Keeping up with Jasper the Disaster!

Lately my blogging has become less and less frequent. Between (literally) chasing after a toddler and working at a job that I now enjoy and  stay busy at, I have less and less time! I can't imagine how families keep up with more than one child!

Since I last wrote, three months have gone by. Jasper is saying more words like “Bye” and “Touchdown!” Not to mention, ball, clock, outside and GEAUX! (We always respond, TIGERS!) He is always asking, “What’s that?” He finally started waving too, not at family, but instead, at complete strangers at Starbucks and other restaurants. At least they wave back. He has perfected the high five. He blows kisses; his first one was at Granny and Aunt Carol (10/21). He even made the sound, “MUUAAAHHH!!!” He’s just so cute. One night, after we had come home from Aunt Carol’s birthday dinner (9/24), I was talking to him and I asked him to give me a kiss. He walked over, opened his mouth and gave me a big wet kiss on the lips. Ladies, he’s gonna be a heart-breaker!

Our little monster is now opening doors, calling random numbers on the telephone, playing ball with Callie, and even helping me load the clothes dryer (I taught him to wait, then when all the clothes are in, he slams it closed then gives me high-five). He still loves splashing in Callie’s water bowl and eating her dog food. He opens cabinets and pulls out as much as he can. He climbs all over the elliptical machine. He has a weird obsession with my hair brush and cries for it until I hand it over. When he does something he's proud of, he claps for himself. When we fuss or yell at him, he usually starts laughing at us. He LOVES keys and tries unlocking everything, from doors to computers. I’m not quite sure how my truck key unlocks my computer, but whatever. He really enjoys his red wagon and our strolls thru the neighborhood. He likes to workout with us. He jumps up and down, just like Shaun T. on Insanity. When it’s bath time, he loves splashing in the tub and he cries every time we take him out. And I definitely see him escaping the crib in the near future...

In mid-October, we visited a nearby pumpkin patch. Jeremy and I made the mistake of walking in and plopping Jasper down for a picture right away. Next thing ya know, we have a baby freak-out. I think it was the scarecrow that set him off. After all, he was a pretty scary scarecrow. Eventually he calmed down, picked out a pumpkin and didn't let it go til the stem finally fell off a day later. He instantly lost interest and moved on to the next toy, as toddlers do.

We had a very busy Halloween this year. Between Jessica and Trey’s Couples Shower, Sher Garner’s Halloween festivities, and our own Halloween fun, I had three costumes, and the boys each had two. The theme for the couples shower was Disney Zombies. Jeremy and I went as Tinkerbell and Captain Hook. I asked Jeremy if he wanted to be Peter Pan, but he really wasn't into wearing green tights. We bought the costumes and had our makeup professionally done. WE LOOKED GOOD! Well, actually, we looked dead, but that was the idea!

At Sher Garner, our group theme was Toy Story, and I took on the task of creating Mr. AND Mrs. Potato Head. It was a lot of work, but the costumes came out great! Jasper made a surprise appearance as an alien and of course, he stole the show. Special thanks to Grandpa for making the Potato Heads' shoes, ears and noses!

That night, as if we weren't already exhausted, we invited the family over for the neighborhood block party. This year, we were iphone apps. Even Grammie and PawPaw were in costume with us! Jasper’s “Angry Birds” costume won him first place in the costume contest. Well, it was a tie between him and our neighbor Kit who was Little Red Riding Hood. It was a nice night (even if Jasper did throw up twice on his costume, causing me to have a psycho-mommy meltdown). Fun was had by all!

We finally had the opportunity to visit with Jasper’s cousin Nova (11/11). We spent a beautiful Sunday at Audubon Zoo with Grammie, PawPaw and Nova. Jasper and Nova rode in the wagon together most of the day. And when they weren't in the wagon, they were walking with Jeremy, Grammie or PawPaw, or on Jeremy's shoulders. Jasper rode the carousel for the first time.  It was a little crowded by the tiger, so his first ride was on the alligator. We saw elephants, bears, tigers, monkeys, lions and plenty more! It was a nice day, and to top it off, the Saints beat the Falcons!

