Exploding Potatoes

I was baking potatoes the other night and it reminded me of this story - its totally random but I thought I would share.

So Dan and I were over at his parents house and I was helping his mom with dinner and she asked me to wash the potatoes, wrap them in foil, poke holes in them with a fork, and put them in the oven. POKE HOLES IN THEM??? I asked her why I needed to poke holes in them and our conversation went something like this.
Leesa (Dan's mom) - haven't you cooked potatoes before
Me - yes
Leesa - Well if you don't poke holes in them they will explode
Me - I have heard of that in the microwave - but not in the oven. My mom never poked holes and I have never poked holes in the potatoes we cook in the oven and we have never had an explosion
Leesa - Really? Well lets just poke them anyway, just in case.

HAHAHAHA - obviously Leesa was told her entire life that if she didn't poke holes in the potatoes, they would explode, and so instead of testing it and chancing having an oven full of exploded potatoes, she just did it. So that got me thinking, how many things like this have we been told that are not true, but no one knows they aren't true because no one wants to deal with the consequences if they are!

18 Months

Jaxon is technically 19 months now... as of yesterday, but I never posted anything about him being 18 months. I can't believe how fast time goes by! I hate saying that because EVERYONE says that and everyone tells you that it does and to cherish every moment. Well I have been doing that, but it doesn't change anything. I still miss my little baby Jaxon but at the same time I love the older Jaxon. I don't think it matters how much you cherish every moment, it will  never seem like it was enough. This next part is mostly for me and so it is documented, it is in no way a, "I think my child is amazing" brag fest, because I think he is learning to talk slower than some kids his age, but he is developing at his pace which is the right one for him! :) But I do think he is amazing, even if he wasn't talking I would think that because he is my child LOL. But he is taking a lot now, even if he isn't saying words, he just babbles and babbles and uses his hands a lot when talks LOL. It makes everything he says seem like it is REALLY interesting. He says mama, dada, papa, hot, yes, no, up, help, please, cheese, dont, stop, water, waffle, puppy, purple, yellow, jump, kick, duck, hat, eyes, I, you, and I think thats all - lol. Obviously his pronunciation isn't perfect, but you can tell what he is saying. :) He can also make the sounds of almost every letter in the alphabet. Like if you ask him, what does the "A" say - he will say ahhh and so on and so forth. He can also make animal sounds for a cow, dog, lion, monkey, and dinosaur - haha, random mix. He loves doing head shoulders knees and toes, ring around the rosey, somersaults, dancing, playing basketball, throwing anything and everything, playing peek a boo, being chased around the house, wrestling, being outside ALL THE TIME, *I will talk more about this a little later* and reading books.  He also loves giving and blowing kisses and loves (which are hugs) to anyone and everyone. His hugs are just him tilting his head and putting it on someone shoulder, or thigh, or wherever he can get it haha. I think he does it that way because I would be holding him and then put my head on his shoulder and say "loves" - so since my arms were already around him, I don't think he realizes that that is how to give a proper hug. I haven't taught him the real way yet because it is so dang cute when he does it his way. :)  He also loves to say HI and wave and smile to everyone. Grocery shopping is an ordeal, he has to say hi to everyone we pass with a big wave and then when we are checking out he likes to hand the checker/cashier the food - he likes to be very involved in everything. People always ask how old he is and when I tell them his age, they are shocked. Probably because he has so much hair, he is really big for his age, and has all his teeth but 4 (2 molars on the top and bottom) - so I think that makes him look older. He has also been going to nursery since the middle of December, and he has had NO problem going. In fact, he pushes his way off of me to get to the toys. I usually slip out so there isn't a problem and the nursery leaders say he will look around for me when he stops playing for a second and when he doesn't find me or Dan he will cry for about a minute and then he is fine. But when we come to get him when church is over, he gets SOOO excited and "talks" about everything that happened in nursery until we get home. So back to talking about outside all the time. When we were in Utah for our Christmas vacation and it was cold and snowing, and someone opened the door and he started to run outside without his shoes and sock on, so I thought - ok I'll let him go out there and step in the snow to feel how cold it is and then he probably won't want to be outside all the time. Wrong - he stood in the snow for what seemed like forever, I ran out and grabbed him, put my hands around his feet to warm them up and started carrying him inside and he started getting so upset. Then we went for a walk when it was below 10 degrees, we bundled him up but by then end you could tell he was pretty cold, but again, as soon as we started going back inside, he was really upset. We also took him outside in a blizzard-didn't matter. This kid wouldn't care if there was a hurricane - he would want to be out in it. Well this post has gone on long enough, I could talk/type for days about my little man. He is my world - I just love him to death. He has brought so much joy into my life. He also can drive me crazy - he is already such a boy haha, but I wouldn't change anything about him! Love you Bubba Bo!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

