Taking Donations

of Cornstarch!!!! I want to do this....

Allow me to introduce....

In no particular order (because I don't know which is which) Donnie, Brent, Eleanor and Brenda. I actually think there is only one rooster in there, so I wonder if Donnie or Brent is going to be a girl....

Donnie is one of Jake's biggest fans. He is my Mother In Law's boyfriend and just LOVES Jake. He spoils him rotten. Jake loves hanging out with Donnie because what Jake wants... Jake gets... Donnie, if you're reading this I dare you to disagree.

Brent is Donnie's son, who is a great "big brother" to Jake.

Eleanor is a little girl in Jake's class. I tease and say that it is his girlfriend, because everyday just about they hug and I've seen a few kisses, too. She's cute as can be and her parents are so nice. She used to run up to me and give me a hug.

And everyone knows that Brenda is actually Tabitha. (Jake decided before the baby was born that her name was going to be Brenda. We don't know where Brenda came from as he doesn't know any Brendas. We have explained to him that he may call her Brenda if he wants, but that Mommy and Daddy and everyone else is going to call her is Tabitha. He is ok with it for now. He has tried several times to tell people that her name is Brenda but Mommy and Daddy just call her Tabitha...)

Jake and Tabitha spent the night at my mother in law's house Saturday. When we went to get them on Sunday these 4 tagged along. Donnie has been saying for a year that he wanted to get Jake some chickens to help teach him responsibility. That is fine because every now and then Jason decides he wants to hatch some chicks, play with them and then we would give them back to the people who supplied the eggs.

For those who do not have the benefit of being around baby chickens... They stink... They are cute as can be, but they stink. Also, because the weather isn't warm enough to put them outside and because we don't have anywhere outside to put them yet without the neighbor's dogs or coyotes eating them, they are in my house.. Actually they are on my dining room table in a rubbermaid tub. This is only temporary as Donnie has promised to return this week with a trough or bathtub or something to put them in outside. I changed the newspaper on the bottom of the tub yesterday morning and in just one day four baby chicks completely covered the new newspaper. Can you say Disgusting? They will probably stay inside for a couple more weeks until spring arrives and it stays warm enough for them to be outside permanently. Our dogs could care less about them, so they are safe in the house uncovered.

Future Blog post: In about a year I'll have a blog post entitled "Free Eggs". Stay Tuned! (that is IF they survive my 3 year old who doesn't watch where he walks)

Tabitha's 2 month Stats

We took Tabitha to the Dr. on Monday and here are her stats.

Weight: 10lb 3 oz (+3lb 4 oz since birth) (Slightly below Average)

Height: 22.75" (+2.25" since birth) (above average)

Head: 15" (I don't remember what it was at birth.) (Average)

She will be tall and skinny just like her...... well... I'm sure it's in the family genes somewhere....

She was healthy and happy and got 3 shots which made her very unhappy. She got one dose of vaccination orally and she even cried for that one. It must not have been the taste she wanted...

(brag alert) We have made several outings and pretty much at every one someone will stop in their tracks and tell me how beautiful or precious she is... Made me want to put her in a beauty pageant right then and there... just kidding... I know she is beautiful and precious... but much more than that I am just glad that she is a happy child. She and Jake will make a great duet of loving children. He is empathetic and compassionate and she will be one of those people who can turn the world on with her smile..... and I hope she doesn't get teeth for a good long time because nothing is funnier than a huge gummy grin.

She is starting to reciprocate smiles and is starting to "talk". She still has bright red hair (which has all but fallen out on top, but is abundant on the back of her head) and a small "strawberry" on her right eyelid and a much larger strawberry patch on the back of her head near her neck. Lucky for her she will have hair to cover the big one and I think that the eyelid one will fade with time and growth.

Her brother is still insisting her name is Brenda, even though we've corrected him numerous times. He calls her "Sissy" most of the time anyway. He LOVES her so much. He is constantly asking about her, hugging her, kissing her and being generally infatuated with her. He hasn't shown any jealousy toward her even though I can't respond to his needs as much as he would want me to. He HAS increased his whiney-factor by 564684651354%, though.

Life is good. Sleep is a distant memory. But smiles are-a-plenty at our house.

Karaoke Champion.

Jake isn't THIS bad (or good) but he is getting close. I think they need to turn CMT off every once in a while.. lol Enjoy this video. It's the cutest thing I've seen all day...

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1610699488?bctid=31812464001

I'm hoping to get video of Jake singing along to "Defying Gravity" off the Wicked Soundtrack. He's pretty good.... Repeats words he doesn't even know... lol

A riddle...

What do you get when you have your wedding anniversary on Feb. 8th, Valentine's Day on Feb. 14th, and return to work after maternity leave on Feb. 15th?

That's right.. you get 3 dozen roses, 3 carnations, and a bouquet of purple flowers! I've been a good girl and totally deserve it!!!!

Thank you, Dear! (and Lia for the idea for the flowers for "returning to work" I'm glad I left my phone at home now.)

Tabitha's Blessing

We had Tabitha blessed yesterday. Since my Dad is in town we took advantage of this rare occasion and had her blessed so he could be here for it. I love that it was Valentine's Day. I remember Jake was blessed on Superbowl Sunday and now I can remember that Tabitha was blessed on Valentine's Day.

Her blessing gown/bonnet was given to me by my friend, Davina. Davina has 4 children. When she was pregnant with her 2nd (a girl) a friend of her family took it upon herself to handmake this beautiful dress and bonnet as a gift to Davina. Well, her daughter got blessed before the friend finished (Davina didn't know she was making the gown, or she would have waited). Davina kept the gown for her next baby. She adopted her next child, who didn't fit the gown at blessing time... so she kept it. Her 4th child was a boy... so she had this beautiful gown, and no one to use it. Enter me. During a visit I got to talking to Davina and mentioned that I was going to go to JCPenney to look for a blessing gown and she pulled this from the closet. I thought it looked way too big for Tabitha. After looking around town and not seeing what I wanted in a gown I called Davina back. I picked it up and thought I'd have to have it altered... IT FIT PERFECTLY. The only adjustment I had to do was to the bonnet. I had to shorten it because it was too big. Easy fix. Thank you Davina for saving this beautiful gown for us.

It was a great blessing. I remember it stressing that she will be a peacemaker. That's wonderful. Jake's called him a relationship mender and now my Tabitha will be a peacemaker. I hope I'm not the one they are sent here to control. It also said that she'll learn to recognize the Holy Ghost at a young age... It's amazing how different my children's blessings are. They seem to fit them perfectly, though. Jake's was spot on. He is certainly living up to his.

My brother in Law, Paul, gave her blessing and Brothers Milligan, Estrada, Hodson, Gustafson, Blackhurst, Sweet, and Castaneda stood in the circle.

It was a very special day. I did better this time.. With Jake I forgot to take pictures. I made sure to not make that mistake again.... I'm learning. It was a great day all around. Thanks to all who made it possible.

I know Christmas is over, but Jake will sing these songs all year long. I had to record it for posterity sake. Enjoy. Don't mind the runny nose. I think it adds to the meaning of the song. lol