This one is for Grandpa

After his bath, we gave David his toothbrush for the first time. It came in a kit with a gum massager that he enjoys munching on already, so we figured he could try out the toothbrush. He seems to enjoy it just the same. It's not too early to start good hygiene habits! ;)

The Boys on Christmas Day

David took a nap, cuddled up next to his hammy Uncle Graham on Christmas Day while Jeri & I were playing.
Here's David playing with his new giraffe & hanging out with Daddy... boy time is always fun

Jeri lets me play with her cool toys

Jeri is a talented quilter, with many beautiful projects under her belt & many looking forward to being finished. Don't we all have a few projects awaiting our return? (like the cross stitch I started over six years ago sitting at the bottom of my closet). Well, she has a new quilting frame that she can use with her sewing machine! How neat is that! Her Bernina has a presser foot that keeps the stitches even, no matter how fast the needle goes. So we were practicing free-hand quilting on Christmas day while the boys were downstairs watching a movie. The results were quite impressive! It went so fast! And look how stinkin' cute that baby fabric is!

I was dreaming of a White Christmas...

And my dreams came true! I was expecting rain on Wednesday through the weekend, but it snowed a little on Wednesday & then rained, then froze again.

Christmas morning, while we were at Jamin's parent's home in Salmon Creek, it totally started coming down for a while. It was so beautiful outside! I am so grateful to Jack for coming to get us in his 4WD/chained truck & bringing us back home. It was quite the adventuresome drive. We enjoyed a wonderful day with the Jorgensens. Look at the beautiful sight!

David was spoiled with love & attention as usual, as well as some special presents. Thank you, Grandma & Grandpa J! Jamin & I were delighted that David really loves our 'big' present for him, his animal train. I know he's only 6 months, but I wanted to get something that would last a while, entertain him, would help with development, etc. Yes, I am the mom on the internet, researching Consumer Reports recommendations, customer opinions, etc. to make the most out of our toy purchases. I'd rather have a few really quality items that will last than a bunch of stuff to trip over that David doesn't really play with. Only time can tell. cardboard boxes & pots & pans do the trick too! LOL!

Anyway, we really enjoyed spending time with family over the holidays. This is such a special time of year to remember our blessing & remember to share the Christmas Spirit - the Spirit of Christ - throughout the year. Merry Christmas to everyone & may your new year be filled with much happiness!

Christmas Eve 2008

My baby is six months old! WOW! My how time flies when you're having fun, right? I can't say I wasn't warned though. I am really glad that we have taken the opportunity to just enjoy life with David as he's changed so much since he joined our little family. Jamin & I feel so blessed by this little guy so full of wonder & love. Good thing I have a blog to keep track of it all, huh?! hehe

Well we had a wonderful Christmas holiday & hope everyone else did too. Wednesday, Christmas Eve, we were very happy to have my Dad & his girlfriend, Lisa come for a few hours on their way up from California on their way to surprise my Dad's parents in Tacoma. We had pizza & goodies & presents & played Sequence while catching up & enjoying each others company. David was spoiled, of course, & loves his Laugh & Learn Puppy along with his other sweet gifts from Grandpa & Lisa. The puppy talks & sings when you press it's paw/feet/ear/tummy. We haven't determined the gender, so Jamin & I call it Pat the Puppy. David loves it!

The evening was spent with just the three of us - nice & generally quiet. We decided to open our presents then instead of Christmas morning, since we were going to be with Jamin's family on Christmas day. David was a lot of fun. He was old enough to have some interest in the packages: ripping off bows, tearing paper, playing with tissue paper. So of course, I was camera-ready.

