Being Spoiled at the Zoo

Jane and Jack got to go the zoo this year with their Aunt Julie and Uncle Terrell. They love their Aunt and Uncle and it's easy to see why. Just one example being that they stayed ALL DAY with them at the zoo. Here are some pics of their adventures.

The Last of the Pregnancy Posts (I think)

Let's just get the picture out of the way.



Well, I’m 37 weeks and 5 days pregnant. I don’t feel that pregnant though. No aches and pains. No loss of sleep. No heartburn. I’m not bragging because I certainly have nothing to do with it--I’m just really grateful. I know that pregnancies can be really difficult for a lot of women and I really admire those of you who put up with that! Maybe that’s why I perceive the newborn stage with such negativity. I never reach that point in pregnancy where I would take ANYTHING over continuing being pregnant. As I’ve always said (since Jane) if given the choice I would gladly choose to be pregnant for 18 months and give birth to a 9 month old than the current status quo where babies come out completely helpless and needing to eat from you every 2 hours. I mean, look at the elephants--pregnant for 2 years but their babies can walk within an hour. Then again, I’ve already gained 30 pounds and would like to see that come to an end real soon.

But don’t worry I’m not THAT negative about newborns. Especially my own. I do love them. And I’m excited to meet this little feller. Like really excited. Birth is fun. Ha, ha, so I say now that I had a dream birth with Jack. That wasn’t my opinion post-Jane. My game plan is to go to the hospital erring on the early side of things. Get my epidural and chill out with Matt while eating yummy ice chips. Then I can hopefully push out my non-posterior (also known as anterior) baby. Both Jane and Jack were posterior, but I hear the pushing phase can go much more smoothly when their facing the right way. We’ll see how it turns out. So long as baby is healthy I will be so grateful. It’s hard not to worry about everything that could go wrong. It just feels like we’re pressing our luck wanting three healthy children.

About a week ago I started to feel overwhelmed with everything that needed to get done before the baby came. So I made a list and got to work. I’ve been working like crazy. I’ve done weird stuff like iron all of Jack’s church shirts, post on the blog, go to the aquarium, and get a haircut. And lots of the normal stuff like washing and cleaning and washing and cleaning and packing my hospital bag. Man, babies use a lot of stuff! The good news is that our shed all of a sudden has a lot more room in it. The bad news is that our house is even more packed than before.

One thing I did this go-round in baby preparation mode that I hadn’t done before was make lots of freezer meals. I’ve never cooked so much and done so many dishes. It was more than making the entire Thanksgiving meal by myself this year. So, bear with me as I share what I have to look forward to:
-3 batches of pizza dough
-2 batches of sweet and sour meatballs
-2 chicken pot pies
-Italian sausage soup
-2 pans of Cheesy Chicken Penne
-2 meatballs in marinara
-2 batches of chili
-chicken enchiladas
-coconut curry sauce
-chicken soup
-beef roast for au jus sandwiches
-taco meat
-meat, veggie and bean quesadilla filling
-and 2 bags of mini pumpkin muffins

Our house is so packed I told my mom she didn’t need to come to help with the baby. I am starting to second guess my decision, so I think that spurred all the cooking.

I can only assume I won’t be going into labor this week either. We still have lots to do. I want to clean the windows, clean the car, install the car seat, clean out our bedroom, and make space for the baby’s dresser and bassinet. And I’d like to get some Christmas blogs up, go to the dinosaur museum and even go swimming with the kids.

I also need to try to remember my idea that after the baby I was going to try to remove all expectations I place on myself for about 6 months. That means I shouldn’t expect myself to get any cleaning or cooking done, or expect myself to ever shower. My only job will be to keep three kids happy and healthy, right? I’m hoping that new attitude will help with the baby blues a little. I’m sure I’ll keep you posted.

Well, I know you’re dying to hear more about all my baby preparations, but really, I must leave some things to the imagination. Ha. Wish us luck!

Siblings

The kids are still friends, but they aren't quite as naughty together as they used to be. It warms my heart. I just love my sweet, sweet babies.

Jane quotes

Here's what Jane's had to say the past five months.

