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Weekend of the Grateful and the Mostly Dead ... err ... Sick

Hi everyone,

This is Chris. It's been a while since I've done a post, but things have been crazy with a capital C. Work has been keeping me busy, and working with the young men has been fun. Time has been going fast.

This week I got Wednesday off early, and was able to help Darlene with Jordon and help get some Thanksgiving dinner things ready. Thursday was wonderful with the final preparations for the get together that evening. We got to see the Bennions, Anguianos, a few family members from John's side, the missionaries, and Mom and Dad. Boy, was that a big party! Everyone seemed to have a great time. Darlene and I ducked out pretty early to get Jordon to sleep on time, but Thursday was a day full of happiness and cheer.

Friday Darlene and Jordon started feeling ill and that morning I braved the dreaded "Black Friday" to get some good deals. Most of the stuff we got was practical stuff, with a hint of fun stuff. I can't say what we got since Santa hasn't come to deliver the presents yet! hehehe. The day I spent helping Darlene with Jordon and preparing what food they seemed to like. Getting the right foods for sick people can be a task on it's own!

Saturday Dad came over to help me put up the rest of the dry wall on the garage ceiling. Oh yeah, for those that haven't heard. The garage ceiling finally lost the ghost and dropped to the ground. Due to some long legged lumuckes walking around on in the attic and time wearing away the drywall, the ceiling came crashing down about a month ago while Darlene and Jordon were having a lovely Breakfast. The week before some guys from the Elder's Quoram were kind enough to work with me to do most of the work and Dad and I did some trouble spots that I needed he's experience to avoid major "flaws" in the project. Thank goodness for a wonderful hard working Dad. He even hit his thumb with his big hammer, and didn't cuss once. I count myself blessed to have such great parents. Oh yeah, and since Darlene and Jordon were going through some bad illnesses, Mom was a saint and took care of Jordon for most of the day while Darlene got some much needed rest. Thank you Mom!

Today Darlene and Jordon were able to take a nap before church, but still stayed home since the flu was still pretty strong and they needed some more recuperation. I was able to help out with the primary and then go to the youth combined third hour and still ring the final two bells to help the teachers know when to end their classes.

Boy what a holiday. Everyone is feeling much better, and Jordon LOVES pedialyte. Anything to keep our jolly little buddy hydrated.

We hope everyone is doing well and healthy.

Chris, Darlene, and jolly Jordon

P.S. Here are some pictures of the current status of the garage. Now I've got a taping and bedding job to do. Then painting the "sixteenth chapel" ceiling. Thankfully the big stuff is done and over with. Thanks Dad, Malcom Mason, David Buck, Jim Hayes, and Dale Cheatham!

Our Little Man!

Here are some recent pictures, we got cassie's outfit for jordon and tried it on, it fits great! i hope he doesn't outgrow it before the new year! He looks oh so cute and handsome, and a little "man". We went to Gramma's to show it off and she loves it. Great choice Cassie, thank you! The first picture is when JOrdon was playing outside with the water table, soaking himself from head to toe. Yes, texas is still warm enough to play with water outside, sad but true. I have a very busy week ahead with a primary activity and a baby shower on the same day, so I'll post something more later. Enjoy the pictures

Our Silly Boy!

So this morning, Jordon was babbling or trying to stay asleep, from 5:30 am on til 7:00, and when Chris got him this was why! He almost successfully got his jammy shirt off. Have I told you guys that he likes to be naked?! It's a big milestone to be able to dress/undress but still, he seems to always think he can run around naked, a few times after bathtime he also runs away. Boys will be boys!

Oh ya, he always has to have his lovey puppy too!

Oh, I just love my daddy! I think he also woke up earlier because he just doesn't get enough daddy time. Chris has a scouting roundtable tonight so he usually heads there after work. Jordon won't see him until tomorrow night unless he wakes up before he leaves for work in the morning. I remember a time when he was always so clingy towards me day and night even with Chris around, but once Chris pulls up to the house and i say "Daddy's HOme" he starts giggling like crazy, runs to the door and jumps into his arms for the rest of the night. It's very cute!

Well, enjoy the pictures!