Getting Toasty on Tuesday

Remember this tree from Saturday? This is a picture from Monday afternoon. Cooped up in our warm home, we've enjoyed checking out the Snowy Scene beyond our windows. Jamin got a little antsy with cabin fever and ventured up the street to Safeway for cheetos & mountain dew.. basics, you know. Other than that, we've been doing great. We are definitely grateful for the counsel from our prophet to store up food & supplies for times like these. We have avoided driving since everything is just so icy. When I knew this kind of weather was coming in, I purchased an extra gallon of milk (& we needed it, with all the baking we've been doing!) But really, we've been doing great. I am also grateful that we've had power & heat the entire time too! It will be snowing yet again tomorrow morning & possibly on Christmas day, before turning to rain & slowly thawing things out.
Our Christmas Eve dinner with my mom & Nana will be delayed until the drive from Ridgefield for my Nana isn't so scary (they've got at least a foot up there!) But Jack offered to come pick us up on Christmas morning so we can still get together for a yummy breakfast & gifts around the tree. We missed seeing them on Sunday. I think Grandma Jeri was hoping there was some way that David could teleport to her house Sunday, but we haven't quite figured out how to do that yet! :) Yet another reason for the hundreds of photos I've been taking this past week. Seriously, I have taken no less than 200 pictures in the last week.

Here's some fun info for you.. we are just over the I205 bridge from the airport & this is their snow record:

All About My One & Only

This is a fun blog game where I answer questions & then 'tag' a friend to do the same... My friend Joy tagged all of her friends, so here we go!

1. What is his name? Jamin Niels Jorgensen
2. Who eats more? Jamin
3. Who said I love you first? I did
4. Who is taller? Jamin
5. Who is smarter? He's brilliant, I'm pretty smart too! We have our own strengths
6. Who is more sensitive? probably me, but he's definitely in touch with his softer side ;)
7.Who does the laundry? both of us.. mostly because I start then get distracted & he comes to the rescue. I'm working on that
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? when in bed, Jamin... if you ask him, he'll tell you that I get up on the wrong side of the bed sometimes
9. Who pays the bills? Jamin ... sometimes he lets me write the checks though
10. Who cooks more? me
11. What meals do you cook together? he always the grates cheese for me (I don't know what it is, I don't like grating cheese). When we BBQ, he's the grill man & I'll do the rest.
12. Who is more stubborn? totally me
13. Who is the first to admit they're wrong? Jamin
14. Who has more siblings? Jamin with 4 brothers
15. Who wears the pants in the relationship? both of us wear pants, but I'm the only one who wears skirts
16. What do you like to do together? play with David, snuggle on the couch watching TV, go for walks, play games
17. Who eats more sweets? me - I'm totally a sweet tooth.
18. Guilty pleasures? sleeping in, mountain dew, peanut m&m's, command & conquer on snow days
19. How did you meet? at Family Home Evening for the young single adult group at church
20. Who asked who out first? I asked him out - scandalous, I know
21. Who kissed who first? both of us - it was a magical moment
22. Who proposed? Jamin
23. His best features? his smile, his eyes, his huge heart, his strong arms that wrap tightly around his family
24. What is his greatest quality? hard working, deeply loving & loyal (he makes David & I feel like the most important people in the world), very intelligent, extremely dependable, very funny (& laughs at my jokes!), my best friend!
25. Tag? anyone reading this with a blog! comment me with a link to your post :)

Our Little Snowbaby

(I thought I posted this Sunday evening, but apparently I just saved it..dangit!)

Yesterday evening, we received the phone call we were suspecting would come.. church is canceled for Sunday once again. We had fun this afternoon checking out the Winter Wonderland beyond our warm & cozy home. Around 10pm last night, the snow changed to freezing rain. Then it started snowing again! So after things calmed down a little bit, we bundled up David in a couple layers under fuzzy PJs & then put on his cozy snuggler (I don't know what else to call it!) He seemed to enjoy checking out the beautiful scene left by Jack Frost. We had quite a bit of snow on our back patio, but just in case, Jamin brought up a big bowl-full to make a snow baby. How cute is he?!

David & I watched Jamin from inside & then we introduced David to a snowball. He really wanted to play with it, but was upset that it was too cold. Poor guy.