Jane likes to make things or arrange things in a certain way, then she doesn’t want anyone to ever touch them or move them. Even if it’s in a pile in the middle of the floor. So, after building a Lego structure Jane said, “Mom, I want this to stay like this forever. Don't ever take it apart until I'm a Mom, okay?”

In December we went to Thanksgiving Point to see the reindeer. We went into a store there where there was a man singing Christmas music and they were giving away hot chocolate and cookies. Jane said, “Mom, a human in singing.”

One day at the dinner table Jane banged on the table and said in a booming voice, “Announcement! I declare....that I wish my mom will always be in this family.”

Jane is convinced she sleeps with her eyes open. I guess we found that out one time when we told her to just close her eyes and go to sleep. She said she never closes her eyes because that makes her have bad dreams. We tried to explain to her that she for sure sleeps with her eyes close. Eventually she stopped her side of the argument but a months later she said something about it again, caught herself and said, “Op, never mind. You don’t think I sleep with my eyes open, but I really do.”

I took Jane and Jack to McDonald’s play place after a disappointing trip to Monkey Island to find that it had gone out of business. When a new girl arrived on the scene Jane approached her and asked, “Would you like to play with me?" The girl excitedly looked at her mom and said, "Mom! I made a new friend!" They played forever. The friend could reach the monkey bars because she was taller than Jane. But Jane kept trying over and over again. At one point I heard Jane say, “You need to cheer for me.” So the girl said, "Go, Jane, Go!" She fell several times. Eventually she got both hands on it. They were thrilled. Both girls went to tell their moms about the victory. When leaving the girl came up to me and said, "Can Jane come play at my house sometime? My phone number is......then she rattled off her phone number.

I asked Jane what we should get her preschool teachers for Christmas. She got very excited and said, "Oooh, a bookcase? Or a wedding dress? Or how about new boots?" Then she went on to think of elaborate gifts she'd like to get every person she knows. She was really bummed when I had to explain our Christmas list would be much smaller than that.

Jane has picked up on a quite funny, although slightly frustrating way to get Jack to do what she wants. If he starts to bother something she’s working on she’ll say something like, “Do you want a cookie, bud? Ok, go ask mom for a cookie.” She knows we don’t have any cookies so then I’m left with a disappointed Jack. I think I’m finally starting to curb the behavior. But one time we were at the library and I was checking out books. I asked Jane to get Jack from the play area so we’d be ready to leave. Minutes later Jack came up to me and said, “I want Dinosaur Museum.” I asked, “Jane, why is Jack talking about the dinosaur museum?” She said, “Well, I needed him to come with me so I asked him if he wanted to go to the dinosaur museum.”

One time Matt asked Jane to say the prayer. She said, “Dear Heavenly Father...NO.”

After eating dinner Jane said, “I am so full I am un-starving.”

One time after Jack had asked Jane repeatedly if something was a truck she said, "Yes, just be confident about it."

One evening Matt and I played a board game together. Jane liked watching us and felt like she could sense that Matt was winning the whole game. So, when the score was added up and I was the actual winner she insisted it was Matt. She wrote on a piece of paper, “Dad win.” She felt like that made it legit. Then asked, “How do you spell Mommy lose?”

While in the bathtub she made one of her toys walk on the water. She said, “You know what he’s doing? He’s miracling.”

For Family Night we sang the “Whenever I hear the song of a bird....” song. Jane said, “Sometimes that song makes me sad. But it didn’t that time. I tried to be sad but it didn’t work.”

Jane saw a friend from church riding his bike. It didn’t have training wheels. She said, “He’s five years old and he has a two-wheeled bike? That’s just ridiculous.”

One morning Jane said to Matt, “I love you.” Matt said, “I love you too.” Then Jane said, “Your breath smells stinking gross. You need to brush your teeth.”

Jane was playing with my China chopstick collection. She had a certain idea in mind for how to play with them. She wanted Matt to play and he didn’t quite catch her vision. She said, “Dad you’re ruining my life!”

