The Arizona Fenners

Polar Express

2012-01-16T23:41:00.000-07:00

I HAVE to share with you how much we LOVED the Polar Express this year. If you haven't been it's super fun (especially if you have a train loving 3 year old!) The train leaves from Williams, Arizona (about 30 min. outside of Flagstaff) and magically goes to the North Pole and back in just 1.5 hours!

We drove up to Flagstaff one morning with big plans to frolic in the snow since the kids had never experienced it before. So we all go in our "snow" gear and headed down to the white stuff.

Jonah was VERY excited about the snow. Unfortunately it was a couple weeks old and pretty darn hard and crunchy...oh well, we made the most of it for at least 30 min...before we headed inside for popcorn happy hour at the hotel (I'm a big fan of the Drury Inn, by the way.)

That night we all settled in and managed to sleep pretty well. The next morning we went swimming at the hotel before hitting the rode in anticipation of the great train ride. Can you guess what Jonah is saying?

"ALL ABOARD!" Allie was less impressed with all the train excitement.

And then the "Polar Express" rolled in with bakers smiling and waving.

We all lined up in front of our assigned car and waited to be invited in.

Being inside the train was so fun!

They served us cookies and hot chocolate soon after departure and we all read "The Polar Express" book together. After arriving at the North Pole, Santa boarded our train. Jonah was not excited about Santa at all....until he saw him. Then Allie and Jonah both started yelling, "Santa, Santa!"

I love that you can see Jonah's face beaming even from the back.

We got into the car at 7:30pm that evening and the kids were out in 5 minutes. They slept the entire trip home (almost 3 hrs.) so it was a great night for all of us!

Sleepover

2012-01-03T14:19:00.000-07:00

Remember when you were a kid and got all kinds of presents while all the grown ups each opened 1 gift? Me too....but now I'm the grown up. And I make these pacts with family members, the "Let's only buy things for the kids" pacts....do you know what I'm talking about?

So every year birthdays and Christmas come and go and I never get to buy anything for my AMAZING Sister-In-Law Sheena. The one who NEVER forgets a birthday or anniversary, always calls to see how everyone is doing, and sends the sweetest texts. So I decided this year I'd (we'd) give her the best birthday present for any mom....a whole day and night off...whoo-hoo! :o) So Brooke and Lauren came to our house for a sleepover....and it was super fun!

Here are the "Big" kids watching a show before bed.

And here are the girls the next morning....Lauren's hair CRACKED me up....I just HAD to take her picture before I fixed it. :o)

We took the kids to the zoo (that Annual pass to the zoo is THE BEST!) And Jonah insisted on pulling Lauren around....not Allie...not Brooke....JUST Lauren!

He was quite the trooper and pulled her up hills, around corners, over bridges.

We didn't get a picture of Lauren, but she fell asleep in the wagon on the way out to the car. Everyone fell asleep in the car on the way home.

But Allie was the only one that took a nap when we got home. The "Big" kids started decorating our annual Gingerbread house.

Look at that concentration!

ALL DONE!! Beautiful!

On to decorating sugar cookies.

And eating sugar cookies...of course!

Happy Birthday Sheena! Can't wait to do it again!

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

2011-12-20T14:20:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas to All! Click on the link below for a Christmas treat! :o)

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/kWGqe8xRbTsoeIXi

Christmas Fun

2011-12-15T23:44:00.001-07:00

This year the kids "helped" put up our Christmas decorations. They were excited to be involved and dying to touch everything. Thank the Lord for the Little People Nativity we got last year....that offered at least 25 minutes of distraction.

I'm also thankful for all of our "singing" decorations and their ability to occupy the kids, but not so thankful for the racket that is created by all of them singing at the same time.(I'm a little worried that Jonah may not have an ear for music...ha, ha!)

Here Allie is dancing to the music and you can see Jonah on the toy box in the background. They crack me up.

All in all it took me 2 full days to decorate the house (and by "full" days I mean decorating and changing a diaper, decorating and cleaning up the ornament that broke, decorating and making lunch.....start, stop, start, stop....you know how it is).

We also went to my FAVORITE Christmas Event....the Electric Light Parade. It rained again this year (it rained the first year Chris and I went together while we were dating, but he seemed a little less annoyed by it back then...I guess 2 kids, a wagon full of chairs, snacks, blankets, etc. can't compare to holding hands with a new love...) Anyway, he was a trooper....actually everyone was and I had a WONDERFUL time (wet bum and all). However, I took about 4 pictures....so here they are.

My nieces were warm and dry in their covered wagon...so cute!

I love this picture of Allie with her little "trashy" poncho (literally a white garbage bag). Under the poncho she had on a fleece sweatshirt and jeans with long sleeved pajamas under that. Her stocking hat under the hood of her jacket and mittens too seemed to keep her toasty warm in the rain.

But my favorite part was that as each parade float would go by she would say, "A bus! A bus!" Priceless.

Thanksgiving

2011-12-04T23:42:00.000-07:00

We went to San Diego for Thanksgiving this year. The kids were AWESOME on the 6 hour car ride over. (I was quite nervous it might not go well....what did our parents do without portable DVD players?!?)

Anyway, there was one minor incident. While running off some steam in Gila Bend, Allie took a face plant. She literally forgot to catch herself with her hands. Notice the contusion on her nose AND the large imprint on her forehead...poor baby! However, in classic Allie style, she shook it off and carried on.

Ryan cooked an awesome dinner (with final supervision from Chris, of course). However, I HAD to bring my Aunt Mary's corn bread dressing, since Thanksgiving just isn't the same with any other stuffing.

On Friday morning, the kids were up before 5 am local time (Sorry Uncle Ryan!). So, we had some breakfast, played, got dressed and I still was able to get to Kohl's by 6:30am for some Black Friday shopping!

Around 9 or so we went to La Jolla. I remember going there in high school and it's still gorgeous.

Jonah and Allie spent most of the day riding around on Daddy and Uncle Ryan's shoulders (worked out pretty well for me..considering I can only carry either of them for about 5 minutes before my arms scream...put the child down!)

And then on Saturday, we went to the much anticipated beach. Jonah LOVED it (as I knew he would). He loves to play in the sand and he could have played there all day.

Allie, on the other hand....not such a big fan. I took her shoes off and she was concerned about all the sand in her toes. And then the water came up and touched her feet.....that's when she started screaming. She spent the remainder of the "Beach trip" eating snacks on the picnic table (or picnic blanket) with Daddy. She had no interest in the sand OR the water.....maybe next year.

However, during our trip we hit 3 different play grounds (a new one each day) and Allie always loves a good playground. :o)

Plan B

2011-11-21T19:21:00.001-07:00

So, the Perrys and Fenners were supposed to go camping together over Veteran's Day, but it was threatening to rain throughout the weekend. We decided to stay home and do "Plan B". We went to Enchanted Island (little kids amusement park) together.

We, of course, road the train several times.

And flew high in helicopters and airplanes.

Here we are waiting PATIENTLY for our turn on the boats. :o)

I think Brooke and Jonah will need a few more driving lessons. Jonah kept going in circles and wasn't very responsive to pleas of "Let go of the wheel" "Turn this way."

Jonah was stoked to ride the dragon...until it started moving. He was screaming STOP!!! It cracks me up because he fluctuated between his scared face and his mad face while Brooke just giggled and screamed with joy behind him.

And Uncle Steve is ALWAYS a big hit. He amazes me with his love for all of our kids and his joy at being a dad and uncle.

I love this picture...it so perfectly captures his relationship with the kids. Every eye is glued on him and they all are squealing with delight. Priceless!

Halloween

2011-11-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

First of all, I apologize that it has taken me soooo long to post Halloween. I could give you all my reasons, but you'd probably rather I just get on with it. :o)

So, on Halloween we carved a pumpkin. It consisted on Jonah and I picking a theme and printing a template and then Jonah and Allie running around while I traced, cleaned and carved it.....of course.

After we carved it we put a candle in it, went into the pantry and watched it glow. I thought it would be a big hit, but that night when I lit it Jonah turned it around so he couldn't see the face....kind of defeats the purpose.....am I right? Oh well, we did it...check off jack-o-lantern from the list of things one must do with kids on Halloween.

Only 2 days later it was molding and wilting so it got thrown away. Jonah has asked at least 5 times since then, "Where's our pumpkin?" He even asked just yesterday...2 weeks later...maybe it was a bigger hit than I thought. :o)

So here are my cute little kiddos. Jonah the train conductor and Allie the bunny.

We went to our church's Harvest Festival. Chris and I each worked a shift at one of the booths. Chris worked the basketball shot booth and the kids "helped" a little.

Jonah's favorite part was the big inflated slide. I love this picture...face first...what a dare devil.

