Robbie 'n' Meri's Blog

My Baby!

2010-09-21T12:42:00.001-07:00

It seems like Jared just joined our family...

and now he is in Kindergarten...

...and last night he lost his first baby tooth!

They grow up way too fast!

Articles of Faith of Mormon Culture

2009-11-09T20:59:00.000-08:00

I thought this was funny. I especially like #9.

1. We believe in SUVs and minivans, as the form of transportation, and in knee length shorts, which are always nice, and in the multilevel marketing.

2. We believe that church ball players should be punished for their own fouls, and not for unsportsmanlike aggression.

3. We believe that through bread crumbs, cheese, creamy soups, and rice all casseroles can be saved through obedience to ward cookbooks and creativity in the mixing bowl.

4. We believe that the first layers and ingredients of the Dip are: first, beans; second, cheese; third, chopped tomatoes; fourth, the gift of sour cream; fifth, olives; sixth, salsa; seventh, guacamole, that is, if you have it.

5. We believe that a Mormon should have a distinguished or a cute name, that it is appropriate to name a child after a church leader or a historical figure including an ancestor, that alternative spellings and French prefixes only add to a name, and that when referring to the names of General Authorities, middle initials should be a part thereof.

6. We believe in the same wall decor that exists in many Mormon homes, namely, framed family proclamations, vinyl lettering, inspirational word signs, family photos, pictures of temples and Jesus, and so forth.

7. We believe in the gift of the re-gift, church books, crafts, family photos, baked goods, emergency supply kits, and so forth.

8. We believe in sparkling grape juice so long as it is nonalcoholic; we also believe in bringing root beer and sprite to ward parties.

9. We believe in all that we have scrapbooked, all that we will now scrapbook, and we believe that we will yet scrapbook many great and important things pertaining to our family, friends, pets, and vacations.

10. We believe in the literal mixing of ketchup and mayo and in the generous application of ranch dressing; that CBAs (church-based acronyms) will be used to describe YM/YW, PEC, the Y, NCMO, and CTR; that Mitt Romney will get Mormons to vote for him any time he runs; and, that the Mormons will enjoy reading Twilight and The Work and the Glory.

11. We claim the privilege of trying to identify common acquaintances with any visitor at church, and allow all other people at church the same privilege, and let them name drop the names of Famous and general authorities how, where, or what they may.

12. We believe in being subject to scoutmasters, pampered chef hostesses, and the writers of the U.S. News and World Report Rankings for professional schools, and in obeying, honoring, and sustaining Glenn Beck.

13. We believe in being above average, good at crafts, optimistic, and being fifteen minutes late everywhere we go. Indeed, we may say that we follow BYU football. We believe rumors about famous people joining the church, we hope to meet the three Nephites, we have endured many pyramid schemes, and hope to be able to endure all pyramid schemes. If there is anything cheap, free, sold in bulk, or given away when somebody is moving, we seek after these things.

Car for sale!

2009-08-24T19:59:00.000-07:00

We are selling our 2006 Hyundai Sonata so that we can get a new minivan. Our Dodge caravan is on its last leg and now that we have 3 kids in carseats, we can't all fit in the Sonata. The car seats are too darn wide! So I am sad that we have to sell it, really sad. I almost cried on Saturday when I went to Sam's Club to fill it with gas, that this would be one of the last times that I drive it. We decided that we need something more reliable for the family vehicle and if the caravan were to just up and die on us we wouldn't even be able to get to church. And we can't have that! ;) And we would be stuck in the house all day long. Not that I go anywhere...I am still adjusting to 3. I did have the energy to exercise once last week. I decided I needed to after Robbie and I hiked the "Y" for our 7th anniversary on the 15th. (Neither of us had hiked it before and I have been in Provo since 1997 minus the mission.) I was sore for like 2 days. I waddled around for 2 days like a pregnant lady.

So, if you or any of your friends or family are interested in a great car, give us a call. You can see our ad on ksl.com classifieds. Just search for a 2006 Hyundai Sonata.

Laughter is the best medicine...

2009-08-03T22:43:00.000-07:00

They say laughter is the best medicine. I think it's true, especially when it comes from a cute little baby. Enjoy!

Nathan just started laughing at Jared at dinner tonight. This went on for over 5 minutes. Nathan is such a happy baby and so much fun.

A Blessing From Heaven

2009-05-05T10:47:00.000-07:00

Robbie blessed Nathan on Sunday and gave him a beautiful blessing. I am so grateful for my husband and for the wonderful father he is to our boys. I am grateful that he is a worthy priesthood holder who is able to bless our family. We had a family get together that evening for family members that couldn't attend the blessing to meet our little Nathan. Nathan was fabulous all day. He slept right through his blessing, and let everyone and anyone hold him. Enjoy the pictures!

Our first picture as a family now that Nathan has joined our family. We couldn't get one in the hospital because Nathan was in the NICU and the boys weren't allowed in there.

Aunt Aimee and Nathan

Meri's Aunt Kathleen and Nathan
Thanks for bringing such a yummy salad!

Great Grandma Summers and Nathan

Meri's siblings Brett and Rebecca with Nathan. My sister Melanie came to the blessing too, but got stuck feeding people at BYU's Canon Center and missed the party. We missed you Mel!

Grandpa and Grandma Haertel

Great Grandpa and Grandma Haertel

Meri's brother Brett, Alex, Robbie, Jared, Meri's sister Rebecca, and Vance's friend Mark

Robbie's siblings Josh, Aimee, brother-in-law Vance, niece Mylah, and Jennie

The Pattison's (Robbie's cousins and Aunt and Uncle)
Thanks Jolene for the yummy salad you brought!

We would also like to thank Robbie's parents' for hosting the party and for preparing most of the food. I really appreciate it since I am averaging 4-5 hours of sleep a night, and there is no way I would have been able to throw something like this together. So thank you, thank you, thank you! We enjoyed seeing everyone and celebrating Nathan's arrival!

He's Home!

2009-04-11T21:34:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that we are all at home and doing well now. Nathan still has two very tiny pnuemothoraxes, but the doctor saw no reason for him to stay at the hospital since he was doing so well. I will post more pictures soon. Jared and Alex have been so cute with him and love their new brother so much.

Nathan Andrew Haertel

2009-04-09T14:43:00.001-07:00

I started having contractions Sunday afternoon, but they were far apart and not painful. I went to the doctor Monday morning, the day after my due date, and he said I could be induced the next morning and to get to the hospital at 5am. My mom was very excited to find out she would be getting a grandson for her birthday. I had contractions throughout the day, but nothing painful. So after a lousy night's sleep, I probably only slept 2.5 hours because I was having contractions, we went to the hospital early. We got checked in. I was only dilated to a 1. They induced me at 7:20am and I got my epidural at 8am and the doctor broke my water at 8:20. At 11:50 I was a 9, and unfortunately I could feel everything on the left side of my body, which was pretty weird. So they gave me another dose of the epidural which numbed me up. I pushed 3 times through a contraction and they told me to relax. I thought I was going to have to push again, but I looked down and I saw his head. I had no idea that my pushing had done anything since this time I could seriously feel nothing (with Alex I could feel pressure, but no pain). And then all of a sudden his whole body slid out. I was like, "wow, that was easy". They took the baby to clean him off and measure him. So he was born at 12:11 pm and weighed 7 lbs 11 oz. and is 21 in. long. Unfortunately, I only got to hold him for like 15 seconds before they whisked him away to the nursery in respiratory distress.

