I talk WAY too much, and it's about to get worse

If you notice a few more blogs than usual from me it's because I signed up for the National Blog Posting month, where they draw blogs at random (from people who have signed up, of course) and if that person has written every day for the month of November, they can win fame, fortune, and prizes! (or maybe it was just prizes....) The devil (or my sister Elsha) made me do it. Also, I'm a total sucker for free-to-enter prize-winning thingies - like I can't throw away a fast food receipt if they say "take a short survey, you could win $1,000!" I always take the survey, but have yet to win the big bucks. Trust me, you would hear about it if I did! But I digress. I'm just hoping for the sock zombies if they draw my blog.

Also, readers (you????) may be a little annoyed at how completely centered my blog is on Patrick. There's a good explanation for that, and it does not involve him being the fruit of my loins and/or my reason for living; I actually created this blog so my parents and Joe's parents could watch him grow and change from the comfort of their own homes (or offices). We get to see each other pretty often (every few months), but babies change so fast and even when we DO visit they can miss out on a lot (especially if it's an off time, like when he's teething or just plain grumpy). So here's lookin' at you, 'rents! Now, however, there is no possible way I can blog about Patrick EVERY DAY for a month, so look forward to a change of pace here, we'll see what I come up with.

"Trashy" Neighbors

I doubt my neighbors read this blog, so I don't think they'll mind if I call them trashy... but they ARE! Because here is what they threw away in (and I totally salvaged from) the trash.

Just gave the pieces a hot bubble bath, and ta-da! All new fun for our living room. The pieces are seriously in pristine condition, it's just missing a few letters of the alphabet. Definitely the most extreme case of "one man's trash is another man's treasure" I've seen! Thanks, trashy neighbors!

Happy Early Halloween!

Halloween came early to Fort Collins this year! On Tuesday we partied it up with some friends (not THAT kind of party - you know, the kind where you play guessing games and eat cupcakes and stuff) so I came up with some costumes off the cuff. Meet Cleopatra and Marc Antony! Yeah, my entire costume consisted of extra eyeliner, but Patrick's was pretty darn good.

You know you're a parent when...

You are more familiar with the hallways of church than the actual classrooms.

We got to see David Bednar of the Quorom of the Twelve Apostles yesterday! He came to our stake to speak and it was definitely a wonderful experience. Undoubtedly this is due in part to his strong spirit as an apostle, and in part because we actually pay attention due to his being an apostle. It's amazing what more you get out of talks when you listen! But listening was in spurts since we ended up familiarizing ourselves with all the hallways the stake center has to offer, hoping Patrick would quiet down and wear himself out enough to sleep through the rest of the conference. We managed a whole 5-minute nap at the end :)

His heart is made of mush

Funny how your new life with a baby totally depends upon sleep, isn't it? Like not appreciating good health until you've got the flu, I guess I didn't appreciate sleeping through the night until we had a baby. Ot at least until I was hugely pregnant and had to get up 3 times a night to use the bathroom, but I figured on the flip side of things, 9 months down the road SURELY we would all be sleeping soundly through the night. Not so, people, not so.

What bedtime looks like

Up until this week I was still getting up 3 times a night with Patrick, which is ridiculous, and I knew it. Joe knew it, too, but he wasn't the one getting up so he didn't much care. So I checked out "What to Expect: The First Year" because I needed some solid ground on which to lay my sleep-through-the-night foundation, and sure enough, they have TONS of ideas on how to make this happen. Of course, all except for co-sleeping require at least a little crying, some will probably bring on LOTS of crying, but any should work, you just have to stick to your guns. So I read them - out loud - to Joe so he could hear this "stick to your guns" requirement, knowing in advance that he wouldn't BECAUSE HIS HEART IS MADE OF MUSH. This isn't a character flaw, I LOVE that his heart is mush for his son - most of the time. But when your goal is to teach your baby to fall asleep on their own, and that crying will not bring one (or both) loving parents in a rush, it most certainly is not helpful. We've done it 2 nights now, and both night Patrick slept through the night - it's a mother's miracle! But getting there was the tough part, and Joe cracked under the pressure. The first night he gave in and rocked the little sucka to sleep after numerous go-in-to-reassure-him breaks (where he picked him up every single time - mush!). The second night, after I had guilted him every single time the first night about picking up Patrick, he agreed to just give reassuring pats but as soon as he came out of that room he was counting the second til he could go back in. 4 minutes into a 10-minute stretch he was begging to go back in. Fortunately, Patrick fell asleep during that 10-minute stretch, Joe didn't have to go in, and I didn't have to remind him (again) to stick to his guns.

