Boo at the Zoo

Last weekend we took the kids to the Phoenix Zoo for "Boo at the Zoo". They had a small parade, music and performers, Radio Disney was there, and they fed some of the animals pumpkins. It has been a few months since we went to the zoo, and Taylor loved it! We used to have an annual pass, and I am thinking we may want to consider getting another one. We took the kids wagon,which was an adventure getting to fit in the car, but worth it since I knew Taylor would not want to walk the whole time. It's hard to say which animal he liked best, as he was very interested in all of them. Jazzy was great, as always. I think she just enjoyed being out and about. It was a warm day, but lots of fun!

Picture Catch Up

This Bug should have won...


Hanging out in Grandma's Bus


Just call him "Dance Machine"


Jazzy's Ugg Boots


Going to the playground


Pretty, Pretty Princess

Here we go again

OK, so it would be impossible to catch up on the past three months now since I last posted, without a ridiculously long blog entry. So, just suffice it to say we were ridiculously busy, things were beyond hectic and now we are back to our normal pace around here. Well, as normal as I guess we will ever be :)

The kids are great, getting cuter and sweeter every day. Yesterday they went in for the second dose of their flu shots and neither baby cried! My big, brave kids :) I guess when kids get the flu shot for the first time, they have to have two doses. So, next year and going forward they should only need one dose.

We spent this past week down between Tucson and my mom's house in Sonoita. We spent the first Saturday in Tucson for my uncle's surprise 50th birthday party. It was a blast! The food was delicious, and Taylor danced and danced! They had a mariachi band play for the first hour, then a DJ, and Taylor was non-stop. He is a great little guy,very social and is always comfortable and not shy wherever we go. Jazzy fell asleep about 8:30, so Brooks and I headed to our hotel and Taylor went home with my mom. We met them the next day in Patagonia for the Fall Festival. I wish we would have taken more time to look around and enjoy the day, but I don't think those types of events are Brooks' cup of tea. Brooks dropped us off back at my mom's and headed home to Phoenix. We spent the week watching the kids, playing around the ranch and helping my mom out with stuff. I only went into town once, and spent just a few hours with Araceli visiting her and the new baby, and then had a quick afternoon visit with Kereese before heading back to the kid's school in Elgin to attend the Burger Burn. Brooks returned to town on Saturday and we stayed at my mom's that night. Mom, Louis, the kids and Taylor headed in to Tucson that day for day one of Bugtoberfest. We met them in Tucson the next day at Bugtoberfest. Although my mom won first place last year, this year she had some stiff competition and was pretty disappointed that she did not place. I still think it was a fun event, and Taylor loved it.

Kereese came to Phoenix this week to visit her boyfriend and we got to visit again. The thing I love about Kereese is that we can go 6 months without talking to one another if we're busy and just pick up right where we left off. We have been friends since junior high. The rest of this week has been spent catching up on emails, cleaning the house and attempting to tackle the never-ending pile of laundry. Jazz is trying so hard to crawl, and I think she will have it any day now. She also has become quite the bed hog and most nights you will find either Brooks or myself on the couch so that Jazzy can have the bed. I joke I should just sleep in her crib so that someone is using it.

July, July

This month has gone by waaaaay too fast!

Fist, we finally exchanged the camera, and the new one is working- yay! Brooks is also working on transferring our files onto the laptop, and once we get an external hard drive the rest of the files will go on that and we should finally be where we need to be technology wise :)

Things have been nuts- they are always nuts though, it seems. The kids are great. They grow cuter and more wonderful everyday. Taylor has insane amounts of energy and we think is going through a growth spurt right now. He is sleeping a little more than usual and is eating everything in sight. He is just so darn cute, I really am the luckiest mommy in the world. His imagination is amazing. Grammy Kathy made him some more Herbie t-shirts and bought him a new yellow Herbie, so most play these days centers around the Herbies. Yesterday I had the Herbies hanging up in the shower to dry and Taylor made a Herbie voice and the t-shirts spoke to me "Mommy- get us down from here!" Our electricity went out in the area for about an hour the other day, so since I had a perfectly good package of ice cream in the freezer, we decided not to chance it melting and had a bowl. I put that chocolate shell syrup on both of our ice creams and Taylor looked at me and asked, "Momma, is that bird crap?"

