Livin' Life in Mississippi

Novemeber Events

2010-12-01T12:11:00.000-08:00

Jared and his prize turkey! I let Christian play in the snow when it snowed one day. Can you tell he LOVED it?

Had to get a picture of this. ")

Amish country, playing in a fun wooden train!

Christian & Brinley

Feeding a lama. I showed Christian it's teeth and he kept saying, "teeth, teeth."He was very concerned that the animal had such big teeth!

Us at the Liberty Bell.

I sware we took 50 pictures of these two and we couldn't get them both to look in even one picture!

Outside the chocolate factory in Hershey Pennsylvania

At the hotel in Ashevill, NC. Not sure who is more excited? Jared or Christian?

We hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving! As for us, we had an unusually eventful one this year. Jared was asked to speak at a finance conference in Ashville, NC on the Friday before Thanksgiving. They offered to pay him a little money to help with his travel expenses. We decided it would be fun to take the trip as a family and continue on to Philadelphia, where Jared's sister lives. He also wanted to visit a part of his mission in Hartford, CT. The trip was filled with driving, more driving, movies, more movies, and a lot of good food and warm memories.

While Jared was at his conference, Christian and I somehow found our way back to the area our hotel was at. We found a park and played, (notice the pictures of Christian playing in the leaves)
ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant with amazing tortilla chips and salsa, walked through the expensive shops in town, and took a nap back at the hotel. That night, when Jared was back from his conference, we ate a delicious meal together and then packed up for the rest of our long journey.
We arrived in Philadelphia on Saturday, and took a quick tour of the Pennsylvania Hershey chocolate factory. Which was fun. Later that evening we made it to Jenna and Greg's apartment, where we spent about 4 days with them. During our stay we made it into the city where we ate Philly cheese steaks, saw the Liberty Bell, drove through Amish country and bought yummy jams and saw Amish people in their buggies, had a delicious Thanksgiving feast fit for a family of 15, and let the Brinley and Christian play, play, and play! It was a fantastic Thanksgiving with the Carr family. Thanks so much for having us!

We were also fortunate to visit a close friend of Jared's, whom he had met on his mission in Connecticut. Father Crowley was very sweet, he took us to lunch and then back to his home where Jared and Father Crowley reminisced on the old days. This ended when Christian couldn't keep still enough anymore! Which wasn't long.
On our way back to Mississippi, we stopped in Alexandria, VA where my grandmother lives. It was very nice to spend time with her and my aunt and uncle.
We had a great trip across the country, Christian did great!
And I have to mention that I really appreciate that my husband drove most of the way! I love you babe. ")

October Happenings

2010-11-07T19:27:00.000-08:00

In the Parking lot of the church for the trunk-or-treat.
Trunk-or-treat activities inside the church...

At the Zoo Boo Christian was looking in at some farm animal...can't remember what it was.

I'm sad this turned out so fuzzy. This was Christian at the Zoo Boo in Memphis. I was trying to get a quick pic of him by the kitties. I think it freaked him out that their heads moved!

The pictures always upload out of order! This is Christian having a fit when I put the dragon head over his head on our way into the zoo. He's such a mild tempered child.

This is our little guy a couple weeks ago. Jared was letting him lay in bed with him while I was out for couple of nights, I think he was getting used to it. So the next night I'm home kneeling in his room for prayer and he runs away from me, into our room, gets in our bed and pulls the covers up all comfy cozy. Pretty funny little man.

My baby helping make jack-o-lantern sugar cookies for the trunk-or-treat. Yum!

This year Jared went out and bought our pumpkin. I was pretty impressed. I wasn't so "on the ball" with pumpkin carving this year. He carved a cat on our pumpkin, free handed! It turned out really well.

Our little boy scraping out the guts.

I took Christian and little Jet (Who I babysit every day) to a pumpkin patch at a little church in town. Notice he is wearing no shoes. The little poop wouldn't put shoes on and screamed when I tried putting them on. So, he went without. :)

He was pretty excited about the "baby" pumpkins.

Getting ready for the Trunk-or-treat

He was NOT happy about the dragon head going over his head.

First off, the reason for the lack of good pictures of Christian, is that he is a stubborn little toddler and didn't like being in a costume. He was super cute as a dragon though, I have to say.
Despite not having many pictures this year, we had a fun Halloween.
We wished that they would have switched Halloween to Saturday so we could have trick-or-treated in our neighborhood this year, but due to an Ole Miss vs. Auburn football game that was on Saturday, they kept it on Sunday. Football is a really big deal in the South.

Fortunately we had a couple of chances to enjoy some of the festivities this year!

We took Christian Trunk or Treating at the Church activity last Wednesday night. He loved carrying around his little pumpkin, he wouldn't let the thing out if his sight.

Then Saturday night I took Christian to the Memphis Zoo Boo. He loved it! He really got the hang of saying "trick-or-treat." It didn't take him long to figure out that that was all he had to do to get the candy in the bag. He screamed every time I tried to take his pumpkin away. He kept on eating all the candy! He is a treat-o-holic, like his mother. I have no doubt he would have eaten it all if I'd let him. Jared didn't make it because he got a ticket to the football game. We missed him but were glad he got to have a fun night out.

Jared was trying to catch Christian doing a little dance with the Frankenstein doll.

Atlanta

2010-09-02T12:12:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we decided to take a whirlwind trip to Atlanta. After Jared's comprehensive exams last month we needed to have some fun. And it was fun!