So it looks like I've become the bad guy, but at least I can finally get some sleep :)

Don't go chasing waterfalls, because they are REALLY tough to grab

Patrick's favorite place in the apartment is the tub, whether he's in the shower with one of us (kinda tough to lather up your shampoo, but he likes it), taking a bath by himself, or simply standing by the tub while we get ready in the morning - this kid is obsessed.

Also obsessed with his tongue.

Our new baby

Well, not a baby in the traditional sense... Joe and I started our own design company, our baby, aptly named J&K Design. Really, since Joe is working for Whiting-Turner and it's a design company, it's my business (my baby!), but he is the construction coordinator/handyman and likes to be involved, so it's our business. Plus then I don't feel the weight of the world is on my shoulders! So, while we are still working to set up and advertise the business, we HAVE created our own website - JKDesignCO.com! So please check it out. And then hire us :)

If you're a little too busy to visit the website this moment (so why are we reading blogs, hmmmm?), I'll fill you in real quick-like: as the lead designer at J&K Design I am available for design consultations for your home or business, ranging from simple color and design consultation (stressed over how to paint your dining room? how to arrange that new living room set with a TV and fireplace?) to full-on additions and renovations (priced by the square foot). Everyone deserves a comfortable, functional, and beautiful space to live and work, so it is worth a little time and money invested in the right place to make that happen. The average person spends 97% of their life indoors; don't you want to make that 97% wonderful? If so, call J&K Design! 970-229-5881 or visit our website (like I mentioned).

I'm Falling for you. Yeah, YOU!

With such WONDEROUS fall weather (please stay like this 'til Halloween, please stay like this 'til Halloween...) I moseyed to our nearest park and snapped some shots of Patrick (really, it was his idea). Let's just mention a few things, though:

1. I am no professional photographer (not that anyone was accusing me of being one! Hey, you've all seen my blog). I could scrapbook photos from here to Kingdom Come, but take 'em? Neh-eh. To some extent, this is what scrapbooking is about - taking a whole bunch of average photos and turning them into something WAY better than average. Sometimes you get lucky and can scrapbook wedding photos, but most of the time it's just me, in the leaves with my semi-decent camera (see #2). So although not utterly to-die-for (or even get seriously ill for), these pics SHOULD make a DANG cute scrapbooked page.

2. I do not have a professional camera, or really even what could be deemed a "decent" camera (in recent years - it's digital, but that's about the extent of it's awesomeness). So I just keep on shooting, hoping one will turn out with decent light, un-fuzzy, and with a cute expression from the kiddo. Sometimes, hundreds of photos later, this still doesn't happen.

3. I did not leave the house with the intention of taking photos, we just wanted to enjoy the leaves, so probably a camoflage shirt would not be my 1st choice for true Posterity Photography. But there ya have it. Here, in no particular order, are some of the good, the bad, and the funny.

Where Joe is such a bum he won't even write about his own accomplishments.

Soooooooooo................................

...................drumroll....................

*ddrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr*

.....(c'mon, that's my drumroll!).....

We're moving to Denver!

Not tomorrow, not even next month, but early next year.... because Joe accepted a job! He'll be working for Whiting-Turner Contracting, the company he's currently working for and has been working for for 18 months, so THAT part's not so much a huge surprise. But now instead of working hourly he'll be salary, which means they can keep him even longer in the evening without further compensation! Ok, ok, we really are really excited - for many reasons! Let's list 'em off, because that's what we like to do (make lists, that is - keep up)

1. Denver is closer to Grand Junction AND Pueblo AND Texas, where my family (and Joe's sister) live. It is the same distance to Craig, where Joe's parents live, so no harm no foul. Plus, it's kind of a centralized Colorado locale so hopefully people will come to US instead! :)
2. Although salary does have its long days, it ALSO has its short days where you're getting paid whether or not you take a long lunch and then leave at 2 p.m. Plus, paid vacation!
3. Joe's salary will be considerably more than he makes hourly, for the same job with the same people in the same place at the same company. I'll just skip the part where I think "What?! That's ridiculous!" and go straight to "Thank goodness! It's about time."
4. Along with better wages, he now has the right to a company phone so sub-contractors can now leave his personal cell phone alone. Once again, skipping the "that's ridiculous" phase and moving right along....
5. Whiting-Turner is an expanding nation-wide company so we can move to another office if we so desire (they DO have offices in Texas and Virginia...)
6. Insurance!!! How I long to thrust my insurance card at the receptionist and say "Seeeee? No co-pay, sucka! And don't send me a bill!" That, in itself, may be better than the ACTUAL perks of having insurance....at least the first time.
7. Denver is where the airport is, so it cuts out the leg of the trip of actually getting to the airport whenever we fly!
8. Denver has more songs written about it than Fort Collins does.
9. Now that he's accepted a job we can house-hunt with confidence!
10. New insurance means new little ones - babies, that is! We're excited to expand our little brood wherever we live, and if it just so happens that we live in Denver and Joe works for a great company, that's GREAT.

