Jamison Jacob

He's here! Jamison Jacob arrived December 4 at 2:02 pm weighing in at 8 lbs 12 oz and 21 1/2 inches long. He was 6 days late.

We had quite a stressful week leading up to his birth. The wind storm of the century (OK maybe not century but it was a pretty big wind storm for our neck of the woods) blew through our neighborhood and made a mess. We lost part of our fence and retaining wall. We were blessed that that was the only thing we lost. Many people lost shingles and siding and had huge trees fall over onto things. It was a mess. Our power was out from Thursday morning at 8 am until Sunday evening. Brockston and I spent most of that time at my parents house because it's pretty much impossible to entertain a 2 year old in a cold, powerless house.

I am grateful that he was late in coming because I couldn't even imagine having to bring a newborn baby home to a cold, powerless house! I was scheduled to be induced on Monday morning but my doctor called and asked if I wanted to come in on Sunday. I jumped at the chance. I was actually starting to go into labor early Sunday morning but they still gave me the pitocin to get things moving. They started me at about 8:15 am and he was born at 2:02 pm after only 15 minutes of pushing. A huge difference of my 12 hour labor with Brockston and 1 hour of pushing. It definitely helped with my recovery this time around.

Jamison, aka "Sweet Baby J" or "Baby J.J." or "Little Buddy" as Brockston likes to refer to him - is such a mellow baby! I love it. It is exactly what I need after having such a high strung kid like Brockston. Jamison rarely cries except when he's hungry or when he's tired and usually it's just a short cry and once his needs are met he's content to just hang out. What has been the hardest is keeping big brother happy and making sure he doesn't tear the house apart! It's definitely been a challenge with 2 but Jamison has made it such an easier transition than I imagined. Let's just hope it lasts!

Pumpkin Patch

We decided to check out a local pumpkin patch this year. It was a first time experience for us but it was great. It was very low key but a good little outing. They had a small hay bale maze that Brockston enjoyed running around in. He also liked riding in the cart while we looked for a couple of pumpkins. Before we got there he told me I could take his picture with the pumpkins, which he let me, he just didn't want to look at the camera and when he did he wouldn't smile normally. Silly kid.

He's looking at me in this picture because Nate said, "What's on Mommy's ear?" He's looking at me trying to figure out what is on my ear. I love it!

Wedding - Wedding!!

This summer we were able to attend Nate's sister's wedding. I had a lot of fun helping out with some of the flowers. I did her bouquet for her bridals, the center piece flowers, and the flowers for the top of the cake. Oh and last minute made a couple of boutonnieres. The wedding was gorgeous (the reception was a little chilly for the beginning of June, but we survived) and we are so happy for Marce and Jon!

(submerged spider mum)

My handsome boys in their purple shirts!

Two weeks later we were able to attend Nate's brother's wedding! The wedding was equally as gorgeous and we are excited for Jake and Al as well!

The Morley siblings...

One handsome little dude!

Brockston enjoyed himself on the playground during the reception.

It is so fun to have the Morley clan growing. It's been almost 6 years for me as the only "in-law" so it's great to have some company when the Morley's start reminiscing and rambling about people from the past that I have no clue who or what they are talking about! :)

Oh - and a third Morley will be added to the family this year. Yep, that's right for those of you who don't know - we are expecting baby boy #2 on or around November 28th. We are super excited but I am scared out of my mind as to how I am going to handle two rambunctious boys!

Somethings Never Change

We had to break down and buy a new TV. Well truthfully, our TV was broken by a certain toddler who will remain nameless. I, for one, am convinced it was a conspiracy between father and son.

You see, the power button broke off and we thought that would be great because then B couldn't turn the TV off and on. But he quickly figured out that he could stick his little finger in the hole and still turn it off and on. Then one day he decided that he would use a drum stick from Rock Band to turn the TV off and that's when he broke some sort of sensor which then disabled the use of any remote control to control the TV. Thus the reason we finally broke down and bought a new TV. Unfortunately, a new TV would not fit in our existing entertainment center so we had to purchase a new one. It's always a can of worms... Apparently, new or old, the entertainment center is still one of B's favorite places to play.

