Almost Time!

Today Paige helped Jess pack some of our stuff, and didn't even unpack it when they finished. He'd bring it out for her, and she put it in boxes.


Here's her efficiently packed box of kitchen stuff. She was so cute waiting for the next load to be packed.

We get keys in the morning, and start moving in!

Unpacking for the Move

We pack, Paige unpacks at least as fast. This morning I started packing pots, but soon they were placed in a path across the floor for Paige to use as stepping stones.

That's the extent of what I accomplished today. Zero. Speaking of which.............
Paige learned to say zero. Or "zewo" actually. That's how old Cason is, as far as she's concerned. She likes to try and make the o shape with her fist when she says it, but it's more of a tear drop shape when she does it.

She also face planted off of Grama's porch swing. She seems to do her scariest stunts over there. Connie and I freaked out, because Paige was SCREAMING and it looked like her eyes were gonna roll back in her head. Ugh. But after a minute I got her happy by letting her jingle all the windchimes, and all was well after that.

Look at these thighs. Or thighzeez, as we lovingly refer to them in our house.

Air-Piegos

We spent Saturday trying to pack and sort of cleaning, because if all continues to go according to plan, we move in to our new old house on Wednesday! Dan and Veronica got a trampoline, so we took a break and went over today to jump. Paige LOVED it.

And this child is an expert jumper.

They saw a plane, and Paige said "Air-Piegos!" She also chased Lily around in circles on the trampoline and yelled "Nogawitz Dogwee!" ??? We're not sure what those words mean, but they sounded awesome.

This boy wasn't impressed by the jumping.

Jess asked me afterward if I was impressed when I watched him do tricks. Oh yes, I was.

Other good pics from today:

Myoomee!

We're watching Wall-E again, and there's a scene where the captain yells "This is MUTINY!" Paige yelled something that sounded like mutiny, and we thought it was hilarious. So I said "Paige, say MUTINY!" She goes "Myoo MEEE!" It was awesome.

Interrogation Station # 5

First of all, nobody's quite aware of how sweet this boy child is. SOOOOO sweet. He was talking so much today, to my mom and me. I looooooooove him.

This one too. She took this nap in the late afternoon, and only woke up mildly unhappy with her life.


Now I bring you the 5th installment of Interrogation Station: The Connie edition.



1) Do you have a nickname(s)?

Yes, it’s Consuela. It’s because Sarah Acer was asking me…wow, you’re writing word for word. Hahahahahhahhah. (I keep typing) I’m totally gonna kill you. She was asking me...where was I? (I type more, she laughs) STOP. I can’t even speak. Okay, anyways, Sarah Acer was convinced that my name was not just Connie, she was sure it was short for something. So she started calling me Constance, and then I said ‘no, that’s not my name, it’s Consuela’, and then everyone started calling me that.


2) Favorite memory of Jess and/or Brandi?

Brandi-my favorite memory with you, was when we went to Best Buy. And I don’t remember exactly what you were buying for Jess, but it was some kind of high priced ticket item. I think it was a surround sound system. And after your purchase, we got stopped nearly 5 feet away from the cash register, and asked to present a receipt for the item. You said “Wow, the checker just got checked.” Then we proceeded to the exit, where the check of the checker was now checked by the door watchman. That was freaking hilarious. Then as we proceeded into the parking lot we discussed how there was going to be another sales associate at your vehicle to check the check of the checker’s check. We did fall down, well I fell down in the parking lot laughing while everyone stood and watched, and thought I was drunk probably.

Jess-my memory of Jess was...it’s kind of lame, but it makes me laugh. When we went to see Dane Cook, and we were in the third row, and as Dane Cook came out on stage Jess was standing with his mouth agape, oogling Dane Cook in all his manly glory, and stated: ‘I am not gay, however Dane Cook is MY man crush.’

3) What are you most afraid of?

Becoming a crazy old cat lady.


