See ya later Summer!

Good news folks, we are slowly and steadily conquering those terrible twos! Don't get me wrong. Every now and then he still bursts out screaming and crying for no particular reason. But we ignore it, step over him and move on. Once in a while one of us will still lose it, but for the most part, it really is getting better.

In mid July, Mom and the aunts came over with Jasper's new bed. Aunt Carol had the bed refinished and it looks brand new. In fact, as soon as we put the mattress on it, he became a jumping bean! Jeremy and I weren't expecting to move him over to his new room for a few more weeks, but Jasper really didn't give us a choice. He slept in his new room that night! No crying or fussing. Since then, we've had a few off nights, but for the most part, he goes to bed pretty happy. The routine helps of course... bath time, bottle, "time for bed!" - he grabs as many cars and trains as he can carry and brings them all to his bed. Then he hops in the bed and we say our prayer, "Now I lay me down to sleep..." He even says it with us now, which seriously makes my heart melt. When he's in a really good mood, I get all smiles and even a "Goodnight Mommy" and/or "I love you Mommy." This is what makes it all worth it. A big thank you again to Aunt Carol for the new bed. It looks wonderful in his new room! Oh, and the desk and chair were an early birthday present from Grammie and PawPaw. I'm sure we'll be making good use of that desk for quite a few years!

Well, Mom's annual beach trip came and went. I waited all summer long to get some good beach time in and it was over in a flash. Thanks to Mom and the aunts for putting up with us, and especially for giving us the master bedroom. We got some good family time in and it was nice to have Tony "grace us with his presence." Every morning, Jasper would open the bedroom door, walk over to Tony snoozing on the couch, and wake him up with hugs and kisses. When we weren't at the beach or at the pool, Jasper was watching his favorite movie, Cars, and relaxing with Granny. We took walks on the beach with Aunt Carol and Aunt Debbie, and Jasper had fun getting splashed by the waves. 

We got home from the beach that Sunday night and I stayed up late making "starr" cupcakes for Jasper's class to celebrate his second birthday. Despite jury duty threatening our birthday dinner plans, I'm happy to say we had a great night at Giorlando's with just us and the grandparents. Half the restaurant sang along to "Happy Birthday" and we all pigged out on cookie cake. Jasper got a ton of new clothes and some more toys along with some birthday money! The following day, we picked up his present from Toys R Us. I'm happy to say it took us less than an hour to put it together! Not bad, not bad at all.

 

 

Next came the birthday party. I don't know why I do this to myself. Last year was pure chaos. And even after cutting the list down to almost half the guests, it was again, pure chaos. It didn't help that "Daddy" woke up sick as could be with strep Saturday morning. I've honestly never seen him that bad. He moved from the bed to the couch, then finally, with some pushing from me and Mom, to Urgent Care. I have a new appreciation for single moms. Between trying to finish my "street car project" for the party, taking care of Jasper, entertaining Jasper, fitting in lunch with Kira and picking up around our disaster of a house, I finally lost it around 6 p.m. Yep. Full on screaming, slamming things, and finally taking a moment to simply cry outside--not Jasper, me. Relief finally came when Grammie  and PawPaw showed up to take Jasper out to dinner. PawPaw was sure to walk him around the restaurant til he was good and tired. They dropped him off at 9:30, already passed out. I had never been so thankful for the help.

The next day was the party. We had a great turnout. Big thanks again to our friends and family that attended, especially the out of towners. Jasper now has more clothes and toys than we know what to do with! Just like last year, he napped through half the party. But that was to be expected. Aunt Jessica made her most amazing cake yet, a New Orleans streetcar! She had a little Elmo alongside, and Elmo cupcakes too! Her talents and creativity just amaze me!  

During the party, we finally had the opportunity to ask Cristi Jo if she'd be the godmother to Baby #2. She didn't actually believe us when Jeremy asked. But when she finally came around, and realized we were serious, she happily accepted and had us all in tears. Godparents picked, check! 

We took Jasper to his first movie last weekend. Grammie and PawPaw joined us in Elmwood to see "Planes." After thirty-something-dollars worth of movie tickets and forty-something-dollars worth of food, we were set to go! Jasper was a little overwhelmed at first and started crying during the previews. But once we sat him in my lap and gave him some french fries, popcorn and some of my icee, he was good as gold. He watched the movie in may lap, all but the last 10 minutes when he finally passed out. I've honestly never seen him sit still for that long. 