We rode the train through the city to get places, and Christian did really well. Jared carried Christian around in the REI backpack we have, and he loved it.

The night we got there we had dinner at a yummy taco place (Taqueria Del Sol) where we stood in line for about an hour. Luckily it started to rain, this kept Christian occupied. Just afterward we went to the Brave's game. At the game we bought Christian a frozen lemonade and that kept him happy for the first hour...We left early but were still able to enjoy it.

The next day we rose (is that right?) early and ate a breakfast of champions at The Original pancake House. Those who know me best know breakfast is my favorite meal...pictures of the delicious meal to follow...

We finished the day with a trip to the Atlanta Aquarium. Funny story...Christian was standing in front of the glass window, admiring the penguins that swam by, when a little boy his age walked over to him and pinched him really hard on the cheek! He wouldn't let go. It took me a minute to realize what was going on. Jared and I had to laugh because 1.)the paren'ts of the little boy were horrified and 2.)Christian just stood there frozen with his hand on his cheek. Every day since he brings it up by saying, "Mommy, pinch," and pinches his cheek like the little boy did. Ha-ha!

Before we started the drive back to Oxford, lunch followed at a hotdog place called "Varsity." It leaves a lasting impression on one because they holler at you, "What'll ya have?"- When you order.

What a great trip!

Caterpillar's at the Park

2010-08-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

Christian gets very excited about bugs. We happened upon a whole bunch of fuzzy caterpillars last Friday and well...forget the park! He didn't even touch the swings.
We ended up leaving not too soon after the discovery of the caterpillars, because he was in hysterics from a little girl wouldn't share her stale Cheetos's with him. (It was time for lunch!) The girl's mom didn't make her share with him, (my bad, forgot the snack.) Which I don't understand. I would have made Christian share. But then, I guess that's not teaching how to share? I have a lot to learn about being a mom...

Random pictures....

2010-08-18T12:22:00.000-07:00

I had him try this hat on at Square Books Jr. and he didn't want to take it off!
This is us at the Memphis Zoo a few weeks ago. This is a really neat exhibit where you hold out a stick of bird food and the birds fly right to your stick. Needless to say we were there for an hour and a half!

Yum!

Christian got up there and sat all on his own. Had to get a picture.

At the park.

Down the slide with Daddy.

2010-08-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

One of his many silly faces

Christian eating a snow cone

The hole in the wall

Been so Long...

2010-08-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

Well I think it's been a year since I've blogged? I am so bad! I'm pretty much the same with journal writing. You'd think I'd change because I have a kid now, but no. It's still just as hard to get on here and update our lives.

Hmm...Christian will be 2 next month! I can't believe how time has flown. Terrible two's! Yes I think we are already there. Don't get me wrong, he is my little angel, but boy can he throw a tantrum!

Christian is really into bugs, dinosaurs, pop-o's (popsicles),and lions right now. Today we caught a caterpillar in our garage and put it in a little glass jar. It was his entertainment for about 3 hours. He gets really excited about any kid of bug. It's pretty cute. The only thing is, is that he doesn't know how to be gentle with them. During my violin lesson today he came in to show me his caterpillar and sure enough, it's guts had been squished out of it's little body. He doesn't know the difference between alive and dead yet either.

For those of you who read this, and like books, I bought christian the cutest book called, "I Love Bugs." By Emma Dodd. It truly is a delightful book. The illustrations are bright and the read is very easy and fun.

...We have a mouse running around our house somewhere...?! Sunday before church I heard scratching in the wall and wondered what in the world I was hearing? Later that night the scratching started up again and I knew, something had to be in the wall! We could hear it right behind the outlet plate, so Jared unscrewed it and low-and-behold, a mouse was there chewing away little pieces of dry wall to get out! We couldn't get him out of the tiny hole so we taped a bucket on the wall and thought maybe he'd be enticed by a piece of cheese. We ended up going to bed cause it was so late, and in the middle of the night we heard the bucket fall off the wall! It scared the heck out of me. We figured the mouse must have gotten out. The hole had gotten huge! I'll have to post a picture. We really wanted to wake Christian when we saw it was a mouse. I could see his little face poking out of the hole when we first took off the plate. He would have loved it. But I didn't want to put him back to bed later...so we didn't. But he was visibly excited the next morning when I showed him the hole and told him a mouse lived in it!

Last Thursday I took Christian to the Dr.'s thinking he might have an ear infection. Yes, he did. In fact, the Dr. told me he was wheezing and she was concerned. We had to give him a breathing treatment in the office, and it was horrible! But he has done quite well with the breathing treatments at home. He has this nasty hacking cough but other than that he's doing quite well now.
He is such an inquisitve little guy. Always wanting to touch things. I took him to a jewelry store today and he wanted to touch everything we saw. I gave him a plastic orange bracelet and he knew exactly what to do with it! Jared would have loved that...
Christian keeps me quite busy most of the day, when he's not taking a nap. We tried finger paint the other day and that was a mess! He likes to do things his way, does that sound familiar?
He loves being outside and running around wild. Soon I will put him in a little tumbling class for toddlers and I hope he'll be able to get some energy out that way. It is just too hot out here to be outside for very long.
Sorry this post is all over the place. I feel that there is so much that has happened that I should update everyone on!
I better quit before I'm ahead. I'll try this again next week!

I don't think I'd call this an entry.

