Stuff My Kid Says

Me: Jasper, you have got some hairy legs dude.

Jasper: Yeah. I do have Harry Potter legs. And you have miss mighty (what he calls Hermione) legs.

Photo booth FUN

 Whenever I put my hair in a ponytail (which is rare because they give this wimp a head ache) Jasper insists that I put his locks in a pony tail as well. He rarely leaves the house like it- but if my 3 year old wants a pony tail- he get's a pony tail.

Stuff my kid says

Tonight while tucking Jasper in for bed I gave him his normal 'magic kisses.' He has to have them done, by me, before every nap and bed time. It's special kisses done in a certain order, covering his whole face, and they can't be wiped off while he is sleeping.

While giving him his magic kisses I was filled with overwhelming sadness with the thought that someday, he will no longer want, need or require me to give him his magic kisses before bed.

I said something like 'Think you will have your wife give your magic kisses before bed when you are older Jasper"

My sweetheart of a son replied with "Yes! But you have to still give me my magic kisses too."

I said, "Well I might not be able to every night because you will live with your wife, but every time I see you i will."

And then he said " But you will live with me too. You have to."

This made me so incredibly happy and sad at the same time.

This brought on the conversation of me moving in and taking care of his babies when he has them and he thought that was a great idea and claimed that he was going to have 5 babies.

I'm sure all mothers feel this way, but he truly is the most special person in the whole world, and I'm quite positive no woman will ever be good enough for him.

Looking back- Newborn Jasper

 August 3, 2007. Hours after Jasper was born.

Tired mamma and tired baby. Those indentions by his eye and his forehead were from the forcepts used after 3.5 hours of pushing and still no baby. Poor guy had a black eye for a week!

First night home- sleeping in the bassinet used by his dad, uncles and grandpa. His grandpa (Drew's dad) is an identical twin and they both slept in here as newborns. THen it was passed to Drew's dad when he had kids since he was the oldest and the first to have kids, and then Jasper was the first great grandchild- so he slept in there as well, for the first 2 months.

Looking back at these pictures makes me miss baby Jasper So much.

How did he go from this.....

to this?

Went in to check on our little monkey before I went to bed...

....and this is what I found.

Please try to ignore the towels over the windows- we ordered black out curtains and they were the wrong size. And this kid can Not nap if it's not dark, so old beach towels nailed to the walls it is..for now.

Mamma-Jasper day date.

On Tuesday I started watching a little boy. Oliver. He is 13 months and will come to our house Monday-Friday 8-5ish. I watched another little boy Riley when we were living in Superior, and it was such a great situation for us. I get to make some money, while staying home with my son. And honestly? I didn't think throwing an extra kid in make my life that much more difficult. They napped at the same time, played together and were the best of friends. Outings were slightly more difficult with two, but totally manageable. If I'm going to have the three plus kids I want, I better get used to it.

Anyway I had today off because his mom has one Friday off a month (which I get off and paid!!, pretty excited about that) so I wanted to plan a fun day for Jasper and I. It will be the last day we have just the two of us in a few weeks. And oh how sad this makes me!! But we still have Every single day together, so I'm just going to focus on that.

We woke up and laid in bed snuggling and watching some netflix in bed (Free Willy 4 if you were interested) then ate our favorite breakfast- greek yoghurt, organic blueberries and some agave. If you haven't tried- DO IT. It's delish.

Then we got ready, rode our bikes- okay Jasper rode his bike, I chased after him, to the park where we played for an hour.

Then we headed to the mall for some indoor playtime and lunch.

Trying on matching hats at Urban Outfitters 

My World

We didn't end up doing anything super special, but it was the best day. All it took was three days having someone else join us during my days to make me realize just how grateful I am to spend every day with him. He is my world. And while we will have another little one joining us for the days, we will still have at least once a month JUST US. And that? Is pretty amazing. 

Magic Pusses

Or Magic Kisses (Puss is Kiss in Swedish)

For a while we had this 'problem' where Jasper wants kissed all the time. I know that doesn't like a problem at all, and 99% of the time it isn't. There's nothing I love more than getting and giving kisses to Jasper. But it became a problem when it was time for a nap and he would be yelling from his room EVERY MINUTE saying " MOOOOOOOOM I wiped my pusses off, I need more" And this would go on every few minutes for 30-40 minutes before he finally fell asleep.

So I came up with a solution. Magic Pusses. Magic kisses start at the mouth and go counter clockwise, stopping every inch to give a puss. Magic pusses end with a puss on the nose. Then we test to see if the magic pusses wife off, they never do! They last for an entire nap time without ever wiping off. And at bed time we throw in some extra kisses so they last all night.

Jasper now goes to sleep faster, without feeling like mom won't come in to give him kisses when he asks for them.  Sometimes it's the little things that makes being a mom oh so magical.

Stuff My Kid Says

My kid says crazy things. I'd love to hear what yours say!

This happened last week as Jasper's karate class. 

Cute 5 year old girl walks in, new to class, wearing a tutu and tennis shoes. Adorable. 

Jasper says loudly: Mamma, that little girl (she was about 4 inches taller than him) is preeeeetty.

