Jared brought home a gingerbread house kit to decorate and take back to work to put on display. We enjoyed putting it together! Jared did most of it but Joey and I put on a few of the decorations!

Trying to keep Joey from eating the candies!

Looks good enough to eat!

To much work for this litte elf!

In case you needed proof...

I don't have much to say about the next few photos other then it just is proof in pictures of what a goofball my little boy is. He always keeps me on my toes and laughing!

And some wonder why I call my children monkeys.

Playing Together?

Joey is struggling with his sister enjoying his old toys. He kept ripping off Jeanie's ball and taking off with it. We had an extra from the Reece's set that we must have brought with us in the move. I kind of felt like I had some cats rather then kids!

SNOW?!

We were heading out to run some errands after it had snowed. We had forgotten that Joey probably had forgotten all about Snow. When we opened the door and he went outside he was SO amazed by the Snow!

Got Milk?

Most of you know that Jeanie is a big time 'spitter-upper' always seeming to lose most of everything she just drank down. This last weekend I finally realized that I needed to give up dairy or at least cut down dramatically. I should have realized that it was the milk I was taking in sooner. Now, a few years ago giving up milk would not have been a big deal, but since I have married into the Reece family I have grown to have a deep love and appreciation for it. They taught me the wonderful world and wonder of dunking and glasses of milk to compliment many tasty treats. Today as I sat across the table and watched Joey, gladly dipping and sloshing his milk as he ate his cereal straw and Jared in the kitchen making a yummy morning shake I looked down at my bowel of cereal drenched in my soy 'milk'. It was almost depressing. Almost wish I had never been intruduced to the wonderful world of milk since now I have to leave it for awhile! Sigh. Oh well- it is worth it. Jeanie still spits up a lot more then I would care for but it is not nearly as much except for the few times that I 'fell of the wagon' and had more cheese or milk that I ought. Anyhow... kind of a weird post I know!

CARS!!!!!!

Joey loves CARS! He loves to play with his cars all over the place! His favorite movie and only movie he will really watch anyway is, CARS! It sometimes tends to be an almost daily viewing. The funniest thing about it is I think he is starting to act out some of the scenes that he sees on the show. The other day Joey was 'helping' me with dishes at the sink and he decided he needed to wash his cars also. He would climb down and grab a car give it a good washing using the sprayer and everything and then set the dripping car down onto the chair he was standing on and go over to his stash and wash another one.. one by one. I then just followed him around with the camera and snapped pictures of him as he played with his cars and trucks.

As we were in the middle of doing the dishes please excuse the dirty sink with the lovely corn flakes stuck to the side of the facet. I hadn't scrubbed the sink yet!!

A couple of the scenes I think he is acting out. Washing the cars- there is a couple scenes where the big fire truck sprays down Lightening McQueen.. I think that he is acting that out, or that he has just observed daddy wash the car.

There is a scene were Lightening bounces off the tires of an over turned car, he does that a lot now... over turns one of vehicles and drives a car on the over turned ones wheels.

Joey likes to set the CAT under the rug to produce a hill to drve the cars on. Another scene I think he is doing here is the scene at the end where Lightening pushes the vetern race car to the finish line!

Joey loves this little nook between the couches. Guess he has decided that it is his little fort! Goof ball. Please excuse the youngsters lack of pants... Most of his pants are to big for him so he ends of losing his britches pretty often!

My Wrap!

Today I thought I would write a post about my wrap. This wrap has incited many comments about its looks and practicality. My sister asked me if I felt like a jedi knight (I guess because of all the criss-crossing of fabric or something) and others think it looks like something that someone from a 3rd world country would wear, but I love this thing! I absolutly hate carrying around a car seat, it is to big for my short stature and I end up hitting it agaisnt my legs and jostling the poor baby all over the place. Although at times it is not the most flattering to me shape wise, I think in these pics it makes me look pregnant again, but It is so comfortable to wear and easy too. We had a baby carrier before that we used occasionally with Joey but it had so many different straps and and buckles that is was to complicated. It is surprising when I go out how many people ask me about my wrap. Amazed that it is just 16 feet of cloth! We added the cute front panel to dress it up a bit. There is a bunch of different ways to wrap it and set baby in it according to thier age and size. This wrap has been my life saver at parks and in grocery stores. Jeanie is happy and content being next to mommy and having a nice little perch to look around and it leaves my arms free to shop and/or fool around with Joey! These aren't the most flattering pics of me nor does it give the wrap its justice... but I had a hard time setting the timer and placing myself correctly for the camera!

Jeanie's Meter!

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Roots - Geneology

Joey's Look a like meter!

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family reunion - Genealogy search

Jareds Look A likes!

Emily's Look a likes!

Husband Tag!

I have been tagged for this by several friends in the past several months so I decided to finally do it!

How long have you been married?
2 years 10 months!

How long did you date?
Before getting engaged we dated for 4 months. We knew each other since High School where we both worked at Macey’s. We didn’t date at the time. Just were flirty work buddies. But when Jared got back from his mission I was still working there. He came through my express checkout lane several times before asking me out on a date.

How old is he?
He is 24, exactly 3 months older then me. (His birthday is April 25th and mine is July 25)

Who eats more?
I am sad to admit. But I believe I am the one that eats more, but in my defense—I have been pregnant for more than half of our marriage

Who said "I love you" first?
Jared said it first, by almost a month actually. Poor man having to hang on the line for that long.

Who is taller?
I barely go to his adam’s apple, and he is on the shorter end of average.