Jazzy is sweet and wonderful, as well. She is working hard on three new teeth and some days are just rough for our little princess. She makes this new grunting sound, which is what she does when her teeth hurt. She also had her four month well check and is 15 pounds, 10 ounces and 25 1/4 inches tall, which puts her about the 80th percentile for both height and weight. She is still pretty calm and content except for when those teeth start acting up.

Grandma and Grandpa Wintemute are back for the summer, but we have only seem them a few times. It takes about 45 min-an hour to get out to Surprise. Jazzy is extra cute for them, and Taylor and Grammy Marlene made cookies on one visit. Taylor also gave Herbie a scrub in the bird bath after taste testing the water. Fortunately it had just rained so I don't think he drank any bird poop.

Taylor went camping with Grammy Kathy a few weeks back. He did great- and made it about 1/2 way through the 5 day trip before he started asking for mommy and daddy. So, we drove up to Prescott and picked him up. It was the perfect length of time for him, and now everyday it seems he wants to take the chairs and couch cushions and some blankets and make a tent. He actually has a play tent in storage that we will have to dig out so he can play with it. I imagine the Herbie's will want to play camping, too.

Brooks is good. He has been working, and is trying to finish up his real estate licensing. He really wants to leave Arizona so maybe in a couple more years once we finally get through grad school it may happen.

Things have been so busy with BizEMoms. Tamara, one of the officers has been out for a bit as her daughter was diagnosed with Hepatoblastoma, a rare form of liver cancer. It was a huge shock and is so sad. Things are going well though, or as well as well can be. Malia's surgery went well and she just finished her first round of chemo. With Tamara out, I am managing her end of the business. It is tough and has been tough for a while. I love this business, it just seems nearly impossible to balance work and family but I am trying hard! I get up at about 5 to spend some time on the computer before the kids get up, then steal some time during the day when they give me a chance. As soon as Brooks gets home, I am not working at all and I try not to do stuff on the weekends, but with the EVBA coming up, the holiday event still to be planned and just regular group stuff it's a lot to handle.I constantly feel guilty- am I giving Jazzy enough tummy time? Did I remember to have Taylor brush his teeth? Have I even eaten yet?

So, that's the haps. Will post more in a bit :)

Three years down...many more to go!

We celebrated our three-year anniversary this past Tuesday. Brooks took the day off of work, and we had originally planned on taking a day trip somewhere, but just waited until the last minute to begin planning anything. We needed to go somewhere that would be cool enough and enjoyable for the kids. So, next year for sure we'll have our act together and go somewhere fun!

Taylor ended up planning our day. We went and saw Kungfu Panda, which was quite cute. Taylor also decided that we should get some popcorn, and Daddy decided we should get some cookie dough bites, as well. After the movie, we went and had a romantic lunch at McDonald's, and Jazzy hung out with us while Tay played in the tubes. They both behaved really well at the movie and Tay couldn't help but talk throughout the whole thing. He was just so excited about all the different animals! He did get a little scared, so it was a good thing Daddy was nearby.

Brooks and I have been together for 6 years now and married for three. We met just after his birthday in 2002, and have had many adventures since then, including moving to Phoenix together and having our cute little babies. I love being married to Brooks and I can't wait to celebrate many more anniversaries!

So much to say, No pics to post!

It seems as though I have not been blogging as much as I should be- we have been so busy! Plus, no blog seems complete without a recent pic of the two cutest kids in the world- and i have no pics to post! Not that we haven't taken any, it is just that the new camera that we got came with a new picture program that we can't quite figure out. We were able to upload the pictures from our trip to San Diego, but for some reason we can't upload the newest round of pictures. So, figuring out what is wrong is now on Brooks' to-do list, which is not long at all, but just never seems to get done.

The kids are good, super cute and smart and growing and learning each day. Taylor loves space and Herbie. He has a few books now on Space, plus some super cool IMAX space movies we bought him a few weeks back. He tells us all sorts of things, for example Saturn has ice cubes (because it is cold), the moon has craters, and the Sun is on fire. Jupiter also has "a big red spot and squirrely lines!" Potty training is not as interesting as the planets and solar system, but we are working on it. We just got a call from the preschool he is on the waiting list for , and they might be adding a new class in the fall, which means he would not be on the waiting list but would get right in. So he needs to be potty trained by the middle of August!

Jazzy, is sweet and so wonderful, and calm and content. She still sleeps through the night most nights, and is just a happy baby. She is always smiling and has the cutest giggle. Her 4 month appointment is the first week of July and we are anxious to see her height and weight.