2009-11-20T12:26:00.000-08:00

Alright, I'm pretty ticked because I just typed a bunch of stuff about what we've all been up to since I left off 6 months ago....and when I went to cut and paste, my computer wouldn't let me paste it!! Arrrg. Also, you will notice that the pictures are in no particular order. It wont let me drag the pictures and switch them around. So you'll just have to enjoy them this way cause I'm done for the day!!

We made these cupcakes for Christian's 1st birthday party. There were also some little sheep ones...not sure where that picture went to?

The after math...

He is pretty sweet to share his cake!

It took him a couple of seconds to realize that he was SUPPOSED to dig in, but he caught on!

Clean hands and face, but not for long!

We made him a little birthday hat but he wouldn't keep it on!
I was lucky to get a picture!

Opening a present with mommy

Opening a present with daddy

This is Christian's grandpa Prisbrey. This last summer we were able to visit him for a day!

He fell asleep like this while watching a Baby Einstein movie in grandma and grandpa Egginton's room!

Daddy and Christian going down the hydro tube at the St. George city pool. I have a lot of memories of that place from when I was a kid. I spent so many oven roasting summers there!

An afternoon at Bear Lake. The Cutler's brought their sail boat and we were able to take a wack at it!

Grandma Egginton and Christian on the porch of the cabin at Bear Lake this last summer.

This was the beginning of June I think. He still looks like a baby here! Already he was getting into trouble!

Back to School with Sprite and Twittermoms

2009-08-26T11:28:00.000-07:00

Back to School with Sprite and Twittermoms You might have noticed a new widget installed on my blog today. It is from a group called " Twittermoms" and they have partnered with Sprite to bring you content as well as a contest related to this Back-to-School time of year!

Fishing at the Webb's

2009-06-02T16:56:00.000-07:00

Today we went fishing at the Webb's farm with the Ordyna's in our Ward here in Oxford. The Webb's have a farm out in Water Valley, just south of where we live. They have two huge ponds that are stocked with large mouth bass and brim fish. Christian had fun fishing for the very first time! Check out the whopper that Christian caught! We had so much fun getting outdoors, it had been a while since we'd been out like that as a family. Thank you to the Webb's for letting us fish in your ponds! And thanks Ordyna's for the fun fishing trip!

Jared caught this huge thing on his first cast! Way to go baby!

This large mouth bass is bigger than Christian!

Yes, I did catch this one! I was freaked out to have to hold it for the picture, yuck!

Big Boy!

2009-05-12T08:07:00.000-07:00

Our little Christian is not so little anymore! Just Last week he started trying to crawl. He has now perfected the art. And he knows it! Yesterday he crawled over to the open dishwasher, pulled himself up to his knees and started pulling the utinsels out. I couldn't believe it. He has gained a lot of confidence now and is all over the place. It happened so quickly! I have a feeling he is going to be quite the little trouble maker. I really have to keep my eye on this little guy!

Lets see...we had a really nice Mother's Day. We spent it with some friends of ours in our neighborhood. (The Burchfields.) They invited is over to their house to celebrate not only Mother's Day but also to celebrate their little baby girl, Ellyn, being dedicated in their church. It was so nice of them! They are such a wonderful family and we really enjoyed spending the day with them.

Last Wednesday our fridge went out! So we had to run around crazy trying to find places for all our food. We are so fortunate to have some good friends in the neighborhood that willingly let me keep our freezer and refridgerator food at their houses! We are still waiting today for the repair man to come and fix it. I am so ready to get the ice chest out of the middle of my bathroom and back out into the garage!

What's have we been up to lately? Well, I get to spend a lot of my days playing with Christian and keeping the house up.I really enjoy it and feel so blessed to be able to stay at home.

Every Wednesday I teach violin. I'm still running every morning. It is so nice to have that time to myself!

Jared finished finals last week and is getting ready to teach a class the first part of the summer. We are so proud of him and his accomplishments!

June 24th we get to go home for a month! We are looking forward to that.

Sorry this entry is so long, I didn't realize it until I scanned the whole thing over. Hope everyone is doing well!

We went for a swim at the Britt's apartment complex. Jared dunked Christian into the water without testing the temp. first! It was freezing. Poor baby!

A little family photo by the pool!

Duane Britt holding the twins, Taylor & Tyler.

Kristy and Tyler.

I tried getting Christian to sit in his rocking chair for a cute picture and he was not having it!

I can't believe I got a picture with his hat on! He is always trying to take it off!

This was him yesterday getting into the dishwasher.

My baby is crawling!!

We gave him his first french fry two weekends ago! Don't you like his new cute hat?

Trying to take his hat off again!

Mommy and Christian.

I can't believe my luck! This last Saturday he was striking poses like this for me all day! He usually is too captivated by the camera in front of my face to give me smiles like this one!

Swing or Go For a Drive?

2009-04-27T10:10:00.000-07:00

Last week Jared and I took Christian to the park for the very first time. It was so much fun taking pictures of all his first time activities! We think he is just so much fun and so dang cute! Christian seemed to really like the swing! But he kept staring over at the little girl swinging beside him, so it was hard to get a picture of him looking at the camera. He was so interested in what she was doing...

Lately he has been sticking his tongue out a lot. It's so cute!

Daddy giving him his first driving lesson!

No he didn't go down the slide. Jared just held him up so we could get this picture. :0)

He had a ride on mommy's lap.

Jared said he really was holding on mostly by himself! What a strong boy!

Daddy holding Christian up high so maybe we can get a smile?

