I am a HUGE Star Wars nerd. I won't go into the details but suffice it to say that I love all things Star Wars. And apparently so does this little girl. I need to be training Jacen better.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Blessed morning!
I can't believe how wonderful it feels to gently awaken from a restful slumber and realize that it is 10:15 am! I can't remember the last time I wasn't jarred awake by a crying child. I can't remember the last time I slept in til 10 am! Granted, we were up for many hours during the night with our sick children- so they SHOULD be tired. Anyway, I didn't lounge there long when I got worried about Ian- he should've been hungry by 10 and crying. So I hurriedly extricated myself from Jacen's grasp and from the couch and rushed to Ian's crib. There he was happily playing with a blanket! Whew! I ran to grab the camera and shoot some footage of Ian in this blissful state. I will post it later.
Many of you will be bored by this uneventful video but I know the grandmas and grandpas and aunties will appreciate it. Well, I can't understand how anyone could NOT appreciate the cuteness of my child but I recognize it as a possibility, however far and distant of a possibility.
Many of you will be bored by this uneventful video but I know the grandmas and grandpas and aunties will appreciate it. Well, I can't understand how anyone could NOT appreciate the cuteness of my child but I recognize it as a possibility, however far and distant of a possibility.
I hate being sick. I mean I absolutely hate it. I don't like how I feel, I don't like how cranky I get, I don't like having my routine thrown off, I just do not like it Sam I Am. So this past week I've been in a dark and foul mood because not only am I sick but the whole family is sick as well. I mean all four of us. We all have this coughing, achy, fever, chest congestion thing. It wouldn't be so bad if we could get some sleep but just as soon as we lay down either Jacen or Ian starts crying. Jacen is really having a rough go of it too. He just wants to be cuddled all the time. Yesterday after class Shanna and I took turns napping. That helped somewhat but what really helped was when Shanna's mom came over and helped out. She brought dinner, did the dishes, and played with the boys while Shanna and I got to rest for a bit. very nice.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Photos from December and January
We transferred all of the photos off our camera onto the computer and realized that it has been over 2 months since the last time we did it. So, we have many new pics to share with y'all.
Jacen has been sick since Friday (fever, runny nose, etc.) and I got sick today too. All sympathy is welcome. And thank you Carolyn for yours! We haven't left the house since Saturday.
The kids are finally in bed and so I have a few brief moments to post more on the blog. It will mostly be pictures...
Aaron, Jacen and Ian pose to celebrate the 3 month anniversary of Ian's birth. What a good looking bunch of boys!
Ian is such a smiley baby. He flirts, laughs, and coos. Here you can see him working his charm. Not sure what happened to the bottom of the photo. Do you see those blue eyes?!
Jacen is completely 3! He is constantly asserting his independence, asking "why?" and charming us with his view of the world. Those of you who have survived your child's 3rd year, or let them survive it for that matter, know that 3 is wonderful and terrible all at the same time! Do you see those brown eyes?!
That's all for now, folks!
Jacen has been sick since Friday (fever, runny nose, etc.) and I got sick today too. All sympathy is welcome. And thank you Carolyn for yours! We haven't left the house since Saturday.
The kids are finally in bed and so I have a few brief moments to post more on the blog. It will mostly be pictures...
Aaron, Jacen and Ian pose to celebrate the 3 month anniversary of Ian's birth. What a good looking bunch of boys!
Ian is such a smiley baby. He flirts, laughs, and coos. Here you can see him working his charm. Not sure what happened to the bottom of the photo. Do you see those blue eyes?!
Jacen is completely 3! He is constantly asserting his independence, asking "why?" and charming us with his view of the world. Those of you who have survived your child's 3rd year, or let them survive it for that matter, know that 3 is wonderful and terrible all at the same time! Do you see those brown eyes?!
Jacen hugging Ian over Christmas holiday. Jacen is learning to be more gentle with his brother... slowly...
That's all for now, folks!
pictures!
Jacen and mommy made chocolate pudding yesterday. We all ate it- yum!
Well, Jacen wants me to point out that Ian didn't eat it!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Out of the Mouth of Jacen...