He was in distress for 20 - 30 minutes.

They took an x-ray of his chest and found he had air in his chest cavity on both sides of the body and around the heart. Surprisingly though his vitals were so good. The doctors keep telling us how miraculous it is that he is doing so well after looking at his x-rays. His oxygen levels and heart rate are all excellent.

So, while he was in the nursery I was shivering to death in my room. I reacted badly to the extra dose of epidural. Usually I shiver for 15 mintues after delivery, but this was uncontrollable and lasted for like 3 hours. They brought Nathan to me around 2 and they laid him next to me as I shivered and tried to nurse him. It didn't go so well. I felt really sick and started throwing up. So they took him back to the nursery. They needed to monitor him because he might need to go to Utah Valley to the NICU. I was praying so hard that he wouldn't have to go. I didn't want to be separated from him and I was in no condition to be checked out of the hospital. They gave me a shot of Zofran and by 4pm I was able to sit up and eat an orange. (Despite the bad reaction I wouldn't trade the pain of childbirth for shivers and throwing up 3 times.) At 5:30 pm I finally got to hold Nathan for a little while. I tried to nurse him, but he didn't eat very well. They took him back to the nursery at 6:30pm to monitor him. I had a fever, I think it was just from my cold, but they put me and Nathan on antibiotics to be sure. The doctors think he might have pneumonia too, but it is really hard to tell at this age and from the x-rays I guess, so we'll just have to wait and see. He hasn't been allowed out of the nursery since then since he is attached to more monitors now and an IV, before he just had a portable monitor.

He was born on a beautiful day and this is the view from my hospital room.

My brother, Brett, my sister, Melanie, and her boyfriend Nick came to see Nathan that night. Only Robbie and I are allowed to hold him, and we can take only one person in at a time to see him.

We went to see Nathan at 10pm and feed him. He is just so cute and I really hope he doesn't have to go. Just before the doctor left he held his breath a few times and his stats went low. If it happens more throughout the night then they will have to transport him.

4.8.09 They woke me up at 5am to go feed him and he had been doing well so far that night, which made me so happy. At 10am after feeding him, the doctor gave me an update and he gets to stay here! They will run the tests tomorrow morning and see where is he at.

Robbie's parents brought the kids down to see the baby for the first time. Jared got to see him quickly before he went to preschool. Alex and I are watching shark tale while we wait for Jared to get back.

Jared was very excited about the baby. Alex was a little shy about seeing his brother at first, but every time he saw him he got more and more excited. I wish they could touch him and hold him.

Jared realized Robbie was taking pictures.

El abuelito with his 6th grandchild.

Abuelita Ann with baby Nathan.

Finally, we got a picture of Robbie with Nathan. He has spent the most time with Nathan as he accompanied the doctors as they worked on him.

My cute boys!

4.9.09 Nathan is doing great, but he will have to stay here an extra day. I got discharged at noon, but we are going to board in another day and hopefully he will be able to come home tomorrow. The air is gone on one side, but still there on his left. He tested negative for an infection, but they need to take him off the IV and see if he still continues to test negative to rule out the pneumonia. We feel so blessed that he is doing so well and living up to his name. We chose Nathan which means, "gift", "given from God" and Andrew means "strong". He has been so brave through all of this!

So yeah, the 3rd time has been quite eventful, but we are so pleased that things have gone so well considering Nathan's condition.

1 Day to Go

2009-04-04T19:36:00.000-07:00

I'm due tomorrow but nothing is happening, which is normal for me. However, I came down with a cold Thursday night and it has been horrible today and yesterday. I have a fever, chills, cough, runny nose, sneezing. Luckily it hasn't gone above 100, but I hope I get over this fast, because with stitches having a cough and sneezing will not go well together. This has also squelched any nesting that I still wanted to do. The house was all clean Thursday night, and now it is a disaster, and I just feel too awful to do anything about it. Over the last two months I have been madly trying to get Alex's first year scrapbook done, but I have failed to finish that as well. Oh well, I will get it done though, it might just take me a whole lot longer with 3 kids instead of just 2. Well, the next time I post, I am sure I will be in a happier state as it will be a post of our beautiful baby boy!

Back together at last!

2009-01-26T20:13:00.000-08:00

I know I have been known to not post for a few months, but this time it wasn't my fault, I swear! My computer started getting blue screens the week before Thanksgiving and basically stopped working. It took two months, many phone calls to HP's customer service, 2 sets of system recovery CDs which revealed the problem wasn't a software problem, which Robbie and I already knew, and finally sending in the computer over Christmas break, I have finally been reunited with my lovely laptop. They replaced almost everything, except for the screen, webcam, and hard drives, so we have been getting to know each other again this last week. I couldn't post because I couldn't get to my pictures, and what is a post without pictures? Now that we are back together I have been able to upload all of the pictures we took over the holidays and get my photoshop album all organized and photos tagged, and thanks to free shipping at Snapfish I was able to get most of the pics printed so I can get the kids photo albums up to date. I have just a little over 2 months to get that done and Alex's first year scrapbook, another reason it was such a huge inconvenience to be without my computer. I am so happy to have it back. "They" always say not to buy the extended warranty, but Robbie and I have decided to extend the warranty since practically everything was replaced and would have cost us more than buying a new computer.

Rah! Rah! Rah! Go Cougars!

2009-01-26T18:13:00.000-08:00

This year we decided to splurge and we bought All Sport Passes so that we could enjoy many of the sporting events BYU has to offer. We thought it would be a great way to spend time as a family and the boys loved it! The first few games we died of heat, but luckily none of the games were in the bitter cold. We got seats by my brother Brett, and occasionally my sister Melanie would come and visit us in our section.

Our seats were in the North end zone and we enjoyed seeing a lot of touch downs scored there.

Jared, Alex, and Aunt Melanie

Jared belting out the fight song.

Robbie and Alex

Alex loves his brother Jared so much!

We always had to sneak in lots of treats to keep Alex happy for the 3 - 4 hour games. If he wasn't eating he was flirting with whatever cute girls were sitting near us that week.

The whole fam enjoying the game!

Since a lot of the games were in the afternoon Alex would miss his nap. He would fall asleep in the last few minutes of the game sometimes and this time he fell asleep while sitting on Robbie's shoulders as we walked to our car.