Jean Jones 5K Run

2009-04-05T15:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I ran a 5k with a few friends from my neighborhood around the Ole' Miss campus. It was really cold before the race started, but luckily it warmed up quickly. I hate to run in the cold! It was a relatively hillly run but the grounds around the campus are so green and pretty! It was rather enjoyable.

Anyhow, the race was in honor of a professor who worked for the University. She died of cancer in 1997. I thought it was for a neat cause. The proceeds went to help further the research of cancer. I got a sticker that said "I am running for..." and I filled in the blank with, "Grandma Harr." My Grandma was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple of years ago and now is a survivor of it. However, she was recently diagnosed with stomach cancer. She is an amazingly strong woman with such a huge heart. I am so impressed by her positive attitude and her great example of giving and caring for others. I love her very much and am so grateful for our relationship.

Here is the only picture I have of Christian and I after the race!

A Big Boy!

2009-03-27T06:56:00.000-07:00

Well, Christian had his 6 month appointment yesterday. I can't believe it's been 6 months since he was born! He is getting so big! (I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that though. You can see yourself from the pictures!) He weighs 20 lbs. and is 27.5 inches long. He got his six month shots and of course he wasn't too happy about it. It makes me so sad when he cries because he's hurt! But with a full tummy and some tylenol, he was happy soon again.

Jared and I talk about it all the time how we are so blessed to have such a wonderful little son. He brings such joy into our lives. I can't imagine not having him with us!

I thought I'd post a few cute pictures we've taken of him recently. Isn't he just so cute? I know I'm bragging, but I can't help it!

Pardon Me, is that the Chattanooga Choo Choo?

2009-03-21T17:21:00.001-07:00

For Jared's spring break we decided to take a quick trip to Chattanooga Tennessee. There is an amazing aquarium there that Jared had been reading up on, so we decided to go. It was nice to have a little family vacation! We left home at 3:30 am so that Christian would be asleep for most of the drive there. It is a five hour drive from Oxford. We stayed in the Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel. It was so cool! The hotel was built out of an old train station. You can even stay in some of the rail road cars during your stay. During our stay, we took Christian out for his first swim! He seemed pretty indifferent about the whole thing. But at least he didn't cry.

The next day we hit the aquarium and afterwards we went on an awesome boat ride down the Tennessee river. We even bought Christian his first souveneer! Jared picked out a cute little stuffed turtle from aquarium gift shop. Christian loves to gum it. Enjoy the pictures!

Trip to Utah

2009-03-20T15:15:00.000-07:00

Christian and I were able to take a week to visit Grammy Honey as well as Grandma Julie just a little over a week ago. We had so much fun! The week went by way too fast, but we were grateful for the time that we had. One day, thanks to my mom, we were able to go to the Draper temple open house as a family. It was so neat! I had never been to one before. It was absolutely beautiful and breathtaking really. If I were a non-member and went through the open house I would convert just because of the wonderful spirit that is felt there. We also did shopping here and there with Grammy and also with Grandma Julie. We love to shop now that there is a grandbaby! I have missed my brothers and sister a lot since being gone. It was fun to see them and spend time with them also. Pres and Log are so cute with Christian. They love him so much, and you can tell that Christian just adores them! Although we missed Jared/Daddy, we really enjoyed ourselves. Thanks mom for making it possible!
I wish I had some pictures to post, unfortunately I didn't take my camera with me. I need a little small one so I can carry it wherever I go. Anyhow...wer're home now and I have been doing laundry ALL day! That's what happens when you get to go on a fun vacation for a week. I'll post again soon...

Here is a link to a video about LDS temples. Click on the YouTube video to learn more about the blessings the Temple can bring.
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=e419fb40e21cef00VgnVCM1000001f5e340aRCRD

Valentine's Day, Today, and Everything In between

2009-02-26T12:54:00.000-08:00

Well here's the scoop on this last month...some of the scoop anyhow...

Valentine's Day was really nice. Jared is just the best! He sent me beautiful roses and he bought me a pair of running shorts. He knows what to do!
The morning of Valentine's Day we made crepes with all kinds of yummy fruit and whip cream. It's Jared's favorite. :0)
His gift for Valentine's Day was a new cell phone that he picked out.
It turned out to be a really nice day.

Hmmm...what else? Christian's new thing is grabbing his feet. He loves to pull them up and play with his toes! I'll throw a couple of cute pics in so you can see.
Oh, and the pictures with the pooh...you probably are wanting an explanation hu? This kid has more pooh than any kid I know! If you know Christian, he poops a lot! Like a few times a day is normal for him.
I thought that with solid food, comes solid bowel movements. I assumed that since we had started feeding him baby food and cereal twice a day, we should be safe from blowouts. That is not the case come to find out. He had two poopy diapers earlier today and then, wham! Here comes another one mom. It was awful! I mean, where does it all come from?? I was SO close to cutting his close off him to avoid getting poop everywhere! But I didn't...should have, but I didn't! There was blow out from heck to breakfast! Oh my goodness. I left the clothes for Jared to rinse out. I just couldn't do it.

Can you tell that I am a stay at home mom and that my life revolves around my child? Haha! The topics that are up for discussion when you start having kids is unreal. I never thought I would be writing about my child's bowel movements in a million years!

Oh my. I am so bad. I should be preparing for my lesson in Relief Society that I have to give this Sunday! I better get crackin'. Sorry I can't write more. I know you want to hear more about Christian and his B.M.'s. (haha!)