Halloween, Cloth Diapers, and more

So, I forgot the process of doing a blog, this was supposed to go later in this blog but i'm lazy. So here you go. This is today before we went to Gramma's house for dinner. We had stake conference today and went to the morning session since Jordon did not sleep that much last night and woke up early, I hate daylight savings time! Aarrr!

We have finally gotten everything settled for the washer machine's hoses all fixed right without leaks along with the diaper sprayer hooked up properly to the toilet. So we are officially a cloth diapering family! This afternoon we put a diaper on and i realized how often you need to change a diaper. They aren't as absorbent at disposables, but so much more affordable in the long run, in my opinion. So here's a picture of him in his 1st diaper!

What a week! Chris has been very busy at work and with his church YM Calling. Jordon is always daddy deprived all week and spends almost every second with him that he can get on the weekends. I have been continuing with the baby shower planning that's happening in 2 weeks along with taking care of a jordon that is very clingy, he is hopefully going to get his 4 teeth in really soon. His gums are very swollen, he has one last eye tooth and the last bottom two teeth and that'll be it until his 2 year molars. Here's a picture from last sunday of Daddy and Jordon!

We had such a great halloween this year. Jordon actually slept horrible the night before the 30th and took a horrible nap and was completely exhausted by the time we got to our Hallloween trick or treat party at the church, but he was a trooper, and the cutest pooh bear ever! He didn't want to wear it but after he saw everyone at the church in their costumes he decided it was ok. Here is our cute Jordon as pooh bear! Oh, and a few of his friends did the same thing with not sleeping the day of the party. What is it about the holidays, kids always sense something fun happening. Must be an Alleman thing! :)

I don't know about this mommy!

Can't wait til Turkey Day! Gobble Gobble!

Here are some recent pictures i thought i'd share. We've had quite the past couple of weeks. We were able to spend some time with Zach and Allison which was a lot of fun. They came down to have another interview at Baylor? I think, but it was very nice to have Allison this time around. We were also able to go to Pirate Days in the Colony, which wasn't too exciting. Jordon was scared the first half hour or more and the time he started to have fun was when we went to the little kids park, had a snack, and let him run around. Oh well, it was fun to have a nice little outing anyways. We stayed for about an hour and went home to put him down for his nap.

Chillin with Gramma

He doesnt go anywhere without his puppy!

Daddy and I at pirate days pretending to be "pirates", aarr matey's!

Having fun with mommy over at the play area!

I don't quite know about this?

Chillin with daddy after my nap

i love my daddy! i follow him around all weekend. i just don't get enough time with him during the week!

i found my belly button!

first tastes of hot cocoa! i like it, a lot!

i love books, especially reading them! i love the pictures

Jordon has been teething a lot lately, still working on his eye teeth and the last 2 bottom teeth. Yesterday it took him almost 2 hours to fall asleep for his nap when it is usually only 20 minutes max. I don't know if he senses a time change coming or if he's just not willing to go to bed that well. lately he has been falling asleep at 9 pm even though i put him to bed at 7:45. i hope he senses the time change and will go back to his falling asleep at 8 or 8:30. i'm not looking forward to the time change one bit. Stake Conference happens to fall on that sunday and it is the 1-3
session. i guess it'll prepare us for the 1-4 church next year. uggh! for those of you that have your kids on 2 naps a day, treasure it, i miss those days cause at least if the baby doesn't take a good first nap, you know you can put them down again later, but with jordon he only goes down once, no matter how short of a nap. so sundays are always rough. if he sleeps at church, he's a zombie the rest of the day and goes to bed early, if he makes it through nursery he takes a good nap later but so grumpy you still put him to bed pretty early.

We have also invested in some cloth diapers, we got the diapers last week or so, but haven't started using them quite yet. We installed a diaper sprayer this weekend, fixed our washer machine so it has a cold rinse cycle now! Apparently we had the hoses connected wrong, we just switched them, so now we have both cold and hot water. before it was just hot and only hot. We have the right detergent, and all we need now is the wet bags to store them between washes. We are excited about our decision, it not only will help our budget, but we feel good that we aren't filling landfills. It will be quite a change but i think it will be the best in the long run. We bought ours off of Ebay from a candian company, Kidalog. They have been doing cloth diapers for 25 years and these diapers are supposed to last 2 1/2 years or more. We'll let you know how we like them.