We've played putt putt a few times in the last month. Let me explain Jasper's putt putt strategy... He walks up to the hole, places the ball about two inches away from the hole, drags his putter with one hand, pushing the ball into the hole and excitedly yells, "I did it!" every single hole. He makes sure Daddy hears him too, and if there's every any doubt, he runs over to Daddy and yells, "Daddy, I did it!" Adorable. The only issue is Hole 18. He gets really upset when the ball disappears, which makes a perfectly fun experience end on a sour note. To avoid future meltdowns, I'm considering purchasing and stocking up on various colored golf balls. In the meantime, thank God for those mechanical motorcycles and trains outside the arcade...quickly back to all smiles!

Finally, Jasper's doing a few new things I want to mention. He is counting a lot more, singing his ABCs pretty much on his own, and saying most of his prayer at night too, followed by an "AMEN!" He's been in a really good mood this past week, with fewer and shorter tantrums. When he's happy, he's really happy and energetic. But when he's in a mood, it's best to just give him some milk and wait for him to chill out. We practice with right and left, and thanks to our letter and number bath toys, we're "spelling" and "counting" in the bath tub (if you want to call it that.) He asks "What's that?" to basically everything he sees and hears. He's obsessed with watching "Cars" over and over and over again. He's starting to try a few more foods besides just french fries, yogurt and fruit. He's getting better and better at 'please' and "thank you" and sometimes even, "I'm sorry." He shares with Callie a lot, so much so that she has put on an extra five pounds. He throws away his own trash, likes wiping his hands when they get messy, and with football season back in full swing, he's chanting "LSU" and "Geeeauuuxxx Tiguuuuhhhsss!" on command.

Granny took Jasper for his 2-year old appointment last week and Dr. Culbertson said he was "perfect." Jeremy and I, along with the grandparents absolutely, positively concur. I have to say, after watching the news day in and day out, and reading all kinds of crazy, sometimes tragic stories on the internet, I can't help but feel so lucky and blessed. He may give us a run for our money and even cause me to lose my mind once in a while, but he really is the best thing that ever happened to us. Just when I've had enough, he turns around and smiles, and all is right with the world.Gotta run... he's about to nose dive off the couch... again.

Happy Football Season!

Terrible two's arrive early

We have approached the "Terrible Two's" and yes, they are pretty terrible. As much as I hate to admit it, I think we may be in over our heads. It all started about three weeks ago. Jasper, our "perfect little angel" would come home from daycare and start crying. He wouldn't stop. He cried as I made dinner. He cried as we ate dinner. He cried after dinner. And he even woke us up screaming (not just crying) two nights in one week. Waking up in the middle of the night used to be rare! I regret to inform all of you that good fortune and luck has worn off. At one point, while Jasper was rolling around on the kitchen floor screaming, I looked at Jeremy and said, "Do you think we'll get used to this?" He responded, "I was just wondering the same thing... I hope so."

Since that really bad week, we're doing our best to handle these terrifying twos... When at home, we basically ignore the tantrums and he eventually gets over it. But when we're out and about, Jasper isn't the only one losing his temper. To think, all those years, I sat on my high horse judging parents and their bad little uncontrollable children at restaurants. I honestly wondered why they even bothered leaving the house. God is punishing me. I have a new respect for parents and their efforts to go out in public. In the meantime, I need to learn to cook more than just lasagna and red beans because we're going to be staying home A LOT more often til we can get these tantrums under control. 

With all that said, he did the cutest thing last week! Yes, when he isn't throwing himself to the floor, screaming and flailing his little arms and legs, he's still my adorable little pumpkin. He learned to say his name, "Jasper Starr!" He also understands that Jeremy and I are Daddy Starr and Mommy Starr, and of course, we can't leave out Callie Starr. The only problem is, now everyone seems to have the same last name as us... Did you all know that Elmo's last name is Starr? Who would've thought!? And the daycare girls are Rachel and Emily Starr. My favorite was when I had him in the tub the other night. I pointed to the orange fish and expecting to hear him respond, "Nemo!," I asked, what's the fishie's name? I should've known better... He responded, "Fishie Starr!" More good news, he is finally saying Granny and Grammie. Thank God!

As for Baby #2, he or she is already almost halfway ready. I'm at 20 weeks today. I've been feeling pretty good. Still gaining more weight than I had hoped, but I can't complain. We had our ultrasound Monday and I'm happy to report that our baby has one head, two arms, ten fingers, two legs and ten toes! We're waiting to find out the sex til the birth. But we do have names picked out. I'm sticking with my girl name from last time, Samantha Marjorie after my Granny and PawPaw. And if it's a boy, we've decided on Sam Alexander. Alexander was Jeremy's grandpa's middle name. So we have all family names this time around. We've also picked out godparents, but since all parties have not yet been informed, we're going to wait on letting that one out the bag...