Snowy Treats

With all the chilly weather, we decided to help keep our home warm by baking! ok, ok.. so it was all me. Jamin has been teasing me that I've been baking too many cookies. Too many cookies?!! There's no such thing! Besides, he always has plenty to bring to work & share. I know that deep down inside, he's happy to be the cool kid who brings cookies to work often during the month of December. Baking cookies is a holiday tradition that I hold near & dear to my heart. (ok, maybe more like my gut, but still) It evokes happy memories of baking, decorating & munching cookies. My stepmom always had tins full of goodies during the holidays. We would make spritz cookies, chocolate crinkles, gingerbread cookies, sugar cookies, peppermint candy canes & fancy checkerboard or striped cookies. There's room in every diet for tasty cookeis. Even when my Dad has been on Atkins, always cheated with a few Christmas cookies ;) My favorite part really is sharing our tasty creations with friends & family.
There was already a batch of gingerbread cookie dough in the fridge, so I rolled them out & baked them in the shape of snowflakes. They matched the flurries that were swirling outside our window all day. I originally planned to pipe royal icing around the edges, but after two cookies, my hand was cramping & I knew it would be too tedious for a few dozen more (they're small snowflakes) Besides, Jamin's patience wasn't going to hold out for that long. I had to practically force him into the kitchen to help decorate. A little bit of enticing with the job of sprinkles, though, & he seemed quite happy

Earlier today, we enjoyed a cozy cup of hot cocoa - complete with snowflake sprinkles! I know, I'm kind of ridiculous with the cutesy festive stuff.. but I'm having fun with it all. I finished wrapping some presents & then Jamin braved the weatherto ship some things from the post office. Then we baked, played with David (of course!) & cuddled on the couch with House on DVD. We were thinking about going out to play in the snow with David, but by the time he woke up from his nap, the wind picked up & he probably wouldn't be too happy for long. Perhaps tomorrow. I tooks gobs of photos throughout the day. It was hard to track snow accumulation since the wind was blowing the snow around quite a bit. Oh well. The cookie progress photos I took were more exciting anyway.. hehe We hope everyone is keeping warm & happy. You're welcome to stop by for cocoa & cookies! We've got plenty! :D


There are many holiday traditions that make Christmas time special for each of us. Baking cookies is just one of them. So feel free to leave a comment & share your favorite traditions!

Winter Wonderland

Look what I woke up to this morning! LOVE IT! This is looking out from David's window. The actual storm is supposed to come in this afternoon, so we'll keep you posted. My guys are sleeping in this morning, but when they wake up, maybe we'll go out for a short bit to build a snowman! The way the forecast looks, we might be keeping this wintry weather for a white Christmas!

Arctic Blast 2008

Jamin & I always crack up with the names the news media labels the weather around here. It's always an event! We've had some very chilly weather the past couple of days & expect it to continue through the week. We woke up Sunday morning to see the wind whipping around some snowflakes (just a few stuck to the ground). As we were getting ready for church, we were teasing each other about church getting canceled or just having sacrament meeting when our home teacher called (about 20 minutes before we were planning to head out) to let us know that church was indeed canceled. I guess it was the freezing temps (it was about 26 most of the day Sunday) & ice & basically making sure people were kept safe. We hoped we'd see more snow from the storm front that came in Sunday evening, but it seems the Columbia river was the dividing line. The Portland metro area got some accumulation & the 10 o'clock news reported just about every school in the Portland metro area closed for Monday. And all the metro highways had a chain requirement Sunday evening too... crazy crazy.
Monday morning, however, we woke up to clear, sunny skies & frigid weather. The wind was still whipping around, which made me so grateful for our warm home to stay cozy & comfortable. The office opened 2 hours late for Jamin on Monday, and regular hours Tuesday & today. It started snowing this morning & is apparently supposed to get worse as the day progresses. So the federal building is closing at noon & Jamin gets to come home early today. He's spoiled... he still gets paid for the remainder of his day when the office closes due to weather & such. We're doing well at keeping warm & toasty... God bless hot cocoa! ;) But David is fighting a little cold, so that's not so fun. My 'happy-go-lucky boy' has been replaced with 'needy boy', wanting to be held all the time. Needless to say, we're not getting much done other than watching the snow out the window. Here's a tree that's just across the parking lot, outside David's window. Maybe, if there's enough snow, we'll go & play for a short bit... can't miss the photo op! I'm such a dorky mom..LOL! :D

