Updates for Posterity...

WHITE FAMILY Updates



So, I've been meaning to make a little journal entry about life for the family lately....  Its 10:30 and Hannah's been up chatting in her bed for the last hour, so I thought I would invite her down for a little Dora while I play around on the computer. Maybe we'll get to see Dad at 11, but probably not.  Its test week and so he probably won't be home after midnight again.  Anyway, on to the updates!

-Hannah started potty training on January 15th and has done EXCELLENT ever since!  Yes, she still has a few accidents, but I don't think it will be too long till she's all done! :)  Jake was mostly responsible for the success of potty trianing--finally getting us to do it.  I do pride myself in holding off until she was 2 1/2 though, because I don't think she would be as ready to do it if we had started much earlier. :)

She is also talking a bunch and its so nice being able to communicate relatively easily with at least one of my kids!  She loves her Dora panties and her Diego briefs (yes, thats right, briefs...she watches Diego just as much as Dora, so it only seemed fair!  Besides, they stay up so much better! :)  Her favorite things do include watching her little movies Dora, Deigo, Barney and Blue's Clues to name a few.  She's great at counting, almost to ten, and she almost has the whole ABC song down!  She also really loves helping Charlie when he's sad, but also loves botherin him too--explain that to me!

They got a new small "jump-o-line" from the Clayvilles that they love to go up in their room and jump on!  Its awesome!  We all can't wait until it gets just a little warmer outside when we start spending more time outdoors!  Until then we really take advantage of the park on sligthtly warmer days, will be spending more time at Kids Castle (a huge play place probably 10x plus the size of any McDonalds play place! A mom's dream come true, especially on 2 for one Wednesdays for $2.50! :)

-Charlie is pretty good at identifying all the parts of his face and loves to point them all out.  He even sticks his little tongue out when we tell him too!  His favorite word is "ball" and phrase is "wass tha" while pointing and he says them all the time!  He is walking around like champ and I'm having to get used to not having to carry a kid around.  Its a weird feeling having been carrying a baby around for 2+ years.  I need to enjoy it while it lasts I guess...  He's turning into a pretty independant sucker lately, which I'm happy about in a lot of ways.  He sure is getting an attitude on top of that too though, and I'm not such a big fan of that.  Another favorite word I forgot to mention was "NO!"  He's such a cute little stinker! :)

Even though he has his moments, we're actually proud to say that since most of Charlies teeth are finally in, he is starting turn into a pretty happy boy!  Teething has been pretty rough for him and he almost seems like a new boy, being so independant, less whiny and just overall, more happy!  Hes so much fun and you can't just help but squeeze him whenever you get the chance!

(from Western Day at the school!  Love the handle-bar mustache! :)

-Daddy is busy BUSY at school!   He has one test block every month and it comes right at the end of the month.  So the first few weeks are always a little more lax, but then around the end everyone really kicks in gear for the tests soon to come.  They always have 8-10 tests that last Friday.  Jake has told me that it feels like taking the ACT every month--YIKES!  He works so hard and test weeks we NEVER see him!

He likes to spend his break time researching our trip to Spain coming in June!  We just got our plane tickets last week so now its official!  The plan is now that we're leaving the kids with family for a month while Jake and I head to Spain.  After two weeks Jakes family is going to come up and meet us for awhile and it will be fun hitting the beach, touring the sights and just taking it easy.  I've been having a hard time not feeling guilty about leaving the kids with others and missing them so much too!  I've had to come to realize that this is time for Jake and I to recover from being apart so much and its a MUCH NEEDED break for Jake to get away from his med school life and enjoy himself.  Should be fun--our apartment is only 2K from the beach!  I have a feeling we'll be there alot!  And in my free time while Jake is doing his Red Cross service stuff I can hopefully finish up my Interior Design school stuff!!

Jake still continues to be an AWESOME Daddy and I'm so happy these kids have such a loving, fun dad!  He's also really good about taking care of me and my needs even when he's got so many other things going on!  Love you Jake!

He has also been working on these slippers for a long time.  They were made with an IKEA sheepskin rug and leather scraps from Micheals.  Oh Jake and his projects--so cute! :)
-I am busy finding things to fill up my time while Jake's at school.  Turns out that it hasn't been that hard!  Me and the other wifes up here can't help but have a ton of events planned to help pass the time.  We have recipe exchanges/food sampling get togethers, play groups, park dates, babysitting tradeoff for free time, etc...  Its been great having so many friends here to spend time with!  We've loved the community, our friends, and everything up here and know PNWU was the perfect choice for our family!

Some things that fill up my time include watching kids 24/7 as a single mother...  Surprising how much time that takes up! :)  I try to cook every now and then, get groceries, fulfill church duties and sleep here and there.  I've been doing a lot of stuff with my Etsy shop lately that has been a fun pasttime.  I love being in control of when I want to be busy and not so I can prioritize my life a little bit.  Its been fun earning money doing things that I really enjoy! 

My first Bearded Beanie order getting ready to mail! :)

Life is soo good and we're so lucky for all the blessings we enjoy!  I am grateful every day for the gospel in my life and the promise of an eternal family if we live righteously!  I can't imagine a greater blessing!

 Love you all and thanks for checking in on our family!  (If you made it this far I know you really care! :)