And the verdict is...

Well, I did not think it was too hard, and I am glad to see that everyone was able to score very well on this test. Boy number 2 will be joining us in January. No we don't have a name yet, nor have we even really started talking about it. I guess sitting in a car for 18 hours x 2 in November when we come for the Wedding and Thanksgiving will give us plenty of time to hash this out. Thanks for posting comments and we hope you are enjoying the updates on the blog.

Sold our home

Well we have a signed contract and a projected closing date of October 22. We will have to move all our stuff to a storage unit, live in a hotel for at least a weekend; then we will close on our new house. The primary reason for the move is to reduce our debt. It will be challenging to go from 3300 sqft to 2300 sqft, but I am sure we will manage as most of this house sits partially empty. We will be moving 'out of the city' to a small town just south of here called Flint. It will be a much longer drive to work (15-20min) so no more coming home for lunch, but it will cut our monthly house payment by more than $1000 -that we can use towards something else. Love ya and guess on that baby picture!

Tai

Time to Play Doctor!

Can you guess the Sex?

post a comment and show everyone your skillz! I will post the answer next week. Love ya!

First Movement

Well, Here I sit by myself in TX while my beautiful wife and two wonderful kids play in AZ. It is Friday night and I have nothing planned. I am hoping to go wake boarding with a friend from work tomorrow, but only time will tell if they decide to go. But the reason for this blog.... Jamie told me that she felt the baby move yesterday (maybe Wednesday), so I had a reason to type another comment on our blog. Jamie is something like 17 weeks right now, and never felt the other two kids until like 20 to 25 weeks along. It is always reasuring to feel that movement and know that everything is okay.

Soap obsession

About a month or two ago, I came home to a furious wife. The kid were being forced to time-out crying. The kids had taken the soap in their bathroom down and squirted a few spots on the carpet and broke an 'ear' off of one of the dispensers. (the kids bathroom is jungle animals and there are two soap dispensers. One is a monkey with a bobble head and the other is a Giraffe.) The ear of the Giraffe was broken off but no permanant damage a little super glue could not fix. Jamie was quite upset that they had climbed up on the counter, taken down the dispencers and then made a mess of the carpet. The whole time it took her to clean up the mess (with my help of course) the kids were required to sit in timeout and watch.

Well, Today I came home for lunch. The kids were upstairs playing quietly and Jamie was on the phone. All seemed to be peaceful and in harmony. After I warmed up my lunch and began to eat (the kids still upstairs and jamie on the phone), I began to think "those kids are a little too content up there". At Least three different times I started to go up stairs, but then I would hear the kids and think all was well. Finally, Aiden started to whine, so I went up stairs. They were not in the Toy room where I thought they would be. Mesha's Door was closed and the noice was coming from in there. *(her room is next to the kids bathroom). I opened the door to find a puddle of soap from the broken monkey soap dispenser. They had snaped off the ceramic tail of the monkey that was the pump portion of the dispencer. There was Mesha sitting in the middle of the puddle very proud of her accomplishment and COVERED with liquid hand soap. Aiden was in Mesha's crib with the Giraffe soap squirting it on her bed. I guess the noise he made was to let me know he could not get out of the bed... Don't know. Anyway, I told Jamie to NOT come upstairs because I knew it would lead to a bad day. I carried mesha to the sink and began to wash all the soap off of her. (Luckly she was only in a Diaper) Once she was clean, I took her and Aiden and sat them in Time out and began taking handfulls of soap to the bathroom and began cleaning up. (imagine making a bowl with both hands and having that totally full of soap for a couple of trips.) Of course, Jamie did not stay out and was upset by the situation. I spent a good 20 min soaking the carpet and sucking it up with the shopvac to get the soap out. You would think a one and two year old would hav known better than making a mess! Geez! :)

This happened three days ago (when I started writing this), but as life goes we get busy and have to come back to things at a later time. Jamie and Kids will be in Mesa tomorrow afternoon. Enjoy them while they are there. But I want them back in one piece in two weeks time. Love you all!