So that's the big news! Not exactly from the horse's mouth because Mr. Ed isn't talking (or blogging), but at least from the horse's mate. That's all, folks!

In one (or more) words

Awww, Erin... what a girl. I am secretly in LOVE with posts like these (crap! secret's out!) and fill them out 99% before deleting them and thinking "whew! dodged that bullet. I nearly wasted all my time filling that out!" *doh!* So, aparantly, the tricky little twist to this blogging madness is to answer in one word (which, incidentally, is TWO words, so I should answer in ONE).

1. Where is your cell phone? couch-ay (how we pronounce couch in my very small family)
2. Where is your significant other? couch-ay
3. Your hair color? ugly
4. Your mother? small!
5. Your father? balding (sorry dad! second secret's out)
6. Your favorite thing? CHOCOLATE
7. Your dream last night? scaaaaandelous
8. Your dream/goal? peace (for myself, not the world - I'm not Miss America. Also, I don't count these long answers as more than one word because this is in parentheses)
9. The room you're in? dining room/office/kitchen/living room (small-ish apartment,ok?)
10. Your hobby? scrapbooking
11. Your fear? outliving (the ones I love - see? only one word answer! Still counts!)
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? mega-mommy
13. Where were you last night? dining room/office/kitchen/living room
14. What you're not? smelly
15. One of your wish-list items? DustBuster
16. Where you grew up? Junction!
17. The last thing you ate? bowlofchocolatechips
18. What are you wearing? contacts
19. Your TV? AWESOME
20. Your pet? petstore
21. Your computer? AWESOME x2
22. Your mood? regretful (should I have mentioned this was supposed to be in one-word answers? That seems like a bad decision in hind-sight...)
23. Missing someone? Mr. Sandman
24. Your car? graham-crackery
25. Something you're not wearing? contacts (whaaaaaaat??)
26. Favorite store? SuperTarget (cue the dreamy sigh) (I agree with Erin on this one)
27. Your summer? blazing
28. Love someone? Doy/no doy
29. Your favorite color? pink (but not for my favorite hobby, pink is terrible to scrapbook)
30. When is the last time you laughed? evening
31. Last time you cried? baby

I award the following 3 people with the "I Love Your Blog Award"and in so doing tag them to complete the above questions: 1. Elsha (when she gets over the plague) 2. Kari 3. April

#3

~ "We have visual on tooth #3."
~ "Roger that."

....and MAN was it preceeded by a whole lotta drool.

Trip to Denver - relived

A few weeks ago Joe took Patrick down to Denver to grandma and grandpa Jacobs' house (my first day alone) to visit the g-parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and the like. Here are a couple photos of the day (remember when the weather was this beautiful?)

The four Jacobs Generations - Great-Grandpa Ray, Grandpa John, Dad Joe and babyPatrick

Patrick rides with Joe (ok, he just poses)

Patrick rides alone! Don't worry, we only let him go around the block once.

Bucket List

I mentioned in a long-gone-by blog list that Joe and I have started our own Bucket Lists. So I thought I'd post those.

Kirsta's "To Do" (it's now The List!)
1. Play in a symphony (this is more likely to come true if we live in a town big enough to have a symphony but small enough to not be REALLY competitive)
2. Have something permanent (a tree, a park bench, an entire park, a book) dedicated to me. I should probably also have something on my list that is dedication-worthy, too...but I don't. In my self-centered defense, though, if you do something just to get recognition, you don't deserve the recognition that you get. I just hope to do something somewhere along the line that will really impact someone.
3. Climb a 14-er. I've lived in Colorado almost my whole life and I still haven't done this! Pitiful. But I refuse to die being pitiful, so it's on The List.
4. Have a major role in a play. I did a few plays when I was younger, and lots of Music Theater (but Music Theater doesn't have major roles, unless you count being in a duet of "Cuddle Up a Little Closer") Once again, mid-sized town would be GREAT for this.

Joe's "To Do"
1. Ride in a fighter jet (Eric, I maybe you could go with him!)
2. Travel the US on a motorcycle (not sure who he thinks he's going to do this with...Eric, again? Brian? Karl? Any takers?)
3. Get his pilots license. Not for a fighter jet, though.