I like starting my blogs with a title and then three little dots... It lends mystery and pulls my reader in for more. It worked with you, didn't it!?
So, we were out one cold night a few weeks ago and out of the blue Jacen said "excuse me." I was curious to know why he said that and this is how our conversation went:
"Excuse me."
"Did you toot?"
"No."
"Did you burp?"
"No, I just tooted in my mouth."
So, we were out one cold night a few weeks ago and out of the blue Jacen said "excuse me." I was curious to know why he said that and this is how our conversation went:
"Excuse me."
"Did you toot?"
"No."
"Did you burp?"
"No, I just tooted in my mouth."
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Ok, so that didn't work... and all about bum cracks.
Well, I guess having a third shift job just isn't for us! Thankfully, Aaron quit FedEx before his grades suffered too much. We just had no idea how much that job would affect our life. Those people who had the chance to hear me complain or to see me frazzled and crying during those few weeks can breathe a sigh of relief with me. All together now: Ahhhhhhhhhh.
In other news, Jacen continues to be fascinated with his body. Jacen was taking a bath and I told him to make sure he washed his bum crack. His eyes got big and worried (due to our earlier conversation about fixing cracks in the pavement) and our conversation went as follows:
"Do I have a crack in my bum?"
"Yes, right back there."
"Why?"
"So the poopoo can come out."
"Why?"
"That is the way our bodies are made. We all have bum cracks. Even mommy has one."
"Can I see yours?"
WOW! What would you do?!?
Later Jacen was still fixated on this topic:
"Do I have a crack in my bottom?"
"Yes, we all do."
"Why?"
"Because that is the way Heavenly Father made us."
"Does He have one?"
Oh, the mind on this kid!
In other news, Jacen continues to be fascinated with his body. Jacen was taking a bath and I told him to make sure he washed his bum crack. His eyes got big and worried (due to our earlier conversation about fixing cracks in the pavement) and our conversation went as follows:
"Do I have a crack in my bum?"
"Yes, right back there."
"Why?"
"So the poopoo can come out."
"Why?"
"That is the way our bodies are made. We all have bum cracks. Even mommy has one."
"Can I see yours?"
WOW! What would you do?!?
Later Jacen was still fixated on this topic:
"Do I have a crack in my bottom?"
"Yes, we all do."
"Why?"
"Because that is the way Heavenly Father made us."
"Does He have one?"
Oh, the mind on this kid!
Friday, January 25, 2008
New Job
So Aaron got a new job at FedEx working 3rd shift! He is taking 17 credit hours on top of that and hardly has any time to sleep. Poor man. And yet, we find ourselves very grateful for our life, each other and our beautiful children. We frequently look back at our life 'before kids' and realize how selfish we were. It will be good to look back in a few more years and see more progress and growth (hopefully.)
Our reasons for doing what we do!!!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
clever little boy
Jacen likes to bargain with us. Whenever we tell him it is time to stop playing he will say "5 more minutes" or something similar. He will ask for cheese and we can tell him that he can have 3 slices of cheese he will say "no 6 pieces of cheese" and we eventually settle on a number in-between. Bathtime-5 more minutes; get out of the bath-2 more minutes.
Us: Jacen you can bring 2 cars with you.
Jacen: ummm...I think 4 cars.
Us: No, you only have 2 hands so 2 cars.
Jacen: How about 3 cars?
You get the picture. So last night as I went to read to Jacen before bed I told him we would read 1 book. It was late and we wanted to hurry and get him in bed. Of course Jacen began the bartering, "2 books." We went back and forth for a few minutes me standing firm in my position, Jacen in his. I finally told Jacen, "UNO!" and held up one finger. Jacen's response? He held up two fingers and said, "No DOS!"
We read two books.
Us: Jacen you can bring 2 cars with you.
Jacen: ummm...I think 4 cars.
Us: No, you only have 2 hands so 2 cars.
Jacen: How about 3 cars?
