Wahoo!!!

Tonight Jack went pee in his potty for the first time!!! It was very exciting! A couple months ago I purchased a little potty. I wasn't thinking about starting to potty train, but I wanted to introduce the potty to him. We put it in his bathroom and occasionaly bring it up. Sometimes we ask if he wants to sit on it and try to go. At first, he sat on it a couple times, and one time he pretended to push but other than that he hasn't really been interested. Then the last little bit he has been terrified of it (he is going through a stage where everything is 'scary'). He wouldn't even get close to sitting on it.
Tonight before I stuck him in the tub I asked him if he wanted to sit on it, he wouldn't. I told him I would go get him treats and he could sit on his potty, he didn't go for it. So I stuck him in the tub. When I got him out, he ran into his room. I followed him and when I got in there he was peeing a little bit. I quickly told him we don't pee on the floor and he stopped peeing and ran. I told him he could go sit on his potty and he didn't argue, so I went and sat him on it. He quickly told me treats (since I had said that before) so I went into the kitchen to grab some m&ms. When I came back in he was concentrating so hard on peeing. He was pushing and watching it come into the toilet! He was very proud of himself. We clapped and cheered and tried to call dad. So it was an exciting night for us!
I am not saying that we are potty training, because I don't think I am ready for that. But it is a start! We will see if he has any more interest in it tomorrow!

spring day

Saturday we woke up to this.....

It was very beautiful but cold!!!
I am very ready for it to warm up though!
(and I called home to find out that my mom and all my sisters were out getting pedicures and going to lunch)

What a cold, sad spring day! :)

bells

for playgroup today we went on campus and had a private bell concert performed for us. On campus there is a carillon bell tower. A lady in our ward, Liz Berghout, is the carillonneur at KU. I didn't know much about the bell tower so I went and looked it up, here are some facts:
-in 55 years there has only been 3 carillonneurs, Liz is the 3rd and current
-there are 53 bells in the 120 ft tower
-the bells are held in a World War II memorial Campanile tower, there are names of the faculty and students that died in WWII engraved in the inside

It was great! We sat outside and listened to her play songs that the kids would know, primary songs, Old Mcdonald, If you're happy and you know it, and a bunch of other songs. Jack loved it, he would get really excited when he heard the bells and he would look up.

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When she was done playing she let us go up the tower and see the bells. We had to go up a really narrow staircase. Jack was a little nervous but he did great. The lighting was awful in this picture.

Then she let the kids play the practice bells, it is like playing a xylophone, no one could hear them. Jack had a blast yanking on the wooden knobs. When they play the bells for reals they use a closed fist and push down on the top. The kids grabbed onto them like handles.

we were up really high!

Then we went up more stairs and got to the real bells. She was crazy enought to let us play the real bells. I am sure everyone outside had a headache. The kids were just pounding away, especially Jack. He was in heaven. He made me a little nervous because he was pretty rough with them. Thats all I need is him to break these huge bells that are 50 years old. It was really cool to play the bells, the low keys are connected to the huge bells and the were heavy to push down, then the higher keys were lighter. It is set up like a piano with "white and black" keys and you can even play with your feet. It was pretty awesome to watch Liz play them, it is really quite an art.

Liz started playing peek-a-boo with Jack

looking up at the bells

I had to get video of Jack playing, he would turn into this crazy man and start pounding the bells. He really had a good time!!!

Thanks so much to Sis. Berghout, it was so nice of her to show her expertise to the kids. I left feeling really lucky that we get to liv in such a neat town. There are so many different things I get to take Jack too. It is so fun to live in a college town and have the campus nearby. I am so grateful that I get to stay home with Jack. I know I am extremely lucky to get to spend everyday with him and learn and experience new things with him. He is my little buddy and I wouldn't change my life for anything right now. I LOVE being a mom!!!

george

Jack has been taking his friend george to bed with him every night. The other night he put on his mcqueen jammies and he had another pair so we decided to put them on george. Jack thought this was hilarious. Its nice to know he has someone to cuddle up with at night!

3/22/09

new haircut

I haven't made a post about Jack's new haircut yet. We tried to take him in about a month ago to get it cut and he completely freaked out, so we didn't end up doing it. It was getting really long so we decided to try again. This time we came stocked with a bag of treats. We told him we were going to get his haircut and he wasn't yelling ow like he did before, so that was a good sign. He did really well. He sat on my lap and ate his treats and held really still when the girl asked him too. The girl didn't do a great job, but he still looks handsome. I told her that I liked the curls and I just wanted a trim, but she took out the clippers and went to town shaving all of them off. Sad. It does make me a little sad that his curls are gone on the sides and back but I guess they will grow back.

He stood still long enough to get a picture and then he was off running again.

