I'm a Mormon.

For those of you who know me, you probably know I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (known as Mormons). But if you're anything like me, you know a lot less about other religions than you wish you did. So here's a little bit about what being a Mormon means to me. I'm Karen Jacobs. I'm 29 years old, married to the love of my life, with one sweet little guy and one sweet little girl on the way. I'm a Mormon...and that means... 1. I believe that families can be together forever. There doesn't have to be a "until death do us part." So to me, that means that my family relationships are important (vital really). It makes me nicer to them, more patient with my husband and son, and more excited to bring more kids into the world and have them be part of my family. Although death still is a little scary, it really helps me to know that we can be together even after we die. It makes my life a little more peaceful. 2. I believe that we are all children of God. It makes me want to be kinder and more understanding of others. Knowing this helps me to look inward and find the good in myself and others, even when it's hard. It helps me be closer to my Heavenly Father because I'm here on earth with his kids and he's interested in how I treat them (including myself.) 3. I believe we can repent when we make a mistake. My love for Jesus Christ grows every time I think of the sacrifice he made for all of us. I know that even though we mess up (a lot) we can ask forgiveness and we'll be forgiven. Pretty amazing. 4. I know I can know what is true and what is not. I don't go to church every week or follow the teachings of the church blindly. I have prayed for myself and studied the scriptures to know for myself. When I do pray for guidance, I receive answers through the Holy Ghost. It's a warm feeling of peace that I feel within myself. It's a hard emotion to describe but one that isn't easy to ignore. I know that feeling can come when we need guidance, when we need to know how to proceed in parenting, when we need to be stopped from being unkind or whatever...It's amazing that God can communicate with us in this way. It means a lot more to me than just that, but the bottom line is, being a member of this church and following Christ's teachings brings me peace and joy, in good times and in hard times. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me or you can visit www.mormon.org :)

Noah Alexander

Last weekend we got to go visit Jeanette and Jason and meet their new little cutie. He's not a fan of sleeping or being put down, but he loves to eat and snuggle. Such a sweetie pie!

I love the suspicious look here. "You're not my mom. Feed me and maybe we can be friends."

Here's his innocent face. "My mom must be mistaken. I have been sleeping perfectly well through the night. Would this face lie?" Sleepy guy with my little monster in the background.

"Pick me up! Pick me up! Pick me up!!" I have to admit. He looks pretty cute when he cries.

Andrew enjoyed the weekend. Here he is holding a controller while the boys (Mike, Jason, and Aaron) played video games. He thought he was pretty big stuff.

And here he is in the massager. He thought it was hilarious...and it kind of looks like he's doing a little dance here.

Proud grandma. My mom has been with Jeanette for about 2 months now (due to the blood clot, bed rest, and all the complications with the pregnancy and birth). Jeanette's loving having her around, and I know how grateful she is to have such a hard working, selfless woman be her mom. Thanks for being there when we couldn't, Mom! (All the baby snuggles are your payment.)

Here I am holding the baby. I look absolutely exhausted...

Welcome to the family little one!

Welcome Little Kangaroo!!

Here's the newest little love in our lives, my sister Jeanette's sweet little guy born yesterday. His name is still TBD, so we just call him Kangaroo - Sierra's suggestion for his name. (Silly little girl.)
They live about 4 hours away from us, so we have to wait until later this month to go visit (dang it!) and we just can't wait to meet him. Mama and baby are doing great, although exhausted after a hard pregnancy and complicated labor and delivery.
I'm so happy for Jeanette and Jason. They have been waiting for this little sweetheart for years, and he's finally here. We know they're going to make fantastic parents. Can't wait to meet you, little buddy. We love you already.

Happy St. Patty's!

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day today by eating green eggs and green milk for breakfast, green French toast for lunch, and baked potatoes for dinner. (The famine is over.) We also dressed in green (cause it'd really be a shame to have to pinch your own kid on a holiday.)

