it gets me out of bed in a split second. Even when he cries wolf.

Altogether, we are proud of our little guy. This is proving to be successful. The thought of a long road trip in the near future for the holidays kind of freaks me out, though. Does that mean lots of stops?? What did you do when (if) you had to take your newly potty trained kid on a loooong road trip?? Ooooohh boy.

The Beast is Here

AKA, Potty Training.

I was hesitant to mention it so soon, in case this ends up to be the never ending, on and off again process, but I feel like we are making total progress, and we're only on day #3 of being really serious about this. We kind of started it last week, but this week we have buckled down.

You may remember that we introduced the concept to Stone just before his 2nd birthday (July). He was very excited for his Lighting McQueen underware, his Elmo Potty Poster (courtesy of my artistic husband), his Thomas the Train potty cover, his little step, and of course potty prizes. The novelty wore off quickly, he lost interest, and so we backed off. I didn't want it to be a year long process, and I was told by so many people, that you really have to wait until they are ready.

So we backed off, and have just talked A LOT about it since then, and have watched Elmo Potty Time many times. I think {!hope!} it has kind of paid off.

What made us decide to go into this full force, finally? Probably the fact that he was beginning to say, "poopy diaper, mommy. come on. follow me." I think the final straw was last week at the gym, when one of the Kid's Club girls came out to get me, and said, "he has a poopy diaper, and won't let us change him. He says, "Mommy do it at HOME!"

I think it was that day, that I decided our communication is strong enough to pull this thing off, and to just jump in and DO IT.

So here we are, day #3. MANY successful trips to the potty, a couple pairs of wet undies, a trip to the dollar store, and many fruit snacks. Oh, and did I say how much patience you need for this?

I will keep you posted.

Best Buds

Stone and Gavin got along SO well last week in Arizona. I hope they grow up to be best buddies although we don't live too close to eachother.

Wanna see a little more of this cutie below? Check out my photo blog for a few pics from his photo shoot in Arizona.

I Heart Arizona

Last week, I mentioned we were in the Valley of the Sun. Oh how I love Arizona, especially this time of year! Cliff had a conference there, so it was only fitting to accompany him, and spend some fun time with my mom, and see many relatives. Rachel (Jordan's wife) and Gavin met us there, and we had a blast.

Stone and Gavin LOVE each other. Every time they were in the car, Gavin would just laugh at Stone. I'm so happy Rachel met us there, especially because I got to squish these chubby cheeks:
My mom just got two cute little dogs, Phoebe and Milo. Stone LOVED teasing the dogs, and they did not so much like him....at least at first. He's a little too active and loud for them, I think. By the last day there, Stone was hauling Milo around (as opposed to them [Stone and Milo] growling at each other). Here's my mom, Stone, and the 2 dogs:

We headed to Freestone, one of my favorite parks, to do a little photo shoot with Gavin. More to come of those! But here's Rachel and Gavin as a teaser:

While at the park, Stone thought it'd be funny to jump in a HUGE puddle of mud (boys will be boys), so he roamed the park bare foot after his little muddy moment:

We went back to Freestone a couple days later to have a picnic with Mark, Jacki, and Dallen, and then went to visit my Grandpa (my dad's dad) and Charisse (my dad's sister), as well as my mom's sisters...all in one night. Here are just a few pics from that night.

We put a wig on Gavin (and perhaps my mom). I know Gavin won't mind, by my mom might if I put up her pictures. :)
Below: Stone, Me, Charisse, Gavin

Below: Stone, Gavin, my Grandpa

And lastly, per my previous post, we had a mini photo shoot of the three boys (Stone, Dallen, and Gavin) in their costumes. Here are just a few more pictures because they are TOO CUTE!!!

I really must say, Halloween is SOOOOO fun with kids. We took Stone trick-or-treating, and he was in HEAVEN. I couldn't believe how empty the streets were, though. When I was a kid, our streets were PACKED, and EVERY SINGLE home had their porch lights on, ready to hand out candy. My, how the times have changed. I think the tradition of trick-or-treating is slowly fading, and I think we'll be seeing more trunk-or-treat functions in the future, and less door-to-door. Kind of sad, because we had a BLAST as kids.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Happy Halloween: "Truth, Justice, and the American Way"

Remember how Stone is obsessed with Superman these days? It would only be right to let him be Superman for Halloween.