Here's Allie waiting for him to come down. She wanted to go in too, but.....

this is what she looked like when she got in.....so she quickly came back out.

There was plenty of candy eating (thankfully we didn't come home with much).

All in all it was a wonderful day.

The Latest Cake

2011-10-23T07:15:00.000-07:00

Here's the cake I did for a wedding this weekend. It was pretty fun and when we got to the site and saw all the black and pink, it went perfectly. (I was a little worried at first.)

Chris's brother Bill is getting married in Hawaii in May. We've been brainstorming ways to come up with money to go. I figure if I can do 4 or 5 more wedding cakes (plus some other things) then maybe we can go.....Need a wedding cake this spring?

Go Fish

2011-10-20T16:35:00.003-07:00

The other night Jonah and I played Go Fish....like a real, actual, play-by-the-rules game of Go Fish. Since we were just starting out I tried to let him have some victory. I wouldn't ask for things he had a lot of....only the things he had just drawn. Until the end, I asked for his Hammerhead Sharks....he had 3 of them. He gave them up a little reluctantly, but was excited that he had 6 matches and we had found them all. When the game ended I was all puffed up with joy about how Jonah is growing up and maturing.

I gathered all the cards and started to shuffle when Jonah said, "You took my cards!" I tried explain, "That's just how it works....you have to re-mix the cards up and find the matches again. We're starting to play a new game of Go Fish." He wasn't convinced, but I pushed through and dealt the cards.

I, of course, let him go first trying to get him back into the game. I said, "Ask me for something," so he did. I said, "Go Fish" and he did. Then I asked him, "Do you have any hammerhead sharks?" He burst into tears...."No....you took all my sharks!" He proceeded to put his head down on the table and sob. I, on the other hand, burst into laughter....quiet, controlled, silent laughter.......of course.

So much for my big mature kid....he is only 3 after all. We decided to play as a team and find matches together for the second game. I suppose all this "taking" and "sharing" can get exhausting for my little man. I guess we'll just have to take it slow. :O)

Mmmm....cake!

2011-10-18T16:33:00.001-07:00

We went to a birthday party recently. Jonah decorated a cupcake and both kids enjoyed eating the cake. Jonah ate all the frosting off his cupcake and then decorated it again.....good call buddy!

I'm working on a wedding cake this week. It's supposed to be a topsy turvey cake in hot pink and black. I'm excited for the challenge and I'll be sure to post a picture (as long as it turns out well ;o). A sweet bride that I did a cake for last year, just e-mailed me that they ate their frozen topper cake this last week on their 1 year anniversary. She said it tasted good....who knew? Maybe I should freeze more cake! :o)

Moments in Time

2011-10-06T21:07:00.014-07:00

Here are a few quick moments in time that I love. I've been trying to have us eat less processed food so it has opened a lot of opportunities for Jonah to help me cook. One day after having the discussion AGAIN about being patient and not playing with the ingredients I decided to take his picture to show him. This is what happened because you weren't being patient and you were playing with the flour. It was semi-effective, but either way the picture makes me smile.

Lately Slider has been sleeping in Jonah's room (at least when Jonah goes to bed). This particular night Jonah wanted Slider to have some covers too....precious boy.

We went to Chuck E Cheeses this past week with my MOPS group. I made the mistake of telling Jonah about it over a week before we were going....I think he asked me AT LEAST 50 times "Can we go to Chuck E Cheese now?" He spent hours just playing with his Chuck E Cheese "money" dreaming of going. I tried the whole "We have to go to sleep 7 times..." He asked to go to bed, pretended to sleep, woke up and said, "That's one sleep." I finally made him a picture calendar that showed what we were doing for the next week. It was really fun because he looked at it CONSTANTLY and talked about everything we were doing. "We went to Jeremiah's house, then to church, we're going to the zoo, then Cubbies, then....what's this mom?...Oh Chuck E Cheese!".....such a jokester.

Anyway, the day finally came and he had a blast! He kept asking for tokens (because I hand them out one at a time-Thanks Karyce!) and then he'd run off and play a game. Once I spied him playing the basketball game....AND MAKING SHOTS!! What!?!?! I thought he needed my help...not so much. Notice the score says "5"....I'm not sure if he made 5 shots or a 2 pointer and a 3 pointere...either way I love the style in his release.

I love this picture of Allie looking at the cows at the zoo. She looks so small. I know she's going to be a big kid in the blink of an eye. I want to remember this.

And this is one of my favorite shots of Allie and me from our trip to Montana. My sweet girl. I pray we always enjoy each other's company.

Time sure does keep flying by. Sometimes the days drag and I often dream of the days I have independent kids, but I know I'll miss these moments. These moments when my kids still want me to jump on the bed with them, kiss them when they get hurt, and read them a book.

Brother and Sister

2011-10-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned lately how much Allie wants to do whatever Jonah is doing? Ya, she is soooo there!

Here are some shots from our recent trip to the zoo.

Notice the goat poop in the background...nice!

Yes, yes....those are MY kids lying down on the nasty ground with the goats....ick! But, if brother is doing it....it must be fun!

Three and One

2011-09-24T01:25:00.000-07:00

At age 3 Jonah is such a big kid. He can be so helpful and thoughtful at times. It really gives me hope about the future and the cool things we can do. He really likes to help bake things and I love his help.

He can even help fill the ice cube trays.....a task I'm not so fond of doing! Thanks Jonah!

Allie, on the other hand, is at that age where you have to watch her every minute. She climbs anything she can grab ahold of and she ADORES standing on the stool at the kitchen counter. Unfortunately, "Grabby Grabbingson" as we affectionately call her, also enjoys climbing ONTO the kitchen counter and table so that she can reach everything better. For example, here's a glimpse of what happened one morning this week....yes all in ONE MORNING!

She proudly dumped one, almost entirely full, bag of Cheerios on the floor...Thanks Allie!

Notice the rags that are under the stool sopping up the cup of water she dumped earlier.

Here she is climbing the kitchen chairs and dumping the napkins on the floor....Thanks again Allie!

And here she is in action climbing the high chair. We only get it out once a week when I babysit so it's quite the novelty. As much as the climbing drives me crazy, I must admit I'm a little proud at this feat. You go girl! (Side Note-Notice the stool is kept up against the wall....NOT next to the counter, lest you think I'm just asking for it~!)

Just a little precarious......but she doesn't look too concerned.

The smile of victory. Which was followed shortly by the plead of "Up Peas!" with arms outstretched. She's not so great at getting down from all the places she can get herself up to.

And here she is after being thwarted from climbing the kitchen counter once again. Life can be pretty tough when you're one.

However, with a 1 year old and a 3 year old at home, this is what our family room looks like most mornings and/or evenings before the big clean up.

Being a stay at home mom can be frustrating at times, but I'm so blessed to have a mess to clean up and 2 children to train up in the way they should go. Thank you Lord for my precious children. Help me to cherish and enjoy every day while keeping my sense of humor.

The End of Summer.....Hopefully!

2011-09-15T23:15:00.001-07:00

September in Arizona marks the beginning of the end....of summer. The temperatures start to dip into the double digits again and everyone starts to remember that they like living here....that it's not so bad after all. It's still plenty hot to play outside in the water though.

However, we aren't quite heading back to the park yet. We still have most of our fun indoors. Here's our latest Rock Band....they've got a lot of potential!

Allie spends much of her time climbing onto everything she can hoist herself on top of. Unfortunately it doesn't always end well. This is her first of 2 bloody fat lips within a week. The good news is she's pretty tough and only cries for a couple of minutes!

But when it's time for bed......

We hit the sack, dreaming of October....late October. :o)

Girls

2011-09-06T13:57:00.001-07:00

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE having a girl? Allie is soooo different than Jonah and although she is far from meek and gentle, she is full of life, compassion, energy, and love. It was so fun to watch her with my nieces just be girls.

We went to Toy Town (a play place with a bunch of different themed play houses and LOTS of toys.)

The girls were into the purses, the shoes, and the babies....of course.

And what did Jonah do for 2 hours???? Play at the train table.....of course.

Spaghetti

2011-08-27T20:06:00.000-07:00

A picture is worth a thousand words....I think these speak for themselves. :o)

Camping

2011-08-17T21:32:00.003-07:00

We went camping in Williams the other weekend. We went with 6 other families and had a BLAST! There were 15 kids (mostly under age 7) so there was always something to do. I love this picture of the kids at the campfire after a long day of playing....

Some of the kids and dads went fishing and caught 10 or so crawdads which they brought back to camp (I'm not exactly sure why since nobody wanted to cook or eat them.) Oh well, they provided hours of entertainment as the kids sat around with spoons and sticks and poked and picked them up. (I think they would have prefered being eaten....it would have been more dignified.)