Brooks still loves work. He goes in most weekends, he is pretty busy during the week and goes out to a lot of properties to visit with the tenants. It takes him out of the office a lot, but keeps everyone happy. He also started working out again.

And I am busy, busy, busy. Between the kids and school, BizEMoms and trying to keep us with friends and get some play time in for the kids. We had a visitor from another website, www.OurMilkMoney.com come out from California to speak with the group, and it was so cool! It was an awesome opportunity we could not pass up.

Dale and Marlene come back this weekend, and next weekend Tay is going camping with Grandma and Grandpa near Prescott. We'll miss him, but I am sure he'll love it!

Happy Father's Day!

We hope all the Daddy's out there had a nice, Father's Day!

We had a relaxing weekend. The kids were extra cute and sweet to their Daddy, who didn't ask for anything on Father's Day. I came down with a cold, and Brooks is in the middle of this bet with some guys from work, so this coming weekend we will go out to celebrate:)

I am a very lucky woman to have Brooks as my husband. He is very sweet and kind, and is the best Daddy two kids could ask for. He loves his little rascal-do Taylor, and his sweet, content Princess Jazzy. I love looking into their sweet little faces and seeing the image of their Daddy. And, I love watching him hold them or play with them.

We love you Daddy!

Jazzy Girl

Jasmine is just a wonderful, little baby! She is always smiling, and very easy to please. She has also slept through the night practically since day one. She will sometimes wake up around 4am or so for a little snack, but always goes back to bed. She also wakes up half the time with a dry diaper! We call her "Jazzy Bear" since she'll eat, eat, eat, then eat some more then she'll go into hibernation for either a really long nap, or bedtime. So now we joke that she is potty training herself already :) She loves to talk and is always chatting away with Daddy when he comes home from work. We really are very lucky to have her and she is the best baby girl we could ever ask for!

Happy Mother's Day to Me

We spent Mother's Day weekend in San Diego, and it was just wonderful. I like California and we all love the beach. We we're definitely due for a vacation, and decided to buy the annual pass for Sea World, hoping that we would be able to make it out there again before next May. We thought Taylor would love Sea World, and showed him the website before we left. At that time, he could have cared less for Shamu and was actually most excited about seeing the penguins!

We bought a new camera to take on this trip, since our was going wonky. We didn't even bother to read the instructions before taking it out with us to Sea World, but we managed to figure some stuff out throughout the day. We had to stop at the Penguin exhibit first, then of course, hit the penguin gift shop. We also saw the Sesame Street show, then the dolphin show and had lunch after that. Jazzy was great, she is such a content little baby. Tay decided he wasn't too into walking and wanted to be held, so since he weighs a bunch, we took turns we each kid. We saw the star fish, or 'sea stars' as Tay calls them, and he even held one! Then, we went to Shamu. Boy, was Tay surprised- he loved it! So our next stop was the Shamu gift shop. We also stopped and bought a hat for Jazzy. Both the kids had sunscreen on, but the two of us did not and actually got sunburned! It was a nice day, about 65 degrees outside. Brooks won Taylor a big Spiderman at the carnival games, and it was a full, but fun day.

Our hotel was pretty close to Sea World, but that didn't make it any easier on Brooks, who had his fill of California freeways and their lack of signage. On Mother's Day, we went to Balboa Park and the Air and Space Museum for Tay, the space expert. The hotel recommended we go to La Jolla Cove, so we headed there next and it was just beautiful! Seals actually come up to the shore to rest, and the beach itself is pretty nice. It was so busy though, so we parked pretty far away and the kids were hungry and cranky by the time we made it out there. We found a Hard Rock Cafe and went there for lunch, then went back to the beach and walked what seemed like ten miles back to the car. Tay sill wanted to be carried, so we took turns with the kids again. That afternoon, our little man was still a bundle of energy, so we picked up 'My Donalds', as Tay calls it, and found a park that he could play at.

We stopped at Pacific Beach on Monday, then headed back home. We all love the beach, and Tay is still talking about the ocean. I am sure Jazzy loved it too, although she didn't say much :) Brooks was disappointed with San Diego, this was actually his first time there. We'll be going back, so that we can use our Sea World passes again, and this time we'll plan it out a little better to see some more kid and stroller friendly places. It was nice, as we love going places with the kids.

Cooties and Smiles!

We have been running a special on cooties for anyone who is interested! Free cooties! Get your cooties here!

