Christmas 2009

Christmas this year was really great. We stayed at home in Alabama because we just had Jane a few week earlier. It was nice to have a quite day at home. No rushing from one place to another, living out of a suit case for a week and no frustrating Air plane trips. It was a nice change of pace. We had a chance to make some of our own little families traditions. The Kids were very excited to open their traditional Christmas Eve P.J's., Strawberry Short Cake for Kate and Curious George for Caleb, and Ballerina for Jane. We read a wonderful story Grandma Rasmussen gave us about Penny's Christmas Jar, it was such a nice story. The next morning the kids got up around 7:30 and Kate said we have to eat breakfast first and then we open present right. I said sure, anything to make Christmas morning last longer I was all for it. Kate and Caleb loved what Santa brought them in there Stockings, Caleb loved his mini M&M's . It was such a fun year this year with the kids. Kate really knows all about Santa and being good and Caleb is starting to get the concept of opening presents. He likes to rip one piece at a time and staring at the paper, takes after his Poppi Mott. The Kids reactions where simply priceless, and something to remember for years to come. The were all so excited about everything they opened. Jane of course slept threw the whole thing, that is ok we are just glad she is here and is health and growing strong. Thank you everyone for all the wonderful gift to each of us, it really made a nice Christmas for us. Jerry got book on tape from Kids and some Soccer Clothes. The Kids got me a shirt and Bath gels and Jerry got me a couple of beads for my Pandora bracelet. Its a charm bracelet I have. We ended up having a nice Chicken dinner and bubble drink, as Kate calls it, Sparkling Grape Juice. To end the day we headed off to the Drive in Movies with all the Kids to see tThe Princess and the Frog and Old Dogs, both really cute movies. We all in all had a wonderful Christmas together as a family, but not with out missing all of our family back in Utah. We sure missed everyone a whole lot, but it was also just nice to enjoy quiet Christmas at home.

One year ago

One year ago on December 3oth we went to the temple to be sealed for time and all Eternity as a family. Wow look how the year has flown by. We moved into a bigger place and add a new addition to our family, little Jane. This last years has been filled with many struggles and frustrations along with great blessings and joys. The new year is always a time for great looking back and looking forward to what is to come. Also what I could do better. I just wanted to take a moment to remember this day we had as a family, and tell everyone how grateful I am for this gospel and the blessings the lord has blessed me with this year. To be able to go threw the temple was an amazing experience. I am so grateful for Heavenly Father giving us a place of such peace on earth today. I truly wish I lived closer to the temple so that I could go more often. There are many days that come and go but never seem to make a huge impact on our lives. There are some days that do more than we realize and this is one of those days for me I will never forget. It's up there with the day of my wedding, birth of my children. I am so excited to know that I can be with my Family Forever, what peace that brings to me. I am wish everyone a peaceful and happy new year, make it a great one!

Welcome to the World Jane Elizabeth Rasmussen!

Welcome to the world Jane! We are so glad to have our little Jane finally here with us. I am so sorry this has taken me so long to post, my recovery from my c-section was rough this time around. Jane was born at 7:23 am on December 1st at 8 lbs. 14 oz. She is doing great, she has darker hair and weighted more then my other two. The c-section went fast and smooth. I was a nervous wreck, but as soon as they pulled her out I was just fine after I heard her cry. I was able to go home a day early because I was recovering well. I had quite a bit of bruising this time, but other then that my doctor said everything looks great. Healing this time has been a little rough but I am feeling better each day. Jane is such a sweet baby. At Jane's first doctor's visit about a week later she gained weight, she weight 9 lbs even, she had a touch of jaundice but nothing to worry about they said. It was so great to see Caleb and Kate's reaction to Jane. I was worried about Caleb but he was so excited when he came in the hospital room and saw her. He lifted his arms up in the air and with was talking very excitedly. I wish I knew what he was saying, he was very serious about what he was saying and he was talking like everyone knew what he had said. He was so excited to meet her. It almost seems like he remembered her from Heaven, the way he reacted to her. I'll never know, but it's a nice thought. Kate loves to hold Jane all the time, she is so excited to be a big sister again. They are both very helpful. Kate likes to hold her and Caleb loves to throw the diapers away in the garbage, funny I know but he does. So far everything is going pretty well. We are so excited and over joyed to have Jane in our family. So welcome to the world Jane we love you tons all ready!