Catch ya later!

Pictures

2009-02-12T11:50:00.000-08:00

The Zoo

2009-02-11T14:07:00.000-08:00

I have been absolutely horrible at keeping this thing updated!

Okay, this is way too long for anyone to read this. I promise I wont be offended if you don't read and just scroll to the pictures. That's the fun part anyway!

We had a really great time spending Christmas vacation in Utah with family & friends. It was fun to show Christian off to his grandparents, aunts and uncles. It went by way too fast! I was sad that I wasn't able to get together with some good friends-you know who you are!
I'll post some pictures so you can see a little of what we were up to when we visited Utah.

Recently Jared and I took Christian to the zoo. The zoo is in Memphis and it is huge! We were there for 4 or 5 hours I think. It really is a nice zoo, I look forward to taking Christian more often when he can get really exctied about the animals.
It was so much fun! Christian slept a bit of the time but when he was awake, it was fun to take pictures with him and try and get him to look at the animals. I'll make sure I post some pictures so you can see.

Lets see....what is new? Christian is now almost 5 months old! He is growing at a tremendous rate. He is 18.5 lbs.! The little neighbor baby, "Ellen" down the street weighs probably 5 lbs. less than him. She was born one week after him! But I absolutely love it, I always wanted a chubby baby.
He can now roll from side to side when he is on his back and can roll from his tummy
to his back, occasionally. He dosen't have a lot of time where he is laying down. Mommy just loves to hold him! And when I'm not holding him he likes to sit in his Bumbo. (Which you see him sitting in in the pictures.)
He has been eating rice cereal for about a month now. He seems to do alright with it, but he wont really take it from me, only his daddy.
He smiles so much now! It just melts my heart to see his huge smile and hear him giggle. It is so awesome being a mom! I absolutely love it.

What about me? Well...I am starting to train for a marathon in October. I have been running at the gym with my friend Katie for about a week and a half now. Thankfully I have her to get me up in the mornings! I am not a morning person at all, so thank you Katie!!
I've have been so fortunate to have met some really wonderful friends here in Oxford. Without them I think I would go crazy staying at home with no other adult to converse with all day! Heavenly Father really has stepped in to help me. I am so grateful!

Jared is continuing another semester at Ole Miss. He seems to really enjoy the people he works with. He is so darn smart! We miss him when he is gone all day, but luckily he is so good to play when he comes home from school. So school work stays at school and daddy can be daddy when he comes home. It is so nice!

It's been wonderful weather here in Mississippi. It's been in the 60's and 70's the last week or so. So I feel sorry for ya'll (haha!:0) in Utah getting the snow. I do not miss that! With the weather being so nice, I wish I could take Christian out a little. But he has been sick with bronchiolitis and an ear infection. Yuck. Poor kid. He just started on some antibiotics so he is well on his way to a speedy recovery...I hope! He sure doesn't sleep much when he isn't feeling well, so that means mommy doesn't sleep either!

Well hopefully I can do better at keeping this thing updated, now that I am home and back into my routine.

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying life. We love and miss you all!

Kristin,Jared & Christian.

Christmas Tag

2008-12-11T20:55:00.000-08:00

Anyone can play--just copy and paste!

1.CANDY CANES--PEPPERMINT OR CHERRY?
I'm not too big on candy canes, but if I were to pick one to eat it would be cherry.

2.GINGERBREAD HOUSES--KIT OR HOMEMADE?
We've always done the kits. It comes with everything you need. It's wonderful! Last year we made them with G-ma and G-pa Harr. It was so fun! Always a memory I will cherish.

3.MOST ANNOYING CHRISTMAS SONG
I can't think of one.

4.FAVORITE CHRISTMAS SONG
I love all the traditional old school Christmas songs. It takes me back to when I was a little girl at Christmas time. I don't really have a favorite.

5.MOST MEMORABLE CHRISTMAS PRESENT YOU RECEIVED AS A CHILD
One year my dad fixed up an old desk for me. He did such an incredible job on it. One of the best Christmas presents I ever received.

6. MOST MATERIALISTIC THING YOU'RE ASKING SANTA FOR THIS YEAR
Clothes that fit! After having a baby, nothing fits like it used to!

7. FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIE
It's a Wonderful Life, Elf, and of course Muppets Christmas Carol.

8. CHRISTMAS MUSIC--DAY AFTER HALLOWEEN OR DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING?
Day after Thanksgiving

9. DO YOU BELIEVE?
Of course!

10. GET DRESSED BEFORE OPENING YOUR PRESENTS, OR STAY IN PJ'S?
Pj's. Mom always bought us Christmas pajamas and we'd open them Christmas Eve. We'd usually be up at 5 am Christmas morning- who in there right mind gets dressed that early on Christmas morning?

11. BLACK FRIDAY?
Whenever I go Christmas shopping during the Christmas rush I turn into a whole different person! Christmas shopping in over-populated malls and Walmarts puts me in a bad mood. There'd have to be something I'd wanted forever at a fantastic price I absolutely could not pass up, for me to do a black Friday and get me up that early.

12. WHITE LIGHTS OR COLORED?
I like them both. I don't really have a preference.

13. EVER BEEN TO THE NUTCRACKER?
Yes, I think I was 12 when I went.

14. DOES SANTA LEAVE AN ORANGE IN THE TOE OF YOUR STOCKING?
Nope. Usually I find my favorite treats and some pony-tail holders in the toe of my stocking.