This was our little campsite. All 4 of us slept in that little tent (though Jonah and I ended up in the car at about 1am on Saturday night). I think the next time we go tent camping we'll be looking for a bigger tent!

Good morning! Little kids are so full of life in the morning, me.....not so much.

Allie did so great playing in the pack n play, which was a HUGE blessing since she hasn't quite got the hang of listening to instructions like "Stay in this area only" "Don't go in the street" "Don't go near the fire."...you get the idea. :o)

This picture cracks me up.... I have NO IDEA what they were looking at. I guess that's camping...you have to make your own fun. :o)

We even got to go on a hayride!! Go KOA Campgrounds!

Montana Part 2

2011-08-16T23:06:00.000-07:00

So our second half of our trip was spent participating in the Kaufman Family Reunion. It was quite the organized event, with t-shirts, potlucks, bonfires, horse back riding, and plenty of family fun. Here is the Fenner clan of the Kaufman's with Grandpa Joe and Grandma Lucille.

This is all 47 of the Kaufmans that made it to the reunion. Each family from the 7 Kaufman kids each wore a different colored shirt. This picture cracks me up though. I have no idea why I'm the only one in the sunlight....I guess I'm just "glowing"......ha, ha!

The highlight of the trip (for me) was white water rafting for the first time. I LOVED it! It was beautiful. I'll admit that I was a little nervous that I might fall out and never get back in, but I stayed in the raft-the water was freeeeeezing cold. I can't wait to do it again sometime!

And of course we did plenty of "exploring nature" since the weather was gorgeous. We threw rocks into many a creek, lake and pond and fed some more ducks too.

There was some tree climbing.

And some general walking about.

If you've never been to Montana in the summer.....you HAVE to go. It's my favorite place to be!

Daddy's Weekend with the Kids

2011-08-14T21:58:00.001-07:00

So I (Jill) just found this post that was written in June. It accidentally didn't get published.....I had to post it...Chris is such an amazing Dad. I love that guy!

---------------------------------------------

So, I don't post much here (in fact, this could be the first post I've made on the blog). Anyhow, this past weekend, Jill went off to a MOPS leadership retreat in Prescott (while avoiding the 114 degree temps here in Phoenix).

Needless to say, it was an interesting weekend flying solo with both kids. We had a bit of a rough night on Saturday, Jonah and I both had difficulty sleeping, it was relatively hot in the house (our bedroom in particular) and Jonah missed his mommy. After waking up at midnight, he struggled to get back to sleep (allowing me to struggle with him of course) until about 3AM. Then I was able to get some zzz's, at least till Allie woke up per her usual at 6:15 AM.

We met Mel and LiAna up at Grimaldi's for lunch. Jonah was being shy and Allie was kicking back and taking it all in. Jonah wouldn't sit in a regular chair anywhere near Mel or LiAna, he requested a high chair to sit next to Allie. I had a couple of pictures to post here, but my phone didn't save them for some reason.
---------------------------------------------------------
I'm not sure if Chris meant to add more, but the truth is they were all pretty exhausted on Sunday afternoon. However, they managed to make it to church and were all in great moods. I'm soooo thankful for Chris and his support of me as a woman, a ministry leader, and a mom. I couldn't ask for a better husband. What a blessing he is to our family!

Montana-Part 1

2011-08-13T23:05:00.001-07:00

Is it just me or has this summer FLOWN by???? I can't believe it's "Back to School" time. So here's a very small glimpse of our wonderful trip to Montana this summer.....part 1.

After flying into Missoula (the kids did GREAT on the plane) we were met by Grammy Vi and Uncle Ryan. We grabbed some burgers and went to a little creek to run off some energy before the 2 hours drive to Kalispell. That night we all loaded up and headed over to Lakeside for a boatride. It was beautiful on Flathead Lake and we got to finally spend a little time with our newest nephew Eli and little baby Briella.

The big event (for Jonah) was a ride on a real train. It was his first time on a diesel engine and he was over the moon with excitement.

This is his reaction to the train pullin up....priceless.

I think he's still talking about it.....cousin Trevin looks so cool and collected....he's 5 after all. :o)

And here is the elation after getting off the train. Jonah saw Chris and I and started running up to tell us all about it.

Allie thought the big train was pretty cool, but she stayed with Mom and Dad.

We also went to Woodland Park to feed the ducks. Everybody loved it (including the ducks).

We had a really fun family picnic on Saturday. Vi even had a professional photographer come get a few great shots of the family (just so you know I didn't take them ;o)

It was a wonderful week! Jonah just said yesterday, "Can we go to Grammy Vi's house?" Probably not for quite awhile little man.

Random

2011-07-13T09:48:00.001-07:00

Little mama Allie loves her babydolls! She carries them around and pushes them in the stroller. She's a natural. :o)

This is our box of stuffed animals. For some reason the kids loves to climb in and play in there.

Brooke and Lauren came to spend the night a few weeks ago. Sadly this is the only picture I took. I guess 4 kids is a little too much to juggle while taking pictures. :o) We had a great time. This is one of the many activities...playing play-dough.

Jonah and Allie are both into putting on random shoes lying around. They crack me up.

Jonah and I just playing around with the camera.

Swim Lessons

2011-06-28T22:52:00.001-07:00

Jonah started swim lessons last week. (Allie and I start next week.) The first day he cried and hightailed it into the locker room. The second day he ran to other end of the pool area and cried and cried while he was in the water. On the third day, when I asked if he wanted to walk over to his teacher or if he wanted me to "put him in the water" He cried, "YOU PUT ME IN!" However, once in he did awesome. He even dipped his face in a little bit. The fourth day he was a champ.... He's still not jumping for joy at the idea of going to swim lessons, but he doesn't fight or cry and he has a pretty good time, and that's enough.

Allie's Birthday

2011-06-02T22:24:00.002-07:00

On Allie's first birthday we flew to Arkansas, so we did a small cupcake celebration with Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Terry as a prelude to her party.

The weekend after we got back we celebrated our precious girl.

We had a very small party and it was perfect.

We had breakfast (even though it was late afternoon) because Allie loves eggs.

We, of course, had cake too. :o)

Allie got a wagon for her birthday and the weather was great so we all enjoyed parading/racing around. We even took to the streets after the ball went over the fence.

I must admit we didn't get all the photos I would like to have gotten...(not one of her opening a present.) Oh well.....such is life for the second born.

Happy Birthday Sweet Allie-Girl!

The Barbie Cake

2011-05-27T23:39:00.003-07:00

So...I've been doing cakes for (how long has Danielle been married?)....8 years? And I have to say that lately I just haven't been too excited about very many cakes. Thankfully my friend Jenn (who is just getting into cakes) is always willing to come over and help and offer some great conversation and a steady stream of passion for decorating.

However, I was sooooo excited to do this Barbie cake for my niece's birthday....really, I haven't been this excited about doing a cake in years!

Arkansas

2011-05-26T23:18:00.002-07:00

The kids and I had a FABULOUS trip to Arkansas to visit the Starnes side of the family. I was nervous about the plane ride over, but we were all too excited to let anything get to us. In the morning Aunt Cheryl brought my 95 year old Grandmom to spend the weekend with us. She's still as sharp as a whip and continues to amaze me with her energy and activity. She would just grab one of the kids (20 and 30 pounds) and pull them onto her lap....no big deal.

Jonah LOVED Aunt Cheryl

and Allie LOVED Uncle Terry

and we all LOVED getting to see Katherine, Gentry, Baby Max, and Jake too.

We'll definitely be visiting again soon!

My Birthday

2011-05-25T23:18:00.001-07:00

For my birthday this year some of my girlfriends threw me a surprise party. They really out did themselves and made it such a special night. Not only did they all bring yummy food (like this awesome cake that Jenn made), but they each brought a charm that reminded them of me. Then they went around the room and said the nicest things. Noelle made an amazing charm bracelet (by hand....like twisting wire, etc.) out of the charms and Johanna had everyone write a little note about why they chose that specific charm so I wouldn't forget. It was the most touching and thoughtful gift anyone has ever given me. I'm sooo blessed!! Thanks girls! Guess we'll have to do something REALLY great when I turn 40 in a few years. ;o)

Jonah's Birthday

2011-05-22T11:17:00.001-07:00

I can't believe my little boy is 3.....how he's grown up!

For his birthday we got a membership to the Phoenix Zoo (we've already been 4 times).

After dinner we opened one present(Thanks Uncle Ryan!) and had cupcakes.

He's been talking about his birthday for weeks now and he was sooo excited!

He's not as into Thomas specifically, but is fascinated with any type of train, so we had his birthday party at the Desert Breeze Railway Park. It was the perfect morning.