Baby sucking his/her thumb

We've been slowly but surely cleaning and getting Jasper's new room ready. Aunt Carol is having her old bed refinished for Jasper and it's going to look great in his new sports-themed room. I spent way too much at Hobby Lobby the other day, buying tons of cute vintage sports stuff. With Jeremy as his daddy, he had no choice but to have a "sports" room. I'm not quite sure when we'll make the transition to the new room, but hopefully around his birthday. 

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous and anxious about having two children. Kira told me a long time ago though, that there will never be the right time, but somehow, you just do it. So I'm trying not to think and instead, "just do." I'm not thinking about how I'm going to manage two kids going to the grocery store when Jeremy has to work late. I'm not thinking about two kids out at a restaurant, when the food takes more than 15 minutes to get to the table. I'm not thinking about the cost to keep them in daycare and eventually Catholic school. We're just going to keep moving forward, reminding ourselves each day how lucky we are to have each other, tantrums and all.

Moving on into Summer!

Wow, so much to catch up on since Mardi Gras! Jasper continues to amaze AND challenge us in everything he does. From climbing out of his crib, to embarrassing us in most restaurants, to skydiving off of the sofa, there's never a dull moment. He's now 22 months.

Over the past few months, he's feeding himself more and more. Well, he's trying at least. Food usually ends up all over the seat, his shirt, his face, his hair, even sometimes in his diaper. But at least he's trying.  The kid never gives up! We're still working on "please" and "thank you." We're finally getting some thank you's, and please sounds more like "PEEZ!" He said his first sentence in early May. We were out by the lake getting his pictures taken and he said, "I see a boat!" He's also started saying "Bless you Mama" and "Bless you Dada" whenever we sneeze. So stinkin' cute. He has more and more teeth coming in. Not sure how many, but between the extra teeth and hair, he's looking less and less like PawPaw Sam. We've switched out the front piece of the crib to the toddler rail. It's just safer than him hopping in and out of the crib, which he did like a pro. But now, he hops out of his crib whenever he wants.  I mentioned restaurants. It's no secret that we are always going out to eat with family and friends. Well folks, it's just hit and miss. One day, he's happy as can be playing with his cars and eating french fries in his highchair. The next day, it's squirmy-wormy-meets-screaming-terror. French fries, bananas, red beans, strawberries or peaches usually calm him down. He's pretty weird with food. Except for the few foods I just mentioned, he seems to forget what every food tastes like. So we basically have to force/shove the first bite in. When out in public, this makes us look like the fantastic parents we are. We turned his car seat around to face forward, which allows us more opportunities to look at him (at stop lights). We get him to shake and boogie with us to the music. He can see so much more too, pointing out ALL trucks, buses and motorcycles. He even points at the canal and says, “water.” What a genius. He’s switched from saying ma-ma and da-da to mommy and daddy, which we thought was pretty awesome. We asks, "What's that?" about 10 times a day. Slowly but surely, he's learning his colors and numbers. He made me look really good the other night in the car with Jessica and Trey. I told them he wasn't quite ready to count and when I started with #1, he went all the way to #10! Oh, and the grandmas may not like hearing this, since he has yet to say anything sounding remotely like “Granny” or “Grammie,” but Uncle George stopped by a while back. As soon as George picked him up, Jasper said, “Hi George!” Then, when leaving Aunt Ruth's house, he said, "Bye bye Ruth!" In the meantime, Granny is considering going by “Basketball” and Grammie is considering being called “Banana.” Either way, we’ll keep working at it… Other than the Granny/Grammie issue, he's practically a parrot, repeating everything we say. I guess now's the time to definitely start watching what I say!

Speaking of "working at it," we have some news to share. Jeremy, Jasper, Callie and I are expecting our newest addition to the Starr clan the day after Thanksgiving, more importantly the day of the LSU /Arkansas game, November 29th. We found out a week before Easter, and waited to tell family til my birthday, which was torture. More on that later. I spent my first trimester dealing with the usual: queeziness, being hungry all the time, gaining weight from being so hungry, losing my breath when walking upstairs, wanting to fall asleep at my desk, and my favorite so far, leaving my wallet at the checkout line. Thank God I'm so unorganized that all of my valuable cards (i.e. license and credit cards) were at the bottom of my purse and not even in the wallet. 

Easter was nice. Jasper received almost as many presents as he did at Christmas! We enjoyed plenty of crawfish with the family. And he spent the day tormenting, umm, I mean “playing” with Mason. Thanks to everyone for all the adorable clothes and special gifts. As always, Jasper is making good use of everything!