Last weekend was A LOT! Dad celebrated his 50th high school reunion from Warren Easton. If you have talked to Dad at all in the past year, chances are he has mentioned his class reunion. He spent countless hours searching  in phone books and on the internet for classmates. He even joined Facebook to see if he could find people there! He created a special slideshow for those that had passed away. (Although one accidentally made it in there who shouldn't have. Luckily, she had a sense of humor.) He created a memory book that captured their thoughts on life and fond memories from the good old days. It even had a survey page with information on who lives where, and even how many children and grandchildren were a result of the graduates. There were two socials and even a trip to the school in school buses. What a wonderful weekend. And I can tell you, even if others don't, Walter Brunken did a majority of the work!! I roped Audrey into helping me out with registration and taking pictures. I can honesty say, we were both very happy to be part of such a well-planned and well-attended weekend. Dad's hard work really paid off. Evidently, he looks very good for his age too. Someone asked Audrey if he had had a face lift! 

After the reunion festivities ended, we had the opportunity to catch up with our St. Louis friends, Brandon and Stephanie. Their visit was much too short but it was great to see them. We went with them on a swamp tour in Slidell Sunday morning and what a treat. As locals, we don't often stop to look at what's right in front of us. The swamp was absolutely beautiful. Of course my camera died as soon as the boat ride started. But at least I got a few pictures of Jasper horsing around outside the store. As for our friends, we can't wait to see them again, and meet Baby Clara!

Happy holidays to you all. We're looking forward to catching up with as many of you as we can in the next few months. We love you!

Has it already been a year?!?

Well, it has been two months since I've checked in. Plenty of things have been going on, including Jasper turning one! But before I jump into all of the birthday festivities, I should probably catch up where I left off.

Jasper visited LSU for the first time in mid July. We drove up to Baton Rouge to visit with Uncle Justin, enjoyed lunch at the Chimes and stopped by Mike's cage. Mike was napping, so I'm not even sure if Jasper realized what we were looking at. But it's OK. We took pictures...

In late July, we joined Mom and the aunts in Florida for our annual beach trip. It wasn't quite the same without Nanny, Tony and the boys, but Jasper provided some great entertainment. He played in the sand and more important, he visited the outlet mall for the first time! He improved his walking skills a lot too.

We visited Middendorf's the first week of August, and met up with Nannan and Uncle Timmy. Jasper kept us busy with his exploring, but all in all, he was pretty well behaved. We're so glad we got to visit Middendorf's before Isaac!

Uncle Neil came home to visit! It was short, but well worth it. We spent part of the day visiting with Uncle Neil and catching up. And of course, we went to to Cafe Navarre...

The second weekend of August was FULL of birthdays! First stop, Makenzie and her "Dora the Explorer" party. Kira and Dusty rented a slide as big as their house and it was awesome. I can't wait til Jasper is older so that Jeremy and I can play. Oh, and I can't forget to mention a special appearance by Dora!! Dusty got someone to loan him a Dora costume and he had his niece dress up to surprise Makenzie. Well, it didn't go over so well. She was absolutely mortified by Dora and wanted nothing to do with her. Luckily, I got pictures as it all unfolded. Good times!

Next stop, Cousin Ella's birthday party in Mandeville. The Derry's are always a great time. I just wished they lived closer! Ella is two days older than Jasper. I'm hoping we get to spend more time with them and Baby Philip soon too.

Final stop, Granny's house to celebrate Jasper's first birthday! I went a little overboard, OK, WAY overboard with the invite list. I couldn't help it! I wanted plenty of family and friends to celebrate with us. The only problem is, I felt like I didn't get to visit with anybody longer than to say hello and goodbye! But Jasper had a good day. The party started at 2 p.m. And of course, he took his nap from 2 to 3 p.m. When he finally woke up, he was pretty out of it. We sang Happy Birthday and he was really only interested in the blue icing and the chocolate starfish on his cupcake. But once he got into the pool with Dad, he was happy. Dad rode him around on the giant LSU dinosaur we call "Dandy Don" and they had a blast with all the kids. Thanks to everyone that came out to celebrate Jasper with us. It was a great first birthday. For Jasper too.