Taylor has lots of little friends, he is just a social guy. All that socializing comes at a price though, and this past week we have been paying for it.

Taylor first came down with a cold. You know, the typical flu with a running nose, cough, congestion and temperature. Thursday evening he had a swollen eye- it looked like he had a black eye almost. The next morning it had turned a lovely shade of -you guessed it- PINK. I had called the pediatrician the day before when I noticed his eye. Since it was after hours, she said to bring him in the next day. Before I had a chance to call the office, they called me back and asked how he was doing. We made the appointment for that day. He actually fell asleep on the table, which made the exam super easy. So pink eye it was. This was a total bummer because his cousins were already on the road to come up for a visit. Bummer we didn't get to visit long, but they wanted to go to Ikea and I am sure they hit the In N Out (my brother in law would probably cater his own wedding with In N Out). So, now Tay had pink eye and a cold.

The weekend stunk having a sick kid, and Brooks stayed home on Monday since things were so hairy. Monday morning Jasmine had her well check with Dr. Sudha, and I ended up taking Tay back in with me because his cold was still hanging on. Tay looked all clear on the pink eye, but now poor little Jazzy had it in both eyes! That day Daddy started running a fever of 102 and having the same cold symptoms of Tay. We both could not sleep that night and woke up to discover we had pink eye too! By Wednesday I had gotten Tay's cold.

So, now it is Friday, and Brooks is back at work, but still running a temp, and feeling bad. His pink eye appears to be cleared up, and so does mine. I am still sick, and Tay is a bundle of energy. Fortunately little Jazzy does not seem to have caught the cold, and her eyes appear clear. Oops! Scratch that. Tay was a bundle of energy. He woke up this morning with double gooey eyes- so looks like pink eye round two.

The one bright spot of this week is what a super smiley-happy baby we have! She coos and gurgles and giggles. She is so darn cute and fun and we love her bunches and bunches! She just smiles all the time and especially when she is talking with Daddy.

Babies and Toddlers

It's April already? This past month has just flown by! Jasmine is wonderful, just wonderful. She is very sweet, happy and content. She loves to be held, but is such a great baby and hardly cries. She also is still a great little sleeper at night, and we know how lucky we are to have her. When people tell me it is not fair, I have to disagree. Although we love Taylor very much, he is WILD. So, having one of each just balances everything out :)

Otherwise, things are great, just hectic. I became pretty sick with Mastitis, which was rough. I had a 104 temp for a few days, then was pretty run down and just beat otherwise. I am back in class, which is hard. Brooks is enjoying his promotion and we both love the new car.

Tay is really into space and planets now. This weekend, I think we are going to go to the library to rent some space videos. Unfortunately, they do not show space specials 24 hours on the Discovery Channel. Today I found him in his room reading to himself from his Solar System book that we bought at the Challenger Space Museum. Yesterday we watched a show on Jupiter, and he was pretty interested in the planet's big red spot and swirly lines. Yup, my kids a genius!

Lots of New!!

This month has been lots of fun, and has brought some new and exciting things!

#1 Of course, is baby Jasmine. It is a new, and fun experience having a baby girl! Taylor is doing pretty well, he has an attitude every now and then, but loves his little sister and loves to help out.

#2 New ring- given to me by Jasmine's daddy during labor. I love it!

#3 New car. Yes, a new car!! Who-hoo for us! We finally decided to trade the Mazda in and got a 2007 Chrysler Sebring. It is beautiful, and has lots of new, fancy features. Once we are settled in the house, hopefully I will get my SUV and Brooks can take the Sebring to work. It gets great gas mileage-26 in the city, 32 on the highway.

#4 New job! Brooks has officially received his promotion from Carlson and is now the assistant property manager. The senior director made the comment to him that this was the fastest anyone had been promoted to this position, and we are all super proud of him! Along with this promotion comes a nice pay raise (23%) plus the chance to bonus another 10%.

So, lots of new, and the month is only half over!

She's Here! She's Finally Here!!

Little Jasmine Natasha Wintemute was born March 4th at 11:01 a.m. She weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. She is so darn cute and wonderful and we are the luckiest mommy and daddy in the world!!