Nothing compared to the train and the train tracks, but we also rode the carosel.

Then it was time for cupcakes and presents!

Allie was there too.

Everyone ended the day playing in the water at the splash pad, but I didn't get any splashing pictures (and I'm pretty sure Chris is glad, since I ruined my last camera with water. ;o)

All in all it was a FABULOUS! Happy Birthday Jonah Boy!

Allie's Walking

2011-05-21T22:30:00.002-07:00

After several attempts to get Allie to take steps for the camera and "Walk to Mommy" or "Walk to Daddy" we gave up. However, on her own time she decided to walk across the room. It was the night of Jonah's birthday and I just happened to be filming. Three weeks later, she doesn't really crawl at all...except when she gets knocked down. :o) She's now working on mastering shoes.

Crazy Month

2011-05-20T22:03:00.003-07:00

What a crazy month May has turned out to be. On Jonah's birthday Allie started to walk. Then we had a birthday party for Jonah (Thomas the Train...again). Chris took me out for my birthday. I helped organize and run the Tea and Testimony for our MOPS group. I flew to Arkansas with both of the kids (sans the husband) to visit my Grandmom and the Starnes clan. Came home and went to Jonahs end of the year Puggles Awards night, worked on a Barbie cake for my niece's birthday party and had a birthday party for Allie (a week late). Put together the MOPS Leadership end of the year party and had a meeting with the new leadership team for 2011-2012. And this weekend Chris and I are going on a stay-cation while my brother and sister in law watch the kids..... A perfect end to the craziness.

So, I say all of that to tell you, I HAVE SO MUCH TO SHARE with you!! And to apologize that all of it will be coming in such an untimely manner. I guess we've just been living life and haven't had time to write about it. :o) Be patient.....I promise to post all of it...SOON. Here's a glimpse of how the kids have felt about our busyness....ha, ha!

Easter

2011-05-02T23:21:00.001-07:00

We had an AWESOME Easter.

We dyed Easter eggs for the first time. Jonah loved it!

We went to the Laveen Egg Hunt with the Perrys. The slidew were a big hit.

Jonah decorated his own little bunny ears hat. He cracked me up because he was trying to put the last sticker on after the hat was already on his head...comedy! Then he jumped around like a bunny....too cute!

Easter morning we made it to sunrise service all dudded up.

After service we had a little egg hunt in the backyard. Jonah was so fun to watch as he rounded up the eggs. He even gave a few to Allie. :o)

And of course we had to have an Easter basket with fun toys. Look at that swagger!

Oh Brother

2011-04-18T20:49:00.003-07:00

Here's the video I wanted to show you a month or so ago. I finally asked Chris to help me upload it, but I didn't get a chance to have him put in the editing software too....oh well! Here's the VERY LONG video. I expect Grandmas and Grandpas to watch all 3 min. 25 sec., but everyone else feel free to "get the idea".

I just love when they are having fun together. Sometimes when Allie has woken up and I'm not quite ready to go get her I tell him to go talk to her. I love how she lights up when she's looking at him (well sometimes ;o).

Fun at the Museum

2011-04-12T19:54:00.003-07:00

Here are some pictures from when we went to the Children's Museum with the cousins back in March. I had uploaded them onto the blog and then forgot to finish the post. Better late than never. :o)

Computer Kid

2011-04-10T22:19:00.002-07:00

We received a CD-Rom in the mail called Charlie Church Mouse. I thought it might be fun to check it out and play it with Jonah because he loves any digital cards, etc. on the computer. He took to it right away and it helped review some counting, shapes, etc.....educational so it's all good, right?

Every day (usually when I was on the computer doing something) Jonah would ask if he could play Charlie Church Mouse. Eventually we would sit down together and play. He loved the Noah's Ark Memory Game and I thought he might be able to use the mouse enough to click on a box or 2 while I quickly put in a load of laundry. When I came back, he was playing a totally different game.....and doing it well. WHAT!?!?! Did I really just teach my kid how to play computer games? Yes.....yes I did and I can't ever go back. Guess he wants to be like his daddy.

Sick Kids

2011-04-08T22:16:00.003-07:00

The Fenner kids have been a little under the weather lately. Last Thursday we went to a concert at church and brought home 3 of the traveling choir students to stay with us for the night. They were sweet college girls and Jonah was talking them up on the ride home. However, about an hour after we got home Jonah upchucked all over the hallway....just outside the bathroom.....where one of the girls had just finished taking her shower.....welcome to our home?!?!

The poor kid didn't sleep all night and couldn't keep anything down. He finally fell asleep in the van on the way home from taking the girls to meet their bus. I just let him stay there for almost an hour before I put him in his own bed.

It ended up being a rough weekend marked by a visit to Urgent Care late Saturday night. On Sunday he could finally keep some fluids down and he slept most of the day.

However, later that night....Allie throws up in her crib. Could have been the days old go-gurt she took out of the garbage and started eating or maybe she's sick too....I had NO IDEA!

So on Monday she is cranking ALL DAY! She has gas, diarhea, runny nose, she can't sleep. Is she teething? Does she have what Jonah had? Is she intollerant of a food she ate? Does she have a cold? Is it a combination? I'm totally clueless and worried...worried...worried! Tuesday morning she wakes up and I see her 2nd little tooth popping through on the bottom. Ahhhhhhh......sweet relief....it's teething! At 10 months she finally broke her first 2 teeth...HOORAY!

And did I mention that she can stand on her own?

And clap without falling over......that's my big girl!

Brother and Sister

2011-03-25T22:41:00.002-07:00

As Allie is approaching the 1 year mark, Jonah is finding her more and more fun to play with, well.....most of the time, as long as she isn't taking his trains or messing up his train tracks....of course.

I took these pictures one evening after a bath and I SWEAR I didn't coach the kids at all! I simply called their names so they would look at me. This is just what they do sometimes. Jonah likes to lay on top of Allie, sit behind her with his legs around her and then lay backwards. She doesn't seem to mind and I figure, if she's cool....I'm cool. :o)

This is Jonah's famous "butt bump". He uses it often instead of "pushing" in order to get babies or dogs to move......we're working on it.

I just love this picture of Allie. Her little expression is priceless!

The last few days I've given Allie her bottle on the floor sometimes (because she is often found throwing it on the floor anyway). Jonah will get down from the table and go sit with her and say, "We're drinking milk!"

I have an awesome video of the 2 of them, but I've been fighting with how to upload it to my desktop. I guess it's finally time to bring in the big gun....Chris. I hope to post it soon.

Normal Life

2011-03-14T15:54:00.001-07:00

So here's a little glimpse of our "normal" life.

Chris had a Dog Club Meeting so the kids and I met Uncle Steve and Lauren @ Chik-Fil-A for dinner.

The hit of the night was the ice cream....of course!

The weather has been BEAUTIFUL!! Well, actually I'd almost call it hot....88 degrees.

We've enjoyed going to the park with friends for picnics and having family picnics of our own too.

Here's how things went with Jonah feeding Allie some yogurt. He had a regular spoon and was trying to shove the whole thing in her little mouth...you can see the concern on her face and the concentration on his!

Jonah was not having it when Allie didn't want any more.

I love this shot....."Allie..EAT it!"

Oooo......yogurt handprints....nice!

Beat Up

2011-02-27T22:18:00.001-07:00

So the other morning I was trying to put bows in Allie's hair...I'm so excited to do her hair. She was being scrappy and trying to stand up and escape when she slipped. She caught the corner of the tissue box that was on the counter and cut her eye....poor baby! So my attempts at making her look so cute actually backfired.....hmmmmm.

And this is how she felt about the bow......tasty!

Then the next day she got her first real cold. She couldn't breath through her nose, snot kept pooring out, and her little eyes would water. She looked so pitiful and sad....especially with the cut on her eye. Everytime I picked her up I would say, "Come here little beat up baby."

Jonah was given some hand me down skates and I thought he was sure to crack his head open so I just kept putting him off whenever he would ask to skate. However, after seeing a friend's daughter "walking" in her skates I decided to let him have a go. So we strapped on the skates and helmet and Jonah and Chuy "skated" around the house....for about 5 minutes. Then he was all done. All that "concern" for nothing. He's just too cute!

Baby Dedication

2011-02-21T21:14:00.002-07:00

This past Sunday we had Allie's Baby Dedication at church. It wasn't a christening or baptism, it was just a chance for us to stand up and say that we know what a blessing she is and that we commit to raise her in Christian home where the Bible and Christ are the foundations. We did the same with Jonah and we hope that someday they will both accept Christ as their savior too.......until then we promise to teach them what we know and love them unconditionally.

This was Jonah's baby dedication just 2 years ago. We of course were early enough to get a quick family photo in. This time it was more like, "Go! Go! GO! We can't be late!" No time for a casual photo.