Alex and Robbie

Jared and Uncle Brett

Jared singing the fight song the first home game of the season.

Alex finally caught on by the last home game and really started getting into it. He even joins in when the crowd cheers "First Down".

Jared loves, I mean LOVES, singing the Cougar Fight Song! He will break out in song daily. Over Thanksgiving he would run around Robbie's parents' house with his hand in the air, as if he were carrying a flag shouting the song. The good aunt Aimee is, she made Jared a fabulous flag for him to run around with.

However, after he saw a BYU quilt that Grandma and Grandpa have he noticed that the B-Y-U letters she had made with duct tape were not exactly the same font as the ones on the blanket and we had a meltdown. She did her best, but it was still not good enough for him. There was no consoling until Uncle Josh made him one on the computer.

Sittin' Pretty, Ready to Go

2008-11-17T16:38:00.000-08:00

We went to the doctor today and we are over halfway to having our very own basketball team. That's right, another boy! Yes, I was hoping for a girl, everyone knows I did everything to have one, but apparently God wants us to have another boy right now. And it's probably a good thing, since Robbie still has two years of school left, and I wouldn't be able to properly spoil her like she should be. The next time we have a baby, Robbie will have a full time job and I will be able to pay for cute girl clothes and not dress her in her brothers' hand-me-downs.

So yeah, I have nothing to do to get ready. We have sizes of clothes for all seasons since Alex and Jared were on the opposite ends of the spectrum. No burp cloths or blankets need to be made, so I can just relax until he comes, right? Not! I have plenty to do, like Alex's first year scrapbook, or catch up on the kids' photo album, or do the scrapbook for Robbie and I that I have been trying to do for years. Oh, and we also have to get rid of a lot of stuff to make room for one more in our little apartment.

It will be interesting to see what he looks like, since Jared looks more like me and Alex looks more like Robbie. We just have one problem...coming up with another boy name. It is so hard for us, and it doesn't help that people seem to always be stealing good boy names for their girls. It will probably come down to another long last night in the hospital debating what the little guy's name should be.

So no one can get mad at me that there aren't enough good worthy young men for their daughters to marry, because I'm certainly doing my part. It made me think of a quote that was in the Visitor's Center on my mission about how sister missionaries were important because they would be raising up righteous young men, Elders, in the church. If anyone has this please send it to me. I tried to find it on lds.org, but couldn't.

Ultrasound pics to come...

Free Snapfish Scrapbook

2008-11-13T10:12:00.000-08:00

My friend sent me the following email and it's true, so everyone enjoy it!

Oprah is giving coupons for a free snapfish scrapbook. You have to get the coupon by Friday and use it by Sunday. So hurry at take a look at it. I thought it was so exciting and that every one would like to take advantage of it! I hope this link works.

http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahshow/20081029_tows_messyhouse/7

Halloween

2008-11-06T12:36:00.000-08:00

We had a fun Halloween. Jared got to wear his costume to pre-school and he got some goodies there too. On Wednesday they got Halloween cupcakes. His had an eye ring on it and he is obsessed with it. He wears it all the time, except for when he sleeps because he doesn't want to lose it. He tells me, "I love my eye, Mommy". Jared sure was a cute monkey.

My friend Choka's daughter Zayaa goes to preschool with Jared and so we have started carpooling. Her husband Dan works in the same lab as Robbie, so she took the kids to see them after school in their costumes and Jared thought that we pretty fun. Here are our cute kids. (Alex and Ariuna were napping.)

Jared before we left for the ward Halloween party.

The only way we could Alex to take a picture was to give him his pumpking with some candy already in it.

The ward had chili and baked potatoes first, followed by trunk-or-treating. Robbie decided this is the way to go. We got the church at 6:30 and were done and leaving by 7:30. No one was cold or tired. It was great.

Alex loved it!! Don't touch his bucket though or you will get a terrific tantrum. He had to be the one carrying it. It was so cute when he asked for candy from the people next to our car and I heard him say "thank you" so clearly. He always says "gracias" with me when I tell him to say "thank you". Robbie, who took the kids around, said he had been doing really well with saying it.

When we got home Alex looked through his bucket for a piece of candy to eat and he pulled out a little box of Milk Duds and started "oohing" and "ahhing". He had never had them before but you couldn't tell from his excitement. I asked him if I could have one and he responded with an emphatic "Nnooo", his favorite word lately.

Jared dumped out his bucket of candy and couldn't believe how well he had made out.

I overestimated how many kids would be at the party and we were left with 2 huge bags of candy from Sam's Club that were still half full. I guess we won't be needing to steal from our kids stash like last year. ;)

Halloween Birthday Party

2008-11-05T21:48:00.000-08:00

We got to go to a Halloween Birthday Party for my friends' little girl on Oct. 25. The boys were so excited to wear the monkey costumes.

Alex really enjoyed the punch and cupcake. What a surprise! He has such a sweet tooth.

My little monkey.

My other little monkey, Jared, enjoying his cupcake.

They had a pinata and Alex loved it! It was so cute to watch him. Every time he would hit it he would yell. I thought it was so cute. Alex was very excited about all of the suckers that came pouring out when the big kids finally broke it open. I helped him get some starbursts and jolly ranchers. ;)

Thanks for a fun party Ana and David!

Gettin' Ready for Halloween

2008-11-05T21:22:00.001-08:00

Well, I don't get much into decorating for the holidays, but since Jared is getting older I think it is important to celebrate and have some family traditions. So we picked out some pumpkins from Wal-Mart (not as fun as going to the pumpkin patch like we did growing up in St. Louis. Do they even have that here in Utah?) and we carved them the Friday before Halloween. We saw on the Today show to attach a whisk to your drill to clean out your pumpkin and so Jared wanted us to try it. It worked out all right, but not as good as we saw on T.V. Jared didn't like touching the guts and was done after pulling out seeds once. I don't blame him. I had my dishwashing gloves on.

Here are our Jack-O-Lanterns. And let me tell you. There was a tantrum about the square eye. I made the first triangle eye and asked Jared what he wanted the second one to be. He said a square. I asked him twice if he was sure that he didn't want another triangle. He was sure he wanted a square until he saw it. He wanted me to fix it, which you can't. He threw a tantrum and ended up in time out. When he came out he came over to me and said, "Ok, mommy, say your sorry." I was like, excuse me, you need to apoligize to me. He said, "but you did a square." He really thought I was in the wrong. I told him I was sorry for the misunderstanding, but that we can't behave this way. He apologized and we hugged and kissed, but he was in no mood for pictures, so I took this picture a few days later.

For FHE we decorated sugar cookies. My mom always made these and Halloween just isn't Halloween without them. Jared decorated his first one, and ate it, and was ready to play Wii. He decided he wanted to decorate a few more after that though and was pleased with his creation.

His had noses and hats. I only put eyes and mouths on mine.