I am also in the process of planning a baby shower for a visiting teachee in the ward along with my visiting teaching companion. I've never pulled one off before, but i hope it turns out well and that the lady feels special. She has 2 boys and she is expecting a girl. It should be a lot of fun.

Chris is at the Stake Roadshow tonight with the youth and so he won't be back until later tonight. I thought i'd update you all, sorry for the long epistle. HOpe everyone is doing well, take care, and remember to always have fun!

Updates

It's been a little while since i've updated everyone. Life at our house seems to never slow down. Jordon is quite the walker or should i say almost runner! He loves to be chased around the house, and when daddy comes home, he doesn't give him a hug until he chases him around the house and plays with at least one toy. He sure has a way with keeping us happy and busy. Tomorrow I'm taking him in to get a flu shot, so i hope that he doesn't get too bad of a reaction. I'll probably be getting a flu shot next week and I know Chris's workplace is offering flu shots soon. We've been all lucky so far with being pretty healthy, cross our fingers for no flu this year.

We are getting excited for Christmas and for seeing everyone in Texas. It'll be great to see all the kiddos playing together. We are sure looking forward to seeing Zach and Allison this week. I'll make sure to post some pictures later on.

Jordon has also discovered his belly button today and pulls up his shirt to find it, the cutest! By the way, have i told you how nice it is to have him in nursery? He is completely worn out by the end of church but so nice for me to actually do my calling better. He seems to love nursery and enjoy snack time. He has learned something very cute that he did in nursery on sunday. every time he likes what he's eating, he looks at you with a smile and says, mmmm! He may not speak words too much but he sure knows how to mimic sounds. He goes around in the house growling like a bear, mmm at meal and snack time, and another weird sound almost like your doing the he he hoo in labor. Don't know where he picked that up. Other than that he points and grunts at things, and drags you by the finger to where he wants you to go.

This past week we've started our tradition of making pomegranite jam but this year we're doing it right. Last year we picked them way too late, January 1st. I'll always remember that day because i almost cut off my finger trying to cut open one of them. I don't know why we thought we knew how to cut open pomegranites and juice them because we totally did it wrong. We cut it in half and juiced it like orange juice, but the best way to do it is to just cut off a little off the top and section it into 4 or more slices and break them apart under a cold water bowl getting all the seeds out that way and juicing it in a blender. Apparently if you juice it like an orange the peel has a bitter taste that will get into the jam. And it's so much easier to get the seeds out under water. I made the first batch of jam last night which turned out ok, it's kindof runny. It was a late night for me, i was up until 1 AM finishing it. Chris was really tired so after he went to bed i started to make it. I don't know about you guys but it is so much easier to get things done when your child is asleep for the night. Even naps around here are great for getting things done but not canning. Some days i don't know what to expect out of a Jordon nap. There are those days when i want to get something done that he only sleeps 1 1/2 hours and then the days I don't really have anything too much going on he'll sleep 3 - 31/2 hours. Dillemas! So I hope the jam tastes ok and if it isn't good as a jam, then we can use it as ice cream topping or syrup for pancakes. We are so happy that we are using the pomegranites, we got 4 pints just from one batch and a whole lot more pomegranites to pick left. Even if our garden didn't turn out, at least i know we will always have pomegranites every year!

On a side note, my mom has been having more health problems. She has been having a rough time with certain foods agreeing with her and the doctors thought it was an adult case of reflux, so about a month ago they did a procedure to see if they could figure it out. They came out saying she had a severe stomach inflammation. Things kindof got worse after that and she's been awfully nauseous so then they did an x-ray and discovered that it was her gal bladder. It was packed full of galstones which could not be crushed or passed through her system. Yesterday she went in to the hospital for her gal bladder to be completely removed. They gave her laughing gas and she was out within a matter of seconds. I guess nowadays it's a lot easier to do those surgeries, they can just take it out from the belly button. I talked to her today and she's at home recovering with her pain meds but feeling great because her nauseousness is completely gone. I'm glad that my dad is able to help her motate and get around and help her with getting her meals. Thank you for all of those who prayed for her, it means a lot. My sisters and I pitched in to get her flowers sent to her house. I believe flowers have a way of helping cheer someone up and help the recovery process. Plus, what girl does not like flowers! :)

We are getting ready for Halloween, Jordon is going as Pooh Bear, Chris is Christopher Robin, and I think I'm going as the new girl in the Hundred Acre Woods. It should be a lot of fun. This year our ward is celebrating halloween on the 30th since Stake Conference starts the night of the 31st. We will see how it will all go. Our Stake Conference is at 1 pm and right around when Jordon wants to nap and with the time change. It will be interesting.