When we were up there listening to the pastor, Jonah saw a couple of his friends. When he saw Keyara he yelled, "Hi Keyara!" while waving furiously. Later he saw Claire and said, "There's Claire! There's Claire!"

My Love

2011-02-14T12:50:00.001-07:00

Happy Valentine's Day to the Love of My Life. Here's a short little stroll down our journey to Forever.

This is our first date at the Wildlife World Zoo. As I mustered up the courage to allow birds to land on me and eat out of my hand, I had no idea that Chris actually owned a bird that would one day be "our" bird. (Thanks to my wonderful mother in law, "our" bird currently lives in Montana. :o)

Our first Christmas photo. Chris went to Montana and I spent Christmas with my family in AZ, but he flew home before New Year's Eve so we could be together. I think that's how everyone in Montana knew this might be the beginning of forever.

Chris proposed to me on my 30th Birthday. Hooray!!!!

And just 5 months later we made it official in front of God and all of our friends and family. I couldn't stop smiling.

And finally.....our honeymoon....the beginning of forever........

Happy Valentine's My Love!

No Fear

2011-02-04T22:02:00.002-07:00

We went to Enchanted Island (the amusement park for little kids) again after almost a 1 year hiatus and this time it was a winner. (In case you haven't been following our blog for more than a year let me refresh your memory on how it went. http://thefamilyfenner.blogspot.com/2010/03/not-yet.html ) We went for a friend's birthday party and had SUCH a fun time. I think it helped that we knew several kids on most of the rides and that they were older and taking Jonah under their wing. However, Jonah rode these bumper boats all by himself. He's such a big kid.

He also rode these little cars, the train, the teacup type ride, and his favorite the airplanes. (I'm still waiting for a friend to send me the picture of him flying. :o)

And little Miss Sunshine is getting around faster and faster. She loves to pull up on things and her latest crash was when she pulled up on a kitchen chair and then started bouncing with excitement which caused the chair to topple over on top of her.....Poor Baby. But don't worry....she still pulls up on the chairs....no fear here!

Before

2011-01-25T14:04:00.003-07:00

Sooooo, my folks are in town this month. They decided at the last minute to come out to AZ and they are planning on staying until the first week of Feb. We've enjoyed being able to see them and have taken a few trips down memory lane as we have helped go through some of their storage units.

We found a picture of my brother that at first glance looks exactly like Jonah. It's been fun to look at pictures of my mom as a young mother and me as a baby and toddler. To add to my feeling of nostalgia Chris has made his screen saver go through all his pictures.....photos from when we were dating, our first trip to Kalispell, our wedding, Steve's wedding, etc., etc. Awwwwww.....it's amazing how much younger we looked just 5 or so short years ago. Chris thinks the kids have aged us, but I'm not so sure. I think there are a few other things at play....like the fact that I've gained quite a few pounds.

So with all this remembering I've decided to get back on the Health Wagon.....I've started Weight Watchers......again. I always struggle with my weight. Just in the past 6 years, since Chris and I have been together I've done LA Weightloss, a Dr. supervised diet (twice), Low carb/Atkins, South Beach, and of course Weight Watchers. I always say, "It's going to be a lifestyle change" and then something happens and I stop exercising, and then I start eating more ice cream and less vegetables and then.......well, I digress.

I so badly want to instill a healthy lifestyle into my kids and I know that has to start with me. So say a prayer for me and say nice things as I once again try to make healthy choices. I HAVE to do this... mostly for my kids, but for me and Chris too. I'm so much more fun when I feel good about how I look. (Can I get an Amen from all the ladies?)

So anywhoooo....here's some shots of the folks and we'll just call these my "Before" pictures. ;o)

Watch Out!

2011-01-15T22:29:00.001-07:00

Allie is officially on the move. She's been "army crawling" for awhile now, but she has now mastered the "official" baby crawl. She is also obsessed with pulling up things and is taking some lessons from the school of hard knocks. She pulls up on her baby swing which inevitably swings, knocks her down, and then hits her in the head. She pulls up on Jonah's train table and bats at things inside and just about every time I go to put her in the crib she will sit up and pull up on the side rail as I watch through the crack in the door. Things are starting to get interesting around here.

Back to the Routine

2011-01-05T21:51:00.001-07:00

The week after Christmas was a great family week. Chris had off from work and we all loved it! We finally made it down to the Arizona Sea Life Aquarium. Jonah had a fabulous time, but I think it could have been filled with rocks or paintings and he would have still loved it. He's just such a boy. He likes to run around and climb on things and touch everything. One of the rooms had a tank with stairs going up each side to a little platform....he must have gone up and down it 10 times. Of course, the little play area at the end was a big hit as was riding the carousel with Daddy. Both kids were out by the time we got on the main road....now that's a good day!

This week Chris has gone back to work and we're getting back into our regular routine. (I love routine and predictability). The first day Jonah said, "I wanna play with Daddy" and the last 2 days he keeps mentioning that he wants to see Daddy. I suppose the Chris fan club has just gotten a little bigger (but I'm still the president ;o)

This Christmas

2010-12-31T20:43:00.003-07:00

First, we started the festivities with our Annual Gingerbread House Building with the Perrys. Jonah and Brooke did an awesome job and didn't even eat that much candy. I built the house beforehand so it would have time to set before we decorated it. Jonah kept standing on the stools and leaning over it saying, "Umm....smells good." He did get a quick lick in too...oh well, nobody was going to eat it anyway. :o)

We exchanged presents and the hits were: Bubblegum flavored chapstick for Brooke,

an AWESOME bow for Allie,

Lauren wasn't so interested in opening the gifts,

and Hot Wheels cars for Jonah.

I made growth charts for the kids, but they were all less than impressed. :o)

Then on Christmas Eve: Uncle Ryan came into town and we went to Christmas Eve service together.

Jonah LOVED the candles (both before they were lit and especially after they were on fire!)

Christmas morning we dug into the plethora of gifts under the tree (Thanks to all our family!)

After our afternoon naps we were ready for our Christmas dinner with the Kaufmans.

Jonah and Allie got this cool little swingset and slide. Thanks to Chris and Uncle Ryan for putting it together!

The kids just played and played (it was in the 70s).

The men sat around talking and the Mommys enjoyed some much needed relaxation.
It was a very Merry Christmas.

Jonah's MOPS Christmas Program

2010-12-21T07:10:00.000-07:00

Busy Boy

2010-12-18T09:26:00.001-07:00

Jonah is a busy little boy these days. He LOVED helping decorate the Christmas tree, however he hasn't quite grasped the idea of decorating the entire tree...hence the big clump of ornaments.

After the tree was all decorated and Jonah went to bed Chris and I rearranged to make the tree a little more aesthetically pleasing. Jonah was told not to touch any of the ornaments except the disco ball which he loves to move around. However he has decided to work around the "don't touch the ornaments" rule and put his own "ornaments" on the tree. Notice the yellow, orange, green, and purple foam letters. I've also found rings, stars, cars, trains, etc. in the tree. He likes to throw things at the tree too. I'm not sure if he's trying to hang ornaments up high or if he just wants to see everything "jingle"....either way I'm not a fan.

Here's another one of Jonah's little "projects". He took a pencil to our kitchen chairs and made "pokes".....right on....looks like I'll be doing a seat covering project soon.

And the infamous...put a bunch of toilet paper in the toilet and make it overflow routine..........

yep, we've been there.

So, I've been trying to give Jonah some "Constructive" ways to stay busy. Here he is "fishing" with a magnet for paper clip fish.....great idea huh?? Ya, it kept him busy for all of 10 minutes. We've also tried "painting" outside with water and a paint brush.....20 minutes, matching cookie cutters to outlines on paper......7 minutes, playing with balloons.....20 minutes (it took that long to pop 4 balloons) and making cookies with mom...well that was a winner, but the time it took to clean up the mess makes it a wash. :o)

Busy, busy, busy boy. If you have any great ideas feel free to send them our way.

Brooke's Performance

2010-12-15T09:15:00.002-07:00

This past week we went to see my sweet little niece in her Pre-School's Christmas show. I must admit I've never been to one before and it was hilarious. There were probably 150 kids ages 3-5 on the stage so you can imagine how packed the audience was. Everyone had their cameras and when the kids came out EVERYONE in the audience stood up and started waving and taking pictures. They actually had to ask the parents to go back to their seats and sit down. Too funny!! This is the only shot I got of the performance since I was trying to encourage my own little ones to sit quietly. Brooke is standing to the right of the little boy in the red shirt. She did such a great job singing and even did all the motions to the songs. Go Brooke!