Jasper is getting into everything. No, let me repeat this so that you can understand what I'm trying to say. The child is literally into EVERYTHING. If he's not supposed to be in it, that's where you can find him. He still eats plenty of dog food. He splashes Callie's water bowl all over the floor. Then, when the floor gets all wet, he trips and falls in the puddle. He grabs for the oven knobs. He takes the dish towels and drags them on the floor. He squeezes behind the couch to pull out the computer cords. He pulls the computer cords out of the computer and chews on them. He still climbs onto the dishwasher door when I'm trying to do the dishes. He always grabs the knives first. He pulls appliances from the cabinets. He beats on the coffee table with whatever he has in his hands. He pulls out all of the ointments and soaps on his changing table. When we go to feed him, he grabs hold of the spoon and won't let go. He splashes his hands in the toilet. He closes the dryer door while I'm trying to put clothes in it. He thinks it's fun to knock on all of the hangers in the closet til they all fall onto the floor. He opens all of the drawers in the bathroom and pulls out whatever he wants. He pulls trash out of the kitchen trash can and the bathroom trash cans. He starts the water in the bath tub when we leave the door open. At Granny's, within an hour, he managed to spill her coffee all over the kitchen floor and spill Callie's water bowl down the entire hallway. Oh, and for the record, we try to correct him. We've tried smacking his hand. He laughs at us, and thinks we're giving him a high five. Kira reminded me that "he's ONE!" So how long is he supposed to be like this?? When I asked Mom what she did to correct me, she said that I never got into anything and that I just sat and played with my dolls. I think she has selective memory.

OK, enough of the bad, let's talk about the good! Jasper is a walking fool! He has mastered the high five and he learned how to say "TOUCHDOWN!" thanks to Daddy. He started in the one-year-old classroom and he's doing well. As of August 13th, he weighs 23 lbs and he's 30 in. long. We're finally finished with baby formula. He's drinking whole milk and eating pretty much whatever we give him. For some reason, he's not that crazy about mac and cheese. But we'll give it time. Maybe Dad will have to make the homemade stuff for him. He points at a lot of things and says "Goooo" a lot. So we respond, "TIGERS!!" He claps and dances, especially when you clap and dance with him. He loves swimming at Granny's and he got his first haircut a few weeks ago with me. Mrs. Jill said, "The first cut is free!" Good thing... it was only like 15 pieces of hair, max.

We hope that everyone made out OK with Hurricane Isaac. After stressing out over how much stuff we'd have to pack for Jasper if we evacuated, we decided to take our chances in Lakeview. Besides, according to my friend Denis who works for the Army Corps, "Lakeview is fine. Worst case, you lose power for two days." Denis, you were right! We lost power for two days. Luckily, Mom never lost power, so when the winds died down Wednesday evening, we went to Granny's! And thank God for that because one full day with a one-year-old, no electricity and not being able to go outside is torture for this "slightly" impatient mommy. One can only "hunker" for so long. Once our power came back on, we became the Starr B&B! Grammie and PawPaw came to visit and stayed through the holiday. Jasper was able to get in plenty of hugs and kisses from Grammie and PawPaw.

On a side note, Jeremy started dieting with me back in May. Since we started together, Jeremy has lost 30 lbs. and I've lost 10. We're using the "My Fitness Pal" app to count our calories. I don't understand. Jeremy gets plenty more calories than me per day. And when he logs in exercise, even though we exercise the same amount of time, he loses more calories than me. Will someone please explain how this is fair? So as you can imagine, I get depressed because I cant lose as fast as him, then I cheat, then I don't lose weight. Then, he loses more weight. Then, people are like, "Jeremy, you look great!" Then, I get mad and eat chocolate. And that vicious cycle begins all over again... Honey, I'm super jealous of you, but I'm very proud of you too. Good job. But make sure you don't start to weigh less than me, because that will really make me mad!!

As always, thanks for reading. We love you and we hope you have a wonderful Fall 2012! Geaux Saints and Geaux Tigers!!