You get the picture. So last night as I went to read to Jacen before bed I told him we would read 1 book. It was late and we wanted to hurry and get him in bed. Of course Jacen began the bartering, "2 books." We went back and forth for a few minutes me standing firm in my position, Jacen in his. I finally told Jacen, "UNO!" and held up one finger. Jacen's response? He held up two fingers and said, "No DOS!"
We read two books.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
autographed copies available soon
The scan quality isn't the greatest (I think our scanner died on the trip back from Texas) but you can at least see what we got.
Jacen's pics
I scanned Jacen's pictures together and uploaded them. I honestly wasn't sure this would work because of how our scanner works but I finally figured it out. I'll scan and post the family photos and Ian's pictures tonight.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
be it ever so humble...
Well, the holidays are over and we have returned home. Actually we came back several days ago but I think it has taken us that long to recover. We went to Texas for the Christmas holiday this year and had a wonderful time. We spent several days in Dallas and got to see most of the Upshaw clan: Robert and Dawna, Dave and Ginger, and Tommy and Tiffany -- who shacked us up for our stay in Dallas. Jacen and DJ (Tommy and Tiffany's oldest boy) got along really well and that made for a much easier stay. We also rented Guitar Hero III and THAT made for a much easier stay too. We all totally geeked out playing it, even the girls. And considering how much Shanna mocked me for wanting to play it I was especially grateful that she too channelled her inner Eddie Van Halen. We had dinner and watched the Cowboys game at Dave and Ginger's, went to a Dallas Mavericks game and sat in a luxury box, and opened Christmas presents with Tommy and Tiffany. And of course Tommy and I insulted each other repeatedly the whole time.
After several days in Dallas we drove up to Hale Center to visit my Dad and sisters. Again we had a great time. No more Guitar Hero but we did play Apples to Apples and Pit. We introduced Apples to Apples to my family last time we were there and everyone loved it. This time we took Pit and again everyone enjoyed it. Something about shouting at one another really brings my family together. j/k. But it WAS a lot of fun especially because we had so many people playing. While we were there I started scanning photographs that my sisters and Dad have that I don't. I wanted to preserve them in a digital format but was overwhelmed by the sheer number of photos so I started to get pretty selective. When I had the idea to scan all the photos I was going to scan a photo and keep a spreadsheet of who was in it and the approximated date the photo was taken. Instead I piled as many pictures as I could fit on the scanner at one time and scanned. Rinse and repeat. It will be a near-Herculean task to sort and edit all the photos now but many of them are safely digitized in my laptop.
After Hale Center we drove north a bit to Amarillo and stayed with Totch and Kathy Upshaw. No games but a lot of talking and sleeping. It is always nice talking to Totch and Kathy because they have amazing insight and perspective.
We drove back to Dallas and had dinner with Tommy and Tiffany one more time before going off to an airport hotel and we flew home the next day. The plan was that if we stayed in a hotel near the airport then we didn't have to get up as early to get to the airport for our 8:30 am flight and we could avoid Dallas traffic. Good idea, poorly executed. We were moving pretty slowly in the morning and after getting the kids up and dressed, eating breakfast and turning in the rental car we made it to the check in desk at 8:04. In order to get your bags checked you have to be checked in 30 minutes before. 4 minutes. Shanna and I recounted the numerous ways we could have shaved 4 minutes off our morning. So that was $50 a ticket for us to catch the next flight. And to add insult to injury our bags were too heavy so in front of all creation we got to rearrange our luggage to get two of our bags below 50 pounds. Wonderful. We were now on the 11:30 flight. After waiting for a couple of hours at our new gate a gate agent came up and announced that the plane was having mechanical problems and they were rescheduling flights. Ugh. So now we have to move to a new gate and our flight now leaves at 1:15. But we did make it home finally.