Happy 4th of July!

Pony Tail

I've been wanting to donate my hair for several years now and have just never gotten the guts to chop it short and/or had the patience to wait for it to get long enough. But I found this program and it only required a minimum of 8 inches of hair instead of some that require 12 inches. Plus the donated hair goes to women who are battling cancer. So I went for it and chopped my hair. It's been a nice change. Luckily, I still have enough for a little pony tail so I can still get away with not doing my hair everyday!

Summer Time!

B-Rock loves the water. He loves playing in any form of water. He especially loves running through the sprinkler with Dad!

Of course it wears a kiddo out - so you have to take a little rest once you're done running through the sprinklers!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Life just doesn't seem to slow down these days. I have hopes that at some point in the future it will slow down but I have this feeling that it never will. It's good. Don't get me wrong. I just feel like we have been running non-stop the past few months and I'm not sure how much we have to show for it.

I do have these pictures to prove part of why I've been so busy. Every spare moment I could find the past couple of months during nap time or after the kiddo had gone to bed I spent sewing these two quilts for Nate's siblings that are getting married this summer.

I kind of made the patterns up. I knew that I didn't have tons of time to piece an intricate quilt so I did big pieces of fabric. The first one is a log cabin pattern that I did 4 big blocks. The other one is more random - although I did have somewhat of a method to my madness. These are my first large quilts - in the past I have only done baby quilts. It definitely took more time but I really like how they both turned out. My amazing mother helped me quilt them on her amazing quilting machine. And by my mom helped me quilt them, I mean I stood there and watched as she told the machine (hooked to a computer) what to do. I don't know how people take the time to hand quilt. I think it's great don't get me wrong - I just wouldn't have the patience. Modern technology is great!

Once There Was a Snowman

Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman.

Once there was a snowman tall, tall, Tall!

In the sun he melted, melted, melted. In the sun he melted small, small, small.

Can you have both?

So in Relief Society several weeks ago we had a lesson on work. Ironically, the discussion turned to you don't have to have a clean house because you need to be a good mother and not neglect your children. Which I agree is a valid point; however, that is where the discussion stayed and comment after comment was about how it was OK if your house is a mess as long as you are taking care of your family. So how did I feel coming out of the lesson? That I must be a bad mom because my house is clean!

I'm not saying that my house is 100% dust free all of the time and that things are always put away. I promise it's not. But I like my house clean. I can't go to bed at night if there are things laying out in the living room. I take 5 minutes and pick them up. I have a rotation every week that I try to do so that I'm not spending one full day cleaning. For example, I do laundry on Monday and clean the bathrooms on Friday rather than try to do it all in one day. It's not a perfect system but it seems to be working out for us so far.

One other thing that I am trying to do is to DEEP clean my house room by room, month by month. (It's one of my New Year's resolutions.) In January, I took the kitchen and went through every cupboard, drawer and closet and wiped everything down and threw out things I don't need. I cleaned all of the windows and blinds and washed walls and floors. And I have done it to two other rooms. (Well, I'm in the midst of the third room.) It has been so nice to take the whole month to do it so I don't get overwhelmed with how much there is to do. So far I have stayed on track and plan to the rest of the year. Hopefully by the end of the year every square inch of my house will have been deep cleaned and dejunked. I kind of got the idea from the Fly Lady but changed things so it will work for me and my house. But I really like the idea of focusing on one room (in addition to my other regularly scheduled chores) at a time and going through stuff. Just an idea maybe someone out there will appreciate.

Brockston loves to "help" me clean. Isn't that what work should be about? Teaching your kids to work with you. He helps me unload the dishwasher, scrub the toilets, "mop" the floor, etc. He's my helper. But I guess I'm a bad mom because I'm not devoting 100% of my attention to teaching him a second language and having him reading at the age of 2. (Although he does know the majority of his letters and his vocabulary is amazing. I have full on conversations with the kid.)

