Jensen's Cuisine

Any of you have been around Jensen realize that he's kind of a "bird" when it comes to eating. Sort of choosy about what he eats, when he eats, etc. Don't get me wrong...give him something of his liking and watch out. Take avocado for instance. He can easily eat a whole one within minutes. Yogurt...LOVES vanilla ("blue") and ate 5 in a row one night for dinner. The other night though Joe and I were laughing because our "picky" eater has really odd likings when it comes to food. Items such as balsamic vinegar, mustard and bouillon cubes (don't ask). We had a whole list and now I can't remember them, but will add on later!

Fishing With Wade and Ladd

Okay...it was over Thanksgiving Weekend, but I just had to post some of these sweet pictures. Papa Rotter and Joe took Wade, Ladd, and Faith fishing at Alder Lake (favorite fishing spot of Joe's when he was a kid). While, Jensen, Grandma Val, Aunt Teckla, and Mommy hit up some Thanksgiving weekend Sales. Faith loved fishing and Jensen loved all the treats (popcorn, mini M & M's, etc.) that he got to eat while sitting snugly in the cart! I Loved all the deals!

Waiting For Baby

No baby yet to report...but we are patiently waiting. The "official" due date has been anywhere between January 26th and February 2nd. So...since today is the 19th of January we could have a long-haul ahead of us. Although we can't wait to meet this newest little bundle of love, we are enjoying our last few days as a family of four, and our last few nights of sleep! :)

While we wait here are some of the things that have been keeping us (mainly me) busy:

-Finishing Faith and Jensen's cowboy/cowgirl room...LOVE it!
-Setting up the nursery and new bed, washing all the baby clothes, sorting through Faith's baby clothes...man the girl stuff is so stinking cute!
-Painting the living room wall (Joe)
-Cleaning out every closet, under beds, garage, etc. and making endless trips to drop off goods at the GoodWill and the Community Clothing Bank.
-Sewing Burp cloths and blankets...hey I'm no Betsy Ross, but at least I remembered how to thread the bobbin...AFTER AN HOUR!
-Hanging out with friends.
-Making meals for the freezer
-Washing every article of fabric in our house (clothes, sheets, curtains, shower curtains, rugs, etc.).
-Organizing file cabinets...fun job let me tell you!
-Organizing the laundry room.

Ahhhh...the things that I think are FUN!!!!

The kids on the other hand have been busy, too. They love playing with their toys, espcially all their animals and Jensen's tractors and can set up quite the "farm" with Faith's barn and the wooden blocks we have. Both kids LOVE thier new easle from Auntie Sarah and have spent endless hours creating various masterpieces for mommy, daddy, and Faith's friends. Jensen has enjoyed washing dishes and playing with the bubbles. Faith has moved on from her water fasination and has now become quite the artist and creator. Yesterday she made perfume (vanilla, water, apple juice, orange slices and flowers), a robot (cereal box, paper, tape, markers), a terarium (tupperware, grass, sticks) for her "pet" lizzard Spiket (Spiket is a rubber lizzard by the way), and a trophy for her bow shooting skills. She's a busy, creative girl! Both kids LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the High School Muiscal movies and music. We have the first DVD, but need to get the second and the soundtracks. Plug here for High School Musical...they are ACTUALLY, TRULY G Rated which we think is great. Aside from one kiss at the end of the 3rd movie, I've had trouble finding anything not kid appropriate. Joe and I actually like them, too!

Funny Faithisms (and a few from Jensen, too):

-Grandma Val was telling a story about how Ladd was on the verge of making her late for school (she's a teacher) one morning and Faith said, "Well, when you're retired, you don't have to worry about being late. Right Papa?"

-"Is there an Ellensburg in heaven, Mommy? Cause I sure like it here."

-"Some people have bigger house then us, but I know ours is just perfect for us!"

-Jensen is in real denial about Mommy having a baby, and a little confused, too. He lifts up his own shirt and says, "Baby." We are beginning to think that he thinks a tummy is called a baby. Anyways, he pointed at Papa's tummy and said, "Baby." Papa said, "yep...Twins!"

-Jensen "Yucky! Yucky! Mommy it (get) it." Over the towel fuzz in the shower, from our new towels. He said this with quite the hysterically undertone.

Christmas

Christmas was a blast! We spent the holidays with the Rotter side of the family. Due to weather forecasts we headed to Eatonville on the 23rd and came home the 26th. We had four fun-filled days with grandparents and cousins. Fun included sledding with Wade and Ladd, decorating sugar cookies for Santa, watching holiday movies, trying out new toys (bow and arrow for Jensen and Horse barn for Faith), playing endless hours with the boys and just being a family.

We opened gifts as a family on the night of the 22nd, but Santa found his way to Eatonville to leave lots more loot. Faith was really worried that Santa wouldn't know where to find her and her brother. When we arrived in Eatonville, Santa's elves had already delivered (straight from REI) two brand new sleeping bags for the kids. Faith was reassured then that Santa knew where they were and knew exactly what she liked since hers was pink!

Christmas morning, the parents and grandparents were up bright and early waiting for our little ones to wake. Finally about 7:45 Faith and Jensen came wondering down the stairs wide-eyed. Faith's horse barn was in plain sight, while Jensen's John Deere push lawnmower was a bit more obscure. We couldn't figure out why she wasn't running to her barn until she looked at us with her little lip quivering and said, "Mommy, Santa forgot about my little brother!" Once we showed her Jensen's gifts the squeals of delight set it. What a tender heart she has for her brother. She makes us so proud.


The kids loved EVERYTHING they got and were so sweet with all of their thank yous. They played ALL DAY with their gifts and their cousins and had such a great time just being kids. What a great day to celebrate the birth of Jesus...which was complete with Faith singing him Happy Birthday.

The next day we even got a quick visit (and more gifts) in with Uncle Dave and Aunt Karen before heading back over the snowy pass to Ellensburg.