Our adventures began on Monday, March 3rd at our 8:30 am doctors appointment. They did a non-stress test since Jasmine was over 40 weeks, and went ahead and scheduled an induction for Saturday the 8th. I was totally bummed- I did not want to wait until Saturday to meet her, even if it was only a few more days. But, during the NST, I was contracting every 5 minutes. "Textbook contractions" they called them, but although they were close enough together and lasted long enough, they weren't Strong enough. So, home we went expecting to see her on Saturday. Only the contractions did not stop, they did get stronger. But, I am a big weenie and did not want to go in because I thought they would just send me home. After Brooks put his foot down and my mom told me (not asked, but told) that she was coming up that night, off we went to the OB triage. I was having the same contractions, but was only 1 1/2 cm dilated. So we went walking around the hospital and found the cafeteria. One of the cafeteria workers came over and told us it was a special event and they had this buffet set up with free food. There was hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken, corn on the cob, potato salad, baked beans, cookies, sodas and bottled water. We sat down and ate at about midnight, and it was delicious! Then I started thinking that probably was not the smartest thing to do, but it smelled so good! We walked around a bit more and went back to triage and when they checked again I was now 3 cm dilated. So, they sent us on one more walk and when we came back we were led to our new room in labor and delivery. I began asking for my epidural right away, and after some quick fluids was granted my wish. By now, Brooks was sleeping comfortable (really, this was a nice set-up). He slept through my epidural, catheter and all that fun stuff that goes along with labor preparations. We called my mom to let her know what happened, and off to sleep I went. Early the next am my doctor came in to check on me and I knew something was going on. I didn't feel so hot, but I couldn't really see the monitor to see what was going on with either me or Jasmine. My blood pressure was low they said, and put me on oxygen for a few hours and kept pumping fluids in me. My mom came in with the kids and Brooks went out to get himself some breakfast at the McDonalds about 2 miles away. They checked me again and I was now at 5-6. My blood pressure went even lower, Jasmine started to have more decelerations in her heart rate, then my water broke and I was at 7cm. I had my mom call Brooks to say hurry back. A few minutes later, I called him again. Then we called again. Where the heck was he? I had a super fast transition with Tay and this was going fast too. My went downstairs to get Tay some chocolate milk and I was all alone and ready to go. Brooks walked in with a jewelery box (some trip to McDonalds!) and I couldn't be mad anymore. He bought me a beautiful mothers ring, it is white gold with an aqua marine and two smaller stones on either side. I hardly had time to enjoy my pretty ring, before my mom walked back in, so did the nurse who checked again and I was at 10, fortunately she believed me when I said I transitioned fast, and had already called the doctor. I could not feel a thing, even though my epidural was totally off and had been for about 30-45 minutes since by blood pressure was so low. I gave two pushes and out Jasmine came! We had planned on Katie being there, as she had asked beforehand and really wanted to see Jasmine born. Brooks jokes because I was so doped up and was having a full conversation with my doctor as I was pushing. This was a super easy labor (aside from the waiting for the labor to begin). Tay was drawing a picture when Jasmine was born and we kept it for her baby book.

So now we are home, and doing pretty well. We are not as tired as we thought we would be, Jasmine is pretty easy going, and so far Taylor is decently interested in her. Brooks is home for a week. We received flowers in the hospital from Carlson and today went shopping to enjoy the $230 gift card to Babies R Us they gave us.

More to come, be prepared for more pics of the world's cutest little girl!

Still no baby...

For the past three nights, I have had very uncomfortable and painful contractions, even to the point where we decided to start timing, or when Brooks was not home, I was ready to call him. Then, they'd stop. This is completely unfair. Brooks had a talk with Jasmine and told her it was time to come out and that she should be sleeping in her own crib now, and not mommy's tummy.

While Jasmine is not cooperating, I am just trying to keep busy doing stuff. I am hoping when we go in on Monday the doctor will schedule the induction sooner rather than later. Brooks went in to work this weekend to get ahead, so that way he would have a little less to catch up on.

I have had lots of friends calling daily, which is very sweet and heartwarming. Currently in the BizEMoms agenda, Jasmine's birth is under the member brags section. The joke is they may have to change that to a brag about me for having the longest pregnancy. Taylor had been born by now, so what's the hold up Jasmine?

Is today the day?

Today at 11:30 we go in for the 40 week Jasmine check-up and, the doctor is going to strip my membranes, which means we may be having a baby today. We'll just have to wait and see :)

The past 2 weeks have been crazy, we have been cleaning and running around like crazy making sure everything is done. Tay and I put the crib together, Brooks and I bought a new bed, and we are stocked up on food, wipes and diapers for Tay. We didn't go crazy with Jasmine's diapers, just because we are not sure how fast she'll grow. If she is anything like her brother, she'll be in size 4's by the time she is one month :) We have also been to Babies R Us about 10 times.