We are going to miss our Plane!

Kate and Caleb have really started playing really well together, especially when it comes to imaginary play. Today Kate packed her suit case and her carry on bag and her stroller to catch the plane that was down the hall. She said we have to wait the plane is broken, that's funny because that is what happen to Grandma's plane when she came to visit. She continues to play and calls me into Caleb's room, she says the girl co-pilot said we have to put our suitcases underneath even the stroller this time. _She proceeds to point to the dogs Kennel as the cargo part of the plane, she stuck all her luggage in the cage. Then she put Caleb on the plane with her which end up being Caleb's crib. Just to funny for words. Caleb had a great time playing air plane with Kate. It helps that they can play together now and entertaining themselves, it makes watching them a little easier while I am healing from my c-section.

To update you, Kate is loving the fact she gets to go to Preschool three times a week, she is doing really well. She love to create and draw pictures, she is really taking off with writing her letters. She can now write her first name, thank goodness it is only four letters, she is just now trying to attempt our last name. She is really taking ownership of her toys and cleaning up after herself and making her bed. She is still her talkative self. Always asking what seems like to many questions , which I don't mind. She loves to read books and retell ing you the story after you read it to her. Fancy Nancy is still her favorite books to read. She loves to dress up and pretend she is different animals and princesses. She loves to create with play dough. Kate also loves to sing Taylor Swift songs in the car to her brother and sister, she knows the words to the songs better than I do. That's about it for Kate right now.

Caleb is now 19 months old and weights about 23 pounds, still my little guy. He loves to play with his sisters. He is really signing a lot more words now, he knows more, cookie, cracker, please, all done, eat, drink. He says da da, Jane, Kate, Sadie, ball, and he is started to repeat what you are saying. All he teeth are coming in all at the same time, yeah for me. Caleb loves to wear hats and make car sounds when he plays with his cars. He still loves, I mean really loves to take baths. Caleb is still his silly funny self, he make me laugh everyday. He likes to make fun of Kate getting sent to the corner. Caleb walks over to the corner and lets out a pretend cry and turns around and smiles at you, it's to cute. I am so grateful for my children and that they are all healthy and strong.

A Surprise that was so Unexpected !

I meant to post this sooner but time got away from me. Last Tuesday some of my closest friends in my church/ward threw me a surprise baby shower. I had no idea. I was not expecting anything because I have one of each gender for kids and didn't think anything of it. My husband was in on it too. I should have know something was up when he didn't give me a hard time about watching the kids, he was almost to cooperative, no questions, just sure I'll do it. My friends actually threw me a diaper and wipes party, which is just perfect. I never planned on having two kids in diapers, it going to be pain for a while, but somethings just happen that way I guess. It was so nice, the food was so good and my friend Sandy made a beautiful cake. Thanks Sandy, you are so talented. The games were lots of fun as well. I of course didn't have a camera with me so, I took a picture of all great gifts. I also had a few friends give me some warmer clothes for the upcoming weather we will be having. I say up coming because I am still waiting for it to cool down enough to wear pants and a jacket. That's right I am still wearing sandals and Capri's. Gotta love the southern weather. Any ways back to what I was saying. I was just in sock that none of my friends leak out the secret. I had recently done something with them or talked to them and they all said nothing. It was so nice, it really lifted my spirits. You know how it is all you ladies that have ever been pregnant, the whole feeling so big and uncomfortable/ worries about how your going to do it all. It really has gotten me excited to meet this new little girl. I am so ready to not be pregnant any more. Thank you to everyone for the shower is was so nice and so unexpected. I can't seem to express how thankful I am. It's made me feel so good to know that even though I don't live close to family, that I have such good friends that are there when I need them to help me and my family. It's like a family away from home. Thanks so Much!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Treat or Treating take 2