After the performance all the kids (who were VERY well behaved) had to sit with their class until their teacher could check them out with their parent. Brooke was sitting so patiently, but Jonah ducked under all the adults and ran over to give her a hug.....PRECIOUS!!! He was promptly scooted out by the teacher. :o)

Want some milk Allie?

2010-12-07T14:34:00.001-07:00

Jonah can be such a helpful big brother. He and Allie "talk" and "play" quite a bit these days. We thought is was so cute that he wanted to feed her some milk. But let's not kid ourselves....this lasted only about a minute and was followed by Chris and I saying, "Allie's still hungry....she wants more milk." Then she'd be given a couple more swigs and Jonah would pull it away again in delight. I guess I can't blame him.....his dad likes to tease people too. :o)

Crafts

2010-12-01T09:26:00.001-07:00

Jonah's been going to MOPS and Puggles this year and we've been keeping all of his artwork on a little bulletin board in his room. Some of it is precious and some of it you can tell was more of a "Teacher Project" than a "Jonah Project". I love the little Thanksgiving Tree (although I really doubt he came up with most of the ideas on his own). His teacher said she had to suggest Allie 5 or so times before he agreed...Ha! You can click on the pictures to see them bigger and read some of them.

When I picked him up on the night he did this one the teacher told me when she told him it was time to clean up he started pulling all the cereal off the picture........he's so thorough! But each time I pick him up and ask him what he learned. He'll say, "God made the sun. God made the dogs. God made the moon. God made the carrots." PRICELESS!

Here's a "Manly" craft that Chris and Jonah did together.....a tent!

They even connected our Thomas tent to it and Allie enjoyed playing peek-a-boo with Jonah.

Siblings Make a Splash

2010-11-23T07:35:00.001-07:00

We've finally reached the point where Jonah and Allie can take a bath together. Allie is sitting up well and is starting to play with toys so they both had a great time. I think we have a new bath routine......whoo-hoo!

Allie's First Words!?

2010-11-16T21:28:00.001-07:00

Apparently Allie has spoken her first words. According to Jonah she said she wanted to watch Chuggington (a cute little cartoon train show that Jonah likes). He was VERY convincing and even put a train in her hands to seal the deal.....oh boy........I suppose it's a fair trade off since Allie gets into Jonah's toys now... I mean he's gotta find the silver lining...right? ;o) Our little Roly-Poly-Oly is into everything these days...and cuter than ever!

My Photo Book Nov 13 2010

2010-11-14T13:24:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

6 Months Old

2010-11-07T19:12:00.002-07:00

Here's my little sugar booger at 6 months old. He looks sooo different to me...he's growing up so fast.

Here's my little sugar plum at 6 months old...I can only imagine how she'll look in 2 more years.

Here's her Marilyn Monroe impression....not bad Allie!

I Love Being a Mommy

2010-11-04T13:58:00.001-07:00

I just love being a mom. When I was 4 I dressed up as a mom for Halloween. I wore red lipstick and carried a big purse. Although I turned out to be more of the type of mom who goes out in public without make-up, and with everything shoved into a diaper bag, I'm still in love with being a mom.

I have my days when I feel like I can't get anything done and other days when I just want to be responsible to and for no one. However, I also have those amazing days when my little boy comes up and kisses me for no reason and when my little girl lights up and reaches for me when I walk in the room. I'm sooo blessed to be able to stay home and spend mornings at the park with my kiddos. I'm so proud of the kids they are and the adults they are becoming. I pray that we will always enjoy being together and that they will have a great relationship with each other. I know that the Lord has a plan and a purpose for thier lives and I'm so grateful to be the coach on the sidelines watching it all unfold. I just love being a mom.

Booo!

2010-11-02T11:56:00.001-07:00

So....the whole posting daily on the blog has come to an end.....BOOO!!! I know, I know....it's fun to read, but it's a little much to keep up with. So I, Jill, commit to posting AT LEAST once a week (and more if fun things happen and need to be shared.)

Here are some of our pictures from the Harvest Festival. The kids had a fun time, but neither one of them were too keen on their headpieces...oh well!

Clean Up on Aisle 9!

2010-10-31T20:31:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I just can't take the messes. This week in particular I have cleaned poop out of at least 5 pairs of underwear, cleaned up pee on the couch and carpet, cleaned up Bisquick powder scattered all over the carpet, rug, and tile....twice, cleaned up an entire tub of chocolate sauce that got dumped in the refrigerator, cleaned up a blowout diaper and the car seat where the diaper blew, and finally cleaned up a poopy diaper that the dogs shredded up and smeared into the carpet. Sometimes I just can't take the messes anymore.....I'd just like to yell......"Irv, Clean Up on Aisle 9!" and have someone ELSE clean it up!

Mama...Had Fun at the Playground

2010-10-30T14:08:00.001-07:00

Whenever Jonah and I leave somewhere I always ask, "Did you have a fun time ________?" So now whenever we leave anywhere he had fun at he says, "Had a fun time at (Puggles, MOPS, the playground, Evie's house, etc.)" However, he uses the same tone I do when I ask so it always sounds like he's asking the question instead of stating that he had fun. Ah, one of the priceless things my little boy does.

Today we went to the playground and had a little picnic with Brooke. They were soooo funny on the drive over. They were both so excited to be together they squealed and laughed and kept tickling each other.

They had a great time running around. Cousins are so fun!

Little Love Bug

2010-10-29T06:44:00.000-07:00

Here's a sneak peak at our little love bug's costume this year. She's back to her jovial self...Hooray!

Celebrating An Amazing Man

2010-10-28T00:27:00.002-07:00

Have you met my amazing husband? I'm so humbled by his generosity and selflessness. I think this stage of early parenting (potty training, breast feeding, disciplining, entertaining) can be kind of hard on a marriage.

Jonah is often up before 6am. Chris has always loved to putter around in the morning alone (much like I do at night). However, he sacrifices his alone time to take care of Jonah and let me sleep another hour or so before he has to leave for work. And then there are those days when he walks through the door and I just want to check out. Often times he lets me do just that.....go to a friend's house, go to a Bible study, or just have some alone time. He comes in with a fresh perspective, but I have to remember he's already put in a full day's work meeting demands and shouldering burdens related to his career. He would probably just like some time to check out too.

When we were dating we spent so much time together nurturing our relationship. With kids I feel like we don't have a lot of time to do that anymore. Even the time we do spend together at the end of the day seems a little rushed and unfocused and I feel myself treating him more like the daddy of my kids than my husband. I need to remember he is both....and the kids will one day move out (Lord willing!) while Chris and I will always live under the same roof (Lord willing!).

So here's to a great man who I am soooo blessed to call my husband. I love you CCC!

Poor Allie

2010-10-27T21:58:00.000-07:00

Allie hasn't been feeling very well the last few days. She's by no means cranky (as most would measure a cranky baby), but she's just not completely her joyful self. She's been passing some gas that would rival any bean-eating-man.....but nothing else....it's been almost a week. We haven't given her any solid food since Saturday.....poor thing. We're clinging to the old saying, "This too shall pass".....ha, ha!!

Jonah's Prayer

2010-10-26T13:51:00.001-07:00

We always hold hands and pray before we eat as a family. Jonah is still learning to be quiet and not lean over to eat his food with no hands like a dog. He usually ends the prayer with a resounding "AMEN!" As if to say "Let's Eat!" However the other day after dinner he kept putting his hands out to Chris and I and saying, "Let's pray." The first time he said, " blahgibberish......Jesus...... blahgibberish...... Puggles...... blahgibberish.....God. Amen." It was sooo cute! (Puggles is his AWANAs class at church). We praised him and he decided to give it another try. He prayed 5 or so different times with a few variations of his discernible words. He's been praying for us at meals for several days now. Tonight's prayer went, "..........Jesus loves me....this I know....Aunt Sheena, Uncle Steve, Brooke, and Lauren...Amen." My heart melted. I can't wait to see Jonah grow into a man who loves God and talks to him daily. What a sweet glimpse into the little man he is becoming!

I don't have any related pictures, but what's a post without a picture...right?

Potty Training Boot Camp: Day 3

2010-10-25T21:56:00.000-07:00

So our third and final day of boot camp started at 5am with a little boy standing beside my bed. Somehow he woke up and when I asked if he needed to go potty he nodded. So he went....YAY! In efforts to keep our no-getting-up-before-6-am-rule I took him back to his bed and laid down with him....he wasn't tired. He talked and rolled around and jumped on me and played with his cars and played with Slider. Finally at 6am, when his little clock changes colors, he turned the light on and said, "All done night-night. Get up Mommy!" And so our day began.....leap for joy!