We had professional pictures done and they turned out awesome! Taylor was pretty wild, but we did get some cute ones with him. The other day we went and played at the playground and he was having a blast with some other kids who were there. He let them bury him in the sand and it was too cute. After he was all covered, he told them "goodnight" and pretended to snore. I had already packed the camera in Jasmine's bag, so I missed my chance to take the picture. Some other mommy took one on her phone and said she'd send it to me, but I never received it :( Taylor also got the Once Upon a Potty video so hopefully he's ready to go with this big boy potty business. The thought of buying diapers for two is more excitement than we can stand.

Stay tuned for baby news...

UPDATE

Jasmine has apparently decided that mommy's tummy is a comfortable place to hang out, although mommy is not too comfortable with it :) If she has not arrived by Monday, then we will schedule an induction.

Beta Fish...Roll Out!

Tay has a new pet, fishy #2, and he has named him Bumblebee after his favorite Transfomer. Mom feeds Bumblebee each morning, but sometimes Dad thinks mom will forget and feeds him again, and on other occassions, Tay likes to help feed the little guy when mommy is in there, and after dinner one night he even gave him a few french fries as well. Bumblebee does not seem to mind and seems to be waiting all the time for one of us to give him some more Beta food. Tay likes to visit him each morning and say, "Good morning Bumblebee the fish!"

30 Days!

We spent this weekend really thinking about just how close we are to having baby Jasmine and just how much there is still left to do! We bought her dresser and moved all of her stuff into it, then worked a bit on getting our room cleaned and organized. We bought both the kids some more clothes at the Gap, Tay got the cutest shoes, and Daddy keeps looking in her dresser at all her sweet little clothes. I think we need to get some more things that are not pink, though :)Then we spent the rest of the weekend thinking about we we already have, but need to find in the storage room. Oh! We are so close to meeting little Jasmine! This is very exciting!

Big, BizE Plans

I can't even start to explain how excited I am about BizEMoms this year. Not that last year wasn't great, but this year is going to be awesome! We are in the process of figuring out this whole business licensing and registering and trade-marking, as well as lots of other cool stuff. We are completely re-doing our website, we changed the meeting format, which has been super cool. We have guest speakers at each meeting, this time we have a tax accountant coming. Last month was Shay Pausa with Chiiki productions. If you have a business- check out her site! www.chiiki.com. We are planning our next two events with our event planner extraordinaire, and it looks like we might be able to do a few other extras like a few mixers with another networking group and a talk about white collar crime from our event planner extraordinaire, who also happens to be a lawyer. By far, though,the coolest thing is that we are doing is something called BizEMoms Helps, where we are partnering up each month with a different charity or organization. The group threw out some really cool ideas, and we are going to try to work with them all. I never even knew about half of these organizations and how cool it is that our "little group" can do such big things.

Gotta say, I am pretty proud to be a BizEMom!

Party Weekend!

We spent the weekend in Tucson with family, and it was lots of fun. Brooks worked half a day on Friday and we drove down to Tucson once he got off. We dropped our Mazda off to have some work done as this seemed good timing, and came down in a rental, which happened to be the 2008 version of our Mazda. It was pretty nice and Brooks enjoyed driving it. We stayed at the Embassy Suites Paloma Village, which was in North Tucson, near the pretty mountains, and a new shopping development. Being in Phoenix for a few years now, we drive faster, and we think better, than most Tucsonans and enjoy making comments to each other like, "stupid Tucson driver" or whatever. If you are from Tucson, you either love it and never leave, or you hate it and move to Phoenix. I'd say we are the latter, but Brooks says he has a special place in his heart for Tucson. And, if he ever got a smokin' job offer down there, which is highly unlikely just because there isn't much down there, we'd go back. But, it would have to be a really good offer.

But, it is worth going to T-Town to see family. Worth the ugly drive on the I-10 and the slow traffic and the bad freeway construction. After checking into the hotel, we headed to Araceli's house for Bella's birthday party. We were starvin' Marvins and hit the pizza right away. Taylor went off with Michael to play Transformers and chase the girls around. I am not sure if Bella and her friends wanted Tay with them, but he is a social guy and wanted to hang out. Which meant run around with them while they were playing musical chairs and dancing on Bella's High School Musical dance mat while she was trying to. Bella turned seven on the 16th and was having a High School Musical slumber party. It was too cute, all her little friends were wearing their HSM t-shirts and having a good time. We also brought Sarah's present since she is a January baby, too. We got Bella a karaoke machine and the kids had a blast singing and dancing along to the HSM songs.