Mother of the little girl: Aw that's sweet, say thank you.

Jasper thinking the mom was thanking him replies

No, not you. The little girl is pretty. Not the mamma. 

Me? Horrified. Uhm..Jasper, that's not very nice to say. 

The other mom? Laughing hysterically. ' Oh its okay, no filter at this age' 

I can't even be mad at him, he was just being honest. He was clarifying to the mom that he was calling her daughter pretty, and not her. 

Things that come out of my three year olds mouth:

"I can't say that those fings (things), my teef (teeth) aren't big enough yet"

Whaaat?

That's Jasper's new phrase. When we were praying the other night about my very sick grandmothers, one in North Carolina and one in Sweden, and Drew's grandpa who just fell down and broke hip hip and I asked Jasper if he wanted to say Amen. His exact words were " I can't say Amen, my teef (teeth) aren't big nuff yet" He cracks me up Every Single Day

A boy and his bird.

One morning, in the spring of 09, we were playing at our local park in Karlstad, Sweden.

Jasper encountered a bird he decided he had to play with. Here is his story. The picture kind of speak for themselves.

                               He was sitting in this swing when he first spotted the bird.

He followed him through bushes

He followed him through parking lots

He followed this bird around for at Least 20 minutes while Drew followed us taking pictures. When he could get too far behind, the bird would turn around and look at him. Stop. Wait for him. Then hop along once Jasper got too close. The whole time I felt bad for the bird because I thought he couldn't fly- but he was just messing with Jasper! After about 20 minutes the bird decided to fly away, leaving a very sad boy behind. Seriously one of the funnies things I've ever seen.

It hit me hard all of a sudden

that as of Thursday, my baby is now 3 and a half. THREE AND A HALF. That's almost 4, which is practically 5. And 5? That brings kindergarten. And the start of my baby boy being gone from me all day every day at school. And I lost it. I started crying my eyes out. At the thought of my son starting school.

I thought this whole thing would get easier over time. That as the older he gets I would WANT him to be independent and go to school. I thought I would feel like oh finally, I get some me time. Well so far I sooo don't feel like that. I want him home with me all day every day for the rest of my life. I know I'm being dramatic. But this is my blog. And my baby. And to me, if I just close my eyes he still looks like this.

Some of my favorite pictures of me and my baby boy.

And I'm back.

I've been in Sweden for the past ten days, and it feels so goo to be back to my little man, and of course his daddy. But I've gone a week or two with out seeing Drew while Jasper and I have gone back to Iowa to visit family, but in the three and a half years since I became a mamma I haven't spent more than a weekend apart from Jasper. And that only happened twice. Ironically enough both times that happened I was also in Sweden. Stockholm to be more exact. But that was different because one, he was also in Sweden, and two it was only 2.5 days at a time.

It was hard, and I mean Really hard to be away from Jasper.  Even though I wasn't going to Sweden for a vacation for myself, I still felt guilty going. I felt guilty that I wouldn't be there to tuck him in for his nap and bed times as I have been 99.8 percent of the time since he was born. But luckily I have an amazing husband that convinced me I needed to go and that Jasper would be fine. Even that it Might be good for both of us, and also Drew, to be the one in charge, because lets face it, when mamma is home, mamma is in charge.

My purpose of this trip was to go and spend time with farmor (dads mom in Swedish) and say goodbye. Traveling 15000 miles roundtrip to say goodbye to someone is apparently a strange concept for some to grasp. I was interrogated at the airport getting into Sweden when they asked the purpose of my trip. They had a hard time believing that I had came all the way to Sweden just to see and say  goodbye to my grandma.

But that was my purpose and I did just that. Luckily for me my dad was also there the whole time. He lives in Brazil but has been in Sweden with his mom since Dec. 26th, sitting at the hospital all day and most nights, so I know he was glad that I was there. Not only did we get to spend a lot of quality time together, it was a relief for him to have me there so he could get some stuff done during the day and know that I was there with farmor. Also, luckily for me some of my bestest friends live there. Sofie, who was a bridesmaid in our wedding, and her soon to be husband live in the same town farmor does. And also Jessica, who came to the wedding. Childhood friends.

And when I asked Melissa of http://dearbabyblog.com/ for advice of being away from my son since I know she travels for work frequently her advice was to keep busy. And I did just that. And she was right, as long as I was busy, I was Almost okay being away from Jasper. Not okay really, but coping. As soon as I was alone, and it was quiet? I was a mess.

So I  kept busy. I spent my days at the hospital with farmor. Helping her eat. reading her magazine to her (let me tell you its HARD to read in Swedish) telling her stories of Jasper, listening to her stories of me, my siblings and my dad as a child when she was up to being able to tell those. I would be there from 9 or 10 in the morning, then I would go have lunch or 'fika' (coffee and some sort of baked good) with Jessica around 2ish, then back to the hospital. Then most nights I went and stayed with Sofie and Henrik, where they made me delicious Swedish home made meals every night and we sat up talking and drinking tea till midnight when I could skype with Jasper right after he woke up from his afternoon nap. Thats how I coped being away from Jasper. When I would go lay down in bed for the night I would read until I literally couldn't keep my eyes open. If I didn't I would lay there in bed, in the dark, 7000 miles away and my heart would hurt so bad I thought I was having a heart attack. It was too hard to lay there thinking about Jasper, and farmor.