My task for the day: get a picture of the ever-moving boy. This is the closest we got. :)

He ate everything but the eggs. Like his yogurt face? Like the yogurt table? The kid is picky and terribly messy, but adorable.
And here's an old one, but isn't he a sweetie?

Erin Go Braugh!

Hi Bobby.

Lately Andrew's been saying "Bobby" all the time to us. I haven't been able to figure it out until yesterday when Mike got home and Andrew said, "Hi Daddy! Hi Bobby!" Then I realized he wasn't saying Bobby, but was saying 'Buddy.' We both call him buddy all the time, and it's way more than cute that he's now calling us that too.

His other cutie new thing is family hugs. He LOVES them. Anytime one of us is holding him, he'll reach out to the other and say "hug" and pull us into a big family hug. It's the sweetest thing ever.

I gotta say, I seriously love that kid. And I love his little family.

25 Weeks and Update

Our little non-napper is doing a little better. There were a couple days last week when he didn't nap, but the majority of the time he does well. Especially if we get his stuffed animals all wrapped up and ready for bed first. He's a little sweetie.

We woke up to a winter wonderland outside. Sigh. It's beautiful and I typically love snow, but I am really really ready for Spring. Whine, whine.
Here's our little girl at 25 weeks. I love her little elf nose in this one. Too cute. She is so active, and we're getting so excited to meet her.

Here's me with Jeanette, my sister. This was taken 2 weeks ago. Jeanette is about ready to have her little guy - just 2 weeks to go!

Here's me. I was 23 weeks in this one. And yes, I'm wearing Jeanette's shirt here.

I'm happy to be carrying this little girl. I'm excited to meet her, and glad that this pregnancy is going well other than my hormones making me overly emotional. I have had a lot of problems with getting upset at silly things, being overly tired, not being able to address issues easily, and all those other oh-so-fun things. Bleh.

Lil Napper

Andrew has started refusing to take naps. He'll lay there forever if I leave him, but he won't fall asleep. There are days when he naps, and days when he won't. The problem is when he doesn't nap, he falls apart by 4:30 in the afternoon and is that way until he goes to bed at 7. He's only 21 months, and I really don't feel like he's ready to skip out on naps, especially since he falls apart so early.

Help...

Chocolate Chip Cookie 2.0

Out of sheer laziness, this little baby was born. The chocolate chip cookie muffin.

Pure deliciousness.

Make your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, put them in muffin tins, bake until they look right, then enjoy. The outside is buttery-crispy, the inside is soft and chewy. So amazing. And if you're like me and like your cookies all chewy, just pop them in a plastic baggie when they've cooled and they'll soften up perfectly.

Mine are all gone. And that is sad.

Me no likey.

Some things I don't like:

1. The feel of cotton balls. I can't touch them. It's horrible and makes my teeth hurt.
2. When spouses are mean or degrading to one another. It bothers me. A whole lot.
3. Math. Cause it's math.
4. Olives. I like black olives on pizza, but that's it. I've really tried to like other kinds, but I just can't.
5. The dark. Cause I'm a serious wuss.
6. Small heights. Big heights really don't bother me too much, but small ones like ladders and stuff really bother me.
7. Fish. Just not a fan.


But pretty much everything else I like. :)

Chicken Lasagna

This lasagna is so easy. You can make the chicken and veggies any way you want. I've had it with frozen veggies, canned chicken, steamed veggies, etc. But the way we like it best is with chicken and veggies grilled on the grill. This time we used red peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, onions, and mushrooms. Mike and Andrew grilled it up and boy was it fantastic!!!

Luckily yesterday was a really nice day. They were so excited to be outside together. They're buddies. Can you tell? :)

Here's the filling - yummmmmm.....

You just make layers of lasagna noodles, mozzarella, alfredo sauce, and the chicken and veggies. I put a little basil in with the onions when I was cooking them, but other than that it didn't need anything any spices.

Oops. I just drooled a little on my keyboard.

Sorry I don't have any real measurements or anything, but any way you make it, it will be amazing.