Friday, February 27, 2009

Aaron and I would like to say thanks for the many acts of love you all have shared. Aaron and I have truly seen how blessed we are with family and friends. As you can imagine, we have received many e-mails and phone calls and we apologize for not being able to return them all. Please know that we really do appreciate them all even though you may not hear back from us.

One question that has been asked a lot is what happened. Aaron and I feel that nobody should have to guess or wonder, so I will do my best to sum it up for you all.
As most of you know, Melvin has dealt with diabetes for 20+ years. We have learned that this past week Melvin wasn't feeling well, possibly had pneumonia, and went to the doctor Monday morning. When Melvin was found at home Wednesday morning it was clear that he died as a result of his diabetes. His previous blood sugar readings were extremely low and it was obvious that he was trying to regulate it when he passed away. We believe that due to being sick, he wasn't able to eat much, etc. which extremely effects his diabetes.

You may view http://www.newhopefh.com/ for more information.
Please continue to keep our family in your thoughts and prayers.

Love,

Aaron and Kelli

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Melvin

Just wanted to post a quick blog -
For those of you who have not heard, Aaron's dad Melvin passed away. We believe it was due to his diabetes and pneumonia.
Please keep Aaron, Michael, Heather, and our whole family in your thoughts in prayers.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

I’m Popeye The Sailor Man!

My children ate oodles of spinach today and loved every bite. I’m currently on a creative lunch kick. Today I made the Pita Pizzas from Jessica Seinfeld’s book Deceptively Delicious.

You use whole-wheat pita pockets, homemade spinach puree (which Jackson helped me make), bottled tomato sauce, and slices of mozzarella cheese. First you spread the spinach puree on the pita, cover the spinach with tomato sauce, add cheese on top, and pop in the oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.


The boys pigged out! They LOVED it! Since I was so proud of the both of them for eating so much spinach, I gave them both a cookie! Why not?! I felt like they needed one after a meal like that!

I now have some pretty big restrictions on my cooking creativeness. Our refrigerator is in our entryway and our oven is on its way to the garage along with the washer and dryer. They are starting our tile first thing Monday morning. This should be a very PLEASURABLE week at the Jordan house. Ha! They said 3-4 days, so they better be DONE and out by Thursday or I may be a little insane to say the least!

Free Desk!

If you are in need of a free "new to you" desk, let me know. We got a new desk for our office and I hate to just throw our old one away. If you are interested, send me an e-mail. If you don't know what it looks like, I can send you a picture. Aaron would be happy to deliver it to you since it is currently taking up space (space we don't have) in our garage. :)

Saturday, February 21, 2009

What the heck!? Garrett is ELEVEN months today. Where in the world does time go!? I feel like if I were working, I would still be on maternity leave. However, by glancing at the calendar, apparently my 6 weeks would be up....way up. I still think of Garrett as a little BABY. I am not ready for him to turn one! I am not ready for him to walk, I am not ready to turn the car seat around, I am not ready for him to drink whole milk....when he is allowed to do these things, that would make him less of a baby and I'm just not ready for that! Oh gosh!!!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

The Toddler Cafe

I don't generally believe in cooking an adult meal and cooking a kids meal. Our kids eat what we eat. If they don't like it, they better be okay with a hungry belly. However, I obviously keep the kids in mind when planning our meals and try to avoid spicy foods, limit the onions, etc.

Lunch time is when I normally serve a more kid inspired meal. Lately I have been trying to spice up their lunch menu, so I pulled out my Toddler Cafe cookbook the other day. This is the cookbook I got the recipe for the Pea Pops I made several months ago that I blogged about.


The 2 things I made for Jackson and Garrett last week were basically about presentation. For example, spice up a classic grilled cheese sandwich by cooking it on a waffle maker. Something so simple! Jackson isn't the biggest fan of meat, but because he was so excited about eating a waffle sandwich I was able to sneak some chicken on it.

