Too Many Herschels and Jack

On Monday, the whole Herschel (Jason's Grandpa) family got together for a little Christmas party. It was fun to see most of the family, including aunts, uncles, and cousins, but my favorite part was getting Grandpa Herschel, Lowell (Jason's dad who's really Herschel), Jason, and Jack to get into this picture. This is 4 generations of Hafen men and 3 of them are Herschels. Maybe I'll make Jason an honorary Herschel, so he doesn't feel left out. I hope when Jack grows up, he realizes how great the men are that he is named after. He has big shoes to fill. No pressure little guy.

I'm just going to make this post all about Jack. He's starting to get really cute. He is learning how fun sticking out his tongue can be. It's now if favorite pose. He's also still demonstrating his cross-eyed look.

He's starting to smile and coo, which is really fun. This kid love his plug/pacifier, he keeps it close at all times. Even if he's sleeping.

And, to see live tongue action, here's a fun video.

Oh, MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!

Zero to Five Inches in 5 days

Looking at this picture that was taken 5 days ago (12/12/08) you would think that living in Las Vegas definitely has it's winter time perks. Such as this day we took Kimball and Jack to the park. It was a nice 68 degrees and very pleasant. The weather guys had mention something about it being one of the last "nice" days before winter coming. I don't think even they had any idea what they were talking about. But this is what happened today....

This picture was taken earlier this evening. Yes, I brought Jack outside, and yes, he is in a pink snowsuit. Kimball never got to use it last year, and I figured he wouldn't mind... at least not until he's 16 and I show this picture to the girl he has a crush on.

Here's some pics that show the progression of the winter wonderland outside our door.

The first pic was taken about 1pm, and I was thinking it wasn't going to stick, so I better capture it, then by 3pm-4pm our street was totally covered, and this last picture was taken when we came in for the night at 6:30pm. It was fantastic! Except for Jason driving home from work... it took him an hour to go 1.5 miles (he had to circle around for another try after he got stuck the 1st time).

Here are some other pictures of our fun night in the snow.

Kimball had been watching the snow fall all day and couldn't wait for Jason to come home so we could got out and play.











Kimball got ready (not really used to snow suits.) Thanks Katrina for not letting me return this to you earlier. You were right when you said I might have another time to use it.

This is me "trying" snowboarding at my at my favorite resort... Copper Palm.

This is Kimball trying to walk in her outfit. Kinda reminds me of the kid on The Christmas Story that couldn't put his arms down.

And last, but not least, what should have been our Christmas Card this year...

Jason helped our neighbors across the street build this snowman in their backyard.
Snow in Henderson... what a great night!

The last 4 weeks... Showers, Road trips, "Family Meetings"

Time flies by so quickly. Here's a bit of an update since our last post. First, the wonderful women that Jason works with had a little baby shower for Jack. Jack got passed around, and actually behaved himself for the most part. Those ladies are great, and we appreciate all that they do for us. Here's some pics of Jack and the ladies.


Of course, Kimball, not to be out done by her baby brother, stole the show and was voted in as the office mascot. They even found a "Junior Water Watcher" t-shirt so she could represent City of Henderson water services.

Jacks hair continues to grow, and we have discovered that after bath time it has quite a bit of curl to it. He really wants to give his Uncle Austin some competition in the hair department. As you can see in the picture, he's also demonstrating his amazing talent of crossing his eyes. He likes to show off this skill all the time.

Then it was finally time for Thanksgiving. To echo my little sister, we must have had too much fun because I barely took any pictures. But here's a couple.

This Kimball chillin' in the backseat. She's become quite accustomed to all the road trips up to my parents house in Midway, UT. And, just to show how grown up she is, she mimics everything Jason and I do, including wearing sunglasses. And, trying to put Jacks pacifier back in his mouth when he cries in the backseat.

Thanksgiving was awesome. All 3 of my sisters (and husbands) and my brother Ben (and wife) were there. We had a great time of Texas hold'em (don't worry, we play with skittles and swedish fish), great food, and good story telling. If you ran out of candy playing cards, then there were consequences. Including, sharing your most embarrassing moment, or singing a song in another language (which even my dad was able to do... not pretty, but he did it), or other random recitations.

My parents also makes sure we don't go away without feeling the spirit at some time during the weekend, so we had a "family meeting" where we shared something in the last year that has been a challenge but something that we learned from and become stronger. It was good to hear the experiences that we have all had in the last year. My youngest sister Sam and her husband both talked about their son Ashton, and the surgery he had when he was only 3 mos old, and how hard it was to hand over their baby to a surgeon to trust him and the Lord that everything would work out. They also shared, how hard it was to see their little guy in pain, and so swollen that he couldn't open his eyes, and not being able to take that pain away. Makes me think of our Heavenly Father, and how it must have felt watching His Son on earth, and not being able to do anything about his pain. I'm so grateful for the Atonement! Here's a pic of Ashton, trying to take a ride in the toy stroller.