Today we tried the underwear. We started with some underwear calisthenics....you know, pull them up, pull them down, pull them up, pull them down. He got the down part good enough so we were satisfied. The first time he had to go, he removed his underwear in the living room and then ran to the potty. Cute.....but not really socially acceptable. I got him to remove them in the bathroom, but when I added a t-shirt...all bets were off. And when we went outside to play, it was like he had never even used a potty before. He would just pee all over himself and stand there kind of dumbfounded as if to say....What? What just happened? Oh well, I guess we'll just need some more practice. I have no idea how long it's going to take before I feel comfortable taking him out of the house fully clothed. That just really seems impossible, especially since he refuses to go in preparation for anything. He goes when HE feels it's necessary and his mind is not easily changed. This is going to be interesting.

THE END....ha, ha!

Potty Training Boot Camp: Day 2

2010-10-24T13:01:00.000-07:00

This morning started for Jonah with a 5:30am wake up call. Chris took him to the potty and Jonah cried and didn't go.....not the best start to our day. However, by 6ish he had taken himself to the potty and we were back in business. Today's plan was to move the potty into the bathroom, but still keep him bottomless so we could all know when he was "going". We tried to spend the day with Jonah so we could be there every time he needed to go potty. However, about 9ish while I was feeding Allie and Chris was gone for 2 minutes Jonah did his business on his own. He told Chris, "There's dog poop in the potty." NICE!

We again watched "Potty Power" and danced about to the various songs. After the video he kept singing "I'm proud to wear my underwear" so I thought....he's doing so well...let's step it up a notch and go for the underwear. When I asked Jonah about it he said, "Underwear? OK!" and we put it on. I didn't think it all the way through....I HATE it when I do that! Anyway, I stepped away for a minute to change the laundry and when I came out his underwear was wet. I discovered he had taken himself to the potty and peed right through the underwear. There was pee in the potty, in front of the potty and there were wet footprints down the hallway. Needless to say after that he wasn't interested in wearing any more underwear. Way to go Mom!

Other than the "underwear incident" he didn't really have any waking accidents, however he again refused to go potty before nap time, before bed, and at the 10pm wake up. Apparently it's quite traumatizing to pee on demand....stage fright or just plain stubbornness? I'm thinking the latter. Anyway, he woke up early from his nap....wet and cranky. Other than that....not a bad Day 2. Go Jonah with your big kid self!

Potty Training Boot Camp: Day 1

2010-10-23T14:28:00.001-07:00

It's potty training week at the Fenner house. We're staying home all week and focusing on getting the pee and the poop in the potty! We started the day discussing the plan over breakfast. Jonah drank lots of apple juice, we threw away his diapers, went to see the potty chair and put on his big kid underwear.

Then we watched "Potty Power" (which I rented from our local library). Jonah danced and marched along to songs like "No More Diapers for Me" and "I'm Proud to Wear My Underwear". It was very exciting and I couldn't wait for that apple juice to make it's way through him. It took at least 30 minutes and then the water works began.

After 4 pairs of underwear and pee all over the couch and the floor, I decided a new plan was needed. I thought....forget the underwear, let's just go bottomless until we get this. By this time Chris had left and Allie had woken up. In the 10-15 minutes it took me to feed her, Jonah peed in 5 different spots on the back patio. Praise the Lord we were already outside!

Once Allie was fed and in her swing it was back to focusing on getting the pee in the potty!

So the next time Jonah went I picked him up and took him over to his potty and then gave him a fruit snack when he was done. We did this several times (I had refilled the juice cup already). Then we were just talking and Jonah jumped up and said, "I got to go potty." He ran over, sat down, and went. What a celebration we had! We called Daddy, did a little dance and cheered "Hooray!"

Pretty much, the rest of the day he went on the potty. It was awesome! He even stayed dry through his nap.

When it was time for bed we tried to get him to go potty....he was not having it. Apparently when it's mom and dad's idea.....it's just not cool. So we put underwear on told him to keep his bed and underwear dry. We woke him up at 10pm to go....he was not a fan. He cried and pleaded "Up please!" and didn't go. So we put him back to bed. About 1am he climbed into our bed with wet underwear. We took him to the potty and he went. When we checked his bed it was dry. We figure he started going, woke himself up and came into our room. We'll take it. Praise God for a great Day 1 at Potty Training Boot Camp!

Mmmmm......Cereal

2010-10-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

Allie just started eating rice cereal this week. She REALLY likes it. She's not great at keeping it in her mouth yet, but she sure opens up wide. I may not be feeding her enough because she's been eating the entire amount. On the flip side (literally) we are exploring new exciting poops.

You can tell she is working hard to digest this new food. She's become a bit of a grunter........

awww our precious sunshine. ;o)

The Daily Post

2010-10-21T18:40:00.002-07:00

Soooo.....my best friend Danielle has been doing daily posts all month to raise awareness for down syndrome and I have LOVED reading her blog everyday. (1blessedgirl.blogspot.com) She has inspired me to post on my blog more regularly so I'm going to try to post something everyday for awhile......do you like the vagueness of that?? I don't like to overcommit! Ha!

Anyway....here's a picture of wedding cake that I did with my friend Jenn last weekend. I went through my usual rollercoaster of emotion while doing the cake..."I'm sooo excited. It's gonna be awesome." "This is a lot of work." "I'm terrible at this...It never turns out...It's sooo hard......Why do I keep signing up for these impossible tasks....They're gonna hate it." "That looks pretty good.....I'm proud of that cake....but I'm done doing cakes.....No more." Yep....that's what I say to myself at some point with just about EVERY cake I do. However, this time I had Jenn in the seat next to me. We actually had a lot of fun doing it together. We made all the flowers out of gumpaste (it was basically our first time) and we were both really excited to see how they turned out. Today the bride asked if she could give my number to a friend getting married in March...Jenn and I said yes. It's kind of like child birth....we so quickly forget the pain and only remember the joy!

The Exersaucer is Back

2010-10-20T22:31:00.001-07:00

I'm so excited that Allie is old enough to start playing in the exersaucer. This particular one has entertained both of my nieces and Jonah too.

And I LOVE that she loves it, just like Jonah did.

Umm...well.....I guess Jonah still does love it. The other day he was trying to climb into the middle seat. He said, "Help Please Mama" He really likes to play with this one section and if Allie is trying to play there too he pushes her hands away and spins her seat in a different direction....aww my little problem solver...HA!.

Pudding Fingerpainting

2010-10-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

Chris went out of town this last weekend so this is what Jonah, Allie, and I did on Friday night. I've been convicted lately to be more intentional about creating learning experiences and playing with Jonah so here's my first stab. I have to admit I only lasted about 5 mintues with gooey fingerpaint on my hands and arm, but I should at least get points for trying.....right?

Jonah discovered that he could make handprints everywhere....so he did.

He would say, "There's a green one, another green one. There's a blue one...." I think I got a little overzealous with dying the pudding. I have so many beautiful colors that I use for cake decorating and I was way too liberal with the color. Some of the handprints remained even after a good powerwashing.

You HAD to know the dogs were going to get it. I mustered my best poker face to tell Jonah not to put handprints on the dogs. I have to admit it cracked me up. The dogs couldn't stay away. Every time Jonah would make a handprint, they would lick up as much as they could. Later the dogs licked the pudding off each other's hard to reach places. :o)

We did a quick outdoor bath to wash up...after all it's still in the upper 90's even though it's mid-October.

And Allie watched it all while swaying in the swing.

A Train Ride

2010-10-16T22:40:00.000-07:00

So we have officially riden the Light Rail in Phoenix.....and we'll do it again. Last weekend we spent the morning in Tempe, walking around and riding a "train". After running up and down Mill Ave. (the sidewalk, of course!) Jonah decided that riding on Daddy's shoulders was the way to go. Here they are waiting for "THE TRAIN".

And here's Allie waiting too.

ALL ABOARD!!! Chugga, chugga, chugga!

I love this shot of Jonah looking out the window with his dinosaur. We started the morning having breakfast at the Mission Palms where Jonah could be heard saying, "ROAR, ROAR" while Chris and I kept saying, "Use your inside voice...too loud!" Later after walking up and down Mill we suddenly notice Jonah no longer has his dinosaur. I ask him where it went and he says, "Where'd it go?" (He's adorable because he'll repeat almost anything, but he's little to no use in actually locating items.) So we retrace our steps to a point where we are sure he had the dinosaur. We look in trash cans, in flower beds, and we finally find it sitting on a ledge. When we pick it up Jonah says, "There it is!" Well thank you Captain Obvious.

Allie was hungry, but we can pretend she was giving kisses. :o)

So fun!

So tired! Needless to say everyone got a nap that afternoon. It was a great day!

Tomalchoff Farms

2010-10-12T14:55:00.000-07:00

We went to Tomalchoff Farms and had a GREAT time!