One day Matt was going over long vowel sounds with Jane. Jane was getting the majority right. But when I came in and said, “Oh, I know a hard one,” and I wrote down PINE, Jane said, “P-I-N-E, that’s an easy one. Popcorn.”

Jane was running around laughing at Sharon’s house when a new friend was pretending to be a zombie and chasing her. But then Jane said, “This game is starting to scare me a little bit.” Later we saw her hiding under the table.

Jane has picked up a horrible habit of calling us names. She knows she’ll get really busted if she uses real words so she usually makes them up. Like, “Dudie.” Or once she told Matt he’s a Berk. Then she asked, “You know what that means? Jerk.” One night she said to me, “I don’t want to eat anything.” I said, “Fine, then go brush your teeth.” She said, “But I want to eat something you little stinker.”

For a week or so a common conversation around the house was whether or not dinosaurs were bigger than the blue whale. Jane was certain that they were. She said, “I’ve seen their bones!” It made her really, really mad that we kept saying the blue whale was bigger than the biggest dinosaur. She would challenge us by saying, “How do you know blue whales are bigger than dinosaurs?” One night at dinner it all came to an emotional end. Jane blew up and yelled, “I HATE blue whales! I HATE blue whales! I want to try to kill them!” When Matt and I couldn’t contain our smirks she screamed, “Don’t even laugh!” Later we showed her some comparison charts and she is now on good terms with both blue whales and dinosaurs.

And on a more touching note, it has been really neat to see Jane develop her own relationship with Jesus lately. One night she said to me, “Mom, when I see a star in the sky I’m going to make a wish that Jesus will always be alive in heaven.”

One morning Jane told Matt, “I was talking to Jesus when I was laying in bed because I needed to say something important to him.” Matt asked, “What was the important thing you needed to say to Jesus?” She said, “about loving people.” Matt asked, “What did you say about loving people?” She said, “I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t think you’ll understand.”

About once a month Jane will have a very emotional breakdown about growing up. The most recent meltdown was specifically regarding the fear of not living next to us (mostly Matt) when she grows up. No matter how much we tried to explain that we could get houses right next to each other, or could drive or fly to see each other all the time, she very logically would come back with the evidence that we don’t live by our own parents or see them very often. So she kept crying and crying because she was worried that once she grew up she wouldn’t WANT to live by us. Eventually I told her that maybe she could feel better if she said a special prayer and asked Heavenly Father to help her. It was bedtime so we all went into her room and I told her I could help her say her prayer if she wanted to. She said she needed all of us to leave so that she could pray in private. It killed me not to hear her sweet prayer. She came out a couple minutes later feeling much better. Then she said to me, “Wait, I need to say another one because I forgot to mention you.” Thanks, Jane.

And here's how Jane wanted to pose the last five months.

Jack's first real quote post

Oh, I could just cry that these last 5 months of Jack’s life were not better documented. Jack is just so lovable and has been at the cutest stage. He goes through life with a smile and slight head rock just as happy as can be. I really wish we would’ve written down every adorable thing about his personality. Oh, blog regrets.

As it stands, I have a hodge podge collection of things about Jack. And with five months to cover his talking ability really varies. So some quotes from the beginning I think we wrote down because it was the first time he said something, etc.

When I am out and about with Jack at the store or someplace public, he’s his usual happy self. So strangers will approach him and say something to him. He always gets really excited and instead of answering their question, will look at me and exclaim, "They talking to me!"

The past several months Jack has been into talking in “not” sentences. For example, when he’s happy he’ll say, “I not sad.” When he’s hiccuping he’ll say, “I not barfing.” Or when we’re out in public he’ll point to random women and say, “She not my mom.” And starting in the morning he will point out multiple times a day, “It not bedtime.” One time after playing with his friend Tommy Matt said, “Tommy’s nice, huh?” Jack replied, “He not mean.” When Matt was changing Jack’s non-poopy diaper, Jack said, “Dad, no poo on diaper.” Matt said, “Nope, no poo.” Jack said, “No poo on butt. No poo on wall.”

One morning Jack had a bit of a cold and cough. When he woke up his voice was so scratchy he could hardly get any words out. He was getting frustrated and croaked out, “can't....talk.....good”.