Hearing the different experiences of my family made me very thankful for all that Jason and I have been blessed with. And very grateful for the gospel! I'm so thankful for brothers and sisters and in-laws that share these things and that we can all tie our experiences to the gospel, and the strength that it gives us to get through the bumps in our roads. And, thankful for parents who never let an opportunity go by to share their testimonies with us.

I'm grateful for 2 healthy kids, who bring so much joy, and learning experiences to my life. Most of all I'm thankful for the BEST husband, who stands by my side no matter what, and is the BEST dad to Kimball and Jack. I love him so much and know that I'm lucky to have him.

Sorry this got so sappy, but when counting blessings, it's just what happens.

A Purple Mouth, A Fun Hat, and A Train Ride

Life goes on here at our house. We've had a great time the last week. The first big event was that Jack's thrush came back, and was passed on to me. Which means, Jack had to be seen in public with a big purple smile. (I don't think he was too embarrassed.) And I had to take some more medicine, thank goodness it doesn't turn any part of me purple.






A couple of days later, we were all healthy enough to join all of Jason's family (only missing a few for health and distance reasons) in Williams AZ where we got to ride on the Polar Express to the North Pole.


This was our first time going with the family (yes, we were Polar Express virgins) and had no idea what to expect as far as weather, and waiting outside. Needless to say, it was freezing (but not as cold as last year, we heard) and we had to wait outside for a bit. We didn't quite pack enough warm clothes for Kimball, but Jason's family came to our rescue. Kimball borrowed Kinsey's jacket (thanks Katrina!) and someone's hat and a pair of gloves from the Edwards family (thanks Kristen!). And this is the result. We had a great time! Kimball will probably enjoy herself a little more when Santa doesn't freak her out.

For me, I hate to admit that one of the best parts was driving across Hoover Dam and checking out the progress on the bridge that's being built. It's amazing. I can't wait until it's done and we can drive over it because it's so high up!

Oh, I have to show you all that I did manage to get Kimball's hair in pigtails, just for a couple of minutes before she pulled them out.

Post Partum Delights

I've been harassed about not posting for so long, because everyone wants to see new pics. Let me just say that my hiatus has been for good reason. I have been attacked by some crappy post-partum trauma. Between mastitis (aka a boob infection) and Jack getting thrush... now on round 2 life has been an roller coaster of joy and pain. I won't elaborate, because I don't want to whine too much. I'll just add some new pics and show everyone what we've been up to lately.

Kimball likes her new brother for the most part, but has been having to find different activities to keep her busy when her mom and dad are taking care of Jack. Here's what she's been up to...

She learned to multi-task with my cell phone and her vacuum.


Spent halloween with some of her cousins (Thanks Jake and Suz for letting us borrow the costume, and Abe and Kim for hosting a fabulous party.)


Taking out all of the shoes from the basket and finding a new hiding spot.


Playing with her friend/cousin Logan.


And here's Jack, on his blessing day chilling out on his dads chest.
Thanks to everyone that came to his blessing! It was very cool to have all the support, and the biggest blessing circle ever! We love you all.


And not to forget about the Jack... I kinda feel bad that we have more pictures of Kimball, but Jason said it's because he doesn't do anything yet. Kinda true... but you should see how many pictures we have of Kimball "not doing anything." One of the perks of being the oldest, I guess.

Siblings.... A comparison and contrast

Here is a comparison of our two children. No, Jack is not the one in pink. When Jack was first born we thought he looked like Kimball but now, not so much. Here are pictures taken when both children are a couple of days old.

Contrast
Kimball was 6 lbs 10 oz.........................................Jack 7 lbs 12 oz.
Kimball 19 inches long..........................................Jack 20 inches long
Kimball had a receding hair line...........................Jack already donated to locks of love.

Comparison
The one thing they do have in common is their unusually long fingers! If they don't play the piano, at least no one will mistake the bird when they get flipped off.

10-9-8

Who says you can't plan the day you go into labor. Ever since Jason and I found out that I was prego, Jason has always said that it would be so cool if Jack was born on 10-9-08... just because of the date. I mentioned this to my dr. a couple of months ago... and she thought that was a fabulous date and that she'd help us out with that. Well, needless to say, my dr. was true to her word, and my body being on track... I was 3-4 cm dilated and 80% effaced when she irritated my cerix the day before...
AND so *drum roll please* at 5:48am on 10/9/08, Jack Herschel Hafen made his grand debut into this world. He was 7 lbs. 12 oz. (at 2 and 1/2 weeks early) and 20 inches long. Labor didn't last too long, even though I stalled out at 6 cm. dilated for almost 2 hours, but after 45 mins of walking around, Jack decided to get here. It was a long night for me, Jason and my mom, who both took turns walking the hospital halls with me.