After several days in Dallas we drove up to Hale Center to visit my Dad and sisters. Again we had a great time. No more Guitar Hero but we did play Apples to Apples and Pit. We introduced Apples to Apples to my family last time we were there and everyone loved it. This time we took Pit and again everyone enjoyed it. Something about shouting at one another really brings my family together. j/k. But it WAS a lot of fun especially because we had so many people playing. While we were there I started scanning photographs that my sisters and Dad have that I don't. I wanted to preserve them in a digital format but was overwhelmed by the sheer number of photos so I started to get pretty selective. When I had the idea to scan all the photos I was going to scan a photo and keep a spreadsheet of who was in it and the approximated date the photo was taken. Instead I piled as many pictures as I could fit on the scanner at one time and scanned. Rinse and repeat. It will be a near-Herculean task to sort and edit all the photos now but many of them are safely digitized in my laptop.
After Hale Center we drove north a bit to Amarillo and stayed with Totch and Kathy Upshaw. No games but a lot of talking and sleeping. It is always nice talking to Totch and Kathy because they have amazing insight and perspective.
We drove back to Dallas and had dinner with Tommy and Tiffany one more time before going off to an airport hotel and we flew home the next day. The plan was that if we stayed in a hotel near the airport then we didn't have to get up as early to get to the airport for our 8:30 am flight and we could avoid Dallas traffic. Good idea, poorly executed. We were moving pretty slowly in the morning and after getting the kids up and dressed, eating breakfast and turning in the rental car we made it to the check in desk at 8:04. In order to get your bags checked you have to be checked in 30 minutes before. 4 minutes. Shanna and I recounted the numerous ways we could have shaved 4 minutes off our morning. So that was $50 a ticket for us to catch the next flight. And to add insult to injury our bags were too heavy so in front of all creation we got to rearrange our luggage to get two of our bags below 50 pounds. Wonderful. We were now on the 11:30 flight. After waiting for a couple of hours at our new gate a gate agent came up and announced that the plane was having mechanical problems and they were rescheduling flights. Ugh. So now we have to move to a new gate and our flight now leaves at 1:15. But we did make it home finally.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Long overdue...
It took us 4 years but we finally got family pictures taken. We have often talked about it and even came close a few times but never pulled the trigger. We always had some lame excuse: we don't have the right clothes, we'll get pictures after I lose a few pounds, no time, blah blah blah. Olan Mills was running a special for $12.95, 1 - 10x13, 1 - 8x10, 1 - 5x7, and 12 wallets; all of the same pose. When Shanna saw it she prepaid it so we felt an even more compelling reason to show up. I thought the pictures looked great. Of course they take forever to print so we don't have them yet. As soon as we do I'll scan it and post it here. If you want to see them sooner then they are available online at Olan Mills' website. Just contact Shanna or myself and we can send you the information.
Last Sunday our ward had a special meeting with the Stake Presidency. In a nutshell, our ward was combined with the downtown branch (which was struggling) and then the whole thing split into two wards. Essentially our ward and their branch got split and the two halves joined together. A lot of changes in our ward(s) as we have a new Bishop (both wards do - our previous Bishop was finally released), and lots of new callings to fill. On THAT note, Thursday night I met with our new Bishop. I have been asked to serve as the Young Men's President. Yowser!! I think back to the YM leaders I had when I was younger (Dick Barnes, Alan Parker, Jimmy Priest) and I feel supremely inadequate. I looked over the names of the young men in our ward and I don't know any of them. Obviously that will soon change. As I got home and prayed about it I actually started to get excited (yet still overwhelmed).
Finally, Jacen's birthday was November 27th. We celebrated it on the following Saturday and pretended that day was his birthday. We had a party here with a few family and friends invited. Lot's of rugrats running around! Shanna did a great job planning and executing the whole thing. It was Thomas the Tank Engine themed and we borrowed a train set from Shanna's dad and had it set up on the pool table. We had three stations for the kids -- 1)watercolor painting 2)coloring 3)picture frame decorating. The last one needs a bit more explanation. We borrowed a train engineer's costume from our friend's the Miller family (the same one Jacen used for Halloween) and we put each of the kids in the costume and took their picture. I then printed off each of the pictures and we put that picture in the picture frame the kids decorated. They ended up looking pretty cool. We seem to have lost Jacen's frame but here is his picture.
