Hey, so apparently there IS a Blogger app for the iPhone.

So after starting up a new blog over on Wordpress, it appears I'd missed out on the fact that Google launched an official Blogger iPhone app back in September of 2011. The app mustn't have launched with much fanfare or hype if I'm only just now finding out about it, haha.

So the question now is, go 'back' to Blogger, or stick with Wordpress? Hmmm... (I still have to see what the Blogger app looks like on our iPad)

CJ

I hate this feeling. This combination of numbness and pain. The knot in my throat that won't go away. The ache in my chest. The churning in my stomach. The burning in my eyes. The emptiness. I miss you CJ. If my pain is required to makes sure that yours is gone, then I accept. You were the best dog. My silly dog. The momma dog. Of all the names he could have chosen, Jonathan named his dog after you. You will be missed CJ. I love you. See you on the Rainbow Bridge, I'll bring my roller blades.

My Little Haggler

Having mastered the art of 3, and 2, and counting to 5 (he's mostly mastered counting to 10 as well), Jonathan has become pretty good at haggling. Mostly haggling over how many fruit snacks or stories he gets at bedtime, but pretty much anything that comes in quantities of five or less.

He'll hold up his hand, all five fingers stretched out, and say, "I want five fruit snacks daddy." I'll say, "no, two fruit snacks." He'll look at his hand for a second, fold one finger down (often with his other hand), and say, "four fruit snacks daddy." I'll say, "no, two fruit snacks." He'll look at his hand for a second, fold another finger down, and say, "phree fruit snacks daddy, I want phree fruit snacks." At that point I'll smile and say OK and get him some fruit snacks and he's all happy.

Replace fruit snacks in the above story with pretzels, bedtime stories, french fries, strawberries... and well, you get the idea. I think he gets it from his Mommy, haha.

3

If I were to guess at what Jonathan's favorite number was, I'd say it was 3 (followed closely by 2). Not because he happens to be three years old right now, but because that's how many stories I read to him at bedtime. Jonathan works very well with preset limits, so if I tell him he gets three stories at bedtime, he's OK when I stop after the last story; otherwise it's a constant "one more story daddy, one more story!"

So, about two weeks ago we were late getting Jonathan to bed and I told him I was only going to read one story to him since it was so late. He looked up at me and said very seriously, "no daddy, phree stories" and tried to hold up three fingers. He's still behind with his fine motor skills so his three fingers looked more like five plus a hand cramp, but I was surprised and impressed all the same, first that he requested a specific number of stories (we're working on his numbers and counting) and secondly that he was trying to mimic all the times I held up three fingers while saying I would read him three stories. Needless to say, he got his three stories that night (along with an extra big hug and heaps of praise).

Since that night I've been working with him trying to teach him how to hold up just three fingers. He's almost to the point where he can do it one handed, without using his other hand to fold down his thumb and pinky first. I'm hoping to get a photo of him showing thee fingers, it's pretty darn cute.

Next we'll have to work on two, which is the number of Matchbox cars he has to have to go to bed.

In Loving Memory of Bertha Voth

Just last weekend my family and I unfortunately
attend my Grandmothers funeral. We were blessed to have been up to see her just 2 weeks prior. She suffered a massive Stroke and never woke again. I will always remember and love her for the special woman that she was. She was so simple that when you would visit all the stress of life and worries would just disappear. She was strong in her faith and her love for Jesus. It was so wonderful to hear her talk about her savior and know that when she passed she would be with him. I know it was her time and I think she knew it was as well but I will still miss her. Her funeral was a Mennonite one and boy can they cook. There were so many people and they were all so wonderful. I included some pics from our visit before she passed. She had been sick and was in the hospital when we came up. They sent her home for about a week before she had her stroke. Julianna didn't like the hospital setting much so she was crying. I did get my dad and her in a deep conversation that I don't' even think they knew I took the pic. I wanted to include one of the passages the minister used even though it is so common I still felt it was good. He of course quoted psalm 23 1-6


The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

I was lost in my faith for a while as a young adult and it has taken me time to get it back. For the first time I felt his presence at her funeral and I didn't feel as sad. I really can say I know where my grandmother went and I know I will see her again because she has gone to be with our Lord to sit at his side and watch down upon us. She is now with her husband who we lost in 99 and I know she dearly missed him. So Grandma I will always love and I look forward to seeing you in heaven and thank you for all the wonderful things you taught me.



Love your Granddaughter
Jennifer

Weight Loss Update

Well could I be any farther behind on our blog. I wanted to update how the weight loss was going. So far I have lost over 40lbs and can now shop at White House Black Market which is a good thing but also a bad thing (I am wearing a new outfit from them in the Pic). I can wear size 12 in some clothes and size 10 in others. My closet had to be really cleaned out and replaced since the size 16 and 18 were way to big. I have so much more energy and my husband seems to like it as well. It is nice to be noticed again by people. I just feel so good and will continue to work towards my goal of losing 60lbs.