We hope you are all doing well, and we always look forward to hearing from you and seeing you in December!

18 month checkup

Our little boy is now 18 months old! Officially in nursery, even though he's been going on and off for a couple months now. He had his checkup today and weighed in at 25 lbs and 33 inches long, making him in the 75 percentile for heighth and 50th percentile for weight. Way to go! His doctor was very happy with his progress and glad he was doing well with his walking. We did talk about the next six months which could be a bit of a challenge with his temper tantrums linked to his frustration levels of not being able to communicate with us. He also mentioned that he'll probably be a little picky with eating and with doing food jags, which we've already experienced this week. It seems like the only good meals he wants is lunch and dinner. Either it's food jags or it's the fact that he's teething 4 teeth right now. His eye teeth and last two bottom teeth. Our poor Jordon! But at least he only got 2 shots today and doing quite well. Still need to get the flu shot for him though. Here's some cute pictures of our little boy(oh wait, i can't say he's a little boy, what happened to my little baby?:()

styling in his new shoes! So far the only type he'll wear. They are soft soled shoes that help him still feel the ground while still looking like shoes. Of course we'll have to transition him out of them as soon as we can. But I love them! He actually brings them to us if he wants to go outside. He's quite the smart kiddo! He also throws away his own diapers. I love it when he thinks a chore is fun!

Isn't he the cutest Jordon bug ever?!

Alas, Another Cold!

Here is a cute picture of Jordon. I tried to get a picture of him kissing the glass door but this was the best I could do! You see the smudge marks!?

We have a sick toddler in the house again. He woke up this morning all runny nosed and not feeling good. I'm hoping this is the last teething cold he'll have in order to get these last teeth through, the eye teeth and the last two bottom teeth. (besides the 2 year molars). He's been working on them for months but this morning i was able to see some white bumps possibly coming to surface. He'll be fine in a few days, i just have to deal with a cranky toddler who isn't feeling good. oh well, it comes with parenting.
Also i was wondering what cool toys to get for a toddler boy, he seems to be getting a little bored. I think that is part of his whining. So any advice would be great. He's also a bit daddy deprived, he hardly sees him. You would think with a new calling in YM's we would see him more, but not really. He's sometimes gone 3 times a week due to YM's meetings, mutual, and scouting roundtable every now and then. But we value the time we have with him. Yesterday though, Jordon was acting lost and was walking round and round the house calling out for daddy, and trying to find him. With a long labor day weekend with Daddy, he got confused. He has sure turned into a daddy's boy!
On a sidenote, my mom had a procedure done a couple days ago. They had to put a scope down her throat to see what was going on. She has acid reflux problem where some foods don't agree with her, and sometimes she chokes alot on her food, i guess stu's dad has the same problem. But they haven't ruled out anything with the reflux if that's the problem or not, but they did say she has a severe stomach inflammation. I'm going to find out her results on Friday, so those of you that know my mom could keep her in your prayers that would be great.
I've been busy with a bathroom project that i finished last week. We updated the paint job and the outlet plates from tan to white. I painted the floorboards,ceiling, and door white. It's very nice to have the guest bathroom looking good. We are going to resurface the tub later. Here's a picture of the final project.

Hooray for Fall!

I'm so excited for the fall. This morning was wonderful. I think it was about 70 around 8 am. Jordon and I celebrated by having a nice stroller ride this morning. Something about cool weather i just love. Oh, wait, i guess that comes from growing up in Montana! I have actually climatized a lot since moving to Texas. I went to a musical last weekend with Laura and Megan, and they cranked up the a/c in that building that i was actually complaining to them.