We took an unexpected visit to the ER on April 4th. I specifically remember the date because that was the day that my best friend from Tigerband, Laura was coming to visit. Talk about great timing. I was having a lot of shortness of breath and chest soreness, and being newly pregnant, I didn't want to take any chances. It turned out to be nothing, just a weird viral infection, but there was definitely drama behind the scenes. Every time a new nurse or doctor came in, we had to find a way to quickly and quietly tell them to make sure not to spill the beans about the pregnancy. Because of course, Mom being Mom, she came straight to the hospital and sat with us the entire day! By the time we got out of there, I had to hear all about how terrible that hospital is, how they wouldn't x-ray me, how they didn't give me any medicines to take, and how the doctor kicked Mom and Jeremy out the room and closed the curtain to talk to me (while he pressed on my belly and we talked about how far along I was). Haha, what an interesting day it was. And the best part about it, we got out just in time to pick up Laura at the airport! 

The next few weeks crept on by as we waited and waited to tell the family our big news. Finally, on the 17th, we invited the usual suspects over to enjoy BBQ and Doberge cake (of course), and when it came time to sing Happy Birthday, I made sure to put Jasper in the spotlight. After he helped me blow out my candles, Jeremy said, "Jasper, give Mommy a kiss!" He gave me a big kiss, making the MUAH! sound. Then, Jeremy said, "Jasper, give the BABY a kiss!" Jasper bent over and kissed my belly. There was probably 3 seconds of silence that felt like 3 minutes. Finally people (Joy) started screaming and (everyone else) laughing. Mom cried. It was a great night and a fun surprise. 

We've begun cleaning the junk room. We plan to move Jasper over into his own room and put baby #2 in the nursery. Meanwhile, our dining room is a huge mess as we reorganize. The other night, Jasper got to my sewing machine and pulled thread from the dining room, through the foyer and well into the living room before Jeremy finally yelled, "Stop!" I corrected him, and as I walked back, He said, "Mama, I sorry." Umm, cutest thing I've ever heard! I'm sure this will be the first of many "sorrys" that I hear... "Sorry I wrecked the car Mom" or "Sorry I broke the light fixture playing ball in the house Mom." But in the meantime, no harm no foul. 

Being an only child, we hear a lot of the word, "mine." Well, earlier this month was no different. Jeremy was sitting in his usual spot on the couch. Evidently, Jasper wanted the same spot. He used his entire body, trying to push Jeremy over, repeatedly saying, "My spot!" Ha, little does he know, things will be changing very soon, and in about five more months, not much will be "his." I just hope it's a smooth adjustment. 

Thanks as always for reading and catching up with us. I've attached some of my favorite pictures from the last few months. Enjoy!!

Jasper and Aunt Aimee just before bedtime.

Going to the St. Patty's Day P-rades!

Grandpa and Jasper at the P-rades.

Celebrating Uncle Neil's Birthday at Crazy Johnnie's with Nova.

Storyland with Daddy in the fire truck.

Storyland with Granny.

 

City Park carousel.

 

Jasper at Easter 2013.

Jasper and Mason at Easter.

Happy Birthday to Daddy!

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Trip to the Audubon Zoo in May, before it gets too hot!

 

Jasper with PawPaw and Daddy on the Train at Audubon Zoo.

  

Jasper wasn't too wild about the Dinosaur exhibit...

Visiting Uncle Kevin during his dive at the Aquarium.

Swingin' with Aunt Ruth in Austin

He loves all slides!

...and swings.

 

Look at those teeth!

 

Happy Father's Day to Grandpa and Daddy!

All of the Starr boys celebrating Father's Day.

My boys!

Our little one-and-a-half-year-old

Jasper celebrated his year-and-a-half birthday on Mardi Gras Day. With that said, I thought I'd take some time to elaborate on what it's like trying to keep up with a one-and-a-half year-old.

In the past few months, he has picked up so many new words, some of his favorites being car, boat, PawPaw, moon, dome, basketball, Elmo, and one that I'm sure I probably taught him, "No!" Jeremy and I recently started playing the "Who do you like more" game, where we ask Jasper who he likes more, Mommy or Daddy. He ALWAYS responds, "MAMA!" And when we ask who he likes more, PawPaw or Elmo, he answers that one 50/50. He knows some sign language, including "more" and "milk." We didn't teach him that; he just picked it up at daycare... because he's a genius.