Yummy Turkey!

2008-11-29T09:43:00.000-08:00

Well, Thanksgiving away from family is never easy. However, our new friends who are members in the ward here in Oxford made it a little easier for us. :0)
We were invited by a couple in our ward (Paul & Cindee) that have 2 adorable kids (David & Eden) to celebrate Thanksgiving in their home. They invited another couple (Ben & Katie) that we have become good friends with. It turned out wonderful!
Jared and I made pumpkin, apple, lemon meringue, and banana pie. Well, actually, Jared made most of them...I'm not sure what I was doing!

The pies turned out pretty well, with exception to my apple pie. It was huge like a volcano, I'm not even kidding! There were so many apples that after it baked, the apples sunk down into the bottom crust and under the top crust it was just air, no apples! So it turned out kind of weird. I'm going to have to try it again another time to perfect it!
We were in charge of the drinks. So Jared had this idea; we froze pineapple and cran-rasberry juice in ice cube trays and put them in sprite. Pretty tasty! And Jared made his stuffed mushrooms that he loves so much.

And of course we forgot our camera! But Cindee took some pictures for us, so we'll see if we get those pictures developed...
After the dinner we all met over at another family's home in our ward who hosted a little game and dessert party. We had a fun time and enjoyed getting to know a few of the younger couples in the ward.

Earlier Thanksgiving morning Jared made the cutest indian hat for Christian and he took some pictures of it. So I thought I would post them and a few others.
Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! We are excited to go home for Christmas and for everyone to meet baby Christian, or should I say, CJ? That's what everyone is calling him now. At first I wasn't too keen on the nick name but now I've decided, what the heck? Why not?

A Visit to the Doctor.

2008-11-22T16:48:00.001-08:00

It is so fun to take pictures of our little guy! He is just so cute. This last Monday he had his two month well visit. He got 3 shots! Poor little guy. I'm not sure who was more sad about it! He now weighs 12 lbs. 10 oz. and is 23 inches. He is growing so fast. But he still likes to cuddle with his mommy!

Every chance I get I am taking pictures. I just want to document every stage in his little life.

Lately his new thing is to stick his little fists in his mouth. He licks them with his tongue. It is so dang cute! I haven't been able to get a picture of it yet, but hopefully soon. He is also drooling quite a bit now, that's pretty cute too, I think. Everything he does is adorable!

Enjoy the pictures!

Christian Had His Baby Blessing

2008-11-08T13:47:00.000-08:00

This last Sunday Jared blessed Christian in our Mississippi ward. It was such a sweet blessing! Because I left it to the last minute, I was unable to find a traditional blessing outfit for him. But I have to say he looked adorable in what we did find...

Halloween

2008-11-05T10:40:00.000-08:00

For Halloween in our new ward they did a trunk-or-treat. We decorated our trunk up a little with spider web and purple spooky lights. It ended up looking pretty good I think. The ward had a chili potluck dinner with cornbread before the tunk-or-treat, which was yummy. None of the adults really dressed up but all the kids looked pretty cute. It was fun to dress Christian up in his puppy dog costume. He was pretty darn adorable! Here are a few pictures...

Some halloween pictures...

2008-10-28T18:58:00.000-07:00

This last Saturday Jared took us out to breakfast to this place on the square called, "Bottletree." Apparently Oprah Winfrey broadcasted part of her show once at the Bottletree because it is one of her favorite places. It's pretty popular around here too! They make pastries, breakfast croissants and all kinds of yummy bakery goodies for breakfast and lunch. It was pretty tasty.

It was so nice to get out of the house this last weekend! Sometimes I find myself going stir crazy all cooped up at home. Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful to able to stay home with my baby! But sometimes I wish we had more to do.

Anyways, the leaves have started to change colors and the temperature has started to drop. ( Not nearly as cold as Utah, thank goodness!) And the humidity seems to have disappeared. Yay! But they say it will warm up again soon. Which will be nice, I really like the warm weather. Oh yes, I almost forgot the reason for this post all together! We had heard about a little pumpkin patch at an old church and wanted to take some pictures of the baby and our family. So I wanted to post a couple of fun pictures we took. It was pretty cold that day, really windy . We didn't take a lot of pictures because of that but it was fun anyway. So here you go!

Our little family at the pumpkin patch

He didn't last too long in this pose!

Here are some fun pictures!

2008-10-27T09:35:00.000-07:00

Our baby is now almost 6 weeks old! We cannot believe how fast time has gone by. He is growing so fast it seems! We enjoy every minute of being parents to this sweet little boy.

Christian is now making all kinds of cute noises but isn't really cooing yet. He seems to want to smile sometimes, but he isn't quite there yet. He loves to be held and seems to really like music. He also likes his back tickled, like his mommy! We like to go on walks through the neighborhood in his stroller. It puts him to sleep like a car ride!

He really is a good baby. Usually the only time he cries is when he's hungry or has a tummy ache. It's pretty cute when daddy is trying to get him to calm down, Jared will dance arond the house with him and Christian really likes it! And for those of you that know Jared, you know that he loves to tease Christian. ") It is one of his favorite things to tease him when he is hungry. The baby is pretty dang cute when he gets hungry.

We look forward to coming home for Christmas so those who haven't met him can have a chance to hold and kiss this sweet little guy. He is such a joy! He is mommy's little friend especially when daddy is at school. We just love him so much!