4) 3 things you want to do in your lifetime?

a) Travel
b) Become a surgeon of some sort, whether it’s animals or people.
c) Aaaaaand…own a home.

5) What is your best feature/quality?

Laugh, I like to see the humor in almost everything.

6) dog or cat

OOOOOOH. I can’t pick. I LOOOOVE ‘em all. Just don’t give me a bird.

7)Pet peeve

I guess, would be judgmental people.

8) What does nobody know about you, that you’ll admit in this interview.

Hmmm. I don’t know that it’s something that noone knows. I’m not quite sure that after a year of nursing school I’m going to enjoy being a nurse.

9) What are you really good at?

Ummm. I guess, retaining information.

10) If you could relive one time in your life, what would it be?

UUUUUM…it was a lot of fun when we worked at the animal hospital, you, me, and Matty P. Even though it was horrible, it would be fun to go back and have all those laughs again. Remember when we counted how many times we laughed in a day? It was 160.

What Lies Beneath

You didn't think I got somebody for the interrogation station did you? Well I didn't. Connie's coming to visit tomorrow so I'll surprise her with an interview. She'll be so excited.

Cason's as handsome as ever.

Paige did this in her kitchen. She was pretty mad when I made her get out.

Veronica and Lily came over today. At one point we heard the girls singing in Paige's room, so we peeked in, and they were using a lamp as a microphone. I got this picture of Paige singing while Lily dance-jumped on the bed. No I didn't brush Paige's hair today. She's clean, and that's what counts.

Paige was also pulling Lily around the house by her arm. Lily almost got mad, but then decided it was funny, so they did it for a while.

Wall-OOO

This morning Paige pulled out this movie:


and I said "Wall-E?"

She got excited and yelled "Wall-OOOOOOO"

So now we're watching Wall-oooooo.

Lazy Afternoons

Today the babies and I stayed home because Jess has a sore throat and Paige's nose started running. I don't want to go around spreading disease. We hung out in bed, me nursing my sweet Mr. Man until he fell asleep, and hoping Paige would fall asleep too, while she somersaulted all over the bed, laughing like a maniac. Run on sentence?

Then they DID fall asleep, and I embroidered for a pillow. Or did SOMETHING with a needle and thread anyway. I want to cuddle with them in bed every afternoon.

Now I'm making delicious creamy pumpkin sauce pasta for the second night in a row, because that's what we do here. Eat the same things over and over, if we like them.

Paige came into the kitchen wanting a piece of the sausage I was cutting up. I gave her a piece, and she took it into the living room, put it on a blanket on the ground, and ate it off of the blanket like a dog. She's an odd one. She came back for more, so Jess got a picture.

Black Eye?

Paige woke up with this eye:

But it looks quite a bit worse in person, really puffy and purple. A couple days ago it looked like she had a little pimple on her eyelid, and now it's like this. It doesn't seem to bother her though. Hmm. She also followed me down the hall in her sumo wrestling stance, going "Numo! Numo!".

Anyhoo, happy birthday to my brother-in-law Jordan! (I know, October and November are full of birthdays in this family) He's a great dad and husband to my sister Misty. He's also funny and quite a handy man. Happy Birthday! Not that you'll ever see this.

Happy Birthday Aunt Mindy!

Today is my wonderful Aunt Mindy's birthday! Happy birthday Mindy, I wish we could see you! Love you!

Here she is teaching Paige to play piano 2 summers ago.

"I Divorced a Girl.."

Today Jess gave me a kiss, and I told him it was a girly kiss. So then I changed the words to that idiotic song, and sang "I kissed a girl, he's my husbaaaaaand." Then he sang "I divorced a girl, she's my wiiiiiife." Haha. If you don't think it was funny, you're mistaken.

Paige was especially cool today. She did a crazy new dance every time something made her happy, that involves extremely fast stomping and swinging of arms. As fast as she could move, in fact. She did it for crackers once, and then again when she got a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie and juice. She also shared binoculars with a horse.