The hotel was nice, and it was great to have a king size bed. The bed seems so big now, but won't once we are in the new house and have us, the kids, and the doggies with us. Oh, and a kitty cat. The coolest thing about the hotel room, though, is that there were a couple floor length mirrors, which I have not looked into in a loooong time. It was neat to see my big belly and how much it sticks out. We are so excited to meet little Jasmine, but this will be my last pregnancy, so it is bitter-sweet.

Saturday we went shopping at the mall and bought the kids new clothes and got them each a Build A Bear. Daddy went crazy shopping for Jasmine, but then he usually does. She is going to be a Daddy's girl for sure. Tay picked out a fluffy white polar bear and dressed him in a Phoenix Suns uniform. His name is Prime, after Optimus Prime. Later on in the day, Tay decided he wasn't a polar bear, he was a doggy. Jasmine got the February animal, which is a doggy with heart "spots". After the mall, we headed to our baby shower, which was lots of fun. Jasmine made out like a bandit, and I ate three plate fulls of Carne Asada. I could have easily had more, and if we weren't going back to a hotel, I totally would have taken some home. Taylor loved playing with the other kids, but not quite as much as he enjoyed rolling around in the dirt. Last time we were at Terrie and Spanky's I think I had to change his clothes before we left, this time I knew there was no way I was prying the Herbie shirt off of him. That night we got The Kingdom on the hotel movie list, then slept in until 9 or so.

Sunday we had a big breakfast, then visited Grandma at work and went and played at the park for a while. Afterwards we went to Bison Whiches for lunch and headed home. It was a nice weekend, and the kids made out pretty well. Taylor was on his cutest behavior and was very excited to see Grandma and Katie!

Half Done With January

I honestly am not sure where the first half of January went. We have been busy, but we are always busy. I am pretty sure my organizational and time management skills have disappeared with my memory and bladder. Hopefully once Jasmine comes, I can regain those and be able to function like I used to! In the meantime, here is a run-down of January's first half:

Brooks has been busy, busy at work. They acquired a new property just before Christmas, and now he is doing interviews for a new maintenance engineer and Brooks has taken on the dual role between tenant services and property manager. He is getting promoted officially in March, and in the meantime has been working late and even going in on the weekends. Sometime after March, he will eventually do more interviews to hire his replacement for tenant services. But, it may be a little bit as Carlson is growing by building and buying. He still loves it there and so do we (Tay and I). Daddy doesn't have to work hard all the time, and they are a great company to work for if you have a family. He is looking forward to the time off when we have Jasmine, but also worrying about the amount of work he will have once he returns. Daddy also turned the big 2-7 on the 10th. Taylor helped to make him a chocolate cake. Daddy just wanted to have Totino's for dinner. That was his celebration. When we both have more energy, we will make up for it. I am very proud of him, and I think he is starting to see just how cool he is and just how awesome his job is. There is something pretty neat about having a million and a half dollar check on your desk or working on a $46 million acquisition. And, most importantly having the support of your bosses to make decisions by yourself. Oh, and the big office is nice. It's pretty cool not being in a cubicle anymore.

The Jasmine Countdown begins. We are going to Tucson this weekend for a baby shower given by my aunt and uncle. My Uncle is making his famous carne asada. We are looking forward to it, as it is a mini-vacation for us, even though it is Tucson. We are just excited to leave Phoenix, as it has been a bit. I can't wait until we can travel again, and we wonder what Jasmine's first trip will be. It's crunch time and we will be heading to Baby's R Us hopefully soon to pick up her crib. Her dresser is coming from our other favorite store, Ikea. Daddy has managed to buy her some clothes, and onesies and little frilly socks and headbands. In fact, he can't seem to go to any store without picking something up for her. I think we are going to go to Anthem and hit the Carter's and Osh Kosh and pick up clothes for Jasmine and new summer clothes for Taylor the weed. He is so tall, I don't think he has any shorts that still fit. One of the RT's I used to work with just adopted a baby brother and sister from Ethiopia, so we have passed on his clothes and some toys to them. Jasmine's announcements are done, all handmade by me. It was lots of fun and I am so crafty sometimes, I can't stand myself :)

