Santa Drives a Semi

Way back in January or so, after the thrills of Santa and Christmas, Jaden was wondering what the heck happened to Santa - where did he go? when will he come back? why did we put our santa stuff away? So one day, as we were driving to El Paso, we passed a semi truck. As we passed, I happened to notice that the driver was a jolly man with white hair and a white beard. My first thought, of course, was "Santa!" So I quickly pointed him out to Jaden and watched in the rearview mirror as he anxiously looked up out of the backseat window and waited to see the driver of the semi truck. His eyes lit up when he got a glimpse of the semi-driving Santa. He smiled and gasped as he said, "That's Santa!"

Well, that was many months ago, and Jaden is still looking for Santa in every single semi truck that we pass. The other day, as we were driving to El Paso, we were passing several semi's and as we approached each one, Jaden said "I need to see Santa." He anxiously looked up out of his window and waited. And after passing each one, his face dropped in disappointment, "I not see Santa again." I'm just sure that one of these days his efforts will pay off and we will pass that semi-driving Santa again. There's gotta be more than one, right??

Future Aspirations

It's official! At two years old, Jaden has decided what he wants to do when he "gets bigger." He wants to be a cowboy! But not just any cowboy...a Farmer Cowboy. You're probably wondering where he came up with such an idea. Well, for the most part, he decided this while looking out the backseat window as we drive to his babysitter's house each day. It is the most beautiful drive along the backroads of Las Cruces. There are farms with animals, crops growing, and of course, tractors! As we are in the car, we talk about the different crops and what they are - corn, chile, onions, cabbage, cotton... And we name all of the different animals - horses, cows, calves, sheep, goats, ducks, donkeys... Very educational! One day we saw a real-life cowboy, riding his horse along the side of the road. Jaden said, "I wanna do dat!" I asked him, "You want to be a cowboy?" He said "Yea, like this, 'Yee-haw!'", while twirling his pretend lasso in the air. And the next day, we saw a farmer driving his tractor across the field. Jaden said, "I wanna do dat...I wanna be a Farmer Cowboy!" There you have it. He's got it all figured out!

Jaden is 2 1/2 Years Old!

I can't believe that Jaden is halfway to three already! Makes me so sad to think about how fast the time is going by. I want him to be little forever. But since I can't freeze time, I do want to remember how much he has changed our lives and for him to know just how special he is.

Dear Jaden,
Because of you, I became a mommy.
Because of you, I have never enjoyed life more.
Because of you, I have seen just how high a pile of laundry can grow.
Because of you, Bear Bear is always on my mind.
Because of you, we have Barney playing in the car...all the time.
Because of you, I haven't stopped worrying for the past two and a half years (plus the nine months before that).
Because of you, I will probably worry for the rest of my life.
Because of you, I have learned how wonderful the "terrible" twos can be.
Because of you, there are things in life that don't matter like they used to.
Because of you, there are things in life that matter way more than they ever did before.
Because of you, I have read How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon about a thousand times.
Because of you, I have never been asked so many questions.
Because of you, I am always concerned about the ingredients in the foods and products we buy.
Because of you, I have learned about every sport there is.
Because of you, I rarely ever shop for me anymore.
Because of you, I research everything.
Because of you, I keep Benadryl with me at all times.
Because of you, I have learned how important naps are.
Because of you, I can never get enough hugs and kisses.
Because of you, Daddy loves Saturday cartoons (or at least he has a good excuse to watch them now).
Because of you, I don't leave home without snacks and a sippy cup.
Because of you, family has a whole new meaning.
Because of you, I love shopping for new toys.
Because of you, toys are taking over the house.
Because of you, I can't go shopping without checking out the little boy's clothes and shoes.
Because of you, we've been to tons of birthday parties.
Because of you, people smile and greet us everywhere we go.
Because of you, we can't go to the mall without stopping in Barnes & Noble to play with the trains.
Because of you, Daddy has a new best buddy.
Because of you, the house is never quiet.
Because of you, I know where all the best ice cream stops are.
Because of you, I am a better teacher.
Because of you, I am always learning.
Because of you, there is never a dull moment.
Because of you, we haven't been on time for anything for the past two and a half years.
Because of you, all the "little things" are so much more important.
Because of you, Elijah has an amazing big brother.
Because of you, I have never been happier in my life.


I Love You Jaden Bear!

Elijah's 3 Months Old!

What I love about you:

• Your big, brown, beautiful eyes!

• The way you laugh in your sleep.


• Your shy, quiet smile.
  
  
• The adorable rolls of fat on your thighs.
  
• The way you love to coo and talk.


• Your perfectly kissable chubby cheeks.

• How you love to watch your big brother and let him kiss, tickle, and play with you.
  