Last Sunday our ward had a special meeting with the Stake Presidency. In a nutshell, our ward was combined with the downtown branch (which was struggling) and then the whole thing split into two wards. Essentially our ward and their branch got split and the two halves joined together. A lot of changes in our ward(s) as we have a new Bishop (both wards do - our previous Bishop was finally released), and lots of new callings to fill. On THAT note, Thursday night I met with our new Bishop. I have been asked to serve as the Young Men's President. Yowser!! I think back to the YM leaders I had when I was younger (Dick Barnes, Alan Parker, Jimmy Priest) and I feel supremely inadequate. I looked over the names of the young men in our ward and I don't know any of them. Obviously that will soon change. As I got home and prayed about it I actually started to get excited (yet still overwhelmed).
Finally, Jacen's birthday was November 27th. We celebrated it on the following Saturday and pretended that day was his birthday. We had a party here with a few family and friends invited. Lot's of rugrats running around! Shanna did a great job planning and executing the whole thing. It was Thomas the Tank Engine themed and we borrowed a train set from Shanna's dad and had it set up on the pool table. We had three stations for the kids -- 1)watercolor painting 2)coloring 3)picture frame decorating. The last one needs a bit more explanation. We borrowed a train engineer's costume from our friend's the Miller family (the same one Jacen used for Halloween) and we put each of the kids in the costume and took their picture. I then printed off each of the pictures and we put that picture in the picture frame the kids decorated. They ended up looking pretty cool. We seem to have lost Jacen's frame but here is his picture.
All the kids had a GREAT time. We of course had cake (no ice cream) and with a little help Jacen blew out all the candles. Shanna made and decorated the cake--except for the train Jacen did that on his own. And by on his own I mean, without our permission and knowledge, and not exactly where we wanted to put it. But it was his cake so I guess that makes it okay.
And opening presents was a madhouse. Jacen had help from all his friends to open the gifts. Pretty funny to watch actually. We decided that Jacen didn't really need all of his presents all at once so many of them got stashed away and we'll release them slowly. You know, so he appreciates them more, not because many of them are loud and obnoxious.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Brief Update
Jacen has only one week left of swimming lessons. Kick, kick, kick!
Aaron got a free Ipod video and Jacen had fun listening to music on it. Funny smirk!
Ian sleeps peacefully. He is sooooo kissable.
That's very brief but I am very tired and ready to go to bed. May you all forgive me and just enjoy the pictures!
Aaron got a free Ipod video and Jacen had fun listening to music on it. Funny smirk!
Ian sleeps peacefully. He is sooooo kissable.
That's very brief but I am very tired and ready to go to bed. May you all forgive me and just enjoy the pictures!Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Thursday, November 08, 2007
busy, busy, busy
Hi all!
Ian Noah Olmsted at 2 weeks
I know it looks like we abuse and neglect our children... really, YOU would be crying too if someone took all your warm clothes off just just for a picture! And Jacen's shiner... not our fault! Really!
Life has been good to us! We have a beautiful family of 2 boys and haven't been TOO sleep deprived since the baby came... Ian is such a good baby and Jacen is a loving big brother to him (most of the time.)
Ian Noah Olmsted at 2 weeksAaron and Jacen on Oct. 31st
For Halloween Jacen dressed up like a train engineer and hitched a ride from his daddy while trick-or-treating. I won't go into too much detail but we had quite the ordeal convincing Jacen to even put this costume on. Thank goodness he did because he looked ADORABLE!
Oops! It is sideways- I'll fix it later!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
CIBER Case challenge
Last week I got to go up to OSU to participate in case analysis competition representing UC's College of Business. UC wasn't originally invited but they had a team drop out a few weeks before the competition and asked UC if they could step in. So Susan Sadlier who is Director of International Programs asked several students that she was familiar with if they would be interested. I said I was and talked it over with Shanna. Despite the comptetion taking place over our anniversary and having a new baby we felt like this was a great opportunity and that I should go.