This is a Banana Hot Dog. It's a banana on a hot dog bun with peanut butter (hold the peanut butter for Garrett) and jelly. I used squeezable jelly and then put peanut butter in a baggie and cut a hole in the corner of the bag. I squeezed them on the banana like you would mustard and ketchup on a hot dog. Jackson loved it & Garrett was a sticky mess!

I found that the author of this book also has a blog if you other toddler mommas are interested: The Toddler Cafe

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Happy Birthday, Aaron!

Aaron has wanted a tool box for his truck for awhile now, so I gave in and decided to get him one for his birthday. I know receiving cash is not always the most exciting. However, my other option would be to drive his truck somewhere to have a tool box installed. This isn't the best idea because #1 - I don't know a thing about tool boxes and I am not about to pick one out for him. #2- Remember when I hit a pole at Chicken Express driving the last truck he had that was only 2 months old? Me behind the wheel of his truck should be avoided when possible.

So, I tried to make getting cash as cute as possible....after all....it is cash that he has earned!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Playdate!

Marla & her daughter, Parker (Our Family Blog) and Monica & her daughter, Abbey (The Baby Blog) came over to play today. We all had a great time! I just love play dates! The kids laugh together, play together, disagree with each other...which are all great for their social skills. Playdates are also therapeutic for the moms. It's always nice to talk to other moms.

Monica and Garrett


Parker

Dancing Abbey!

The Last Year of His Twenties.

That's right. Tomorrow, February 18th, Aaron will be the big 29. A few weeks ago, an old high school friend and I were e-mailing each other back and forth on Facebook. I hadn't talked to her in several years and for some reason she mentioned that she is ready to start having kids because her husband is almost 30. In my mind, I thought "Oh, she married an older guy." It wasn't until a few days later when I starting thinking "wait....my husband is almost 30 too." She didn't marry an older guy - we are just getting older.

We celebrated his birthday last Friday at Babe's Chicken House with my family and his brother, Michael. Aaron and I love places that are "Family Friendly," and this restaurant was definitely that! We will have dinner with his parents tomorrow on his actual birthday.

Singing "Happy Birthday" -

Dad, Michael, and Aaron - The restaurant is BYOB, so Aaron and Michael took advantage of it if you can't tell....

Garrett was a MESS!

You put your left in, you put your left foot out....
Time for the Hokey Pokey! Jackson was unsure about doing it at first, but once Harleigh went out there, Jackson had no fear.





Garrett may have been stuck in his high chair, but that didn't stop him from dancing!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Saturday, February 14, 2009

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
A good day to have some sweets with the one you love!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

What a beautiful day!!
Here are some pictures I took of the boys from our afternoon outside -
Jackson randomly got out of his seat to give Garrett a hug. How sweet is that?!




Jackson and his friend, Mr. Shadow, and of course the cowboy boots.


Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Guess where Garrett went today....

....he had to go to time out. Would I normally put my 10 month old in time out? No way! However, we happen to have a little 2 year old boy in the house as well, so we have to play fair. Garrett obviously (and thankfully) could have cared less. He thought time out was fun...

Garrett has been fascinated with turning the living room TV on and off and hitting the screen. When he did this in front of Jackson (which is something Jackson used to get in trouble for) and only laughed when I told him "NO!" I had no choice.

This picture is the best! Jackson is telling Garrett that he shouldn't mess with the TV. Garrett however, is looking at the fan! Jackson means business!

Since this happened today, I thought it was pretty funny that my weekly e-mail from babycenter.com said this:

Your baby now understands simple instructions, though he may purposely choose to ignore you when you say "no." (To help the word carry a little more weight, use it sparingly, for setting important limits.) Even though your baby may not always remember tomorrow what you've said today, it's not too soon to set certain boundaries and start teaching him some important distinctions, like right from wrong and safe from unsafe.

No worries - with Jackson by his side, I don't think Garrett will get away with much.

Tonight, Aaron and I were having Jackson say his full name. Then I asked Jackson what his brother's name is since we are trying to get away from "Bubba." Jackson said "Gar-Gar Dye-in." (Garrett Ryan) I thought it was funny that Jackson knew Garrett's middle name without any coaching before we asked him. This shows me that I have had to use Garrett's middle name a lot lately. "GARRETT RYAN, NO!!!" I remember when Garrett would stick his bottom lip out and start crying after hearing a firm no. Now he either laughs or huffs and puffs at us....which is still pretty amusing to us at this age.