Cason laughed for the first time this morning. Jess and Paige were chasing eachother around, and I was munching Cason's cheeks to make him smile. All of a sudden he laughed out loud, it was so cute. I got him to laugh twice more, for Jess and Paige. Paige saw me pretending to munch his cheeks, so she came over to try it. Only, she thought I was licking his cheeks, so she pretended to do it, and then made the "numnumnum" noise I was making.

Caso and a Shirtless Newsboy(girl though)

So handsome.


Eating Honeycombs, which she thinks are cookies, and calls "gooks".

Happy Birthday Teetee!

It's already time for another sister birthday post. Tyra's is today! Happy Birthday Teetee! Tyra is also beautiful and popular. Thanks a lot to her and Cassie for both being Homecoming Queen so that Misty and I could be the big failures. :)

Tyra is also funny. She has a wide variety of interests, and is generous, outgoing, and creative. Happy birthday Tyra, we love you.

She's also tan. I look like Doc Holliday next to her. I'm ya Huckleberry.

Interrogation Station #4

Before we begin, a few things about Paige. She's started to say cute things like "HI GUYS!", "Bye, see you!" and when she drops something: "OH NO! GOSH!"

And now, on to the interview. I introduce to you, Jess. Great husband, dad, son, brother, friend, baby in hot air balloon tank top.

1) Do you have a nickname? Yes, you do. How did you come by this nickname?

My nickname is Jefe Gordo. Well, mm. Alright, uh, um. How DID I get it? (Here I refreshed his memory, and then he continued.) Oh, well I had a friend named Tanmay in college and he would call me Jeff in his Indian accent. Like, “Hey Jeff, let’s go to the gym and get a great pump.” I didn’t correct him at first, thinking I’d never see him too often, and then it was too late to tell him my name was actually Jess. 3 years went by before he found out the truth. He wanted to see how I scored on a test in a class we had together, and he saw my name in print and said “Your name is JESS? Your name’s not Jeff?” So I said “Oh, yeah, that’s cool though, my friends all call me Jeff.” Because I didn’t want to make him feel bad. (This is true, we did all call him Jeff by this time, BECAUSE of Tanmay. Chris and I for no real reason changed it to Fat Jeff at some point, and then Jefe Gordo.)

2) What has been your favorite year of your life?
Oh, wow. That’s kinda hard. I would extend it to say May 05 to November 06, so like a year and a half. Because I got married to Baber and had Skamoodzi. (Paige). So I’m cheating on this question. (I asked why he doesn’t include having Cason, and he says he’d have to cheat even more and stretch it into more than 3 years. Good answer though, overall. )

3) Who is your hero? Please tell us why.
Hmm. Hmmmmm. Christ. Also my dad for how hard he’s worked and everything he’s done for us.

4) What’s your favorite thing to do for fun?
Playing “Legos”, with my wife. Watching Ducktales with my kids. That sums it up.

5) How about some favorite memories from childhood?
Oh. Watching A Disney afternoon, which was Talespin, Ducktales, etc. Also playing Asteroids with Craig on his computer before school. Watching 3 Stooges with dad, playing UpWords with mom, and watching Newsies with my sister. (He’s still in love with Christian Bale.)

And adulthood?
Since getting married and having my babies are obvious answers, I’ll go with something else to keep this thing interesting. Riding the bus to the ASU campus to do leg day at the rec center with Baber. I don’t know why I have such fond memories, she tortured me so. (Boys are wimps about leg workouts.)

6) Worst memory?
Probably any and every time I’ve gotten the flu. (He nearly dies when he gets the flu, it’s true. On vacation a little over a year ago, he lost like 17 pounds in about 3 days, he looked like a heroin addict while he was sick.)

7) 3 things you want to accomplish (or just do) in life?
a) Hmmm. Have more kids
b) Beat Chris in a one on one game of anything.
c) Learn to read.

8) Dog or cat? Why?
I...ooh…both…because dogs are more fun, but our cat Charlie was a better guard dog than any dog can be. He could kill any land animal in the world. Plus he was sweet and smelled like a meadow. (very little of this is true. He was sweet though.)