Tonight/this morning I have gone in to check on Jasper several times just to watch him sleep. Jet lag is killing me and I have been up since 3 AM but I should use this valuable time to start unpacking because as soon as Jasper is awake I know I wont be able to get anything done. I'll just want to cuddle him all day (like he will let me)

Can't wait to catch up on everyones blogs! It's been weird being so disconnected from my internet friends's lives for the last week and a half!

Can you guess what Jasper's current favorite movie is?

Clue number one.

"Kevin's brother is friend's with Woody"

Clue Number two.

While laughing hysterically "Bad guys falling down the stairs is Fuuuuunny"

Still don't know what his current movie fav. is?

Here's a final clue.

"Buzz. Your girlfriend. Woof"

If you guessed Home Alone you would be correct. If you guessed anything else..well then you would be wrong.

It's so funny how Jasper refuses to watch 'baby shows'. There isn't a single cartoon that he enjoys watching. Currently the only movies he will watch are Home Alone (one or two) Might Joe Young (who knows?) Pippi Longstocking (only the Swedish version, not the lame American version) and any of the Harry Potters. Sometimes I wonder if I have a 3 year old or a 12 year old

Pictures of Christmas pasts..

Here's my little monkey during his first Christmas, it was spent in North Carolina, Iowa and Colorado. Three different christmas's in three different states. He was only 4 months!! And working on this 3rd teeth that whole weekend and every outfit was soaked in minutes.

Second Christmas, spent in Iowa getting ready to leave for almost 7 months in Sweden.

Last Christmas- also spent in Iowa. Is it crazy that I can remember his first and second Christmas so vividly, but last year is kind of a blur? Sad.

And this year. He wasn't quite as willing to take pictures this year. I thought it was supposed to get easier to get him to cooperate as he got older, not the other way around.

All about J

Right now you...

Go to bed around 7:30 and wake up between 7 and 8

You take a nap around 1 and sleep anywhere from 1.5 till 2 hrs. 

You Have to sleep with your 'bluey' and your red bity(what you call a blanket for some adorable reason)

You will eat Anything. Seriously Anything. Have yet to find something you will not eat.

Your favorite movies are Harry Potter (any and all of them) and Pippi in Swedish, if I try to put an American Pippi movie on you tell me it's not the real Pippi..and you are so right.

You love to help me with laundry, its seriously your favorite thing ever. 

Are saying more and more words in Swedish, which thrills your mamma

Are constantly saying "Mamma, your my best fwiend" "Mamma, your my favorite" I never tire of hearing that

Ask me everyday if you can sleep with me, and every day I answer 'maybe soon', and soon we Will kick pappa out and you can cuddle with me all night, because those nights are the best.

Wedding Wednesday

I've seen this on a few blogs and decided to join in so I don't upload the 1500 pics that I just received last week from my photographer.

Some of my favorite moments from our wedding day (one month and a day ago!!) were dancing with Jasper. I can't imagine having had the wedding before Jasper was born, and waiting till he could play a big part in it is one of the best decisions we ever made I think. He's the biggest part in my life, how could he not have been there for one of the biggest days in our lives? 

This kid is a dancing machine and was dancing till after 1 AM. Some of my favorites. 

His daddy swingin him around

Whenever I do something with Jasper that's not a typical kids activity people will ask me why bother. For example outings such as the science museum or the Denver art's museum. Yes they are not geared toward three year olds- but that doesn't mean he isn't going to enjoy it or get something out of it. And it makes us work on not running around being wild and rowdy, because come on, he's a 3 year old boy. He wants to run and be crazy- but when we go to an activity that isn't filled with screaming toddlers he totally tries to act like a little adult. And it's the cutest thing ever. Plus mamma needs a little stimulation besides story time and parks once in a while!

This past week a couple of friends and I took our three year olds to the science museum. Unfortunately we chose a day where 4 school buses full of middle schoolers were also there, but it's a big place, so it ended up not being too crowded. But seriously- do middle schoolers not wear deodorant? Whenever a group of them would walk by I had to hold back my gag because seriously? They Smell. And this is from a mom who has spent the past three years changing dirty diapers multiple times a day (first two years jasper, as soon as he was potty trained I started watching Riley) so ya know it was bad if I'm saying That made me gag. Poopy diapers? NBD, sweaty prepubescent boys and girls? Barf.

Anyway the kids did awesome for the first two hours of exploring. We saw mummies, dinosaurs, and wildlife(oh my) and then they started to get crabby. Which I can't really blame them- so we only got through the top floor. But after a snack break we discovered a little kid zone area where they had music, instruments, a human brain in a jar(didn't need to see That right before lunch time) a digging area and lots more. So for the next hour the kids had a blast in there. It was a win win- learning And play time. I'll def. be taking J back there, and this time we will start on the 2nd floor so I can see more of the museum.