Tubes

Well, after a hearing check on Tuesday and visit to an ear/nose/throat specialist this morning, it looks like our Little Man is going to be getting tubes in his ears.

Our little girl is about to turn ONE

Our little girl is turning One this Saturday. We can't believe how the time has flown by and how much she has changed. We can remember the day we had her and how little she was. We just feel like time has flown by so fast. She was crawling by 6 months, walking by 10 months, and pestering her brother since day one but he loves her (Sometimes). I believe our little girl may even end up with some curl in her hair now that it is starting to get some length. God has blessed me with the 2 most beautiful, wonderful, special, loving, perfect little children that we will not ever be able to thank him enough. He has made our dreams come true. We can't even imagine our life with out our kids. So Happy Birthday Julianna our Sweet little princess may God bless you always.

MOMMY & DADDY

Weight loss

It has been a while since I have posted, I swear I have no time. I have embarked on a journey of losing weight and I have reached my first real big goal. I have lost 30lbs in 5 months. I weigh less then I did when Jason and I got married. I had to go get a whole new wardrobe which was of course not a bad thing. I am just so excited and I can't wait till the last 30 fall off. So I thought I would share an old pic and then a recent pic of me with Jonathan to see the difference.

Big girl class

Because she's walking pretty much all the time now, Julianna graduated to a big girl room at church today.

Julianna walks

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeepin/4165046410/

Happy Birthday Jonathan!!!!

Wow, I can't believe our Little Man is turning Two years old today! Seems like only yesterday we were welcoming him into the world. Our lives sure have changed quite a bit these past two years. Happy Birthday to my Favorite Little Guy, and here's to looking forward to a lifetime more.

The New/Used JK Rubicon

We finally joined the JK group. We are so excited and Jason now has a daily driver other than Big Red. We found it in OK in a small little town of 5000. I don't think they had an idea of the gem they were sitting on. They sold it to us for less then trade in value. So we are very happy. We ended up getting the Sunburst Orange because Jason said it was the perfect mix of Red and Yellow. For those who don't get that. Jason and I met off roading, he has a red Jeep and I have the yellow one. Well we joined together in marriage, had a family so he thought the Orange would represent that as the two Jeeps becoming one family Jeep. Isn't that sweet......

Trouble & Curious

I just had to post this pic. It speaks volumes....

Piano Girl

I just had to post this picture of my little girl. She is getting so big. I swear she is going to walk before she is 9 months.

First day at School (DKH Academy)

Jonathan had his first day of school today and he did so well. Jason went into work late so he could come with me and take him to his first day of class. We walked him in and he went straight over to play and never acknowledged us again. His teacher said he played great and seemed to have a good time. I think he had so much fun when we came to pick him up he was crying because he wanted to go back out to the playground again. I think he would have played all day. It was so quite at home it seemed strange. It was nice for him to get out and for me to get things done.

Mommy's Little Helper

More.

Well, Jonathan still hasn't decided to start talking yet. Every now and then there's a pretty distinctive "dada" but other than that it's still mostly lots of noises and pointing and grunting (in hindsight I maybe should have not done my Tim Allen impersonation for Jonathan quite souch when he was younger). Anyhow, We figured since he won't he use words yet maybe he'll use signs. So we started (again) trying to teach him some basic signs. Within the span of only about two days we successfully taught him the sign for "more", as in he wants more food as opposed to be finished and ready to get down from him highchair.

Trouble is, we got our signs mixed up and didn't teach him the sign for "more", we taught him the sign for "eat/food". In the context of it's usage though they're pretty much interchangeable so I think we're ok. The funny thing is he doesn't hold his hand quite right so instead of putting his finger tips to him mouth he has his hand sideways as if to stifle a sneaze. (photo coming soon).

He also kinda uses it as "please" if you've got some food (or drink) that he wants some of -- last night I was fixing him a sippy of water (he won't drink anything else) and he ran up to me with this excitied look on his face and did his sign. I couldn't help but chuckle at him, it was pretty cute.

6 months and, growing?

Well, she's not growing very fast anyway, haha. Julianna recently had her six month check-up and she weighed in at a whopping 15.2 pounds, and measured 25.5" tall. That puts her in only the 50th percentile for height, and 30th percentile for weight. Definitely our little girl.

By contrast, at this age Jonathan was 20.4 pounds and 28" tall. He was our chart-topper.

6 months and rollin'

Julianna is officially six months old! It's killing me how quickly my little ones are growig up. We've already started trying to plan Jonathan's second birthday party!

And as of Friday night, Julianna can roll from her back to her tummy! This is a good thing because she's been able to go from her tummy to her back but then she gets stuck, and unhappy. But now she'll be able to flip herself back over. Hopefully she'll figure this out in the middle of the night.