Alex eats his pumpkin cookies by eating all of the chocolate chips first and then he eats the cookie. I like having a chocolate chip in every bite, but to each his own.

Raspberry Pickin'

2008-11-05T20:55:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my mission companion Janae, my sister Melanie and I and Jared and Alex enjoyed an afternoon in Payson picking raspberries. After seeing all of her homemade jam I decided I just had to go and we had a great time. It was a little late in the season, we went Oct. 16, and there had already been a freeze so we had to look a little harder for the berries and my quads were so sore the next day from all of the standing and squatting as we looked for and picked raspberries. It took 2 hours to get there because of the road construction, so we got there when I thought we would be leaving. But boy, oh, boy after eating that jam on some french toast, it was so worth it.

Jared and Alex helped pick the first hour and then ran around the patch the second hour. Alex was very tired, since this was during his nap time, by the time we finished.

My sister Melanie, who is a freshman at BYU, came with us. I am so glad she did. It has really been fun to have her close and the kids loved having her there. She made some raspberry peach jam with her raspberries. She made some rolls and she said they were quite the hit with her friends.

It was so sunny out and we couldn't get a picture without whitening our faces. Jared I guess is practicing for his upcoming debut as a monkey for Halloween this year.

I highly recommend this activity for everyone and I plan to do it every year while we live here. My mom would take us strawberry picking when I was little and I just loved it, so it was fun to do it with my kids. For more info, click here.

Drastic Times Call For Drastic Measures

2008-11-05T20:20:00.000-08:00

I am in mourning and I just had to do something, so I cut off all my hair. Pretty symbolic, huh? I have posted some pictures for those disbelieving friends and family.

Here is how long my hair was before:

Here is how short it is after:

My hair is still wet. I went to get it cut at 8pm tonight and didn't have her style it since it was so late. I will put up more pics when I actually style it.

Although I am disappointed that Obama won, that is not the reason I cut my hair. I realized that my hair had gotten really long about a month or so ago. I have always wanted to donate my hair to Locks of Love, but since I am not blessed with fast growing hair like my cousin Camille or Robbie's sisters, I have never done it. I didn't want to just get my hair cut and have 8 inches thrown in the garbage, so I decided now would be the perfect time to make the sacrifice and take the plunge. If I hate it, being pregnant, my hair grows a lot faster than normal, so by the time I have the baby my hair will have grown out somewhat.

I've Been Tagged!

2008-10-18T18:34:00.000-07:00

For the first time ever I've been tagged by my sister. That's probably because I'm not the best or most consistent blogger. Anyways, here it is...

8 TV shows I love to watch:
Heroes
House
Smallville
ER
The Biggest Loser
Hannity & Colmes
Today
The View

8 places I love to eat:
PF Changs
Tepanyaki
Carraba's
Wingers
Cafe Rio
Apple Bee's
My mom's
Houlihans (however, my sister just informed me that they got rid of their potato skins, what's up with that!?!)

8 things that happened yesterday:
Hung out with friends and chatted while kids played
Took a nap
Played with the kids
Went grocery shopping
Made dinner
Washed dishes
Washed and mashed raspberries
Watched Smallville

8 things I look forward to:
Finding out what we are having (Nov. 17th)
Making baby blankets and burp cloths for a girl hopefully
Not feeling sick anymore
Getting Alex's first year scrapbook done
Date night with my hubby
Time spent with family
The holidays
Robbie finishing his Ph.D.

8 things I love about fall:
BYU football
The leaves changing colors
Cooler temperatures
Crispness to the air
The red all over the mountains
TV shows are back on
Halloween
Thanksgiving

8 things on my wish list:
New maternity jeans that are long enough
New shoes (all of mine have worn out at the same time)
2nd honeymoon to Cancun
Bring the kids' photo albums and scrapbooks up to date
Buy and furnish a home
Peanut M&M's
BYU beating Utah
Getting through school loan free

8 people I'm tagging:
Ann
Aimee
Sherrie
Melanie
Hannah
Jennifer
Ruth
Anna

Music and Dancin'

2008-10-08T20:02:00.000-07:00

The last few times we have gone to Grandma's house, Jared has loved playing the harmonica. Alex always wants to do what his brother is doing and soon we found him blowing out tunes on the harmonica and shaking his hips.

Brothers jammin' and dancin'...

Is Running in the Genes?

2008-10-08T19:05:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of runners in Robbie's family and it seems that Alex might have the gene or at least the desire to race. Jared really likes to run too. We went to watch Aimee's race at UVU on Friday and the boys had a lot of fun running around and getting muddy. Alex's starting position for racing is a little unusual. Check it out...

Now he takes off...

My Baby is in Preschool!

2008-10-01T19:28:00.000-07:00

Jared had his first day of preschool today! He was soooo excited and had no problems with me dropping him off and leaving. We went and bought his backpack on Monday. Robbie took him to Wal-Mart Saturday night, but they didn't have any kids backpacks which he was very upset about, so when we found the Spiderman backpack he had been asking for at ShopKo he was ecstatic. And all I have been hearing since then is the following:

"Mommy, I love my Spiderman backpack."

"Mommy, I love backpacks."

"Mommy, my Spiderman backpack is so cool."

"Mommy, thank you so much for buying me this backpack."

I have heard this about 10 times every day the past three days. He insisted on bringing it last night to the open house and was disappointed no one else had their backpacks. So when I picked him up today he was very excited to tell me that all of "my kids" had backpacks.

He brought home his first project, a "J" he had decorated. He said they read stories, ate cheese and elephant ears, and a kid wearing a yellow shirt cried. He loved school and is excited to go back. I can't believe my baby is old enough to go to school! It was weird just having one child for a few hours and I think Alex enjoyed having me all to himself.

Here we go again!

2008-09-17T19:20:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed I haven't been blogging lately, and well I actually have an excuse this time. I have been sick morning, midday, and night for the past 7 weeks. Luckily it's nothing too serious and I'm hoping it will clear up in the next couple of weeks, but for sure in the next 6 months. That's right, we're expecting baby #3 and are so very excited!

We had our first appointment today and they moved my due date up to April 5th from the 9th. That's always great news. I was excited to hear the baby's heartbeat and see her (positive thinking) on the ultrasound and to know everything seems to be progressing as it should be. Here is a picture of our little peanut from our visit today:

Only 8.5 weeks until we find out the sex of the baby, and yes I'm hoping for a girl. I love my boys and would be fine having more boys, but I just want to experience having a girl.

So we told Jared and Alex Sunday night that I was going to be having a baby. Alex doesn't understand, but Jared is so excited, and talks about it several times a day. We asked him if he wanted a sister or a brother and he told us he wants a sister like Mylah (his cousin who is 8 or 9 months). We explained that I had a baby in my tummy and that that is why I have been feeling sick. So he asked, "so there be two baby Mylah's? One for Jennie and one for us." We were like, "well yes, but our baby will probably have a different name" (especially if it ends up being a boy). So he calls the baby, baby Mylah. It's funny how he understands it. We are glad he is excited.