Jonah spotted the train and couldn't wait to take a ride.

He loved running through the corn maze too. At each turn he would yell, "This way!"

Thankfully we went through the "mini-maze" where it was impossible to get lost.

He pumped water with Papa.

Went down the slide.

Played in the Pit-O-Corn....not my favorite attraction. Do they really expect kids not to throw it? It's just too tempting! Unknowingly we brought some corn home in Jonah's shoes.....right on.

And he looked at the animals...chicks, chickens, goats, horses...etc.

Allie watched it all from Mommy's Baby Bjourn front pack carrier.

And everyone took a nap when we got home...some needed more coaxing than others!

Playing in the Rain

2010-10-09T15:00:00.000-07:00

We finally had a REALLY good rain storm! It rained nice and hard for a whole day. We even saw some hail, but Jonah missed it because he was sleeping in the car. However, after waking up from his nap we went outside to enjoy some cooler weather and some RAIN!

He was cautious at first.....quick to run back to the protection of the blanket inside the house.

I think he's daring Slider to go run through the rain too.

He ran and ran in the rain.

Then it REALLY started pouring.

And we finally came inside to get warm.

Allie watched it all from her swing.

And the dogs were never far away.

Bonkers

2010-09-18T14:04:00.002-07:00

So....I've officially had my first "Scared Mom Moment". I know they are inevitable, especially with boys, but there is a reason that I didn't go into the nursing field. I don't like to see icky things and I don't like to endure seeing other people in pain (or myself for that matter). So here's a quick recap of our "Incident".

I had a few MOPS friends over helping getting some things ready for the meeting. There were 6 or 7 kids running around the house while the moms were working. Jonah came to me and asked for a popsicle. It was 10am so I told him "No, but you can have a yogurt." In his typical "I'm 2" style he said, "OOOOKAAAAY" in a whiny voice and threw himself away from me. Unfortunately he hit his head on the dining room chair where I had previously been sitting. He immediately started crying and I picked him up and said, in my usual mommy empathy, "You're fine." I put him on the counter and went to get yogurt and then I saw this HUGE protrusion coming out of his head. I grabbed him and said to my friends, "Ummm....I'm freaking out." They all looked up from their task in unison and gasped (at least with their facial expressions). Thankfully several of them followed up with stories of it happening to them and what to look for.

We all (except for Jonah) agreed it needed ice, but no matter what I put on it Jonah would push it away and say, "NO! No thank YOU!" One of the items I tried was this popsicle (thinking maybe it would help if it only put cold on the owie). He wouldn't let me hold it on his head, but he stopped crying and said "Popsicle!" Needless to say.....He got his wish. What lengths a 2 year old will go to in order to get a popsicle. :o)

Here is how it looks 3 days later. There's no bump, just bruising. He's never even complained about it. However I'm not sure he would know exactly how to communicate "My bruised temple hurts" anyway. :o)

And, I had to show you a picture of our precious Allie.............sassy pants. :o)

She and Arrow are becoming friends.

Saturday Morning

2010-08-17T06:50:00.000-07:00

Saturday mornings are soo fun with 2 little ones.

This past Saturday we all just played together in the family room

Jonah is enjoying Allie more and more these days.

He talks to her and even shares toys (but just for a minute).

And Allie is getting more and more personality......little ray of sunshine.

Kisses!

Jonah LOVES to climb on Daddy!

And Daddy likes it too. :o)

This is Jonah stopping for a red light.

We were playing red light, green light as we ran around Daddy and Allie.

Mamma's sweet boy.

Daddy's precious girl.

Faces...Faces...Faces

2010-07-12T14:39:00.004-07:00

Have you seen this precious girl? I'm just in love!She is gorgeous...if I do say so myself. :o) I'm sure people stop to look at all little babies, but people are always stopping and talking to Allie. Her smile just melts your heart.

This is Jonah's cheesy smile these days. We tell him "Say Cheese" and he says it, but rarely looks at the camera. He's pretty cute himself. Growing up sooo fast. I think he's grown up more in the past 2 1/2 months than in the past 6 months! He can count from 1-10, is suddenly getting his colors (we've been working on them for awhile now!) and yesterday on his own he asked to go potty and went pee in his little potty. Amazing! Watch out Jonah's 2!!

See....it's that's smile again...precious! Makes you feel like you're really something! Lately Allie has started talking to you. She'll just ooh and coo....she's soo fun!

Jonah is so expressive....like his mom ...

......and his dad! :o)

We see this face often. It's the "I don't like what you just said" face. Reminds me of my brother (sorry Steve!) Priceless! Sleeping Beauty

Cozy in her robe after a warm bath.

All Smiles

2010-06-22T14:13:00.000-07:00

Allie is finally showing signs of her little personality. Her smiles are getting better and better. Her little eyes just light up and make you want to gobble her up. What a precious gift she is.

Daddy

2010-06-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Father's Day here in Arizona. Even though the heat kept us indoors we enjoyed celebrating Daddy. Chris is an amazing dad (those of you that know Chris aren't at all surprised). He loves to make his kids smile, giggle, wiggle, and generally roll with laughter. He's finally gotten Allie to smile after several weeks of trying. I think that beat out the massage and Brazilian steak house as his favorite gift. ;o)

Allie's Photo Shoot

2010-05-31T16:21:00.000-07:00

So I finally got around to making Allie's birth announcements....after all not everyone is on-line and some family haven't ever seen her pretty face. So I gave her a bath (which she loved) and then proceeded to start shooting. She was not a big fan....but here are some of the shots. :o)

Our First Week with Allie

2010-05-13T17:14:00.002-07:00

Jonah and Allie are still getting to know each other.

Allie likes to sleep most of the time.

And Jonah likes to share his toys with Allie.

The good news is that Allie is done being a glow worm. Her phototherapy only lasted a couple of days and now we're in the clear with the jaundice.

Jonah likes to "help swing" Allie too. It cracks me up because he does it just like I swing him in the backyard. I catch him and say "Gotcha!" and then say "Ready, set, GO!" and I give him a big push. Unfortuntately Jonah would like to swing Allie higher than I'd like to see her go, but we're working on it. :o)

With both Mommy and Daddy home all week Jonah has enjoyed playing trains with us.....constantly! So if you're in the area and want to come over and play trains we ALL would be excited to see you. :o)

Allie's Home!

2010-05-08T11:26:00.001-07:00

Baby Allie finally made her appearance on Thursday morning at 11:32am. She was 9 lbs. 2 oz. and 21 inches long (which is a pound bigger and 2 inches taller than her brother!) Jonah did not like coming to the hospital and didn't want to have anything to do with Mommy or Allie, but he's been very loving and interested now that everyone is home. Allie has a little case of jaundice (so the drs. say) so we are having to keep her wrapped up in a phototherapy blanket connected to a light machine. The good news is she's home and we can hold her, and squeeze her and love her!

And We Wait

2010-04-22T13:50:00.002-07:00

So here we are.....2 weeks before Allie's official due date.....just waiting.

This is Jonah "helping" me make his birthday cake.

We call it helping when he stands on his stool and either

plays in the water while I wash dishes or

plays with things on the counter while I cook.

Although, he is actually turning into a little helper.

When asked he can get you a tissue,

turn off the fan, pick up the remote, go get his shoes, etc.

I think we need to start working on

"get Mommy a diaper for Allie". :o)

Jonah's Birthday Party

2010-04-20T12:02:00.007-07:00

We celebrated Jonah's 2nd birthday a little early this year, just to make sure Allie didn't interrupt. (Do you like how I slipped that in? Yes....we finally named our little girl....Alyssa Joy, who we will lovingly call Allie.) Anyway, we had a Thomas the Train themed party since Jonah is soooo into trains these days. We all had a great time.....even though the VERY pregnant lady was hot!

Easter

2010-04-07T08:28:00.000-07:00

What a great Easter weekend! We started the celebration by going to a community Egg Hunt with my brother and his family, then sunrise service Sunday morning followed by breakfast at church, regular service (where I got to play the handbells), and finally we enjoyed a yummy lunch (prepared by my wonderful husband) with the Autens. He is Risen!

Jonah and Brooke really enjoyed the bounce house once they got going.

This is Jonah Easter morning at church. He wanted to talk and babble all through the sunrise service so we locked him up....j/k But we did find somewhere else for him to "express himself" so he didn't disturb everyone else. :o)

After we got home from service we changed into more Arizona appropriate spring clothing (SHORTS!) and gave Jonah his Easter basket. I love this shot of him running towards it with Chuy in tow.

Eggs mama! I think there's something inside!

Notice how Chuy has been ditched on the floor...cracks me up.

More eggs...open please!

Mmmmm......CANDY!

Happy Easter!