9) What do you think is your biggest talent?
Aww man. I’m pretty good at Madden video games I guess. And that is all. (He’s a liar again, he’s quite athletic too.)

10) What makes being married to me so cool? What about being a dad to Squaidz and Casodilla? (Or Casonova, as our friend Megan referred to him. I feel like such a fool for not thinking of it.)
What’s so cool about it, shoot. Brandi’s friggin the funniest. She is so beautiful. And we can enjoy eachother no matter what we’re doing. She’s the best mom on the globe. (Fishing for compliments is the best)
My kids are SO cute, and just so much fun. Everything they do makes life better.

And that is Jess.

Happy REAAAAAAALLY Late Birthday Cassie!

My little sister turned 24 on October 1st. She has chosen to ignore my birthday disclaimer, and I'm in trouble because her birthday was not mentioned. So, happy very belated birthday to Cassie.

I'm told I wasn't very happy when Cassie was born. I was only 15 months old, and apparently I wouldn't have anything to do with my mom for quite a while. But I'm happy she's here. She's happy and funny, and beautiful. She's also the favorite of most adults in our family. (Don't deny it) She has a million friends, for good reason.

Happy birthday Cassie, over a month late! I love you.



Jess is going to be this week's interrogation station, even though he thinks he shouldn't be allowed to be since he's part of Chunky PB and J. But since I forgot to send a survey to anyone before tonight, he has no choice. BUT, he worked late, and now has to go in early tomorrow, so I'm going to let him give me his answers tomorrow night. So stay tuned for that.

Kung Fu

Since watching the movie last night, Paige has become very into the martial arts. She randomly throws out kicks and chops, and goes "HI-YA!" It's awesome. She also did a little sumo wrestling with Veronica when she came to pick Lily up after we watched her for an hour or two. I don't know WHERE that came from though. We haven't watched any sumo.

Here's the face Cason made when the girls got loud and woke him up.

I also liked their seating arrangement while watching Kung Fu Panda.

And this picture of the babies in the morning.

Oh, and Grama, Paige loves her apron and potholders.

????

On our way home, after I picked up Jess from work, we saw a boy (probably around 11) inexplicably step right out onto Stockton Hill Road during rush hour and nearly get hit by a car. He didn't even try and stop when he noticed the car coming, like he thought it was a flippin crosswalk. Then the car swerved, JUST in time, and he threw up his hands angrily at the driver, sort of like this: (it's the closest picture I could find)

as though the driver was the one in the wrong. Jess looked at him, mouth agape, as we drove by, and the kid gave Jess the same angry gesture. So then I turned the car around, and found him and his slightly more intelligent friend on a small side street. I pulled up next to him, all ready to be mad, and said "hey tough guy." He looked at me with a blank expression, so finally I repeated myself. He goes "what?" all confused, and not at all like a tough guy anymore. So then I couldn't be mad anymore, but I asked "Did you want to die, or what?" He just stared at me some more, and then goes "I've been hit by a car before", but in a weird sweet voice, almost like he didn't want me to worry or something. I said "Yeah, I would guess you have. Don't do that again, okay? I don't want to see you dead." Ha, I could've worded it better I guess. But then he just looked at me with the same blank look in his eyes, nodded, and started playing with his skateboard. So we drove away.

So the whole thing was a failure. Now I'm off to have some Thai food with Jess and the babies, and watch Kung Fu Panda. Good night.

Oh, and Aunt Gail, I'm not even sure if you read my blog, but if you do, I hope your birthday has been WONDERFUL! I love you, and can't wait to see you at Thanksgiving! (Sorry, I can't find a dang picture of you to post like I usually do on people's birthdays!)

Sellout

Sold.

The seller.