It has been hard feeling so sick all the time. This pregnancy is not as bad as Jared's, but worse than Alex's. I think it's because I am having a girl (thinking positive again), because I read in a book that many first time moms are sick because their body has never done this before and produces too many hormones, making them sick. Then the second time they aren't as sick because their body is like "Oh, I've done this before. I know what to do this time." That was my experience from Jared to Alex. Well, your body I assume would be producing different hormones when you have a girl versus a boy. So my body, never having a girl, is in shock again. Let a girl dream, right? Right...

So Robbie has just been amazing taking care of the kids in the mornings and playing with them in the evenings, doing the dishes, and then being a Ph.D. student on top of all of that working hard all day and getting little sleep at night. I am so grateful for his love and service. Robbie's mom has also helped out a lot. We have gone up there the last several weeks for a few days at a time, to lessen the load on Robbie. She has taken care of the kids in the morning, played with them throughout the day, fixed us meals and just been so great. I am so grateful to have family that is always there to help us. It has been hard on Jared. He will ask me if I feel sick and I unfortunately always respond yes and he will cry and say, "no, don't be sick mommy". So hopefully this pregnancy will go like Alex's and I will get better in a couple of weeks when the first trimester is over.

Anyways, I'm glad we can finally announce this since I have been showing for a few weeks now (depressing), and people may have noticed me snitching my kids' snacks at church. So, there you have it. Baby #3 here we go!

Rosarito Mexico 2008

2008-08-07T18:50:00.000-07:00

Last week we spent the week in Rosarito, Mexico with Robbie's family. We had an amazing time and are so grateful that Robbie's parents treated us to such a fun family vacation. We drove the 12 hours over 2 days so it wasn't too bad. The kids were actually quite good, and it helped that we had Josh sitting next to Jared, since Josh is his favorite. You can see all of the pictures from our trip by clinking the link "Family Photo Gallery" on the top right of the screen. Here are some of the highlights of our trip.

As we traveled south on I-15 we saw the most vibrant rainbow I think I have ever seen. It was gorgeous.

The boys were great on our 12 hours journey to Mexico!

Here we are about to cross the border. It took a few seconds to cross into Mexico, but coming back it took over 2 hours! I wonder why?

Alex loves jumping off the ledge. We have to make sure though he is close to it, because often times he will be too far back and just start falling forward. He loved swimming and would ask to go whenever he saw the water.

Grandma Ann got Jared these "chido" (cool in Spanish) dolphin "googles" (how Jared says goggles). He wore them all the time, even when we weren't swimming.

And of course, the boogie boarding. I don't participate in this. The Pacific is way too cold for me. I thought about getting in for a second when Robbie's mom and dad got in, and I have never seen them get in the other 2 years we have come here, and Robbie's mom doesn't even get in in Cancun. But then, when I was taking pictures the water cam up about mid-calf and it almost took my breath away it was so cold, and my feet ached because of the cold. I have no idea how Robbie and his family can do it. They say you just go numb after awhile. Anyways, Robbie had a good time trying to catch a wave in.

Jared loved playing in the sand and making animals and temples (sand castles).

Jared and I made a sea turtle.

Alex shared the same sentiment I did on the ocean. This is him running away from the water.

It is a family tradition to go to this great restaurant called La Fonda. They have these great flour tortilla chips and salsa and a view of the ocean where we always see dolphins.

This year the dolphins really put on a show for us swimming in the waves and jumping out of them. It was great and screamed like a little school girl it was so exciting.

All of a sudden all of the boogie boarders got out of the water. JAWS had appeared. Robbie's dad and sister Aimee both thought they saw a shark. It swam straight and never came up for air, so let's just say no one got in the rest of the day and the next day they got it after they saw some dolphins swimming nearby and deemed it safe to go in. No one wanted to watch Jaws then until after we left Mexico. I can't imagine why.

Alex usually spent his beach time taking a nap. Isn't he precious?

Jared and Robbie watching the boogie boarders.

Uncle Josh bought Jared a popsicle which he thoroughly enjoyed.

My niece Mylah (with her mom Jennie) is tougher than me and absolutely loved playing in the ocean. She would get so excited and jump and kick her legs when the waves came. Look at that bathing beauty!

She also loved the sand and decided to try some. Every day though she would eat less. Here she just ate some sand and thought she would follow that up with her cousin Alex's toes. She is such a cutie!

The boys had fun playing frisbee. And they say white men can't jump...

We finally got Jared to run out of the ocean.

The family on our morning walk.

Our last morning walk on the beach. This year was a lot better since Jared would actually walk on the sand. He really enjoyed the beach. Alex liked riding on Papi's back and would get the backpack in the mornings to tell us he wanted to go.

The gorgeous waves we enjoyed for a whole week in Rosarito, Mexico. It was a great year for dolphins. We saw them every day. I absolutely loved it!

Fun at the Park

2008-06-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

April 25, 2008 It was Robbie's last day of the semester and so he got off early and we all went to the park. Alex had so much fun going through the tunnels, he even went down the big slide with Jared. We thought it was pretty cute when he then tried to start crawling up it.

Let's Go Fly a Kite meets Let's Go to the E.R.

2008-06-29T18:50:00.001-07:00

On Saturday May 17 we were about to go fly a kite and Jared, having just learned how to unbolt our front door, opened the door and Alex raced out so excited. I hopped up and was 5 feet behind him, his little legs were getting faster and faster as he was so excited to be outside and I knew he wasn't going to be able to stay up. I saw him go down. His forehead hit the corner of the cement stop. I finally got to him and and picked him up and his head was spurting blood. I started crying and Robbie came out and took him and I ran inside to get a rag to put pressure on it. Robbie said he couldn't see where the hole ended. Alex was screaming. This was so not good. Jared started crying, and was worried about Alex. When we told him he was going to be ok, then he started crying because he wanted to go fly his kite. So, it was bad enough that we needed to have it looked it, but I didn't know if we should have a plastic surgeon sew it up or not. We had to take Jared to the ER three weeks before this because he woke up just before midnight, barely able to breathe because he had a severe case of the croup. He had gone to bed perfectly healthy. It is frustrating, because I knew what he had and all he needed was some steroids, but since it is after hours it ended up costing us $150, what would have cost us $15 if he would have gotten sick during the day. We were like we can't afford to go to the ER twice in one month. So I call my dad, no answer, my mom, no answer, my aunt (whose kids have had a few visits to the ER), no answer. We got a hold of Robbie's mom and she thought we would be ok to just go to urgent care. My dad called me when I was on the phone with her and he said since it was less than a cm in length they would just glue it, since he is so young. So we took him to urgent care, and by the time we got there he had stopped crying and when we walked in there was a big train set and all he wanted to do was play with that. Surprisingly, the bleeding had almost stopped. And can you believe that before we are seen we have to spend 10 minutes filling out paperwork? I just feel like it is so ridiculous that I have to call around and figure out where we can afford to get care for our son? Healthcare is just really screwed up and very frustrating. Anyways, they were thinking they would put 2 stitches in, but I asked about the glue, since my Dad said that is what they usually do, and the doctor was able to do that since it was straight and had almost stopped bleeding. So they glued it shut and put the tape on it and he was as good as new. We went to the park after that and we all had a good time flying the kite. Aunt Rebecca even came along for the fun.