We had a great time at our friends house going treat or treating. This was the second round of trick or treating, we did the church Trunk or Treat last week. They first had a picnic under the park pavilion. Jerry got recruited to cook the hot dogs and hamburgers. It was nice to have some hot apple cider there. After that the kids load up on the wagon/hayride. The kids would jump on and off in between each house as they collected candy. It was a lot a fun. Caleb didn't quite get treat or treating the first time around, but the second time he had a blast. He loved carrying his pumpkin bucket, he always thought he had to walk into the houses to get the candy. We decided not to torture him with face paint this time around, due to him not feeling so great the last few days. Kate love riding on the Hay ride and run up to the house and back getting her candy. It was nice to have Jerry to help me with Caleb it was getting hard for me to get up and down off the hay ride. It was pretty cold last night. Kate ended up wearing her Tinker Bell Jacket which was green so it totally matched and she still looked like Tinker. We had fun putting on make-up for her and sprinkling fairy dust on her hair, which in fact was just glitter. She had a great time. The kids have enough candy to last them quite a while. Caleb's favorite by far is still the dum-dum suckers. All in all it was a great Halloween season. I am looking forward to more upcoming holidays.

Trunk or Treat

This past Saturday our ward had there annual Trunk or Treat. I am so grateful to my husband for being such a good sport about sewing Caleb's Clown outfit. He asked me, why is it every time we go to the trunk or treat the afternoon before he is always sewing something. It is true most times he is sewing. I have learn to sew a little more but Jerry is so much better and faster I just ask him to help me. He did a really great job I think. The first couple of times we tried the costume on Caleb he freaked out. Jerry said don't you know kids are scared of clowns and you are trying to dress him up as one. It was kind of funny I have to admit. Kate decided she wanted to be Tinker Bell this year. Her costume was so easy, we just picked it out of her dress up box added some tights. The only thing I had to buy was some ballet slippers for her to wear, for some reason they sell all the princess shoes with the corresponding dress but they don't sell any Tinker Bell shoes. Kate looked so cute in her costume. Kate and Caleb had a great time collecting all the Candy at the church Trunk or Treat. Caleb wasn't sure what to do, he wanted to eat every dum dum sucker he got. He soon got the hang of it by watching his big sister. Kate loved going up to all the cars and saying Trick or Treat. They said you could go around to the cars as many times as you want. So Kate went around twice, Caleb just watched the second time around. He didn't need all that candy, or I should say I didn't need all that candy, you all know who really eats it when they are that age. Jerry stayed by are car and passed out the candy while I took the kids. We ended up running out of candy by the time Kate wanted to go around again so Jerry got to take her around. It was nice to be able to have both of us take the kids around. After that the youth put on a spook alley in the gym. Kate was scared the first time though and Caleb came out hugging daddy around the neck scared. Then Kate and Caleb went a second time and actually enjoyed it. I lost count after that how many time Kate went back in. I was sad they didn't do the normal kiddy games this year, Caleb would have enjoyed that a lot. It was still a great time and the Kids really enjoyed themselves.