I'm not sure why the lesson bothered me but it really did. It seemed to me like a lot of justification for dirty houses. If I remember correctly: Cleanliness is next to godliness, right? Or am I wrong? Can you have both a clean house and well attended to children? Maybe it's different for me because I only have one kid right now, but I hope that it doesn't get that much worse.

Brockston Turns 2!!

Brockston turned two years old this January! I cannot believe it! My baby is not a baby any more. We had a pretty low key day. Nate had to work so B and I just hung out. That night the three of us went to Chuck E Cheese to ride the rides and play some games. We made sure to eat dinner before we went. We had a good time - especially B.

I felt bad that he didn't have candles to blow out on his actual birthday so we stopped at the grocery store and grabbed some cupcakes so he could officially blow out candles ON his birthday. He got one of the two candles out on his own.

Here he is cruising in his new car that he got for his birthday. He loves to play in it and it is so fun to watch his little imagination go.

On Sunday we had a family dinner with the Morley's to celebrate. Aunt Maegan made this awesome McQueen cake for their shared birthday. Cute apron she has on, right? :0)

Here they are both blowing out the candles. This time Brockston blew out 2 of the 5 candles that were on his side. I guess he knew how many he needed to get to make his wish come true.

As if two "parties" weren't enough - we went ahead and had three! This time with the Green's and another joint party for Brockston and his cousin Tori. I made these Lego cakes for them because they both love building towers together at Grandma's house.

Once again blowing out candles - you'd think this time around he would be a pro; however, things didn't work out so well and B had to have help to get his two candles out. He sure did try hard to do it though. Maybe by next year he'll be a pro.

Happy Birthday to my sweet little man! Life just wouldn't be the same without you!

I love my Hubby

Hiding

So apparently my child loves dark enclosed spaces that are difficult to get in and out of. He loves pulling stuff out of my cupboards and climbing in. The first time he did this I was convinced there was no way he could get himself out, but he has no problems. Silly kid!

Aebleskivers

This year we are on the 1-4 church schedule. It has not been easy on ANY of us. The worst part is that it is right in the middle of nap time. I'm sure we'll adjust eventually...

We are trying to make the most of things by having a nice Sunday breakfast together - seeing as how we have plenty of time in the morning now. This Sunday we started off with a Green Family favorite - Aebleskivers. They are Danish pancakes in the shape of a ball. We had them quite often growing up. I remember having them especially on Sundays when our church was later. Also, my mom would sometimes make them in the mornings if we had friends sleepover. Now we usually have them on Christmas morning.

My mom gave me a pan when I got married but I was a little bit too scared to make them. Sometimes things are just better when Mom makes them. :) But they seem to turn out alright when I've made them - at least my boys seem to think so. So I thought I would share the recipe...

Aebleskivers

4 eggs separated

1 Tbs sugar (Mom puts more)

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup melted butter

2 cups milk (scant)

Beat egg yolks until light. Add sugar and beat until thickened. Sift together dry ingredients. Add alternating with butter and milk. Beat egg whits until stiff and fold into batter. Cook in Aebleskiver pan.

Here's how the pan looks/works. You put a little bit of butter into each cup. Then pour the batter in. The batter bubbles (like pancakes) and then you use a fork (you can also use a knitting needle) to flip them over. It takes a little bit of practice to get them to flip successfully without making too much of a mess. I'm still working on that.

When they're finished you can dip them in whipped cream, jam, syrup, honey, powdered sugar... whatever you prefer. My favorite is whipped cream, raspberry jam and a little bit of powdered sugar.


They are a finger food and tend to get a little bit messy but Brockston doesn't mind. He packed them away!



My pan is a cast iron Lodge Pro-Logic. I did find some at Macey's (the grocery store) this summer in their seasonal section and it was a Sante Cabin brand. Both can be found on Amazon - I believe.

Stuck!

Brockston was playing in the other room one morning and all of a sudden we heard some crying. This is where we found him. We're not sure exactly how it happened but he was climbing around in the bathroom and found himself stuck in the garbage can. Poor kid had to wait while I ran and got the camera.