We were in Arizona this week, and had a mini photo shoot with his cousins, Gavin (Jordan & Rachel's son) and Dallen (my cousin, Mark & Jacki's son). The editing has just begun, but here are a few for now of Superman and the two monkeys (from left to right: Gavin, Stone, Dallen)...

And here are a couple pictures from our church Halloween party last night. The first is of Stone trunk-or-treating (which he LOOOOOVED), and the second is him being a ham for the "parade/fashion show" across the stage at the party.

More pictures to come!!

**27**

Happy Birthday, Cliff!!

Cliff turns the big 27 today. We are lucky to be in Arizona to celebrate his bday! We are here for a conference that Cliff is attending, which means fun time with family.

I had a strange dream the other night that we weren't married yet, and Cliff was about to be a part of an arranged marriage (strange, right?!). We kept meeting secretly along a ditch by my old home in El Paso. I remember us feeling so helpless. Then, I woke up, looked over, and there he was sound asleep. I grabbed him tight, so happy to be his.

This is one awesome, funny [*hilarious!*], hardworking man. I'm thankful every day to have him in my life.
Happy birthday, Babe!!

Flashback Friday: Returned Missionary

Per my previous post, Clay (Cliff's little brother) came home from his mission last week. Marcy snapped this pic of him--first stop at home: Chico's Tacos. If you're from El Paso, you will understand (whether or not you're a fan). If you're not, well...there's really no way to explain the place. It's unique to El Paso, we'll just leave it at that.

When I saw this pic last week (Clay below), it brought back vivid memories of the day Cliff returned from his mission.

Cliff came home from his mission almost SIX years ago. Look how young he loooks (below)!!If you know our dating story, you know we dated prior to his mission. I was struggling with the decision of whether or not to be at the airport at his homecoming. We had written each other faithfully during those two years, but if it didn't work out (which everyone knew was a silly thought. DUH, we'd work out), I didn't want to taint that special memory. But, Marcy (his mom), insisted I be there, and so my mom accompanied me. It was a BIG deal. I even remember exactly what I was wearing.

So Cliff got off the plane, came down the escalator, and looked RIGHT at me. I was a little [very] nervous. He made his rounds, and headed to get his luggage. My mom and I were towards the back, and every third step, Cliff looked back to make sure I was there (hehe)...or just to see me (hehe).


He went straight to see one of our church leaders, to be officially released from his mission. Afterwards, my mom dropped me off at Chico's to have tacos with his fam. It was a little awkward, I'm not going to lie.

We were sitting on the same side of the booth, but we were both having a hard time with this little adjustment. Finally, Sheldon (Cliff's big brother) said something about how funny we were being, and Cliff got his arm, and pulled me in real tight and gave me a big hug. If you're not familiar with my church, and with missionaries, I'll just say that these boys have no real [physical] contact with girls for 2 years (i.e., no hugs, no kisses....even our letters steered clear of mushy stuff. ....they purely focus on their mission). Tanner and Jordan (my brothers), and my parents, and some friends, warned me that things might be a little awkward for a few days (Jordan returned from his mission just a few days prior). They all said Cliff would have to adjust to "real" life again, and not to be offended if he didn't show affection immediatly. So, when he pulled me towards him, and hugged me, I was shocked...but it felt so good, and so right. That's all it took. He broke the ice, and the awkwardness in the air dissapeared.

I won't say how [very] soon I got a kiss (and how shocked I was that he made the move so quickly), but it was great. Everything felt so right. AFTER the kiss, he said, "hmmm, you don't have a boyfriend, do you??" That night, after we kissed, we were an item again. Everything fell into place, and by the end of Christmas break (he came back a couple days into my freshman Christmas break), we knew we were getting married. People thought we were crazy, but when you know, YOU KNOW.

And now to think that we've been married over 5 years, have a 2 year old, and another one on the way.

Welcome Home, Clay!

This weekend, we made a QUICK trip home to welcome home Cliff's little brother, Clay. Clay was in Argentina for two years, serving a mission for our church. I can't believe 2 years have come and gone!! I feel like Cliff just got back from his!!

I can't believe this is the only picture we got of Clay:

While there, Stone and I headed out to the desert with my dad while Cliff and Clay helped Sheldon (their big bro) move. Stone LOVED climbing the mountains and sliding down the rocks. Call me wierd, but I LOOOVE the desert.