Baby Update

Jamie went to the Dr's this morning and everything is looking good. The Dr asked if Jamie was sleeping okay and as a pregnant woman she replied no... He told her no more naps. She was upset by that, but I will help her follow Dr's orders. The next appointment is set for September 13 at 11 am (Texas time). We will be finding out the sex of the baby at that point. Should be exiting.

I asked Aiden what he did this morning and he told me he went to the Dr. I asked if he was sick and he told me it was for mommy. He then told me that the Dr hit Mommy. I looked to Jamie and she explained the shock on Aiden's face as a mother disiplined her daughter by spanking. I guess that set in some as to what he could get. Jamie said both Aiden and Mesha were very loud at the Dr's but other than that okay.

Love you all, and Jamie can't wait to come to AZ to be with Family and Friends. Talk to you soon!

and HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA JENSEN!!!

Some Recent and not so recent pictures of the Kids

Grandma and Grandpa came in July with Tanya and Kayla. They loved going to the zoo. here are some pictures of them there.

Our Caribbean Cruise

In May, Jamie and I took a cruise to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel Mexico. We left the kids with Grandma McKinney and had some time to our selves. We had a great time. We will post more pictures later.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

You would think that this is the result of birthday cake, but it is actually chocolate chip cookies. Both of our kids love cookies, and that is why they are such a powerful bribe. Typically, the kids only get a cookie if they go 'poops' on the potty, but when Grandma and Grandpa (not to mention Kayla and Tanya) came to town, the kids were spoiled with cookies when every the begged.

Mesha is such a messy eater. maybe it has something to do with the fact she is not even two yet, but I think she makes a mess just because she can.

The Baby

This is the first ultrasound we have of the upcoming baby. Jamie thinks the baby will be a boy. She just feeling that it will be a boy. I on the other hand have a feeling it will be a girl. We will have to wait until September to know whose 'feeling' is more accurate.

The baby is due February 2nd. That means no travel for the month before or after that (maybe more after). Raena, that means if you have any plans, Thanksgiving is a great time of year :). I will post the updated ultrasounds come September. I hear they will also give us a video of the ultrasound, so I can add that to the site as well. Love ya all,

Mesha and The Tiger

The story of Mesha and the white tiger....

When my parents were in town in the middle of July, they went to the zoo here in Tyler three times. The primary reason for the multiple visits was to go see the white tigers they have on display this summer. The exhibit is small enough that the tigers are right up next to you, but big enough that they can have room to pay. These white tigers are just over one year old. One one of the visits, they arrived right after the zoo opened, and at that time in the morning, all the animals are very active and playful. The tigers were especially active this morning and the family was enjoying watching the tigers play with each other. Then the tiger eyed Emesha. The tiger croached and sprang at the glass seperating them (I was not there, but this is how the story was told to me.) Obviously, the glass held and we still have Emesha, but that tiger saw a tasty snack in my little girl. The female tiger did not take her eyes off of Mesha the rest of the time. Mesha hid behind mom's legs and would not get right up to the glass anymore to watch the tigers. I don't think she noticed as much as everyone else.

Well, I thought I would start blogging now that we don't get to see everyone like we would like and it will be nice to have a way to share pictures and comments. Enjoy!

About the backpacks... We bought a couple extras for our 72 hour kits, and the kids just love wearing them (so they don't have our 72 hr kit stuff in them). As you see Aiden holding an extra, Daddy has one and mommy has one. If the kids are wearing their, then mommy and daddy must wear theirs as well. It is challenging to keep these backpacks hidden for any amount of time, but we do try.

Mesha has a beautiful smile, but she also can charm anything she wants out of daddy.

Aiden

We have this picture of Aiden on our wall. He is becoming a very strong communicator, and is also beginning to be potty trained. Most days are pretty good, but some he has more accidents than others.

Getting Started

Well, it seems everyone has a blog. So Jamie and I need to step it up and keep in line. We will add some pictures as time permits!