We can't believe how much black hair this little boy has. He was posterior during labor, but flipped just before he was delivered. I think he wanted to show-off his fro first. He also has the longest fingers we've ever seen. We think they're longer than Kimball's when she was born.

Here's our new family picture. All of a sudden, Kimball seems so big and so old.

Here's Kimball, still figuring who's who.

You know you're a parent when...

You're kid can puke on you (real puke, not just a little spit up) and you don't hesitate to comfort them even though they smell as gross as can be. On Friday night, I thought I heard Kimball cry. So I go upstairs to check on her, and before I could even turn on the light... I smelt it. I found her sitting up in her crib with her hair plastered to her head w/ puke, and the nastiest puke all over her blanket, pajamas and crib (she had had a lot of grapes that day...so needless to say there were a lot of chunks). She just looked at me and started to cry. It was so sad. I called for Jason (because this needed to be a team effort), and we got her undressed, and he hopped in the shower with her. That was to begin 3 hours of her puking on and off every 20 mins or so. She was happy in between the puke time (just happy to be up late playing w/ mom and dad)... but when puke time came, she was so sad. It's so hard to watch your kid be hurting, not be able to fix it. Well, she got over it by that night, and crashed on my lap around 1 a.m.

Unfortunately, this lovely little stomach bug hit me on Sunday afternoon as we were headed to Ben and Emily's house for dinner. Thanks for the shorts Ben! I hope you guys stay healthy. So far, Jason hasn't had any real issues, he claims it's the preventive measures with healthy doses of Pepto.




Kimball feeling much better. Lately, she's been climbing into everything she can... any size basket.




Also, the update on Jack is that he might make his mom happy and come just a little early (not too early, just enough). I saw my Dr. on Friday at 35 and 1/2 weeks, and she said I'm dilated to 3 cm, but by her standards that means I'm probably a 1 and 1/2 or 2. But, I'm not really effaced. So, Jason still hoping for 10/9/08, I don't care, just as long as he's healthy. I have another appointment on Friday, and will find out more than. And, I'm still refusing to make a decision about pain meds or not. I'm hoping to labor at home long enough to get to the hospital and not have time to get any meds. So, we'll see if I'm brave enough or not.

Food, Fun, Not going into Labor, and Mickey Mouse Ears

For all you stalkers...sorry it's been so long. Blogger wasn't letting me upload any pics, and I'm not a fan of posts w/o pics... so you all had to wait and suffer until I could get these pics on the pages.

Yes, Disneyland is still a great place, even being as big and as pregnant(almost 9 mos) as I am. Last year, Jason and I purchased season passes to "the Happiest Place on Earth" which expired on Sunday. So, we decided to get one last trip in before they were null and void, and also before little Jack makes his grand debut into this world.

It was quite a relaxing time, as Jason and I stopped asking each other "what do you want to DO next", and started asking "what do you want to EAT next?" We ate to our hearts content... everything from ice cream, churros (a must have), cookies, sandwiches, chocolate covered frozen bananas. Kimball even got to sample a few.


Between all the snack times, we did manage to make it on to a couple of rides. We went on Alice and Wonderland (hadn't been on since I was a little), PeterPan (the coolest ride in storybook land), and even made it on to Storybook Land boat ride (the very random one that goes through the whales' mouth). We took Kimball into Toonland, where we found a little play area for her to run around in... she wasn't diggin her stroller this trip. She managed to find the one little spray of water in the whole park to dip her face in.

One of the best part of this whole trip was group of special needs people (as I lovingly refer to as Speds) dancing in very bright shiny costumes. I am not saying this to make fun, they really were the cutest group of people I've ever seen. A couple of them could dance much better than I ever could. We watched as they did a couple of dances to Back Street Boys and a random country song. I wish I had gotten a picture of them. Makes me appreciate how special they are, and the people that work with them.

One more pic of Jason and Kimball with their special "Year of a Million Dreams" Ears we got for free just for being in the right place at the right time. They actually say "congratulations... you're a winner," when they hand them to you. I felt so special.

It was a great time. We will miss Disneyland until we decide to get passes again. They were definitely worth every penny!

And, one last video because I haven't posted in so long. Our daughter is quite the fish and dunks her own face in the water in the tub. Of course she stops as soon as she realizes I'm filming her. But you get the idea. She misses the swimming pools lots. And, thanks to my handy husband that got the hot water to work again in our tub.