I am so excited for the upcoming fall events too, especially for Halloween. As long as Jordon doesn't outgrow his halloween costume, he's going to be pooh bear this year. Chris is going as Christopher Robin, and I'll either be darby or rabbit, but i'm not quite sure. My side of the family is going to have maybe Brinton as Eeyore and Anya as darby or something, i'm hoping Ella will be a Hundred Acre Woods character too.

I always love this time of year with the leaves changing and the crisp air, and being able to snuggle up in a nice blanket(as long as it's cold enough), and being able to spend holidays with family. I can't wait to be able to have a nice Alleman Christmas. We got jipped out of one last year. It was still a lot of fun just the three of us, but we sure missed a great family crowd. No regrets though for last year, it was the choice we made to help ensure Jordon's head shape to be fixed. I'm very excited to see everyone, it'll be here before you know it!

Hope you like our new fall background!

I'm going to try to do a blog without talking too much about Jordon, but it's so hard not to. We have been keeping busy this week, on Thursday night we received a call to give a talk in sacrament meeting. We thought it was ironic that the topic we were given was the topic we were planning to speak about if Chris was still executive secretary by that time. We were able to put our talks together with the help of dad letting us borrow a couple of stories from his talks on Temple Blessings. I always get quite nervous when i do a talk, but today wasn't too bad. I actually prefer giving talks over teaching the whole YW organization on fast sundays which i had to do when i was the YW secretary. Everything went well and i sure enjoyed listening to Chris tell about the motorcycle story(Chris will have to tell you it if you are interested.)

This week we have also been working on some house projects. We are currently working on updating the guest bathroom by doing some painting and electrical work. I enjoy painting and it's about time for me to finish what i started 2 years ago before Jordon was born.

We have also been looking at a way to help our budget. We are still thinking over it, but I'm pretty sure we have decided to go with buying cloth diapers. Cloth diapers have come a long way from back when our parents had us, so i talked to my sister who is currently using them for her son, and she has convinced me of how much better it is. It costs quite a bit up front because you need about 16-20 diapers, a diaper sprayer, certain cans to keep the smell out, along with special detergent. Along with doing laundry every other day, which still wouldn't add up as much as buying diapers every month. It might sound gross to have to go to cloth diapers, but Erin gave me a lot of reasons why cloth is better.

1. It saves a bundle on buying diapers every month

2. It helps to save on less garbage dumping for the earth

3. There are some irritants in the diaper that hurts baby skin, leads to more rash than cloth diapers

4. In case of emergency situations and if you don't have extra disposable diapers, you have cloth you can use.

Erin even gave me a recipe for making your own wipes, which the store wipes have harmful chemicals too, and these don't take that much effort to make, and are safer.

So that is our plan. I don't think Jordon will be potty trained by 2, but we are going to think about buying his own potty in a few months. More than likely he won't be potty trained until 3, which would save us about 500 dollars or more on diapers. That's almost 2 car payments!

Anyways, that's about it. Thought i'd do a blog while Jordon is napping. Today he didn't take a nap at church so he'll be going to bed late tonight. Oh well. Chris is planning on going to the General Priesthood Meeting while I hopefully go hang out with the rest of the family at Mom's house. Sorry no pictures today!

Oh here's a good website my sister referred me to for cloth diapers if anyone is interested. (Of course we are probably going to use ebay and craig's list for discount stuff. )

http://www.bumgenius.com/

And the best thing about them, is you can get a one size adjustable diaper that grows with your child. They have snaps on them which will adjust from 5 lbs to 35 lbs. So when you buy them, they are supposed to last through two kids. Of course i don't think i would use them until after they are about 3 months old, i doubt you'd want to be changing the meconium diapers this way. But after 3 months old and use them til they are potty trained you'll save a lot of money. I was just thinking of ways to save money as a stay at home mom. These were actually designed by SAHM's too. So if anyone is interested give us a call.

Take care!

Random pictures!

Styling off his new hair cut!

I'm innocent, i swear!

Zach and I getting acquainted!

Oh, didn't take me long! I like Uncle Zach!

Daddy and i styling off both of our new haircuts!

I'm a big boy now!

Our swimming party!

Daddy and I being silly!