When Jack gets nervous he shakes and says, “I gared! One time when some dogs were barking he kept declaring, "dog gare me!"

Just recently Jack seems to have decided that he just doesn’t like to be alone. When he’s playing somewhere he’ll come get one of us and ask if we’ll be in the room with him. When breakfast is ready he makes sure that Jane comes to the table at the same time as him. He also doesn’t like it when we don’t respond to something he says. Jane especially gets into trouble for that. He’ll say, for the hundredth time, “Jane watch this.” If Jane doesn’t respond to what she sees he’ll scream to me, “Jane not watching!” or, “Jane not talking to me!” Or if he’s asked the same question for the tenth time and I’ve stopped responding he’ll yell, “Talk!”

He likes to know the exact name of everything. So if he’s pointing to a digger and asking “what’s that?”, he doesn’t want to hear “digger.” He wants to know all the parts. So now he’s picked up on asking “What’s that part?” about everything.

Jack went through a big phase of being the bye-bye police. As soon as he’d start to see any indication that one of us was going to leave, he would say, “Don’t go bye-bye!” So for Matt that would include putting his shoes on. For me he would say it if I ever wore anything besides sweats.

I’m not sure how or why it started but Jack loved his own joke he created. He started answering the question, “Who’s in mommy’s tummy?” or “What’s the baby’s name?” with “Day care.” And each time he’d say it like he thought what he was about to say was hilarious.

One morning Matt tried to find out what Jack would like to eat. They’re conversation went like this: “Jack, do you want toast?” “No.” “Do you want applesauce?” “No.” “Grapes?” “No.” “Cereal?” “No.” “How about a piece of poo? Do you want a piece of poo?” “Yeah.” Matt dropped the conversation and left the room. Jack came in sadly minutes later and said with a whine, ““piece of poo, piece of poo.” Matt asked, “Oh, you really want a piece of poo?” “Yeah”.

It took awhile to un-do the “time-out” that Matt gave Jack at church one time. It consisted of letting him run around on the stage. For several weeks Jack kept begging for time-outs.

When Jack was playing the nano-panda game on Matt’s ipad he looked at the little panda and said, “I want hug. He so cute.” Another time he had a little toy snowman thing and said, “Cute baby snowman. I want to hug him so tight.”

Matt was in another room in the house and Jane was playing next door. He heard Jack say, “Hi.” Then he heard a very low, deep and growly, “Hi.” Matt says it sounded like a possessed demon, and he thought it couldn’t possibly have been Jack. He thought maybe Jane and the neighbors had come over. So when he looked into the room he was surprised to see only Jack. Matt asked, “Hey buddy, what are you doing?” Jack held up a car and said, “Dad, He mean. He a mean car.” Then Jack took that mean car and said to his suburban car in the same possessed demon voice, “Hi Candis car.”

When Jack got a little Lightning McQueen car he said, “Lightning McQueen say Ka-chow.”

After drinking soda he was excited and said “My bubbles are in my mouth.”

After being sick and teething a couple times in a row Jack got very used to the idea that we would rush into the bedroom at his every cry. It got to where he would stand up and cry as soon as we’d put him to bed and continue for several hours with us constantly going in there. We eventually decided we would have to tell him we’re not coming in anymore and let him cry. The first night was bad. But then it was fixed. After that episode, when putting him to bed, he would smile and tell us, “Say ‘no crying’, say ‘mommy and daddy not coming in.’”. He seemed to think it was funny.

Jack is not interested in using the toilet. Well, actually, he’ll tell us about once a week at least that he wants to go pee on the toilet, so we set him on it and he goes. But if I ever try to encourage him it just ticks him off. So I don’t push the issue. Anyway, he used to tell us when he was poopy. But lately he’s been annoyed with the fact that he has to stop playing in order to get his diaper changed. One time when Jane and Jack were playing in their room I heard Jack say, “Jane, don’t tell mom that I’m poopy.”