Jasper brings new meaning to the phrase, "INTO EVERYTHING."

Happy summer everyone! Hope everyone is staying cool during these hot summer months! Speaking of summer, it's flying by! Jasper will be one year old next month! With that said, we have a lot to catch up on!

Uncle George came in town in early June and it was his and Jasper's first visit to the aquarium. Jasper managed to stay awake almost the entire time while we toured the place. We especially all had fun feeding the parakeets.

 

We celebrated Father's Day last month. It was a very relaxing day... for Jeremy. I cooked and cleaned, and cleaned some more, and even changed all of the dirty diapers. (Jeremy did the same for me on Mother's Day, so it was only fair.) But by the end of the day, I was exhausted. We had Mike, Joy, Dad and Cindy over for hamburgers and hot dogs, and other than a few "charred" burgers, we all had a very nice lunch. Jasper, of course, provided the entertainment with his giggles, crawling and babbling.

We have some news (No, I'm not pregnant). Jasper took his first step! We were visiting Kelly and the Genevay's the night of June 19th. I was chatting it up with Mr. G when all of a sudden, Jasper walked from the couch to the coffee table. It was literally one step, but hey, that counts!! Since then, we've seen him take 2 and 3 steps here and there.

We have some more news. We are happy to report that Jasper finally cut his first tooth on the 4th of July! He'll be enjoying steak from Crazy Johnnie's in no time!

Now, I suppose it's time I explain the title of this blog. Well, there's really not much to explain, other than, he is LITERALLY getting into everything. If you don't believe me, just scroll down and take a look at our little pumpkin caught in the act, on several occasions. Needless to say, he keeps us up and moving ALL OF THE TIME.

This is before our maintenance man (aka Grandpa) helped us out by installing those kid-proof cabinet stopper things. We had temporarily ghetto-rigged some of the cabinets with rubber bands. But as you can see, the bands weren't quite cutting it. 

So we had this extra box lying around and Jasper decided to make it his new toy. The only problem is that he got himself stuck upside down in it. I walk in the living room after hearing a few whimpers,and I find him like this, waving his legs back and forth. Like any good mom, I got him out, but not before getting a few pictures first.

OMG. He LOVES Callie's dog bowl. I don't know what to make of it. You'd think I had ice cream in that bowl with the way he goes after it every day. Did I mention he does this EVERY DAY?? Poor Callie. Jasper already takes all of the attention away from Callie. Now, he's taking her food too! Oh, and in case you're wondering, he loves splashing his hands in the water bowl. What a wet mess!

Some of you may have seen this one on Facebook. Jasper is continuously exploring our house, especially those tight, hard to reach places like behind the couch. After taking this picture, I realized that I probably need to dust behind the couch more often. But then again, I guess that's what Jasper is there for. Oh, and this is another one of those times where I had to help him out, but of course, I had to get the picture first. 

You know that expression, "This is why we can't have nice things?" Well, it all makes perfect sense to me now. Babies, especially this baby, touches and plays with everything in his path. Anything in our house below three feet is susceptible to the baby we now refer to as "Jasper the Disaster." So when you come to our house, don't be surprised if you see things stacked up on tables, shelves and tops of the couches.

Like everything else in our house, Jasper has also discovered adult food. He wants to eat whatever we eat. I think it started with snoballs. But you can't blame him? Southern food is pretty amazing. After all, any southerner knows that anywhere else, people eat to live. But we live to eat!... Jasper didn't get to Daddy's hamburger, but he did enjoy some baked potato soup.

I'd like to say something sweet, like "Look at Jasper helping me with the dishes." But that would be a lie. It's more like, "Look at Jasper climbing on the dishwasher door and reaching for the knives while I try to load the dishwasher but can't because he pulls everything out that I put in!" That's right people, here comes trouble.

Well thanks for taking the time to catch up on how our little pumpkin is growing and changing. He's a handful, but we wouldn't have it any other way. He is still smiling and laughing a lot. And every day, he surprises and amazes us with his expressions and actions. I'll leave you with one more picture from the 4th of July at Granny's house. Jasper will be swimming like a fish in no time! Happy summer, and we love you!