Stone and his cousin, Danny, have a BLAST together. And they just LOVED Clay. Clay played guns with them Saturday night, and they thought he was soooo funny.

Stone has had this thing for guns since watching The Incredibles (opening firing scene). Once he started shooting everyone that passed us (everywhere), I decided to put The Incredibles away. So much for me trying to teach him not to shoot people. This weekend, we took 18 steps backwards in that department. {sigh} Here they are in action:

And here they are in Grandpa Jessup's cowboy hats. True cowboys...

And of course, Grandma and Grandpa Jessup!! I know I am a broken record, but I just LOVE my in laws. It's funny. Stone can say "Grandma" just fine, but struggles with Grandpa. He was looking at these pictures right now and said, "Grandma and Po-cuck!" I think the "p" messes him up, so he makes up his own word.

We always love going home!!

Cute, cute face!

Okay, so check out this cute face! See more of her on my photo blog:

Staying Put

A couple weeks ago, we converted Stone's crib into a bed. We held off long enough, because we've been waiting to get a hold of my toddler bed from when I was little. I really wanted to pass that down to him. But when we realized we weren't going to be able to get it over here soon, we couldn't wait any longer. He was crawling in and out during all naps and at bed time. It was fun for him to escape--it was a game to him.

Well, once we converted it to a bed, it was like MAGIC. He no longer wanted to get out!! He loves it, and he calls it his "surprise bed", because when Cliff was converting it, I told him he couldn't go in because Daddy was making a surprise.

Well, we thought he was staying put, until we walked in last night, close to midnight, to find this:

He is too funny! I still say that moving him to a bed was the best thing for us to do!

Milestone!

This boy......actually made it through an ENTIRE Sarament meeting (our worship service at church--first hour of our block) for the first time since he became mobile. I know that's probably not a big deal to most people, and maybe there are some people that can't believe our kid can't sit & be quiet that entire hour (we have tried everything), but he DID IT. I'm not sure if this is the start of something wonderful, or if it is a tease, but I'll take it. We actually were able to pay attention to a great service on Sunday.

Trip to the ER

Remember when this happened to Stone (thanks, again, Reader family!). I was told it wouldn't be the last time. It wasn't.

Yesterday, Stone took quite the fall in the parking lot of the gym, and banged his head hard on the road. He wasn't even being his rambunctious self when the fall happened. He had quite the gash, and blood was EVERYWHERE. It wouldn't stop bleeding, so we headed to the ER since it was Saturday. Everything just worried me. For instance, he sat cradled in my lap like a baby for 10 minutes while we waited for Cliff (he hasn't done that since, oh...I don't know...ever? ...well, since he was a baby). He was acting kind of drowsy, which he usually completely fights.

They decided not to stitch it, because cosmetically, they say it should heal best on its own (just like his lip, whew! Which btw, is just a small scar that you can barely see these days). Well, all day long we changed bandages. The blood wouldn't stop!


He was quite the sport. He was actually happy in the room, and liked the Doctor's flash light. Check out the video and pics...

Oh, and it may not look that bad (and you may think I was being paranoid), but that is the cut itself, the blood is all wiped up, so it was quite a thick cut!
I really am glad we had him checked out, because I would have been uneasy all day long considering how many bandaids we went through!

Like Father, Like Son

Anyone that really knows Cliff, knows of his Superman obsession. He can tell you anything about the life of Superman. We are even faithful viewers of Smallville (even though it has gone down hill, Cliff (which means me, too), remains faithful to the Kryptonian).

While I was away on my business trip, Cliff and Stone watched Superman together (and for Stone to actually sit and watch something, especially in it's entirety, is unbelievable)... and now Stone can't get enough. He wants to wear anything he has Superman, he wants to save a helicopter and bus like Superman, he wants to fly like Superman (he's devestated that he cannot do it on his own, and needs Cliff to fly him around), and well...he wants to be Superman.

Well, he pulled his Superman swim suit out last night, and demanded he wear it around:

Remember this? Jordan and Rachel got it for him as a newborn. I think he will try to wear this until the zipper busts.

He totally freaked out on us when we took it off and put him to bed. And, first thing this morning, Stone comes in, waving his Superman suit in my face, begging me to put it on him. I was able to distract him, and hide it for a little bit (knowing I'd never be able to get it off when we headed to the gym), and now, he is back in it. It's a little tight on his legs, and the zipper is now pinching him, but he refuses to take it off...AGAIN.