There are so many pictures we have taken and I didn't realize we haven't posted any of them really since he has been home. So here is a little taste of what you all have been missing...or should I say ya'll?

Here he is just a few days old. Petty cute, eh?

Daddy & the baby!

We gave him his first sponge bath and as soon as I took his diaper off he pooped all over me!

I love this picture! Christian is pushing Jared away!

More Photos of Baby Christian

2008-09-19T10:01:00.001-07:00

He is here!

2008-09-18T06:50:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness! Our little baby Christian is finally here! He is so beautiful.
Jared was so great to post all of the pictures and I thought I would add a little about our baby...I am still waiting in the hospital this morning while he has his circumcision. "(
My water broke Tuesday morning at about 7:40 and I knew then that he was coming soon! We ran around the house with our heads cut off trying to put everything together last minute. Ha-ha! We got to the hospital and registered in the ER where they brought me a wheel chair to get me to L&D. Yadda yadda yadda.... they hooked me up to IV's and things, took vitals, and low and behold I start contracting. Ahhhh! Awful. The pitosin they gave me increased the contractions and the intensity of them. So with my eager consent they gave me stadol intravenously which made me absolutely crazy, but took some edge off the contractions. Thankfully I can be excused from my wild behavior while on the stadol. So you wont be offended when I tell you that I swore at the nurses who took my blood and swore a couple times while receiving the epidural. (Which doesn't make sense, that blessed man-who could cuss at the man who uses magic to make the pain go away?) Bless his heart! I told him I was LDS and that I was sad to say I was being a bad example. He and the nurses laughed at that. Pretty much due to the stadol, whatever I was thinking in my head, I expressed vocally to everyone.
After the epidural I was as pleasant as a peach. I didn't feel a thing! It was absolutely fabulous. Jared was my wonderful coach the entire time. Without him I don't know what I would have done! I love him so much!
A few hours after the epidural I was dilated to a 10 and ready to push that baby out! 20 minutes later, out comes our beautiful baby Christian!!! It was such a wonderful experience. I just can't describe the amount of love I felt immediately upon seeing him. It is such a miracle. I know Jared felt the same way. He was at my side the whole time but once that baby was out, he was at his side! He loves that baby so much!
Our baby is not quite 2 days old yet and already his features seem to be changing and he is taking on a little personality of his own. I have to say that I don't want these moments to ever end. I love this time with my husband and new baby. We will never get them back. However, I know we have wonderful new experiences to look forward to with our baby. I just don't want him to grow up! We will take so many pictures now that he is here! This is such a precious time in our lives.
Anyhow...just thought I would share that with everyone. He is absolutely beautiful. Wish you could all be here. We love you. ")

More of Baby Christian

2008-09-16T20:01:00.000-07:00

His "Christian" Hat

Dr. Martin

BABY CHRISTIAN IS HERE!!!

2008-09-16T16:29:00.001-07:00

6:04 pm

8.0lbs

Bringing Home the Baby!

2008-09-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

I am so excited about how cute the baby will be wearing this home from the hospital! I just had to share it with you. Aren't baby clothes just so cute and small? I can't wait for the baby to come!!! Come soon baby Christian!

P.S. Julie just sent us the fun "Christian" hat.

2008-09-08T18:40:00.000-07:00

Counting Down!

2008-09-08T18:09:00.000-07:00

We are now on the final 2 weeks of the pregnancy! We can't believe that in just 10 days we will be proud parents of our little baby Christian! Well, actually, I can believe it. I'm like the Pilsbury Dough Boy. I have gained almost 35 pounds and I am retaining water like crazy!! I roll out of bed in the morning and I find myself waddling to get everywhere ! Today I went on a walk and when I was finished my hands were as thick as a brick! I am not even kidding.
It must be a funny sight but after this moment of reflection I find it funny no more. I am absolutely 100 percent ready to get this baby out! But he doesn't seem to think that it's time. The last 3 visits to the Dr. I have shown no progress whatsoever. The baby is still incredibly high and has not dropped at all. He seems to be completely content where he is. Not if I have anything to say about it!

My mom is coming out the 18th and we plan to induce on the 19th, the due date. Even though the Dr. has agreed to induce, I hope we've made some progess by then.

Jared is starting his 3rd week at Ole' Miss and seems to be enjoying it. He is so smart!
I find myself really looking forward to Jared coming home from school everyday. I really miss him and I don't like to be alone all day. Hopefully when the baby comes I'll have more to do and I wont be quite so lonely for his companionship.

I tried to get Jared to take a picture of both of us for this entry but he just wouldn't! What a stinker. I bet he'll be singing a different tune when I want to take pictures of him and the baby! Jared really is a sweet heart. He has taken such good care of me the entire pregnancy.
No one could be more excited to be a daddy than he is. He asks everyday if we can have the baby now. It's so sweet!

Well I think the next time we update this we will be new parents! Until then. Chao!

A Night Out On the Town

2008-08-23T21:14:00.000-07:00

Tonight Jared and I really needed to get out of the house. It had been really rainy and bleak all day. My mom had her birthday yesterday so I had a good excuse to go into town to get her a fun gift. Jared is not a shopper at all so I had to twist his arm...but he came! We went to "the square" which is right by Ole Miss campus and is a popular place to shop. I hadn't been there yet, and was looking forward to walking through some of the stores to see what they had. It is such a cute place to shop! It reminds me of Jackson Hole and a little bit like Park City. Jared had me on a time limit of one hour to find a present. (This was the only way I got him to come!) He said he was going to make me go to Home Depot and walk around for an hour afterwards. Ha-ha! ") I ended up finding a really unique gift I thought. (Can't say what it was just in case my mom reads this.)