Family Fun Day

2008-06-27T18:56:00.001-07:00

Robbie left early this morning for a conference in Ohio and I needed to take Robbie and Dan, another student in his lab, to the airport. So Grandma and Grandpa took Jared and Alex the night before so that the kids could go to their Stake Family Fun Day.

Aimee took Alex in the stroller over to the festivities.

Jared got a new bike this week, because he was getting too small for his tricycle. He was so excited about his bike that is "just like Benjamin's". He keeps saying it over and over again. Benjamin is a kid that lives here in our complex that is a year old than Jared and they have fun riding their bikes together. His bike is the exact same as Benjamin's. We didn't try to do that, it just so happens that it is the cheapest bike at Walmart and met his needs. He thought it was so cool that he got to ride his bike in the parade. All day long and for a few days afterward he kept talking about. It was his favorite part of the whole day.

Go Fish!

They had a huge water slide that Jared was a little scared to go down at first, but he eventually went down with Aimee. The water even took them off of the slide once and they were sliding down the grass. Aimee took Alex down once and he did not like it at all. He kept giving her nasty looks after that, whereas before he was giving his cousin Mylah nasty look for stealing away his Aunt Aimee.

Jared and Aimee enjoying snow cones.

Grandpa cuddling with Mylah and Alex.

Jared was very excited about the "Y" painted on his face. He kept saying "Go BYU"! We have trained him well. He didn't want to take a bath because he didn't want the "Y" to wash off. So we told him we would paint on another one if he wanted. As things would have it, he never asked. Doesn't he look like a tough little football player?

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for a very fun Family Fun Day!

Ear Fetish to Foot Fetish?

2008-06-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

So Alex likes to cuddle with his burp cloth when he is tired. If he doesn't have it he grabs his ear. Well, this time he grabbed my foot. Can you think of anything better to cuddle up next to?

Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?

2008-06-27T18:41:00.000-07:00

Alex stole the cookies from the cookie jar. I had made cookies the night before and they were in a plastic ziploc bag on the counter. I was sitting in the family room using my laptop when Jared comes and tells me Alex is eating a cookie. I was like, "how in the world would he have a cookie?" I go in the kitchen to find several cookies on the floor and the bag open, hanging off the counter, and the stool right up against the counter. He had stood on the stool and gotten into the bag himself. Can you tell he likes chocolate chip cookies? On Monday at my cousin Garret's wedding dinner Brett couldn't wait for Alex to say please before giving him a bite of his cookie because of the sweet, happy face that you just can't resist. He loves cookies. And yes, I let him finish the cookie.

I have a nephew!

2008-06-27T18:31:00.000-07:00

Dallin Max Starkie was born on March 10, 2008 to my sister Rachel. He is so cute and we are so excited that Jared and Alex finally have a boy cousin.

Dallin was blessed on May 4.

Here is Aunt Rebecca with all of her nieces and nephews. What a cute family we have!

Teach them while they are young

2008-06-26T15:51:00.001-07:00

5.3.08 This morning when we stopped to have family prayer before Robbie left for school, Alex knelt down and clasped his hands together. It was so awesome! How sweet is that?

Our kids watch everything we do and learn and copy our behavior. If we want them to pray then we need to pray, and pray in front of them. Last night when we helping the kids with their individual prayers, I helped Jared say his prayer and then it was Alex's turn. Jared asked if he could help him and he did. He whispered to Alex what he should say. Since Alex doesn't really talk yet, it was just Jared and then Alex said "Amen" at the end. So precious!

Walking...oh no, here comes trouble

2008-06-26T13:52:00.000-07:00

3.13.08 Alex loves walking around with his push cart and squeals the whole time.

3.14.08 Wow, Jared's got it good. Alex had so much fun pushing Jared around.

3.16.08 Alex loves walking with help.

3.16.08 Alex pushing Jared again around Grandma's kitchen.

3.29.08 This was a daily occurence in my kitchen. Alex would grab on to the back of my pant leg and we would walk around the kitchen like that as I prepared meals.

4.18.08 Alex pushes this shopping cart all over. It is light weight so it doesn't provide any support for him. He turns it every which way, so I know he has the balance to walk around without holding on to anything, if he would just do it.

4.18.08 Look! No hands!

4.30.08 Alex has started walking. He still doesn't care to do it as you can tell from this video He walked like 8 feet. The most he had done before this was just a few steps.

5.4.08 Alex has just taken off today. He hasn't walked until today and now he walks everywhere. It's like he just decided he wanted to do it and now he does it. I can't believe my baby is walking. He is so curious and since then he is into everything.

My baby is 1!

2008-06-24T19:16:00.000-07:00

So I know he turned 1 three months ago, but I still can't believe how fast his first year flew by. Here are some pictures from the celebration. It was nice that my mom was in town (she was helping my sister who just had a baby) and could come to the little family party we had for him.

So I was pretty pleased with how the cake turned out since I only had like 10 minutes to decorate it. I did the car with cream cheese frosting, so the cake was so great with the chocolate frosting and cream cheese frosting. Really, the only reason I eat cake is for the frosting. If there isn't good frosting, cake just isn't worth eating.

I had to hold Alex's hand down because he wanted to touch the flame.

Alex did not hesitate when we put a piece of cake in front of him. He was very excited to finally be able to eat something sweet, which I had been keeping from him for a whole year, even though Grandpa tried many times. Now, sweets are all he wants.

Robbie put some ice cream on his plate and he picked it up. After a few seconds he started to cry, I imagine because his hand was beginning to freeze.

Can you believe my child pulled that face after getting a spoonful of ice cream? Could this be my child? I think he didn't like how cold it was. Since then, he has gotten over it and is now his mother's son with respect to ice cream.

Alex liked playing with the wrapping paper and boxes mostly, but Jared loved opening the presents and showing everyone what Alex received for his birthday. We are so grateful for the nice gifts our family gave Alex. They are so generous.

Ear Fetish

2008-06-24T19:11:00.001-07:00

Alex has an ear fetish. Whenever he is tired he will suck his thumb and grab his ear.

If he is being held so that he can't grab his own, then he will go after yours. We think it is pretty funny and cute.

Our Little Slugger

2008-02-24T21:53:00.000-08:00

Robbie took Jared to the clubhouse to play some baseball in the racquetball courts and he was actually able to hit some pitches. I guess the Wii is paying off!