Kate's marble Jar

Kate a couple of days ago received her reward for filling up her marble Jar. She has been working hard for about 4 months to get a new bike. The old bike was getting small so with the suggestions of her daddy she decided she wanted a new bike. The reason for the marble Jar was to help motivate Kate to make good choices and to help with some of the area she had been struggling with. The way she earned her marble varied, if she help clean her room or the kids room, helped brother, stayed in her bed. She also earn them by behaving in the store or other situation that required her to be good in. It took a while at first to earn and keep marbles because we also took marbles away for bad behaviors and not following the rules. This has been a really good thing for Kate because she is such a visual learner. Kate enjoyed picking out which marble she wanted to put in the jar each time. Some tasks earn more than one marble depending a what she was asked to do. I found these really neat marble at Wal-mart that were different colors and all had names, like wizard, bubble bee, turtle, cardinal, blue bird etc. She would always tell me which one she wanted by the name not the color. So after Kate filled half of a mason jar, we all headed down to wal mart for the big event. In the pictures above you see that the bike still has the training wheels oh it, all the bikes come with them, Kate was so excited that we haven't had a chance to take them off yet. She know how to ride without them, we just have to wait for a time she isn't riding it and take them off. It was so fun to see her excitement and her joy in her achievement. I am so proud of her working so hard and not giving up on reaching her goal. This marble jar was has been a very good thing for Kate, I had tried many other things to help her learn to obey the rules and to help her in areas she struggles in. This idea came though much pray and inspiration and I believe it truly is an answer to prayer. This concept though simple in nature was exactly what Kate need for her to succeed. It was hard for Kate to see all her marble take out after she got her bike, I think because she had to work so hard to get them. Soon after she started getting excited to earn more for the next prize which she still says she is think about. Kate is not sure what she wants just yet. That's ok she has time to think. We as her parents thought that since she has to work so hard and long to fill the jar that we would make the prizes or rewards something big and significant in size or worth. We are so proud of you Kate way to go, Keep up the good work.

Caleb 17 months old

Before his new Hair cut

After his hair cut

Caleb is now 17 months old. It's been a while since I update everyone on Caleb so here it goes. He is 22 pounds and growing fast. He is now signing all done, more, drink and eat. It's really taken off this week with his sign language. He can now say da da, Sadie, go, ball, uh oh, and Kate which sounds more like date. He is starting to try and copy what you are saying. Caleb loves balls and cars he plays with them all day everyday. He thinks everything that's round is a ball. He loves to point at the balloons in the check out at wal-mart and shout BALL he turns my face to look at them and says ball with lots of excitements. He gives high fives, waves to every car that goes by and gives Kisses. He is a sweet little boy. When he get excited about something, he still does his oooohhh oooohhh sound, it is so cute. He loves to take baths, yesterday I was talking to my sister on the phone and said I had to go and give the kids a bath. Well Caleb heard the word bath and ran to the door knocking and lifting up his shirt trying to take it off. We now keep the bath room doors shut since he love to place things down the toilet, like Kate's tea cup. Then once we got into the bathroom he started pulling on his pants to try and get them off. After I helped him with that he started pulling on his diaper, he could hardly wait to get in the bath. He loves to play with his big sister Kate, he follows her every where. It reminds me of me and how I would follow my big sister everywhere. He loves to chase the dog and ride on her back and throw a ball to her. He is offically a blanky boy. He has a blanket he carries everywhere. He will not go to sleep with out it. I thought he would be more attrached to his Binky but that is not the case. He always picks up the blanket in the morning and gives it to me to carry out to watch TV in the morning. Caleb loves to watch Curious George in the morning, he like to sit with you for about 30 min and snuggle, and then he ventures out to play. Curious George is the one thing that calmed him down one night when he woke up crying from either a bad dream or his teeth bothering him, we don't know. We love having Caleb in our family he has been a joy to watch grown and learn. So there is the most recent update on Caleb.