Jackson's Shopping Trip

As Aaron and I were cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, we overheard Jackson in the living room talking. I took a peek around the corner and discovered him grocery shopping. He was looking at his grocery list and talking to himself about what all he needed, which is something I do with the boys when they go to the store with me. I (Aaron didn't) thought it was funny that he had my purse in the cart as well. I never put my purse in the cart, but I guess he has seen others who do.


At this point, Aaron and I decided to play along with him and read his "list" to him. He gathered different items from around the house.

Next, it was time to check out -

Aaron asked Jackson if he had any coupons. Jackson handed Aaron his shopping list pretending that it was a coupon. (That's my boy!!)

Time to pay...
Aaron looks serious about this. He wasn't going to let Jackson walk the bill.

Finally, time to load up the car. I think he should look into getting a SUV....

Sunday, February 8, 2009

My mom watched the boys on Friday so that Aaron and I could run some errands. They had some fun with Jackson's new camera! Here are some of the funny ones -







Jackson calls this a "Banana Hat!"

Thursday, February 5, 2009

The dirty secret: Put germs in your diet.

My mom sent me a link to an article by Steve Blow who writes for the Dallas Morning News. Click the following link: The Dirty Secret: Put germs in your diet and after reading the article, feel free to read my opinion.
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Having a new baby is scary. You want to protect him/her and do everything in your power to keep him/her safe. I think all moms would agree. When I became a mom, that instinct kicked into high gear. Jackson used a high chair cover, shopping cart cover, I constantly washed his hands, I had hand sanitizer attached to the diaper bag, I washed my hands the moment I walked into my house from work so I didn't expose Jackson to my germs....we did our best to prevent exposing him to germs.
I still remember this one awful day at Brookshire's when Jackson was about 11 months. I think I have only told Aaron this story because I felt so awful about it. Now I have come to realize, that it was life and stuff happens that you are not always proud of. With that being said, I will share the story with you all.

I was a few months pregnant with Garrett, tired, had a long day at work, my feet hurt, but I had to go to the store and Jackson was with me. When I went to grab a shopping cart, I realized I had left the shopping cart cover in my car. I didn't feel like going back out to my car because I was lazy AND parking lots scare me. I decided to wipe down the seat with the cleaning wipes Brookshire's provides and I plopped Jackson into that dirty ole' shopping cart. This was my first time to EVER do that. I keep telling myself, "It is fine. Stop freaking out! He will be okay."

Our shopping adventure was going just fine and dandy until Jackson decided to start trying to suck on the cart. I tried giving him his toys I had stashed in my purse, my hands to play with, anything and everything I could think of. He however, was turning around in the seat to avoid me and get his mouth on the cart. After several aisles of battling with him, I realized I couldn't win and he was about to start screaming. For those of you who didn't know Jackson as a baby - he wasn't the easiest baby to calm down. Once he started screaming, he was going to be screaming for a LONG TIME. And no....holding him wasn't an option either. I tried that. Even when he was on my hip, he was trying to bend down to get his mouth on the handle of the cart. Pushing a heavy cart while holding a baby that is trying to get out of your arms isn't easy nor safe.

I remember my last stop in the frozen food section. I gave up....he won....suck away my dear child! At that very moment, a lady walked by us and said in a rather loud voice, "Ma'am! Excuse me, Ma'am! Your child's mouth is on the cart. Do you know they have wipes at the front on the store? You should use them!!" She didn't speak in a sweet, helpful grandmother tone a voice either.

#1 - I DID use a wipe! However, they don't give you a freaken sticker that says "Good Job! I used a wipe on my cart today!" #2 - The lady was wearing a dress with tennis shoes and looked like she could use a good bath herself. I wanted to cry right then and there. I felt like the worst mom. I KNEW I shouldn't have allowed Jackson to put his mouth on the cart and at the very moment that I "gave up" I was called out on the issue by the crazy lady.