Who sings better?
I think that would be a long debate between us. Each claiming the other is. Jared likes to compliment me and tell me I have a great voice- if only I could learn more. I think I sing goofy but have a sweet husband. Jared was in choir in high school and I love hearing his wonderful voice as he sings hymns at church.

Who is smarter?

The debate goes the opposite on this one. I think we both think we are slightly smarter than the other. Jared has a very keen and decerning mind. While I do research and retain a lot of facts in my head.

Whose temper is worse?
I think we are a pretty darn even on this one. Luckily it works out that we rarely have our moments in sync.

Who does the laundry?
You know I don’t think that I can even recall the last time Jared touched a laundry basket. But that is because he is the one keeping Joey back and busy while I fold, as Joey thinks it is just hilarious to come and knock over my neatly stacked and organized piles of laundry.

Who does the dishes?
Mostly me, but Jared always rinses his plate

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
I do. It is the side with the cradle and easier access to the bedroom door to perform mommy duties. This arrangement however puts Jared next to the wall with only a foot or so of a walk way for him to get around.

Who pays the bills?
Jared pays the majority of the bills, basically all the ones that can be taken care of online. When it needs a check then it is me.

Who mows the lawn?
The contracted worker for the apartments. Joey loves seeing him pass our windows with the fun riding lawn mower.

Who cooks dinner?
I usually cook dinner, but occasionally Jared will think of something creative and make some stinkin’ yummy meals.

Who drives when you are together?
Always Jared. I never have enjoyed driving, and I am so out of practice I think it makes Jared nervous.

Who is more stubborn?
A very enthusiastic vote for me. Think I should be the one with red hair.

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong?

I think that is me usually but he definitely takes his share.

Whose parents do you see the most?
That is just about even! They only live about 4 miles apart.

Who proposed?
He did, at the park where we had both our first date that summer and also where we went on our date we went on in highschool.

Who has more friends?
That is a toughy. He had a lot of friends from high school and mission but being the typical man he is he doesn’t keep in touch with them like I did so I think it is me. But according to his facebook account he has 182 and I only have 90.

Who has more siblings?
Me. He has 5 and I have 8.

Who wears the pants in the family?
Joey

Old Roomies!

Last weekend I was able to get together with a few of my old roommates from Snow. It got me all nastalgic and I rummaged through my box of college stuff. Decided I would post a few of the pics. All the Girls! Taking a few fun pics!
The 'other roommate' Twanda!

Now this is one of our crazy things we would do almost nightly! We would pour out some powdered coffee creamer above someone holding a match (Brilliant, I know!) and then have a nice long flame!

It was fun remembering all of the crazy things that we did together.

The parent in me now is just amazed at some of the things we would do, but it was a blast and I wouldn't change a thing about those two years!

Words!!!!

My Goodness! As many of you know Joey has been putting off talking as long as he could. For just about every other milestone he was way ahead, but for some reason didn't feel a need to talk! Well this week that started to change. For months he would only say 'Mama' and 'Dada' mixed in with a lot of "Tim Allen" style grunts and motions. Several weeks ago mastered the word, "Light" pronounced with an almost German accent. Taught to him by Gma and Gpa Stoker pointing out all the lights in thier yard. This past week and half he started to all of a sudden explode with words. We now have "Bye" "See Ya" "Bird" "Car" "Hot" "Hello" "Love you"
"Poop" "Grampa" "treat" and tonight he gave the big one, "NOOOO!"

Sweet little Jeanie is also starting to make lots of noices and coos and even starting to make little laughs! It is so amazing how fast our little princess is growing!

Super Mario Family!

For Halloween we were Mario and Luigi and mini Mario and mini Luigi. It was great fun! Joey and Jared made great Mario's! After the pictures I had added some big bushy eyebrows onto Joey and he looked even more like Mario! We bought overalls for Jared and I at Ream's after going to several DI's and other thrift stores looking for them.

Jared and Joey!
Joey really enjoyed his costume. Loved pointing at his mustache and Mom's and Dad's mustaches and loved wearing the gloves even though they were to big for his fingers to stay in.

Please excuse my look here... we took pictures before I put on my regular makeup.

Trick or treating was an interesting experience with Joey. Jared had to work so I took Joey out with Jeanie in my wrap. Joey had a hard time understanding the concept, was nervous and fought going up to houses a bit but loved when they dropped the candy into his bucket.

Failed Costumes!!!

So for some odd reason I got crazy and decided to make and sew costumes for the kids. My idea was for us all to dress as pirates and make Jeanie our parrot. Unfortunetly I ran into many problems these past few days with them. I made the pirate hat for Joey way to small and he won't wear it anyway. For Jeanie's costume I didn't realize that the fuzzy fabric I sewed to the red onsie would make it to tight to put it on her with out a lot of pain! Sigh, anyway I got to fruastrated and We decided to go in a whole different direction. My sewing abilities was not a total crap out though. I had offered to make a turtle costume for my niece, it turned out pretty awesome!

Jeanie not so happily posing in turtle costume!

This is the parrot costume, was going to glue little eyeballs on the hood. Have her wear yellow pants underneath the onsie and of course sew on some fabric as feathers on arms.

And the Pirate hate made out of a suede skirt from DI

Little Sweet Girl!

I kept trying to take a picture of Jeanie smiling, she was just beaming smiles, but every time the camera flashed she got a surprised face, but here are a few cute pics of her. The other evening Joey grabbed dad's phone and called mom's phone. We let him answer it and he was so surprised to hear his voice travel through the phones. For some reason I held the camera side ways and it was really dark so sorry!