Shopping Trip Success

Today I had no choice but to take the kids grocery shopping with me today. I usually go when Jerry can watch the kids. I like doing that way so I can get away for a little bit, but for some reason we just ran out of everything all at once, so we had to go today. The farther along I get in my pregnancy the more tired and excused I feel, so the thought of taking the two kids shopping exhausted me before I even got in the car. Taking Kate shopping is alot of work, there is something about a store that makes her wired, and overly excited. While with Caleb it mellows him out, and he likes to look around at everything, they are polar opposite in that respect. So I planned ahead, I got the usual toy and snack for Caleb which always keeps him happy. To help Kate I took a tip off of a show I saw about letting Kate help with the grocery list. I drew pictures of what we needed along with the words and put a box by each item for her to check it off once we put it in the cart. I had an old clip board from my teaching years and put a pen on a piece of ribbon. I had about ten items on the list all of which would be spread out through the store so she would be busy the whole time. It actually really work and went really well she had a great time and it made for a very low stress visit to the store. I often times have to keep her from touching everything and not holding on to the cart and staying out of others way. It's more work to take Kate to the store then it is to actually get what you need, she is just so excited to shop it hard to keep her calm. Kate was able to stay on task and stay focused and out of trouble. I don't know why I didn't think of this myself. We even had a box to check for her to get a treat for being good and getting everything on her list. She was so excited to help and to remind me of things we needed, she said she had a lot of fun and wants to do it all over again. All in all it was a successful shopping trip, I actually enjoyed this trip to the store with my kids, it went really smoothly.

Family Update

I just wanted to update everyone on what everyone has been up to. We loved having Jerry's parents come visit us a few weekends ago. I'm just kicking myself that I didn't take any pictures while they were here, what is wrong with me. The kids loved playing and hanging out with grandma and grandpa. We love it when family comes to visit. We sure do miss all of our family. Well, Jerry is busy working 2nd shift, doing test flight. He enjoys playing basketball at church and Soccer and the YMCA on the weekends. I am 30 weeks pregnant now and really starting to realize how quickly this baby is coming. I am very excited to be done being pregnant, I'm at the can't sleep or get comfortable stage. I guess it is good training to get me ready for all the sleepless midnight feedings. We are struggling to find the right name for this little girl, which is making me anxious. I wish we could just find that one right name and have some idea of what she might be named. Usually one of us feels strongly about at least a few names, but we both just feel ok about certain names, nothing sticking out. I know it will come to us, I just wish it was sooner then later.

Kate loves to go to preschool, she loves singing and playing on the playground. It's been really good for her to have another outlet to do something. She also is having a blast playing soccer with her friend Bella at the YMCA. She is on the orange team. The coaches are great with the kids, they asked the kids what they should call themselves and one yelled out Giraffes. So Kate is on the Orange Giraffes team, which consist of 5 girls and 2 boys. It's fun to watch all the kids try to chase the ball and most of the time kick in the wrong goal. It just goes with their age group, you can't expect to much. They are just there to have fun and run around. It's been really great for Kate to get some of that extra energy out. I love soccer game days, because after soccer I give the kids a bath and they are so ready for bed, it makes for an early night. Kate does really well at kicking the ball, she really seems to enjoy herself.

Caleb is growing up fast. He just turned 16 months. He is the cutest boy. I love is personality. Everyday my husband and I look at each other and say he is just so funny. Just the facial expressions and the things he does. He is now starting to talk a little. He says ball, Da Da, and dog dog, and Sadie. That's right he hasn't started to say ma ma, which frustrates me, but who can compete with daddy and the dog. He loves shoes, he will ask me to put his shoes on every morning. He loves to put on Kate's dress up girly shoes, and daddy's soccer shoes, and mommies High heals. Caleb love his blanket, I thought it was his Binky that soothed him but I was wrong. Last week as church my friend took him while I did singing time, he had his Binky, but she asked me if I had his blanket with me, and I said yes. As soon as I gave it to her he calm down. He can't sleep without it, I've tried other blankets it doesn't work. I really hope this blanket hold up for a while. Caleb loves to kick the ball all around the house, and chase the dog. He is such a good eater. He eat twice as much as Kate does. He went to the doctor yesterday and we weighted 22 pounds and I am not sure about his heights . The doctor said he looks great. Well that is just a few of the update I want to write down so I wouldn't forget.