Jack has learned his last name. And his first name for that matter. So, if you ask him what his name is he’ll say Jack. If you ask what his first name is he says John. If you ask what his last name is he says Besbesen. Then, he’ll usually start listing all the other Besbesen’s. I a Besbesen, Mommy a Besbesen, Daddy a Besbesen, Jane a Besbesen. And if someone else is around he’ll ask, “You Besbesen?”

I had to get the new little baby his own vibrating baby chair. The one we used for Jack was an infant chair that could convert to a “toddler rocker” by clicking the back up by literally a quarter of an inch. Well, Jack loves that toddler rocker and uses it multiple times a day. I felt like a new chair was worth what I think would have been some jealous times ahead. When he saw the box for the chair Jack was very interested. I told him it was Hank’s and he really started to get into that idea. When I put the chair together and Jack saw it the next morning he ran to me and asked if Hank was here. He was so excited it seemed like it finally clicked that we’ll be getting our very own baby soon. Since then he asks many times a day, “Is Hank still in your tummy?” “Is Hank here yet?” Today he asked, “What’s he doing in there? Is he gared?”

And lots of pics to cover the last five months.

Jack gets a haircut

One day, I think Novemberish, Matt and I were sitting in church and we realized that both of our kids were having horrible hair days. So we decided that they could both use a trim. When we got home I gave Jane her usual trim- cutting of the bangs and some layering of the top stringy layers. Very little, if any cutting of the actual length. Which is insane because her hair has looked the same and been the same length for years. I am beginning to wonder if it will ever grow.

But that’s not the point. The point is that Jack got his hair cut. Matt and I loved Jack’s long, care-free hairstyle. It seemed to suit him, and it was just how we liked our Jack. So, when Matt’s hair trimming kept going awry we were freaking out just a bit. It got so bad that we decided it was time to bring out the trimmers and give him an all over buzz. We were really, really sad at first, but then we discovered that he could just as easily rock the short hair.

The saddest part of it all was that Jack was a big hair twirler. Ever since he was tiny he’s twirled his hair when he was tired or sad, etc. In fact, his Spanish speaking nursery leader once started twirling his hair, and said to us, “siempre, simepre.”

One time, pre-haircut Jack was crying in his crib before falling asleep for his nap. When I went into his room he was standing up doing his usual hair twirling. He said, "I stuck." I checked his feet and all around him and all looked fine. I said, “You're not stuck”. Again he told me he was stuck. That’s when I noticed he couldn't bring his arm down from his hair. His finger was twisted up in his hair so badly he couldn’t get it out.

So after his haircut there were a couple times when he cried and reached up to his hair and said sadly, “No haircut.”

BEFORE:


AFTER:

Jane loses two teeth

Well, way back in the day, before Jane had even turned five, she lost her first tooth. I think it was September 2011, for the record. It was loose when I left to visit my BFF in North Carolina. I didn’t think she’d lose it while I was gone, but she did. And I was sad to miss it. The details, according to Matt, are that he was pushing them in the stroller in “nature” while the kids were eating animal crackers. Jane said her tooth felt weird and when Matt looked at it the tooth was falling all the way forward. It was freaking her out so she asked Matt to take it out. She was super nervous. It took a couple tries but Matt got it out. At first Jane was happier but then she didn’t like how it felt when it was out either. They called me on the phone and she started to get more excited about it. She said she was excited to look like a monster when she smiled. She did not like to look at the tooth though, and wanted Matt to throw it away and not save it. So when Matt told her that she could get money if she put it under her pillow she decided it would be best for Matt to sleep with it under his pillow. So he did. And in the morning she got a dollar coin under his pillow. She was very excited about her “gold.”

I can’t remember when she lost her other tooth. Some time in October or November 2011. This time I had to pull it out when it got to the point that she couldn’t stand it anymore. It took a lot of guts on my part. But we got through it. And she got another coin under one of our pillows.

Catching up-Jane goes to Preschool

Well, one of the things on my very long to-do list before the baby comes is to catch up on this blog. So we're going all the way back to August. Jane started her second year of preschool. And I have only one (actually more but Matt only sent me one) picture to prove it. She loves preschool of course. She’s already sad her friends there won’t be going to kindergarten with her.