brrr....

We think we may have a 'teether' on our hands. J-Man's drooling and trying to bite down on everything in sight. Don't feel any teeth coming through, but don't think it will be too long. Of course, being first-time parents, we could be way off, but either way - one suck on his chilled teether and he was hooked!

Our First Outing Apart

Adam and I ventured up to Okoboji this weekend for a wedding while the J-Man stayed in Waukee with Grandma Vicki. It was SO hard to leave him, but we are incredibly thankful to have wonderful families that he can stay with!

Jasper even had lots of visitors while cruisin' the town of Waukee - great grandma & grandpa trissel, great grandma alice, sandy and junior, autumn and matt, and jody. Thanks, everyone, for loving him up while we were away!

Despite missing him like crazy, we had a fun time in Okoboji with friends - Heidi and Jared Gillespie, Matt Hemphill and Sarah Underhill, Clint Berryman - and the now newlyweds, Matt and Molly Johnson. We went boating, ate at one of our favorite spots - Mrs. Lady's (if you ever go there, Adam would highly recommend the "insane taco"), played some games, just hung out, and enjoyed a great wedding! Congrats to Matt & Molly. And to Callie, the Norems, and Jason & Katie, if you're reading this, we missed you guys! It's always so much fun getting together with the Simpson gang - can't wait to introduce Jasper to those of you who haven't met him yet!! And thanks again to the Gillespies for letting us have an awesome place to stay while we were there!

OH, and I almost forgot - Cozmo also had a great weekend out at the farm with grams and gramps! He was even introduced to his first raccoon.....

"Wrecked"

As Grandpa Paul would say, 'He's wrecked!" Here is Jasper snoozing on the way home from daycare. He's tuckered out after a fun day of playing with his friends at daycare - Landon, Xavier, Maya, Ella, and Miss Alissa. Alissa bought a new toy for Jasper that he loves - it looks like an exersaucer and has lots of lights, sounds, and moves back and forth. She videotaped him in it today and showed me when I picked him up. He was screaming and hollerin' and talkin' like crazy to it! He has definitely found his voice and he's not afraid to use it!

Toes

Jasper has definitely taken advantage of his ability to suck on his toes! We'll find him in his crib in the morning just hanging out with his feet in his mouth, and when we'll be in another room and not hear a peep out of him, that usually means his mouth is full of his cute little toes!

Sunday, July 21, 2008

Jasper rolled over for the first time, just shy of his 4-month birthday! We don't exactly have pictures to document it yet, but I wanted to let everyone know! We videotaped it, but that's all we've got. We'll be sure to get pictures the next time. We were getting ready for bed after a long day at the zoo. Jasper was in his jammies, playing on his playmat and rolled from his belly to his back! I don't know if he was more confused that mom and dad were going crazy and praising him or the realization that he was once on his belly and somehow, he's now on his back. We're so proud!

Downtown at the Farmer's Market

Hanging out at the Farmer's Market with Crystal and the gang. We got some delicious peaches and sourdough bread. Grams and Gramps Wilson also met up with us and walked around for a while. It was a beautiful Saturday morning and we enjoyed just walking around, eating the treats at the market, and listening to some live music.

Hootie, Hootie, Hootie!

Adam, Jasper and I decided to try out Ribfest 2008 on Saturday night. A dozen award-winning rib vendors served their delicacies in the parking lot of Hy-Vee Hall/Wells Fargo Arena in Downtown Des Moines. We headed out there about 7 p.m., enjoyed some yummy ribs and waited for the entertainment to go on for the evening - hootie and the blowfish. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans and we got to hear hootie's first song as we were leaving the parking lot, trying to get to the car as the wind started to pick up, the sky got darker, and the lightning got very wicked!

We made it into the garage as soon as it started raining. We missed Hootie, but got some great ribs! Geez, boys, you could have saved some ribs for me!

My First Trip to the Zoo

This past weekend, we headed to the Blank Park Zoo with Ami, Kyl, Payson & Zoe Gillespie and Ted Rumph. It was about 90 degrees, but we still had a great time, despite the heat. This was Jasper's first trip to the zoo! He was a little afraid and started to get his "puckery lip" when we went through the aquarium and bat exhibits where it was dark, but other than that, he loved just hanging out in the stroller and watching everything that was going on. As you can see in the picture - the lions were such a bore, he might as well be sleeping! And his favorite was watching Payson and Ted feed the giraffe!

It was such a fun day - even when the bird tried to attack Ami and I and make us keep the door open so he could escape... We ended the day with a quick train ride, which J-Man loved. He sat on daddy's lap and smiled almost the whole time (granted it was a quick 8-minute train ride through the whole park, but it was still very exciting!)

Adam and I stopped for some frozen custard to cool off on the drive home while the J-Man slept - he was tuckered out after a great day with his friends!

Um...Jasper

Where's your hand? 

Grandpa Bob

Thanks for letting us come visit, Grandpa Bob. It was great to see you!

Grandma Alice

We stopped over at Grandma Alice's house on the 4th of July.  Jasper was full of smiles for her. 

Forget rolling over....

I want to sit up! 

Happy 4th of July!

Jasper had a great time on the 4th of July.   We enjoyed the Waukee parade, headed to the Park to see cousin Syd on the big "jumpee" rides, and then went over to Sandy's house for a BBQ with the family.  Melissa and Joe Meyer joined us with Isabelle, too.  We stayed at Sandy's to watch the fireworks and Jasper slept through all the loud booms and bangs  - it was a great 1st 4th of July for the little guy!

Hanging Out with Cousin Syd

Melissa got some really good photos of Jasper and Syd when we went out to Stuart to visit this past weekend. We had a great lunch with everyone and some yummy homemade ice cream!

First studio photos

Jasper had his first photo studio experience today at Portrait Innovations in West Des Moines. Without his morning nap he wasn't quite as smiley as he normally is, but they got some great shots, many of which we'll be handing out.

Here's just a small sample.