Thursday, January 31, 2008

Indulge 2 First-time Parents

Jordan has been asking me to post this for a while now. Jack has been talking for a couple weeks now and it really makes us laugh. Sometimes when I am doing the dishes or cooking, I will have him in his bouncy seat on the counter and if he wants to get my attention he just will start talking louder until I turn and look at him. We think he is pretty cute! So indulge us by watching this clip!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

The Big Change

I haven't posted yet about anything that is really going on in our family life, so I figure why not announce publicly our big change. Jordan was half way through his Accounting Jr. Core at BYU when he finally admitted that he hated accounting and was hating all of his classes. So we made the big switch to Wildlife and Wildland Conservation. Yes-- they are complete opposites, but I should have known this was coming when my husband was cleverly trying to find ways to make it on his hunting trip a week before our son was born and a week after. Or maybe it should have tipped me off-- all of the family outings to go deer spotting or look for the Big Horn Sheep up Provo Canyon. Anyways- I am really excited for Jordan because this is something that he will enjoy doing for the rest of his life. So I turn in my Nordstrom Visa for a Cabelas Visa. I guess instead of the beach house, we can get a sweet tent! Maybe if I am ambitious enough I will retire my Sevens and pull on some Wranglers (but I doubt that). And the best bonus is that my husband has informed me that camo clothing is always on our budget! All of these bonuses just add to our excitement and we are excited to see where we end up! I am proud of Jordan for doing what he loves.

In other news, Jordan is still the Sunbeam teacher and the self-proclaimed skateboarding coordinator for the 3-5 year old children (but that calling is seasonal and only occupies his time in the Spring and Summer). Jordan is team teaching with another man in the ward and they have 3 little girls and one boy. Last week one of the girls told Jordan giggling, "You sound like a girl". Jordan kindly ignored the remark but has a good puberty lesson prepared for next week. I am the Relief Society Secretary and Jack's partner on Sunday. Jack continues to grow like a weed. He and I are in a sleeping power struggle and I think I am losing the battle. Last night we had three rounds, and he won all three as I was up at 11 then 12 and then the final dragout at 1:30am. Jack is exploring his sense of taste because everything that comes into his hands will inevitably end up in the mouth as well. I love Baby Einstein DVD's because it is a half hour of pure entertainment for Jack and relaxation for myself.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Peace at Last!

I finally think that I am enjoying motherhood. Maybe it was the failure to nurse and then mastitis, candida surplus (just a less vulgar way of saying a yeast infection of the breast), pumping not enough milk and then a surplus, clogged ducts, etc. Or maybe it has been hard for me because my child hated his car seat and would scream every time we went somewhere, or the fact that he had stranger anxiety and "change of scene" anxiety for quite a while. Or maybe it was hard because I enjoyed my job as a trainer and it was very nice to have accomplished something at the end of the day, when in my own home I struggled to get dinner on the table and get out of my pjs. Or maybe it was the "baby blues" that I got a bad case of that put me on my Mom's "endangered children" list. But for all of these lame excuses, I have finally decided that I love being a mother! I wouldn't trade this responsibility to anyone. I love when I go get Jack in the morning and he smiles at the sound of my voice. I love when he giggles as we play peek-a-boo. I even don't mind pumping because I know that it is contributing to his adorable fat rolls. I am not the best housekeeper yet, but everyday I am getting better and I even have my meals planned out for the next two weeks. And so it is with great joy that I can finally say that I would do it again (not yet). Peace at Last!

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Jordan's Request

One can never have too many pictures of one's child. And since I don't have such a philosophical wit as the famous writer of Hadleyesque.blogspot (not surprising when she read the "Cheerleaders" series in Jr. High and I read "Couples") so I will simply post pictures of my 'one true beauty' Jack! (Plus Jordan asked me to put these up)




Monday, January 21, 2008

Jack and Leah

Jack has a cousin Leah, on the Ohlson side, that was born just a day after him. Eryn (Jordan's sister) came to visit us in the hospital the day Jack was born, and apparently Leah was so excited that she couldn't wait and came the next day (our due dates were two weeks apart). Eryn and Chris live in Farmington, UT and so we get to go visit occassionally. I can only imagine the fun that these two will have in the near future.

Super Size

Some people tell me that my child is supersize- I don't know where they would get that impression! When Jack was 2 months old we went and visited our friends, who have a 6 month old daughter Claire. Here were the results:

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Marilyn D. Smith

I titled this post my mother's name because she really deserves that much publicity. This last week our little family has been going through quite a few changes and we found ourselves in a pickle. I had returned back to work part-time, only to find out that it wasn't going to work with Jack and Jordan's school schedule. I have since reduced my hours but I still had shifts this week that I couldn't get covered and Jordan had class-- so we had no babysitter. I only had to mention the idea that I needed help and my Mom was here before I knew it. Our little family loves Marilyn D. Smith because she is amazing. I went to work on Monday and came home to find, my bed had been made (which much to my husband's dismay, I rarely make), my dinner had been cooked, my house had been cleaned, my suitcases unpacked (that were still from our Christmas vacation), all of my clothes had been put away, she had almost prepared everything for Tuesday night's dinner, and she even organized my sock drawer. I must admit that I only worked a 5 hour shift. She did all of this while still managing to take care of my baby and play with him. Somehow she manages to do it all and I am completely amazed. By the end of Monday night, she was asking me for a to-do list for Tuesday. I could only muster the laundry, clean the bathroom, and enjoy Jack because she had already done everything else. Somehow I can barely manage to get showered, have lunch, and pull together a scant dinner by the time Jordy walks through the door, but I guess that I have a lot to learn. So here is my tribute post to my mother... because she is Marilyn D. Smith and because I love her!

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Christmas in Vegas

So I am still trying to figure out how to post pictures to this blog so please be patient with the craziness of this.



Grandma Ohlson with her grandsons watching "Dirt Bike Kid" in grandma's bed. Jack was just excited to be included in the big boy stuff.


Grandma Marilyn and Grandpa Bert with our Christmas crew. Jack is sitting on my dad's lap. We celebrated Christmas this year with my parents, Ginnie (my sister), Travis, and their children (all in the stripe pjs), Dan (my brother), Janene and their two boys (in the blue matching pjs).



A Smith Christmas Eve tradition is to perform a live Nativity. It usual consists of some terrible dress-ups from the toy room that have no resemblance to the true dress of that time period. Jordan was the lucky wiseman who got to wear this sexy ensemble to present the Christ child with gifts.


Ciera (Ginnie's daughter) and Luke (Dan's son) were the beautiful Mary and Joseph and Cael (Ginnie's son) was a perfect Baby Jesus.


Jack's 1st Christmas! He actually didn't wake up until noon, so he really missed the action but I was just happy he slept through the night.

So It Begins

My dear Friend from work, Jeff Nemelka, created this blog for me. He feels that since I have entered the world of motherhood, one of the obvious essentials is blogging. So here it begins. Please don't expect anything fancy, I am still trying to figure out how to even change my name. So in true fashion, I feel that I must post a picture of our adorable new addition. Jack Jordan Ohlson (not refered to as J.J.- it's just Jack) was born on October 7, 2007 weighing in at 9lbs. 7 oz. I will spare you the labor details and just say that we were very relieved when he finally plopped out!


Jack a few hours after his birth