Poor Cason has a CRAZY stuffed up nose. All night we were using the booger sucker so he could breathe. This morning when he got up I went to use it again, and Paige got all mad at me. She started yelling and trying to pull me away from him. I thought it was so cute that she was defending him. But then it was her turn, and she started screaming no and trying to get away. When that didn't work, she pointed at him and said "baby, baby!"

Feats of Strength

Tonight I helped Cason to pull up into a standing position for the first time. Usually you pull them up to a sitting position, but both our babies for some reason skipped the sitting, and straighten their bodies out so that they go straight from lying on their backs to standing, with no real transition, their bodies just staying totally straight. They're funny.


Paige woke up this morning and had forgotten about all her new toys. She hung out with us in bed for a while, and then when she got bored she went into the living room alone. A few seconds after she walked out, she noticed all her new stuff and I heard her yelling "WOW!!" So cute. Colton also taught her to plug her nose with one hand and wave the other around, while saying "Stinky!", but it sometimes sounds more like "Tinky". She was doing it to make me laugh tonight, so that I wouldn't make her go to sleep. For some reason tonight she didn't want to go to bed. She came out of her room like 10 times, dragging her stuffed elephant, until we said it was bedtime, and she'd go running back in. Then she tried the "tinky" trick, but finally she went to sleep.

Veronica just sent me some pictures she took at Paige's party, so here's a cute one of her blowing out her candles. She was so cute, and got this funny embarrassed smile when everyone sang, and then again when they clapped after she blew out her candles.

PARTAY!

Paige enjoyed her first day of riding with her carseat facing forwaed. She thinks she's pretty cool, and loves that she can see more of the road, and has a much better view of her beloved choochoos.

She also had lots of fun at her party, and got a ton of great gifts. She only paid attention to the first two she opened, but she'll love them all once she sees them. Dad and I finished her kitchen, and several people got her some really cute stuff to go with it: Pots and pans, an apron, potholders, and tons of food to "cook".

She also got a baby, wood puzzles (which she's playing with quietly RIGHT now), books, cute clothes, a choo choo, and a couple of dvds that she'll love watching.

I barely saw Cason, he was passed around throughout the party. I only saw him when he got hungry, and we'd have a few minutes alone before I lost him to another greedy relative. Ha.

P.S. speaking of birthdays, I only recently decided to start serious birthday posts for people. Chris's birthday was the first one, October 12th. So anybody who's birthday was before that, don't be hurt, I love you too, and I'll get you next year.

I LOVE Me Some Snailies

P.S.

Today Jess and the guy who did our home inspection spotted a snail outside our soon-to-be home. This is further proof that the house was meant for me and my beloveds.

Interrogation Station #3

Allow me to introduce...

Veronica, my sister-in-law. Pretty, funny, smart, and a great mom to Lily.

(I like how 99.9 % of this picture is brown)

1) Any nicknames?

Yep. Most of my family calls me Vern or Vernie.

2) 3 things you want to do in your lifetime?

Tough one… I would like to live in another state with my family - probably won’t be able to take them all with me though. I will continue allowing God to work in my life - I’m under construction you know. I guess I would also like to be brave enough to have another child someday.

3) What’s your favorite memory of your little brother? (Jess, of course)

There are several that come to mind. We used to play this game we made up where I would lie on my back with my feet up and Jess would lean his armpits on my feet. I would launch him onto the couch. The funny part about this game is before he launched, he would pretend to strap his arms onto my feet and would say “bug on”. It was so cool because we thought that was a line from one of the Back to the Future movies. Ok, maybe you had to be there, but Jess knows it was hilarious. We also used to play a strange game entitled “Sisters” while brushing our teeth. Uh, don’t ask. Which leads me to the time I made Jess play dress up with me. As I recall he wore a white fur coat, accessories, and a hat of the Kentucky Derby persuasion.

4) What is your best quality?

??? I’m going to let Jess answer that one.