He can point to his nose, ears and eyes. He can point out different animals in his books like cow, horse, kitten, frog, etc. He makes the "Moo" sound when we point to a picture of a cow. It's impressive to see how quickly he catches on to what's what. Then again, would you expect anything less? He gives Daddy and the guys high fives and "daps" all the time. He has perfected his unique wave and does it on command, along with blowing kisses to all the ladies. If you have the opportunity to kiss him on the lips, he lets out a big, loud "MMMUUAAHHH!" And on top of all that, during his bath tonight, he repeated, "I love you" to me. Yes, my heart melted.

We're finally to the point where he watches television. Do you realize how wonderful this truly is for us? I know, I know, we should be reading to him more and not parking him in front of the TV but you know what, it's just not realistic to keep up with all that. Dinner has to be made, laundry needs to be folded and these last 15 lbs. aren't going to lose themselves. Anyway, "Santa" brought Jasper some Sesame Street DVDs for Christmas and he is positively mesmerized by them. When I tell you that this kid NEVER sits still, I am not exaggerating. But put him in front of the TV with one of Sesame Street's Elmo videos and suddenly, I'm the maid I always wanted!

I know it's probably too early to tell, but I'm pretty sure that Jasper lucked out with a combination of our best music genes. He loves all kinds of music. He dances to any-and-everything. If I sing a simple ABC song, he rocks his head back and forth. Every time he hears music, he bends his knees and hops to the beat. I hope he always likes dancing as much as he does now. It will definitely pay off later with the ladies. And it's not just the dancing; he now has his own trumpet and french horn! As he walks around the house blowing the horn (and tormenting Callie) like he's in the marching band, Callie chases after him barking and biting at the end of the horn. It's quite entertaining to watch.

He's fearless. Jeremy had the attic door open and with PawPaw supervising, Jasper climbed up to the top of the attic ladder. Jeremy is teaching him karate. Well, not exactly. But they both walk around the house yelling, "HIIYAAA!" I'm not sure what that's about. Must be a guy thing. Speaking of guy things, they play football, basketball, baseball and some wrestling all in our very own living room. A few days ago, while I was working, Jeremy worked a half day (it was a holiday), picked up Jasper and took him to "Happy Hour." FYI, our version of Happy Hour involves selecting your own yogurt and many, many toppings at TCBY. Sounds like a pretty awesome happy hour to me!

We experienced another milestone last week (2/13/13) as Jasper climbed out of his crib for the first time. Lately, he's been wanting to get to bed later and later. His regular bedtime is already 9:15. So when I tried putting him to bed a few minutes before 9 p.m., I knew we were in for a good 20 minutes of screaming. Sure enough, he didn't disappoint. But when his bedroom door opened and I was in bed and Jeremy in the kitchen, we knew instantly, there was a problem! We had an escapee, and a very cute one at that! So there's  a little more to the story from that night that I feel I need to share... Jeremy wanted to see how Jasper climbed out, so he put him back in the crib and grabbed his phone to record Jasper on video. Well, Jasper was too slick. He put his hands on the rail, hopped up and over, and plopped on the ground in seconds. So to throw him off, Jeremy got creative. He turned most lights off, threw the blanket over Jasper's head pressed "record," and hid in the closet. One small problem. Jasper never hopped out of the crib. Instead he sat in his crib, stood up, sat, stood back up, sat, and eventually fell asleep about 30 minutes later. This is where "Dad of the Year" comes in. Because Jeremy didn't want Jasper to be afraid of monsters in the closet for the next 30 years of his life, Jeremy stuck it out, standing in the closet, in the dark, silent for 30 minutes until Jasper was fast asleep. Best Dad. Ever.

With Jasper getting older, going out to restaurants is getting harder and harder. He gets fussy and he can't sit still for long. He tries letting go of my hand when we're walking in crowds. He can be super whiny when he's tired and he often shows much too much separation anxiety when Daddy gets too far from his sight. But it's incredible watching him slowly begin to follow instruction, see and experience things for the first time, do things independently, and to show affection for particular family and friends. He may throw the remote on the floor, but when we ask him to pick it up and put it back on the table, he does. He's also very nice about sharing, especially when this involves his food and Callie. He gives me things, like shoes, toys and even a half eaten pretzel, and he usually doesn't take them back. I've even begun reasoning with him that he doesn't need to cry to get what he wants, but to simply ask. He likes trying to feed himself (with an emphasis on "trying"). He likes sitting next to Callie and petting her. And tonight, he crawled up in Daddy's lap to read a book together. He's precious and we're very lucky. I'll have to remind myself of all this the next time we're out in public and he won't stop running and screaming, haha!

Now, you know I couldn't post a blog without adding pictures. Here are a few more, taken between December and February. As always, we love you! XOXO.