• The way you clasp your hands together and suck on your fists.


• How adorable you look in your duck bath robe.

Your calm, easy-going personality.

How precious you look when you are sleeping.

I Love You Lijah Bear!

Never a Dull Moment

In case you couldn't tell, Jaden is sitting on a plane (literally), headed to California (in the wrong direction) to see Becky and Beto! He remembered his hat, but forgot his pants! There is never a dull moment...he has got quite the imagination!

At the Clayground

We took Jaden to a neat "paint your own pottery stuido" in El Paso called At the Clayground. He got to choose his own ceramic piece to paint, as well as the colors he wanted; then he painted away! He was a little over ambitious for his first time, choosing a good size motorcycle bank, instead of the little turtle that I tried to talk him into. But he loves motorcycles and money, so it really was the perfect choice for him! The lady working commented on how mature he was for his age because she noticed that he did not swirl all of the different colors of paint together on his tile palette like most two-year-olds do. He did do really well, for the most part. His piece was a little big for him, and he required lots of extra painting hands. He also didn't understand why they wouldn't give him crayons to use, along with the paints! But the end result was very cute. I think his favorite part was having his foot painted for a plate that I was making. After we printed his foot on the front of the plate, he asked to do it again, so his footprint is on the front and back. Elijah got his foot painted too and didn't mind it at all! We left our pieces to be glazed and fired and can't wait to see the finished product when we go pick them up!

White Sands

White Sands is always a fun and enjoyable family outing! And it's espeically beautiful when we are there to see the sun set and the moon rise.

No More Dossier...I Hope

I am sooooo glad to be done with my Dossier! In case you haven't been one of the lucky ones to hear me gripe and complain about it for at least the past year, the Professional Development Dossier is a huge "project" that must be completed by teachers in NM in order to advance in teaching licensure. It has to be completed before the end of your fifth year of teaching or you lose your teaching license - next year's my fifth year (talk about procrastination)! Now that I've submitted it, it must be reviewed and meet and pass the criteria in each of the three different sections; if not, I've got two more chances to resubmit. So I'm not completely rid of it yet, but I am hopeful and will find out mid August whether I passed or not. It was a loooong process. I started working on it before Jaden was born, and after many extra late nights, lots of work in between babies napping (or with Elijah on my lap), and trips to the library (kid-less) to work on it, it's done...for now, at least! I guess I could have done it two years ago, before kids, but what can I say, I like a good challenge! And a challenge it was. I am so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends who volunteered to help watch the kiddos so that I could get this done. My parents were especially wonderful, taking any opportunity to watch Jaden and Elijah so that I could work - they were just as anxious for me to get it over with! And now I just have to wait and hope that I don't have to do it all over again! We shall see.....

Update on 8/17/09: I PASSED!!!!

Fourth of July Weekend

Happy (late) Fourth of July! Hope everybody had a wonderful weekend. I enjoyed a fabulous weekend at the pool, BBing, and enjoying time with family! And this year, more than any before, I also was feeling especially grateful for this wonderful country that we live in...the best place to raise my two precious boys. We are so fortunate for the freedom and rights that we have. I was remembering back to an Oprah episode I saw not too long ago in which the Invisible Children Organization was gathered to raise awareness about the war in Uganda and the children who are stolen from their homes at night and made to be soldiers. Hard for us to even imagine a life like that. We are truly fortunate. And I hope that God not only bless America, but the rest of the world, too. I hope that someday, children around the world will be fortunate enough to exerience freedom the way that we do.

Here are some pictures from our fun weekend...

Jaden's ready to go swimming. It took some convincing to remind him that he always has to wear his swim jacket, but once we got it on, he was ready to go!

Jaden loves to swim - daddy's trying to teach him how.

Asking me not to take a picture of him!

Wow, they look like they are performing in an aquatic show.

Splashing is always the best part

There's Elijah with sleepy eyes, fighting an outdoor nap. I put his feet in the water and he didn't like that one bit!

Happy Fourth of July (and birthday to Aunt Maureen).

My brother Jeremy trying out a neat firework stick. It looks like he's juggling fire.

Front row seats for the front yard fireworks display.

Jaden was terrified to go outside and tried to stop everybody else from going out too. As everybody snuck out to do fireworks, Nana convinced him that it was safe to watch from inside his playroom.

My cousin Connor got to see the babies for the first time and just loved holding them. Jaden was especially attached to him and wanted to

Sound asleep.

There's my sweet and smiley niece, Aubrey.

My sister Angela, cousin Colleen holding Aubrey, sister-in-law Melissa, Aunt Kathy, and cousin Connor holding Elijah.

The beautiful sky and mountains just after a thunderstorm.