Jess and I both immediately thought of the same one, and that is that she is "thoughtful". Jess has kept some very nice cards she's given to him, like when he went to college, and when we found out I was pregnant. Also, she often brings me my favorite Starbucks drink, a pumpkin spice latte. Mmm. When we first moved home to Kingman, she was waiting for us when we arrived late at night, to help Jess move our heavier furniture inside, since I was pregnant with Paige. Then, when I was pregnant with Cason, I had a little bit of morning sickness in the beginning. Veronica showed up most days with meals and drinks for me, that she knew would be easy for me to keep down. She also brought Lily over a lot to play with Paige, while I wasn't feeling well enough to play much, and she watched the girls so I could nap, or just lie down or whatever I needed. She did ALL of those things without us ever having to ask. She's very thoughtful and caring.

5) What’s your worst?

I am very impatient and get angry easily. I’m working on it though.

6) Dog or cat? Why?

Cat all the way. I love that they cuddle and are soft and fuzzy. My cat Rudy sleeps with me every night. He’s super smart and likes to play fetch. Dogs are not my cup of tea. They are dirty and stinky and jump and slobber on you.

7) What’s something most people don’t know about you?

I got to do an internship at a Hollywood production management company where they had me read movie scripts and tell them what I thought about them. One script I read actually became a movie - Final Destination 2.

8) Name a talent you possess.

I am actually quite good at singing, but I don’t sing in front of anyone except my husband and daughter. No, I’m not one of those people who think they can sing and go on American Idol to make fools of themselves. I really can sing.

9) What’s your favorite memory?

Can’t really think of one in particular. I enjoy all of my memories of family time. I guess you could say giving birth to my daughter was a pretty amazing memory. Not a fun one, but awesome in the end.

10) If you had a day to do whatever you wanted, (with someone babysitting for you), what would you do?

At this point in time, I would really just like to sleep in. I would relax and read. I would like to go out to a nice dinner and then enjoy sitting in a hot tub.

11) If you could move anywhere, where would you go?

I would definitely like to try Washington or Oregon. I don’t like the hot summers and the boring cloudless weather of Kingman. You see, I have reverse seasonal affect disorder (self diagnosed). I like what most say is gloomy weather. It makes me happy.


12) On a scale from 1-10, with 1 being the worst thing ever, and 10 being mind-blowing(in a good way), how would you rate having us as family?

LOL Well considering Jess is about the best dang brother anyone could have. I say 10+ It also helps that he has the best wife and kids around too. And I might add that I predicted the Jacobs/Bradley marriage some months before a proposal.


Thank you Veronica, even I have learned a COUPLE things I didn't know about you before.

Happy 2nd Birthday Paige!!!

She got to celebrate by starting her day with Ho hos for breakfast, which she loved.

Then she made Cason smile with the greatest of ease.

She got lots of "happy birthday" phone calls, and a Finding Nemo balloon from Lily and Aunt Veronica.

Then she got a chocolate muffin after dinner, which she also loved, and played in a box for a while.

Her real party isn't until Saturday, so she didn't open gifts or anything like that yet.

2 years ago an angel baby came into our lives, at 5:41 in the morning. She was and still is beautiful and sweet, and she knows what she wants, and tells you.

She's the most beautiful and wonderful girl in the world. How could she not be, with:
These eyes-

This nose-

This hair-

These lips-

And this personality-

You're so wonderful Squaidz. You have a great personality, and are so sweet with your little brother. He loves you already. You're sweet, happy, funny, smart, and beautiful. We love your little language, especially in your voice "of sweet nectar" (as your daddy would say). We love that you put your toys down your shirt and walk around until they fall out, and that this morning I tried to pull one of my uggs on and it was full of bouncy balls. We love how you point out Halloween decorations and go "SOOO SCAWY!" in your little "afraid" groaning voice. We love that if you see fire you whisper excitedly "FIYA". We love waiting to see you come up with new dance moves. We love how you try out a new laugh every so often, but most of all we love your genuine laugh. You make us SOOOOOOOOOOO happy, we're so blessed to have you. Happy Birthday! We love you, and Jesus loves you!