Playing at Grandma's

Last Sunday, we went to Jamin's parent's for supper. David had a fun surprise waiting for him... Grandma found some colorful bowls just for him to pound on & play with as she was cooking dinner. He seemed to really enjoy the silicone brush quite a bit. Just some cute pictures of our smiley boy. I really love the chubby-cheeked grin in the first shot (sorry the angle is wonky, I was crawling on the floor right with him) I really should try to capture some more video & post it here again so you can hear his little loud voice. He has turned into quite the vocal child. Maybe it's because I tell him to say "ahh" when I'm feeding him jarred food, but that's his favorite phrase lately. When Jeri was over on Saturday, he was just hanging out on his quilt with his toys & just saying "ahh" in a few different pitches. This went on most of the day. I am sure it sounds pretty cool in his ears to try out new tones.

Happy Birthday Aaron!

This one is for my brother... we were totally cool kids back in the 80's! LOL!

Santa Who?

I just about died laughing when I saw this picture of David meeting "Santa" at our ward Christmas party! Perfect expression!

Busy Happy Weekend

This has been a pretty busy weekend! It started Friday night with a girl's wrapping party. A few gals weren't able to make it & they were missed, but we had fun hanging out & getting all of our Christmas wrapping done. I am hoping to plan another gift wrapping get-together next year. I LOVE wrapping presents! In fact, I've already had a request by a friend to wrap his presents.. so anyone else needing help, I'll be happy to lend a hand! :D Then on Saturday, my fabulous mother in law, Jeri came over to hang out with David & I & help me on a project. I LOVE her! She is so wonderful! I feel so fortunate to have great in-laws. (& I'm not just saying that because I know she reads my blog.. LOL! It's true!) I reluctantly left my project on Saturday to go to our ward Christmas party.. I'm glad I did. We enjoyed a nice dinner with our church family & an inspiring program. As is typical, there was a guest that arrived at the end of the program to greet the children. Jamin & I don't plan to make a big deal about Santa - no standing in line at the mall to meet him or anything. But since he came to our ward party, we figured, "What the heck.. David can have a picture with Santa for the blog" (I know, we are the mayors of Nerdville) So last night, David met Santa! It was a really funny experience. The three children in front of us, including our friend Tyson Paice, all cried as soon as they were put on Santa's lap. David just gave him quite the puzzled look as if to say, "umm do you know how ridiculous you look in that outfit?" LOL! He even had one eyebrow perked up when he looked over at me. It was hillarious. I should be receiving an email with David's photo, so I'll post it when I see it.
Local weather forecasts predict snow on Sunday (today) & temps in the 20s through the middle of next week (evenings in the teens! brrr!) In fact, there's a Winter Storm Warning indicating expectations of 2-6 inches of accumulation on the valley floor. So I am secrectly hoping the IRS shuts down for a few days so I can steal some time with my husband. Well, I guess after posting it on my blog, it's not so secret anymore, is it?
We'll keep you posted on anything exciting... or just more pictures of our cute son! Happy weekend to everyone!

Festival of Nativities

Last night we enjoyed the Festival of Nativities held at our church. This is quickly becoming a favorite holiday tradition. I really appreciate the hard work that goes into this event. It is a wonderful way to start the Christmas season with the true meaning of Christmas in our hearts. Each year, our church holds this festival, open to the public for four days, where hundreds of nativities are on display. There are choral performances held in the chapel and also a special childrens room set up where little ones can do crafts & dress up to play the parts of the story of Jesus' birth. On Saturday, there was also a live nativity, where someone read aloud the story & people acted out & sang parts. There were a lot of people attending, so we didn't see much of the live nativity; but it was still fun to be a part of it all. We ran into a few friends & David was quite charming with everyone, as usual. There were so many beautiful nativities; lots of "traditional" displays & a few new ones. I couldn't help but snap a few pictures of some interesting nativities we came across. (these are basically the few pictures that turned out decently)

This is a Japanese origami nativity

We thought of Grandpa when we saw this one: an ostrich egg that was etched with a dentist's drill

This is a nativity from rocks... can you guess what each rock may represent?

I love this one from Alaska with the igloo & arctic creatures

I like this nativity that includes the city of David & the figures make a tree shape, complete with star on top