Even though I know I will never see that lady again, I wanted her to know ME and know that I really am a good mom. I wanted to tell her "We are clean people, I know about the world of germs, and I am a freak about germs. I know what you just saw was bad. You just saw me at a bad moment." I already felt awful about the situation before she added her two cents. Mean lady!!

I was literally upset about it for several days. And for those of you who deep down think I am bad for letting Jackson do this, you just wait....your time is coming. I can almost guarantee you (I hope...) that most moms have been in a similar situation. Feel free to share your story!...or tell me I am wrong.

Fast forward several months and along comes Garrett. I am now a stay at home mom. I am no longer teaching and bringing germs home. The majority of our days are spent at home. The kids occasionally go to the store with me, we don't eat out too often, and we are occasionally around other kids. I know kids that are not exposed to germs are the sick kids once they start elementary school. Of course when Garrett was a little baby, I went out of my way to prevent germs, but now I am more aware of the fact that he needs to build his immunity. Don't get me wrong, I know that sucking on the shopping cart isn't the best way to build his immunity, but I am just not a "germ freak" like I was with Jackson.

Actually, the other day when we were having lunch with Monica and Abbey, Garrett and Abbey were trying to feed each other their food. Luckily Monica and I both agreed that it was okay. They were having fun, smiling, and laughing at each other. Let kids be kids. Germs are OKAY and it took me awhile to understand this.

Trust me, I still freak out about dirty things. Some people are nasty and never wash their hands after using the restroom. Door knobs gross me out. Your steering wheel, remote control, and cell phone are full of germs. My 2 year old knows to sneeze into his arm and not into his hands to avoid spreading his germs to everything his touches. Now that Jackson is using the big boy potty, I will buy the little disposable toilet seat covers to use in public restrooms. Get my point?

I am still weird about things, but I have come to realize that 20 years ago our parents didn't have shopping cart covers and hand sanitizer attached to the diaper bag and we're okay. So, for today, let your dog give your child a kiss on the face. Your child won't die, in fact it will make him smile!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

These are the little moments....

...That I love!

Although Jackson was only 9 months when we found out we were unexpectedly pregnant with Garrett, and I worried that having another baby so soon would make Jackson grow up too fast, I now know that I would not have it any other way. I watch their interactions with one another everyday and I love how much they love each other.

The picture above is just a random picture of them playing the other morning. Garrett, still in his pajamas, and Jackson....well.....how could you not love his two year old sense of style. It is the little pictures like this that I love because they capture reality.

The Tooth Fairy Came....

.....and she brought Garrett a tooth! Monday morning I noticed Garrett's first tooth breaking through his gums. Finally, at 10 months, he is working on his first tooth.

Every morning I have to raise the blinds in his room so he can't mess with them. Perhaps I need to start raising them a little higher....

I had to throw this one in of Jackson. I don't know where he thinks he is going, but it looks like he has some kind of plan. (Do you like the shorts with glove combo? And yes, he wore ONE glove for most of the day)

On a different note - Aaron and I are thinking about tiling our kitchen and bathrooms. (One day we want to move, the next we say we are going to tile) I have contacted some tile guys off of Craig's List, but if anyone knows a good tile guy, will you please send me his name and number. I would rather pay labor to help out a family friend, than some random Joe Blow. :)

Monday, February 2, 2009

Google Expert?

Is anyone a google expert? I am trying to add our Hydro Green Irrigation website to google. It is there if you search Hydro Green Irrigation, but I want it to be one of the first to appear if someone was to search something such as "Sprinkler Repair, Dallas" or "Sprinkler Installation, Mesquite."
I have done some things in google, but have not been too successful. I know you can pay google to have it over on the right side when you search, but I just want it in the middle with all the rest. If anyone knows how to do this, let me know!
One thing I have learned is that the more times people view our website, the more google "crawls" our website, which then puts it higher on their list. So, in your free time, feel free to go to our website over and over again. Come on....it will be fun!