(PS I couldn't get the video to rotate and still have sound after several hours of trying)

On the Go!

2008-02-20T16:35:00.001-08:00

Alex is our little go getter. He is always on the move exploring everything around him. Here he is trying to help me with the dishes.

1.23.08 Alex is cruising around now, going from one
piece of furniture to another to get what he wants.

1.27.08 Alex likes walking around with help. He even stood by himself for a second.

1.27.08 Alex doesn't like the feel of the cold hard tile on his legs, so he crawls around like a monkey. We sure get a kick out of it. He looks so cute with his bum up in the air.

Tres Anos

2008-02-20T15:40:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday! I'm 3!

Jared wanted an Elmo cake again this year for his birthday. He loves Elmo and really enjoys playing games with him on SesameStreet.com.

Grandma Jean gave him a dinosaur that growls and walks. Jared loved it, but I think Alex might like it even more. He took after it and started growling. It was really cute.

Jared successfully blew out all of his candles this year all by himself. (Last year he was afraid of them.)

Mylah Elianna Twitchell was blessed on Jared's birthday, so we celebrated up at Aunt Jennie and Uncle Vance's place. Jared and Alex love their new beautiful cousin.

Jared had a great birthday and is really good at answering the question "How old are you?" and "Cuantos anos tienes?" He also has mastered holding up his three fingers. His grandparents spoiled him with a lot of great gifts, which he appreciates very much. I can't believe I have a three year old. He is growing so fast and getting "bigger and bigger" as he tells me almost daily. I love him so much!

Jared is Potty Trained!

2008-02-20T11:55:00.000-08:00

1.21.2008 I'm potty trained! This process began last summer and we celebrated Jared's success at Chuck E. Cheese after he finished filling out his sticker chart.

7.15.2007 Jared earned a sucker for going #2 on the toilet for the first time.

8.25.07 I would like to thank all the big people for helping me get to this point in my life of overcoming my fear of going #2 on the toilet.

9.1.2007 Jared is wearing pull ups now. We had to add some more incentive to help Jared. He went to a birthday part at Chuck E. Cheese back in May and he said that he wanted to go there. We made a deal that if he could fill out his sticker chart that we would take him. Getting gum and candy after each visit to the potty resulted in sometimes just wanting to go for the gum and candy or not going because he didn't want any. Some mornings he would cry saying "all done potty". It was like he thought it was something he only had to do once. I told him "sorry Jared, but this is something you will do many times a day, every day for the rest of your life", and then he would cry. We tried for a couple of weeks, but he was never staying dry. When we put him in underwear he had to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes and Jared and mom were getting sick of spending their life in the bathroom. Mom went back to the books and realized that he met all the requirements for readiness except keeping a dry diaper for at least 2 hours. So we took a break, although he did continue to go #2 in the potty. Thank goodness our efforts weren't all in vain!

Skee-ball for toddlers

Uncle Josh, Jared, and Grandma
I love pepperoni pizza!

I'm a big boy now! Am I big enough to drive?

Aunt Aimee showed Alex around and helped him play all the fun games.

We started again the week before Christmas. Alex was sick with Bronchiolitis and we couldn't leave the house, so there couldn't have been a better time to train him. He did great having only a few accidents. It took about a month for him to fill out his chart for going #1 and staying dry (21 days to make a habit). We wanted to make sure that after the reward of going to Chuck E. Cheese he didn't revert back.

We are so very proud of Jared for meeting this milestone and frankly I am very proud of myself for making it through this milestone too, little yelling and frustration to my surprise.

Happy New Year!!

2008-01-15T15:58:00.000-08:00

We have had so much snow this year so we decided to brave the cold and enjoy it! On New Year's Eve we went snowshoeing . It was my first time, and well can I tell you that walking around the mall 3 times a week does not give my lungs the workout they probably need and that I needed on this outing. I was dying! I thought snowshoes also made it so you walk on top of the snow. Not! You still sink. I'm sure it's a lot harder without them, but it's not like you see on the movies (i.e. White Fang). We had a ton of fun and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

Robbie, Meri, Aimee, Josh, Jennie, Dad

Vance, Jennie, Aimee, Josh, Meri, Robbie

We had a lot of fun jumping off the trail into very deep snow. It was hard to jump very high, but you sure would sink pretty deep. Robbie had fun jumping off the trail and he, Vance, and Josh jumped off some pretty steep parts and had to be pulled out.

We stayed up until midnight playing the Wii. We all took turns playing tennis. Josh and I made a good team, and Jared was our honorary teammate. He thought he was playing and he would say things like "I miss it" or "nice". It was pretty cute. One time though he got too close to me and I accidentally swung the control and hit him in the head. He was a little shocked by it, but he recovered quickly.

On New Year's Day we took Jared sledding. He loves it! Robbie and Josh took him on Christmas Eve too, so he was ready and actually insisted on going down all by himself.

Jared after a successful run down the hill.

Christmas

2008-01-14T16:11:00.000-08:00

Well, we hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We certainly did. We spent Christmas with Robbie's family this year since we went home (well, to my home) to St. Louis in September for my ten year reunion and couldn't afford to go out there again. We spent most of the holiday break at Robbie's parents' house. We went to the traditional family party on Saturday with all of Robbie's extended family where the kids exchange gifts and the adults do a white elephant gift exchange. I got a toilet set, toilet paper, and a johnny light. It was so appropriate since we were in the middle of potty training Jared. Surprisingly though no one tried to steal it from me. Weird. Church at Robbie's parents' ward was wonderful. They have an amazing choir, which Mom, Aimee, and Josh sing in, which brings in the Spirit so strong. I am so grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ who can bring us peace and happiness in a world filled with war and sadness. All we have to do is "Let Him In" like one of my favorite songs from "Forgotten Carols" extols. I hope we will all do more this year to let Him lead us and guide us so that we can truly enjoy the peace and happiness that only He can give.

Enjoy some of the highlights from our Christmas Day!

The cutest boys ever! Alex (9 months) and Jared (almost 3 years).
They love each other so much!

The whole family after church.

Alex liked the wrapping paper as much or maybe even more than the toys.

Grandpa Haertel gave Jared a VTech laptop computer so that he can be like everyone else in the family and always be working on their computer. Alex was very excited about it to and didn't have any qualms about climbing over Jared to get to it.

Alex throwing the wrapping paper.

Jared got his train for Christmas. He had been talking about it for a couple of months and told Santa 5 times when we went to visit him that that was what he wanted. We told him if he was potty trained (because that's what I wanted for Christmas) that he would get his train. He was wearing underwear for 3 days and no accidents before we went up to Grandma and Grandpa's a few days before Christmas. All the people, excitement, and being a big house caused a setback for him, but after the holidays and going back to our normal routine he proved himself to be a big boy!