First of all, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! I know I haven't posted on here in a while, and that is due to us having too much fun over the Holidays - but we will be back in Texas in a few short days and I will post about our Christmas vacation then! Thanks to everyone who took time out of their busy schedules to come see us - it meant a lot! We have LOVED being here with our family and friends and it will be hard going back to Texas, but we get to come back in February for Trevor and Jordyn's wedding and then again in May for  my little brother Landon's homecoming - so it won't be long before we get to see everyone again! At the same time, we are excited to go back to our house and be with the wonderful friends we have made in Texas! We will see you all soon!

We are so excited for 2011 and all the possibilities that it holds!

Birds

So my entire life, during fall, I have watched flocks of birds start flying south for the winter.

Now I am here in Texas - which is south I guess because ALL THE BIRDS ARE HERE!!!

Everyday when I go to pick up Dan from school - hundreds and hundreds of birds fill all the bare trees around the law school, and they just chirp away. 

Christmas is coming!

Holidays are so much fun with a child! Even though Jaxon is still a little young to really know what is going on, it makes it better for me just taking him around and doing fun Christmas things! On Saturday December 4th the Science Center put on a Holiday Wonderland that we went to. They had gingerbread cookie decorating, fun holiday games, a little train ride, a cowboy Santa (yes you heard me right - we are in TEXAS) and much more! Jaxon had a good time - when we went to take a picture with cowboy Santa, the Santa tried to put him on top of the huge horse... Jaxon did not like that so I had to hold him for the picture - but other than that it was a huge success. Also, the stake here in Lubbock (there is only one stake here) put on a nativity Christmas program thing from December 2 - 4 so after Jaxon and I went to the Holiday wonderland we went over there. It was BEAUTIFUL! They were using this as a missionary opportunity so all the missionaries took shifts and would be there to answer any questions about the church. They had hundreds of nativities and live music with a choir while you were looking at them all. They also had the primary room set up with nativities kids could play with along with costumes for them to dress up in and get their pictures taken and then they put them in a cute Popsicle stick frame that was made to look like the stable. It was such a neat thing and it seemed like a huge success. When I went it was really busy so I hope it was like that the entire time! Here are just a few pictures of these events!

Jaxon decorating his cookie

The finished thing being eaten!

In front of the pretty decorations... he was distracted by something

Us with Cowboy Santa LOL - this still cracks me up!

Our Stake Center decorated for the "Oh Holy Night" event - it was BEAUTIFUL!

Jaxon's new thing

So Jaxon's new thing is to climb in things.
Lately, Jaxon has wanted to pick out what he eats... so I let him stand in front of the fridge and grab what he wants out. Well the other day he gave me the food he wanted and I went to put it on the table and turned around to him doing this....

Then just yesterday, I was doing laundry and taking clothes out of the dryer and into my room to put away, I was going to put more clothes in so I didn't shut the dryer door - when I got back, I found this...

So one of the gifts we were going to give Jaxon's for Christmas this year is a little play tent, but since he really likes having things to go inside of... we thought we would just give this one to him early. He has had a blast playing in it! He even wanted to be in it while we attempted to watch cars... he actually held still for 15 minutes this time! It was pretty funny!

AHHH I JUST LOVE THIS LITTLE BOY!!!

Family

I just have to say that I REALLY do have the best family in the world. I'm not just talking about my immediate family, I am talking about my extended family.... both sides. My dads side of the family, the Koch's, get together about once a month - sometimes more. My cousins are some of my best friends. I had sleepovers with my cousins, we went on trips together, we still (well when I am in Utah) get together to play games, talk, and just have a good time. We support each other. I am SOOO blessed to have them in my life and now that we are all growing up haha and moving away to pursue our dreams or go where school is, we don't get to see each other as much - but that doesn't mean I don't think about them and how much I love them all the time. My fondest and most cherished memories are with my cousins.

With that being said, it breaks my heart to think that Jaxon might not have that. Who knows when he is going to have cousins, and when he does - they probably won't be close in age like I was with my cousins. So family.... immediate and extended that are close in my age... START HAVING BABIES PLEASE. My son needs to experience the joy I did growing up. Thanks. :)

"Please give me cousins to play with!"

How can you say no to that face and hair haha