I know our lists are short, but we both agree that we've had such awesome lives so far that there just isn't that much more we would add! I could kick that bucket tomorrow and feel pretty good about it. How about all you readers? Anything you have on your list? Anything I should add?

Help!

From now on when we call Patrick our "Little Helper" we aren't necessarily being sarcastic. Yesterday instead of just taking his snack out of the bowl, he also put it back in. Eh? Eh? And tonight at dinner instead of just getting fed, he fed some of his tortilla to Joe! And it was on purpose! Those are some pretty big steps! Next I plan to put the vaccum in his hands... that is, as soon as he stops crying when I turn it on.

Lick This

I think everyone understands that babies are FASCINATED by their bodies, like after they discover their toes they just can't seem to leave 'em alone! Same thing here, only it's his tongue, and he cannot seem to leave it in his mouth! It's been days now... that thing has to be getting dry.

Because I promised

I'll finally blog again tonight because I promised I would, but I am REALLY distracted by Breaking Dawn, which I am FINALLY reading and which is patiently waiting for me on the couch. Patrick is in bed, Joe's at a meeting, and a delicious slice of chocolate birthday cake (happy birthday, dad!) is in the fridge... but a promise is a promise, so the sooner I blog, the sooner I eat cake while reading my book in peace! (If you've read Breaking Dawn, DO NOT give away the ending by asking "oh, are you to the part yet where....??" I'm probably not, so don't ruin it!)

Our little family traipsed on down to Grand Junction this weekend to visit my parents/brother/grandma and although it was a short weekend, MAN did we have fun! Friday night was pretty low-key since we got in at 8 p.m. but Patrick was wide awake after snoozing most of the ride down so we DID stay up. He was a little hesitant about such a big new (all over again) place and new (all over again) faces, but he quickly got over his fears and ran all over the living room with his walker. See him scootin' and talking to himself? (This is in Fort Collins, but it really looks the same wherever he goes.) That's my boy!

Saturday my dad took Joe and my brother Eric golfing (thanks for the new golf clubs, economic stimulous!) where I hear Joe played a great game. Maybe Joe can tell you about it himself, if he ever decides to blog (so .... don't hold your breath). My mom and I, meanwhile, got busy and tackled their main floor bathroom. I love my parents. They are hard workers who have sacrificed all kinds of things for their children - sleep, money, a little bit of sanity, and the pleasure or having beautiful new furniture and fixtures. Once we 5 children were gone, though, those small sacrifices were not so necessary and they have been replacing old things for new one by one. A new TV, where you didn't have to pull the knob to turn it on and wrangle "bunny ears" to get decent reception. New carpet for the living room that wasn't two-toned in an obvious traffic pattern. A new toilet for their main floor bathroom that isn't hideously brown and commented on by every guest who uses it ("I've never seen a brown toilet before!"), and even a new sink to match! Unfortunately, the neutrally-colored toilet and sink clashed with the neutrally-colored walls (you wouldn't think it possible, but it most certainly is) and the room still managed to look bad. UNTIL THIS WEEKEND (Dun dun DUUUUNNNN!!!)

Before

After

It makes my heart swell with pride, and that's just one coat of paint! Like I said, the weekend was short, so we will be finishing it with shelves and artwork and a chair rail when we visit again. In December. But 3 months isn't so bad when you've waited what seems like a lifetime for comments on having a great main-floor bathroom.

Saturday night we had Red Lobster for my dad's Birthday Dinner Choice - going out to eat is probably one of the very best parts about visiting parents. I feel spoiled when I get Taco Bell twice in one week; you can imagine how extravagent Red Lobster feels! Dinner was followed by more painting for my mom and I, combined with watching Patrick, and movies and Playstation for Eric and Joe (hmmm, something seem a little unfair??)

Sunday was a little down time - more birthday celebrations for my dad (jeez, dad!) with salmon/sweet potatoes/rice pilaf for lunch and birthday cake and ice cream (alright, maybe I don't mind celebrating so much....) and lots of laying around. Although Patrick should be well into the habit of sleeping through the night, he managed to have two horrendously sleepless nights in a row so by Sunday I was walking around the house looking like the Living Dead in pink pajamas (because one just cannot be motivated to get dressed after 3 hours of sleep). He DID manage to redeem himself by sleeping 11 hours last night, so I guess we'll keep him a little while longer. We stayed through the afternoon as long as wek could, but it IS a 5-hour trip so we had to leave sooner than later :( Although I hate winter, I do look forward to the abundance of holidays that give us such good excuses to get together again. Thanks, Winter! And thank YOU, dad, for the birthday cake that I'm gonna go eat now.