Alex was so excited about the train too, since it is really for both of them. He loves grabbing the different pieces and putting them in his mouth. He especially loves taking the track apart once Papi and Jared have put it together.

"Trick-or -Treat"

2007-11-06T20:27:00.000-08:00

We went to Rachel and Max's to take the kids trick or treating. They had a great time. My brother Brett came to join in on the fun and even dressed up as a "mexicano". Jared was a frog again and Alex was a duck (pond animals). Elizabeth was a bunny and Paige was a black cat, who had to hold her tail when she walked otherwise it would hit her feet.

Alex liked holding his calderon until he got a piece of candy in it and then it was too heavy for him. Jared would actually say "Trick or treat" this year. He would say "thank you" and exclaim "yummy candy" and laugh as he ran to the next house. Robbie had to tell Jared more than a few times to only take one piece of candy. Most people let them pick their candy and after they had all taken a piece he would try and sneak one more. Alex did a great job, getting lots of candy for his mommy. ;) Let's be honest, he is 7 months...who else is going to eat it?

When we got back to Rachel's they enjoyed seeing all the candy they had collected. The adults enjoyed eating some yummy potato soup Rachel had made, which helped warm us up after walking around on a chilly evening.

BYU vs. Colorado State

2007-11-03T15:28:00.000-07:00

Jared and Robbie were given the opportunity (by Robbie's advisor, Dr. Ringger) to attend the BYU vs. Colorado State football game today (11/3/07). The purpose was to allow a visiting student, Xingfu Wang, to experience American culture through American football. It just so happened that Aimee was also present at the game after having been invited to visit BYU campus for recruiting.

You would think that in a sold-out crowd there would be no way that you would ever see anyone you knew. Well, we saw President Ehad (2nd counselor in the stake presidency), Miles (our neighbor), Dr. Morse, and the Ruggles (who might not have attended the game, but for walking on campus as I drove by)! Crazy, huh?

Jared thoroughly enjoyed the BYU game. He wouldn't stop saying ,"gooooooooo cougars!" (even when we weren't singing the cougar fight song). He frequently said, "marcas, listos, fuera!" (marks, set, go!) when either team was ready to hike the ball. Those sitting around us were thoroughly entertained, as is usually the case when Jared is around.

Our Family Blog

2007-09-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

Written Sunday, Semptember 16, 2007

You would think that a family of computer scientists would have had a blog set up a long time ago... The only thing is where do we get the time to do it? Our lives are busy, but so is everyone else's, so I decided to bite the bullet and just start doing it. I hope to fill everyone in on what we have been so busy doing since we have last been in touch.

First and foremost we have welcomed a new little boy into our home. Alexander Robbie Haertel was born March 18, 2007. He will be 6 months on Tuesday. They grow up so fast! So that is one thing that has been keeping us very busy, but good busy. He has brought so much joy to our home. Like Jared he has a very happy tempermant. He is always smiling. He is a very good baby. He is usually very content and easy going. I thought he was going to be a terror because of how much he kicked in the womb but I was wrong. He is rolling over all the time now and has pretty much mastered sitting on his own. He loves his older brother. Jared will come and give him hugs and kisses and say "goo-goo, gaa-gaa" to him. It is pretty cute, except for when he almost smashes him trying to do it. He is eating solid foods and just loves his rice cereal. He also loves to just suck on his spoon, probably because he is teething. Who knows when we will see that first tooth?

So life has been an adjustment for me to go to two kids. I no longer have time for my little hobbies because if they are sleeping I want to be sleeping too. Even though Alex has sleeping through the night for 3 months now, I still don't seem to have much energy. Hopefully that will change soon because I would love to scrapbook again. We do go walking Mon-Fri morning with some friends from the ward, which we all enjoy. We either walk on the Provo River Trail close to our apartment here or at the University Mall if the weather isn't great. So Jared will get to run around at the park or the treehouse at the Mall, which he loves. I think there is a lot more crying in the house now, since it seems either Alex or Jared has to wait for me to finish helping one or the other before I can meet the other one's needs. It is hard to decide who to help first when they are both crying. I think I must be going to Jared's aid first though more often than not, because the other day Alex started crying while I was doing something for Jared and Jared said, "hold on baby, I comin', almost finished". It was so cute, but also sad.

The second thing that keeps me busy is Jared. He is such a fun 2 year old. He can by trying at times as 2 year olds are as they try to establish their independence, but he is really a good little boy. He loves to help me, is very animated and excited about life. This summer he has learned to ride his tricycle and swim in the pool with a flotation wet suit. We were hoping to add to that list to go on the potty, but we are still working on that one. Any tips, books that your recommend? Let us know. He is talking so well now and in 2 languages! Robbie is very disciplined and only speaks to him in Spanish, and Jared is doing great with it. He seems to understand the difference too, speaking the words he knows in Spanish to Robbie and in English to me. It is so cute to hear him speak in Spanish. A neighbor we recently met who is from Mexico thought it was so cute when she heard Jared talking about his "chanclas", sandals.

The third thing that has kept us busy is Robbie's thesis. He has been working on it all summer, and for most of July and half of August I would take the kids up to Robbie's parents' in Sandy on Monday and we would stay all week and come home Friday, do the laundry, make meals for Robbie for the following week and do it all over again. He just couldn't get much done at his lab on campus with all the distractions. So we left so he could work long hours at home and just get it done. I was like it is worth the sacrifice so he can just get it done and be able to concentrate on his Ph.D. It has been a thron in his side, but it will be (almost) all over in just one week. This Friday he will be defending his thesis. So yes it paid off! Jared loved being up at Grandma and Grandpa's house and I think they loved having their grandson's there too. It was nice for me to have adults to talk to, and I would help Ann (Robbie's mom) around the house which had been torn apart from renovations they have had done this summer, which have been very slow unfortunately. It was hard being away from Robbie all that time, but I think it was hardest on Robbie since he was left all alone and had to do his thesis 24-7, or 24-6 I should say.

Our summer wasn't all work though. We were very fortunate to be able to go with Robbie's family down to Rosarito Mexico in the middle of June. We caravaned the 12 hour drive down. Amazingly, Alex and Jared were so great! Josh (Robbie's brother and Jared's favorite person) helped keep him entertained. Jared hated the beach the first couple of days, but after he saw the older kids playing in the sand and how much fun they were having he decided to join in on the fun and make a sea turtle in the sand with his "papi" (Robbie). We swam in the pool which was nice and warm, so Alex even loved it at 3 months old because it was just like a bath. I didn't get in the ocean. I'm not in to self-torture. It is freezing! But, Robbie and his siblings and cousins had a great time boogie-boarding. Luckily, Jared was afraid of the ocean so we didn't have to worry so much about him going off and drowning. It was very relaxing. We had a lot of fun with Robbie's family playing and walking at the beach, swimming, and fixing and eating good Mexican food. It was a a good break for Robbie to get him ready for the months that would follow of intense work on his thesis.