Taylor's imagination is really something wonderful! He loves to play with Herbie (of course) and now is really into his Transformers. He has an Optimus Prime and a Megatron and plays with them really well. He has a different voice he does for each character. He also loves to play Daddy's Transformers game on the Playstation. He has figured out if you push the triangle button, the character will transform. He likes it when Daddy plays, but Daddy has a problem with Taylor continuously pushing the button while Daddy is trying to play. I am rather pitiful at that game, and can't make it past the first challenges. Taylor also has become quite the fashion man. He likes to wear the same outfit EVERYDAY. Which means, mom and dad are washing his outfit every night. It includes his green sweatpants, red firetruck shoes and red jacket. He will wear only a Herbie shirt, which was a problem as he only had two. Grandma made him two more, and mailed them to us, since this is turning into an emergency situation, especially as his shirts are usually chocolate stained and way dirty each night. It will be nice to actually let them soak between washings! Taylor has also developed quite the attitude. Everything is "Mommy do it!" "No, that's Taylor's!" and "My pillow/refrigerator/couch/car/TV!" "No Daddy!" Some of this is just being three, and I think a little may be about Jasmine. And, in super big news, that should be announced- Taylor went pee-pee on the big potty!!! It was a very exciting day! We went to the store and bought some big boy undies, which he liked at the time. The next day he decided though, that he wanted to wear his Diego diaper again. But, it is a start and we are going to keep working on this potty business.

The house: It's coming. We haven't been down to Maricopa in forever and a day. Every weekend there seems to be something going on. One day we'll make it down there to figure out whats going on. In the meantime, we are still shopping and planning for our new space.

And, then there's me. I feel like each day is just flying by and I never seem to get everything done on my to-do list. Brooks has been pretty understanding as the ironing pile keeps growing, dinner is rarely on time and he has even been pitching in a little with helping me tidy the house each night. As long as he still gets to watch his basketball and UFC, I think he is happy. I have one more class, that ends right on my due date. I have a short break with Jasmine, then really need to somehow get cracking on completing my teacher observation hours. BizEMoms, is well, busy. We are planning our next two events, working on our business license, planning meetings with business lawyers, tax accountants, our new webmaster, and each other to make sure we are keeping up on everything else that is just the day to day of the group. Fortunately we have an awesome event planner that should help keep us on task for the events. We also moved to a central meeting location, and made a few other changes with the new year.

I think that is it, but I am sure I probably forgot something. I have phone calls, emails and of course, homework. Plus there is the world's cutest little two year old that I need to dress in his fashionable color scheme of green, red and either the white, black or yellow Herbie shirt. His new white one with Grandma's bus on it is now covered with chocolate milk and "pray dough" (play dough).

Happy New Year!

We hope everyone had a safe, and wonderful New Years celebration! Taylor and Mommy have both been sick. Tay is pretty much over his cold now, but it is much more pitiful for babies to be sick, so he has been our main worry. Brooks had New Years Day off, which capped off his slacker week at work. He decided to take New Years Eve off too, to be home with us sickies. All the girls in the office, as well as the big boss were on vacation, so the remaining guys took it easy, way easy. I don't think he "worked" a day all week past 3:00. New Years Eve, Jasmine was kinda thinking maybe she wanted to see what was going on, so we ended up at Chandler Regional at 9:30 at night. I was having regular contractions, but fortunately they were not long enough (40-60 seconds) and after a few hours and some tests, we were happily sent home. My cervix has started to thin out a bit, so my prediction of Jasmine being a February baby might be true. I was watching HGTV at midnight on the TV in my triage room, and Tay and Brooks were playing in the waiting room. Yes-Tay was up that late. He had not been feeling well and decided to nap at 6 p.m., which at the time we just said OK because we knew he was sick, but with how the evening ended up,it turned out OK. Jasmine has been relatively quiet since then, I think she knows she worried her Daddy.

Michelle came in to town on the 2nd. It was great to see her. Michelle is my good friend from Iowa, we have been friends for over 10 years now, and have gone through quite a lot together. It is always great to see her. Adam, her husband had a conference in Scottsdale, so she tagged along. They flew into Phoenix, stayed a few days in Tucson, then drove to Pasadena and went to the Rose Bowl, then she dropped Adam off at the conference and came to visit me and Tay. We'll see them again after Adam's conference on the 4th. She has the same cold Tay and I do, so we were blowing noses and coughing together. Now Brooks, who has been bragging about his bionic immune system is coming down with our cooties.