So without any real advanced notice or practice our team of 4 went up to Columbus to compete. The full list of competing teams is:
Audencia Ecole de Management, Nantes, France
Brigham Young University, Marriott School of Management
Instituto Tecnológico Autónoma de México (ITAM), Mexico City, México
Queen's School of Business, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
San Diego State University, College of Business Administration
The Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business
Università Bocconi, Milan, Italy
University of Cincinnati, College of Business
University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business
University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business
University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Business
On Wednesday we got to take a tour of the Marysville Honda plant which is nothing short of spectacular. Then later that evening we had dinner and a tour at the state capital. The next morning at breakfast we were given our case and worked all day and most of the night on our case. The next morning at 8:30am we made our presentation. I felt like we started off slow but gained momentum and REALLY did well in the Q&A portion. We had 20 minutes for our presentation and then 20 minutes of Q&A from 5 judges. The judges ranged from local business leaders to OSU faculty.
Anyway, from our room BYU advanced and eventually went on to win the whole thing. It was a great learning experience and despite missing my family and my anniversary it was well worth it. There is a post on UC's website HERE
So without any real advanced notice or practice our team of 4 went up to Columbus to compete. The full list of competing teams is:
Audencia Ecole de Management, Nantes, France
Brigham Young University, Marriott School of Management
Instituto Tecnológico Autónoma de México (ITAM), Mexico City, México
Queen's School of Business, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
San Diego State University, College of Business Administration
The Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business
Università Bocconi, Milan, Italy
University of Cincinnati, College of Business
University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business
University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business
University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Business
On Wednesday we got to take a tour of the Marysville Honda plant which is nothing short of spectacular. Then later that evening we had dinner and a tour at the state capital. The next morning at breakfast we were given our case and worked all day and most of the night on our case. The next morning at 8:30am we made our presentation. I felt like we started off slow but gained momentum and REALLY did well in the Q&A portion. We had 20 minutes for our presentation and then 20 minutes of Q&A from 5 judges. The judges ranged from local business leaders to OSU faculty.
Anyway, from our room BYU advanced and eventually went on to win the whole thing. It was a great learning experience and despite missing my family and my anniversary it was well worth it. There is a post on UC's website HERE
Monday, October 22, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
and now for something completely different...
I know most of you are just going to scroll down and look at the pictures but for those of you who are bothering to read...
Jacen got to see his little brother for the first time this morning and it was honestly one of the sweetest moments of my life. I'm going to get sappy (I'll talk about football later or something) but Jacen was so very tender with Ian. He was sitting in the bed with Shanna when I brought Ian in and his face just LIT UP, "It's a little baby!" He kept pointing out his "little nose" and "little mouth" and "little hands." He hugged and kissed Ian over and over and kept asking, "Can I hold it?" It was really quite special.
Jacen bought a gift for Ian with his own money and we bought a present for Jacen that was from Ian. You can see Jacen opening the presents below. A day later everyone is doing extremely well. Other than the first few minutes of life I haven't heard Ian cry. Amazing. I know it isn't going to last but I have been at the hospital most of the morning up until now and Ian has been the most peaceful baby I've ever seen. I'm sure when he gets home and the clock reads 3am that will all change.
Shanna is recovering well too. Some minor discomfort but nothing too serious and she is up and about (and grateful to be able to move much more freely now!)
Now the good stuff....
Jacen got to see his little brother for the first time this morning and it was honestly one of the sweetest moments of my life. I'm going to get sappy (I'll talk about football later or something) but Jacen was so very tender with Ian. He was sitting in the bed with Shanna when I brought Ian in and his face just LIT UP, "It's a little baby!" He kept pointing out his "little nose" and "little mouth" and "little hands." He hugged and kissed Ian over and over and kept asking, "Can I hold it?" It was really quite special.
Jacen bought a gift for Ian with his own money and we bought a present for Jacen that was from Ian. You can see Jacen opening the presents below. A day later everyone is doing extremely well. Other than the first few minutes of life I haven't heard Ian cry. Amazing. I know it isn't going to last but I have been at the hospital most of the morning up until now and Ian has been the most peaceful baby I've ever seen. I'm sure when he gets home and the clock reads 3am that will all change.
Shanna is recovering well too. Some minor discomfort but nothing too serious and she is up and about (and grateful to be able to move much more freely now!)
Now the good stuff....
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