3/21/09

Spring Break

So I am here to tell you what we did for spring break, it was this last week. If you don't know ( I haven't really publicly announced it) we are off for another one of our adventures this summer. This time in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A few months ago, Luke sent out a bunch of letters to law firms all over the country. Really fast he heard back from a firm in Iowa. He had a phone interview with them and right there on the phone they invited us up to have an official interview and to check out Cedar Rapids. We went last November and of course Luke did well in the interview and the next thing I know I am moving to Cedar Rapids, Iowa in less than 2 months. So we headed up there this last week to find a place to live this summer. It is about 5 hours away from Lawrence so we left on Tuesday and came back Thursdat night. It was a short trip that felt very long! We spent 2 full days driving all over the town looking for someone to rent us a place for only 3 months. Although we haven't found anywhere for sure and that was a little frustrating we had a nice trip. We stayed at a nice hotel and got to take Jack swimming, we even ate at real restaurants (ones you have to tip and you get served, we never get to do that in Lawrence on our student budget) We had to spoil ourselves to make it so we weren't so frustrated. We are still looking for a place and crossing our fingers that a couple of options go through.

So although we are sad (ok very sad) we won't be in Utah for another summer we are very grateful for this job. The economy has made it so there are not a lot of options out there. We are so excited to get decent paychecks this summer! We will see what happens after this Summer and where we will end up after school but for now we will do what we need to for our family. And who knows it might turn out to be heaven.........

Shatto farm

(picture is from their website)

On the way home from Cedar Rapids , Luke was so nice to go on a major detour to go to the cutest little dairy farm. My friend had gotten one of their milks at a store and it came in the cutest glass milk bottle, she then went on a mission to find where to buy more and she found the farm online. It is pretty far from our house but when we decided to go to Cedar Rapids, I knew we would be going past the farm and I couldn't resist stopping. When I told my mom we were stopping at a dairy farm she got so excited, she said it must be in my blood to love dairy farms. And Oh My was it the cutest farm I've ever seen.

First they let us go see the baby cows. The cow below was actually born that day! It was brand new and so cute. Then we visited the country store and stocked up on their homemade goods. They make their own ice cream, cheese, butter, and have lots of different flavors of their fresh milk. Their ice cream was so good, and we are very picky about ice cream. Luke even thought it was better than Haagen-Dazs. It was very good chocolate ice cream. Forty dollars later we headed to go see some cows get milked.

Jack was excited when the adult cows got brought in.

One of the farmers came and brought us right back to where they milk the cows. He sprayed milk near us and we watched the cows get hooked up and milked. Jack was pretty confused.

When they started milking Jack wanted to get right down where he could see. so he laid down on the gross floor. If you have ever been back where they milk cows you know how gross that is, but what the heck I was a good mom and let him enjoy himself.

I really loved Shatto Farms. They really pride themselves on what they do and they take such good care of their cows. You can really tell, their cows are the prettiest cows I've ever seen. They also are so friendly. They are willing to take time and show you how it all works and let you see the whole process. I didn't get the best pictures but maybe next time I will get better pictures of the whole farm. I wish it was closer I would definetly make weekly stops to buy their products. And their packaging is amazing. Their glass bottles are fantastic. I told my mom my dream is to move to Washington on my Grandpa's farm and open a cute little store like Shatto's. Thanks Mandy for the great find!

sunday morning message

yet another championship

Luke Nevill you are a beautiful man! Since Utah football is a national powerhouse anything the basketball team does just gives me a little extra satisfaction. The feeling is difficult to describe. Its like finding five bucks in a pair of pants you have not worn in six months. Its like a sunny day in January. Its like finding fifty bucks on the street when you have a paycheck in your pocket. Its just a little something extra. It is very clear the Utes are the class of the conference in all the sports people care about. I know BYU fan your men's volleyball team is really good. Commissioner Craig Thompson said, "Going forward we will no longer allow the elders to play with the deacons in football or mens basketball." Sorry Utah you will have to find a new conference. I know BYU fan you have had a few good years in basketball. The differnce is when Utah goes to the dance they win. Perhaps its becasue they recruit players that show up when they play with the big boys. The Utes will make it to the second round and get beat. No big deal. There is always football.

a taste of spring

In the last couple of weeks we have had a couple of awesome days, it was so nice to be able to get out and enjoy the outdoors! We are ready for spring to be here full time!!!

Last Thursday we pretty much spent the whole day outside. The weather was 80 degrees and we couldn't waste a warm day like that. I decided to let Jack ride his vroom vroom outside. He hasn't had the chance to take it outside yet and he loved it! He giggled the entire way down the driveway.

He thought it was great to ride all around. (And no we still have not cut his hair. We have tried, but he makes it impossible for us to actually dare to take scissors near his head.) So he still has his crazy beautiful hair blowing in the wind.

He even went off-roading, all over the neighbor's lawns.3/5/09

We also went to the zoo with some friends, so fun!
Something must have been funny!

Feeding the ducks

Watching the elephants take a shower.

The week before that we had a warm day and we were able to go to the park with dad. I loved that I was able to pull out some of Jack's spring clothes.

For some reason Jack decided that he is scared of everything the last couple of weeks. Everything is "scary"

Here he is running,

and running again, I am not kidding that day Jack ran for about an hour and a half straight. He loves to run!!! He wears me out.

2/25/09

Countdown............

25 days from now I will be picking up Summer & Avery from the airport!!!!
yes we are both very excited that they get to come play with Jack & I for a few days!
I am sure there will be lots of late nights, ticket to ride games, shopping trips, and yummy food, and some much needed cousin time for Jack
I can't wait!!!!