Happy brithday, Jasper!

This is Natalie's normal day off and, of course, today is Jasper's birthday. So I took the day off work and the three of us - four counting Cozmo, obviously - celebrated in style. (You'll see Coz sneak into a few of the photos.)

After his normal routine of milk/cereal/nutri-grain bar for breakfast, Jasper noticed a strange pile of 'stuff' in the corner, covered by a blanket. He moved closer but we wanted to hand him the gifts so we told him to sit on the floor and close his eyes. The last photo in this post is his effort to do that, although his eyes didn't stay shut for long.

He got a Toy Story 3 scooter, which was an immediate hit. He also received a Handy Manny lap desk, the Moon Dough diner, some clothes and some stamps.

We headed to Buck's Fish Bowl and Grill at Bass Pro Shops in Altoona for lunch, where we ate and bowled a few games. (Jasper beat his mommy!)

What a great birthday!

Jasper turns 3

Jasper turned 3 years old today, and we don't quite know where the time went.

Seems like he was just turing two, or one, or six months. And it really doesn't seem very long ago that we made the quick drive over to Mercy when Natalie was in labor.

I've done this the last two birthdays, so I better keep it up. Here's a look at Jasper on each of his birthdays, from his actual birth day through today.

Happy birthday, big guy. We all love you so much and are thankful you - and your little brother or sister to be - came into our lives.

New scooter

Just a quick video of Jasper riding his new Toy Story 3 scooter, which he got for his third birthday today. More birthday photos to come.

Party people

Jasper had a great time at his Batman birthday party at Grandma Vicki's house in Waukee.

I can't begin to name all of the gifts Jasper got but he loves and appreciates them all. So thank you everyone! (From Batman, aka Jasper.)

Third birthday party

Here are a few pics of Jasper's birthday decorations - Batman theme! He'll turn 3 on Thursday (March 24) and we had a birthday party with family and friends at Grandma Vicki's house.

Natalie, Jasper and I made his 'cake,' which was actually a two-layer Rice Krispie treat in the shape of the Batman logo.

To make it, I drew and cut out the logo in newspaper then traced that onto wax paper. Natalie and Jasper mixed up the treats and I molded it into shape. (That's Jasper and his friend from daycare - Quinn McMurray - mugging for the camerman while they hovered over it.)

More party pics to come.

19 Weeks

19 weeks along - We had our 20 week ultrasound and everything checked out normal and healthy - yay! And we even stuck to our guns and didn't find out what the sex was. Jasper went with me to my 20 week appointment and heard the heartbeat for the first time. He thought it was pretty cool, but was more impressed with the bed that I was sitting on, since it reclined and had buttons. Oh, and Wendy (bob the builder's gal) was with us in the room, too. So, he was focused on playing with her. Due to his love of Bob the Builder, he now pretends that Wendy plays wit him. We were sitting in the doctor's office and he was sitting all quiet in the chair, when he perks up real quick and whispers, "mom, i think wendy's in here." So....Wendy heard the heartbeat, too!

Somebody has an Imagination

We are always commenting on how much of an imagination Jasper has and how we love to watch all the crazy stories he creates with normal, everyday things. For example, this is Jasper's version of a fire truck - 3 chairs covered in blankets and daddy wearing his fireman gear. We put out alot of fires that day, and got to them so much quicker since we were riding in the firetruck. I do think that at one point in time, we were on a train, but the majority of the time, we were in the firetruck.

And amazing how two couch cushins can magically turn into a fire house. He fit just perfectly on top of the cushins and made sure he had some books and of course, his construction phone with him in case somebody did in fact call in a fire. He did use a paint brush, coated with pretend blue paint, to paint his house blue. And when he was up on top of his house, you did have to "yell" up to him because he was so high that he couldn't hear you!

Love the imagination!

A Great Way to Ring in the Big 3-0

This past weekend, Adam organized a little get together for my 30th Birthday at Pizza Ranch in Waukee. It was a fun way to celebrate the big 3-0, surrounded by family and friends. Thanks, Adam (and Jasper) for making my day so special! We were so busy chatting that we didn't get any more photos other than me with my cake.

More Photos

Here are a couple more photos from the Fire Station. Angie also brought each of the kids little fire hats to wear. For some reason, Jasper was being shy that day and didn't want to help spray the hose or get his picture taken by the pole, but he was smiling almost the whole time, so I know he had fun! Oh, and all the kids were color-coordinated in green today as it is St. Patrick's Day. I did tell Jasper it was St. Patrick's Day and he said, "Patrick?" as in Spongebob's friend, Patrick. He was confused as to why Spongebob friend's name was used for a holiday.

Oh, and before I forget, another popular Jasperism these days: Instead of "I don't know" - he says, "I can't know!"

First Trip to the Fire Station

Today on mommy and Jasper Thursday, we went to the Des Moines Fire Station for Will Julander's 3rd birthday. Will was born 3 days before Jasper. He was leaving the hospital as we were arriving and getting ready to welcome Jasper into the world! Can't believe these boys are already almost 3. Jasper usually stays with Angie on days that Issa is not available and I know Angie from my best friend, Melissa Meyer, who is her cousin.

We had a great time - the fireman taught us about the fire trucks, the fire station, the equipment, and everything else that has to do with the subject of fireman/fire stations.

We saw the truck, where they slept, got to take a ride on the pole (only 2 fire stations in Des Moines still have the 'pole' that they slide down when they get called out for a fire, so we were lucky to see that. This was the fire station that was right by our house on Euclid and Hubbell.

After the fire station, we headed over to play in the PlayPlace at McDonalds, eat lunch, and have some yummy fire-truck themed cake. Thanks so much for inviting us, Angie, we had a great time!!

18 Weeks

18 weeks and growing...

Jasper's First Movie!

Today we headed to Copper Creek Cinema in Pleasant Hill for Jasper's first trip to the movie theatre. We saw "Gnomeo and Juliet." Both Adam and I had the day off today, so learned that going to an 11:45 movie on a Friday might mean you would be the only one in the theatre - as that was definitely the case.

Jasper liked the movie, ate his popcorn, and sat like a big boy the whole time! Cars 2 is coming out this summer, so that will probably be our next trip to the theatre! It was so funny to see him sitting in the seat chair that wouldn't quite stay down because he is so light. And he devoured his popcorn like it was the first time he had ever had it! We had so much fun!

Since we were the only ones in the theatre and arrived at 11:15 (since we thought that was the start time), we let Jasper run around and burn off some energy before the show started.

Livin' in the 80s!

Jasper stayed with grams, gramps, and Syd while us parents took a road trip to Yutan, Nebraska. Actually, we stayed in a hotel in Omaha but attended the 40th birthday party of our cousin, Shani Henry, at the Yutan Community Center. The theme - 80s! We all decked out in our best gear and had a great time. The gang includes Ken & Melissa Wilder, Amanda & Levi Hancock, and Tom & Holly Anderson. There is also a picture with Levi, Adam, and Melissa doing 'Sweet Child of Mine' for karaoke. Amanda Hancock was dressed appropriately, as me, her, and Adam were toddlers throughout much of the 80s, so she came in footie jammies. I tried to look somewhat like a punk rocker and Adam went basically as a nerd. He did find some Strength Jump shoes for $2.00 at good will that were 2 sizes too big and was the hit of the night as everybody wanted to see what was on his feet. We had a fun time!