Then we went to this really neat restaurant in Taylor which is about 20 minutes away from where we now live. We were looking forward to eating there because we had heard great things about their catfish and fun atmosphere. It's in a little Podunk town and had southern written all over the outside and inside. I felt so dumb that we forgot the camera! We should have taken some pictures. It really was a memorable evening. The waitress forgot all about my salad and served a huge group of touring old ladies first...which kind of had me irritated, and the piece of chicken I ordered was charcoal black and as dry as could be! Yuck. I'm not usually one to complain but it was not edible! So the service and the food was not top notch. But it was fun to experience a real southern restaurant. Jared seemed to like his blackened cat fish and french fries, so that was good! But next time we are hungry, we wont be eating there. ")

MISSISSIPPI

2008-08-17T20:40:00.000-07:00

We're in Mississippi! Jared has been here in Oxford, MS for a little over 2 weeks. They drove across the country in a big Penske truck with all our stuff. On their way they were able to visit a few church history sites, so that was fun for them. Some good bonding time I think.

He got us all moved in with the help of his dad. Thank you Frank for your help! I am so lucky to have Jared as my husband! He worked so hard to get everything put together for when I got here. He did a fabulous job.

This is the Winter Quarters Nebraska temple that Jared and his dad visited.

This is Liberty Jail in Missouri. Another church site Jared was able to visit.

While Jared was hard at work getting us settled, I stayed with my mom and dad for about a week and a half to see my little sister get married. I had planned on helping but the week of the wedding I had a Dr.'s appointment that was a little scary. I went in at 32 weeks for a prenatal check up. I was a little concerned that the baby wasn't moving as much as I was used to but didn't think too much of it. They did an ultrasound and it turned out that my amniotic fluid was pretty low. They put me on bed rest and regular testing twice a week...the day before Jared was supposed to leave! We still had sooo much to pack and clean that night! I was not happy about it. But what do you do when your baby is at risk? Jared and my mom were so great. They packed and cleaned everything while I sat in bed with a book. I've never felt so helpless and guilty before. My little brothers also were so sweet to carry stuff to the Penske as well as clean. I was so so greatful! Thank you family for you help! It was a crazy time, but somehow they got everything packed and Jared left the next afternoon.

Me at about 30 weeks prego!

My mom was so great to take care of me while I stayed with her. She waited on me hand and foot and took me to all of my Dr. visits. She never let me get up to do anything! It's so great to have such a wonderful mom! I had a great time hanging out with my family. It was like I had never left! I miss them so much. But this will be a fun adventure for Jared and I. Luckily, my mom will be out in a few weeks, to be followed by my sweet mother-in-law. It will be nice to have help with the baby.

Lauren's wedding went well as did the reception. Congratulations Laur and Mason! Oh! And also congrats to Scott and Heather!

I arrived just this last Monday. It is a beautiful area. It is very green with trees and with that comes a lot of rain! We live about 15 minutes from town and the campus. Our house is darling! We are so blessed to be able to have our own home. Jared did such a great job picking it out!

This is our house!

Unfortunately I've been on bed rest for the last three weeks so I have been unable to see or do much. I am really going crazy I think. I am ready for this baby to come now! I am 35 weeks now. I can't believe the baby is almost going to be here! Jared and I are very excited and can't wait to see what he looks like!

I'm going call it a night. Now you'll be wishng that I never updated my blog! Ha-ha! I'll update ya'll when I've seen more of this fun little town!

BABY BUMP

2008-05-18T21:44:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Kristin's ever growing baby bump. She is at 22 weeks and counting.
We are both so excited to be momy and daddy!

We've been Crusin!

2008-05-18T21:26:00.000-07:00

At the End of April Jared and I went on a Caribbean cruise. It was a lot of fun! Here are some pictures from our trip!

Me in Grand Cayman (our ship is the one on the left)

Jared at Stingray city (I was very scared!)

Baby News

2008-04-16T21:17:00.000-07:00

Jared and I found out at about 14 weeks that we were having a baby boy. I just knew that it was a boy! I had had dreams about it and just had a feeling. We are both very excited about it. Little boys are so much fun!

Since I work at an OB/GYN it's hard not to get an ultrasound every week. It's just so much fun to look at the baby moving around inside. I can't feel the baby move yet and I'm almost 18 weeks pregnant. But my Dr. says it's normal not to feel anything until a little later in first pregnancies. Jared and I are both excited to eventually see and feel the baby move.

We have decided on a name for our baby boy. It's going to be Christian. Jared has a very good friend and former mission companion with that name. He wanted our little boy to share his name. And it works because we both really like the name. (Sorry Jenna ")

Well I really should hit the hay, I have work in the morning. I'll try to update this some more later.

BIG NEWS

2008-01-22T20:18:00.000-08:00

On Friday January 11 Kristin came home from work with some big news. She had a present and inside was a baby toy. I thought she was kidding at first (she had cried wolf so many times before) but then she showed me the positive pregnancy test. We are both so excited to be having a baby even thought she is not due until September.

We will be posting some pictures soon!

2008-01-22T19:00:00.000-08:00

I know these are a little old but here are a few pictures from canyoneering in Zion NP last summer

Kristin and Jared in yankee doodle

Spry

Jared in Oak Creek