Oh, and he wears his little cape EVERYWHERE. My mom made it for him last Thanksgiving. He is too funny.

Another Weekend!

Our weekends pass by TOO quickly!! We had a great weekend, with an awesome General Conference, and a few different outtings. After the last session last night, we headed to the park so that Stone could get rid of some of his energy. I just LOVE my boys. They make life a pure joy.

Okay, so below, is my 24 week belly. Cliff told me to stick out/show my belly, and Stone thought he was talking to him. So check him out in the first picture.

Back to the fair!

Remember when we went to the fair last year? Well I can't believe a year has come and gone, and here it is again. Thanks to a tip from Chelsea, we headed out to dollar ride night/free admission/free parking. Quite the steal, I tell ya. Especially considering what we spent at the fair last year. And let me tell ya, it did not dissapoint.

We had a great time with fair food and rides. Check out our fun night.

BELOW: FAMILY PORTRAIT FROM FAIR LAST YEAR
BELOW: FAMILY PORTRAIT FROM FAIR THIS YEAR


Stone has grown up SO much!! While I was updating the blog, we watched a video Cliff put together with video clips and pictures from the fair last year. I can't believe how time has flown, and how my baby has GROWN!!!

BELOW: MY FAVORITE PIC OF THE NIGHT.

I can't tell who is more excited for this Dinosaur ride. Can you?

Doughnuts and Dinosaurs

Stone and I have had a fun couple of days this week. Yesterday, we went swimming, and had the pool and slides all to ourselves, and today, we made a trip to Krispy Kreme and the Science Spectrum. Think this kid was in heaven? Umm, yes. The Science Spectrum seriously is the greatest place for little kids. Stone goes CRAZY. It's basically a 3 story museum full of interactive activities, and fun things to see (including the infamous dinosaur that he tries to avoid, but secretly loves). Above, he's in the play room, and below he is climbing on the giant mouth. There is a sign that says no climbing and sitting, and sure enough, as soon as I snapped a pic, there he was climbing.

Girl Interrupted!

We're a little in shock! It's a G.I.R.L.!!!
The doc had to wiggle this little girl's legs free, but after interrupting her, the doc said "it's a girl!"

Cliff's father's side of the fam had a SLEW of grandsons before a girl ever graced the Sheldon Jessup line. So, we have kind of had the mentality that it would be a boy, though we both secretly felt like it would really be a girl!! I told Cliff that I won't believe it 100% until she arrives! I can't tell you HOW EXCITED I am to buy girl things. Pink, ruffles, lace, leggings, bows, shall I go on? I think I'll stop (I do still feel the need to keep all receipts for anything girl purchased).

Here are some pictures of our little GIRL!!!

Starting with her profile. She's stiking a pose with her arm over her head. She was posing the entire time. It was hard for the doc to get a good profile pic of her.
Next are some 3D images. They are a little bit hard to focus on, but once you do focus, you can see her features clearly! Kind of looks like big lips!! Once again, she has her little arm next to her head.

Below: She's kind of puckering up. Uh oh. That's how her mama got her daddy. :)

And who can resist baby hands?

And here I am at 21 weeks and 1 day! Though I already feel huge, I'm not as big as I was with Stone at this point.

If you're wondering what I'm doing, I was yelling at Stone to get out of my guacamole and mango salsa. I had made both dishes for a church activity, and he was playing in the car. I looked over, and he had grabbed a chip, and was dipping it in.

Cliff will be taking my maternity shots in a few weeks, so more belly pics are on the way.

We are SOOOOO excited!!!!!

The Power of Exercise

I'm not a doctor, but I have this philosophy, that when you're tired, sore, or achy (not to be mistaken with being sick OR injured), a good workout cures it all. Seriously. When I have a kink in my neck (ever since my serving days, I seem to have a chronic kink in my neck)....it's gone after a run. When I'm SO tired and really want a nap....gone after a trip to the gym, and my energy levels are back up. When I'm frustrated with something, some free weights melts the aggravation away.

Monday, I stood up awkwardly and fast, and twisted my back. I felt I was more injured than sore, and so I grudgingly took a break from exercise on Tuesday. Well, I hit the gym again Wednesday, with a semi-sore back. And guess what? Pain? GONE.

Nothing like releasing endorphins. I'm an advocate of exercise. It does the body AND soul good. My mom has good fitness tips on her blog at the end of most of her entries. FYI.