Adventures of the Dread Pirate Chapmans

Holiday Greetings!

2011-12-21T19:10:00.004-07:00

So my Christmas cards were lacking this year, and we took family pictures but our poor photographer had a baby 10 weeks early before she could get us a disc....we might send those out next year! So here's a small update on us and a few pics of the cute kidlins. Jax is busy as ever and has such a crazy imagination. He still loves dancing, especially after he saw auntie Tay dance for BYU's Christmas Around the World. We got front row seats and he didn't take his eyes off the stage. So now he does "preformances" for us all the time, costume changes and everything. He goes "backstage" and pulls all my clothes out of the closet and ends up in some outfits that Bryan doesn't condone...but hey he's just a toddler. :) He also says the funniest things, I've started keeping a page of quotes, some of his recent are:

"Mom, your handwashing was fantastic!"
(When I cleaned out his ears) "I had that there for decoration, I need it back."
"We're just a cute little family, out for a walk."
"I'm going to surprise you with a winter dance!"

Love that kid. And he's really just a great big brother. He love Bren and always take time to play with her. And of course she laughs hysterically at every move he makes. It's so fun to watch them together. And as for little Bren, she's been army crawling since 5 months, but she only does it with her right arm, it moves so fast :) She's rocking on her knees a lot now, but hasn't started crawling yet. Her latest trick though is standing up. Just yesterday she pulled herself up in her crib for the first time, it shocked me when I went in to get her from her nap. She wanted to keep practicing and spent half of last night doing just that...we ended up lowering her crib at midnight b/c we were getting so nervous about her leaning out. And then she'd pull herself up and get stuck and cry for us. When we went in she was just beaming, so proud of herself. She also found she could reach her mobile. So we also removed that after midnight...

We're all good and hope all of you and your families are too! Love you and Merry Christmas!

Does anyone else have a ridiculous time putting photos in?! Geesh... So in random order and all over the place, we have Jaxy's nativity he set up, an example of how I find Jax's pants all over the house, undies in tact :), proud Brenny when I found her after her nap today, the kids reading with Bry, Brenna propped on her side (she always sits like that it's our favorite) and Jaxy in costume :)

Not Funny

2011-07-19T19:34:00.004-06:00

Just had to write two stories to remember that happened Sunday and tonight. Sunday, while in the adult Sunday School class, the nursery leader brings Jax into the doorway. He walks to the middle of the room, looks at me and announces (loudly), "I need to poop." Everyone laughs, of course. So as we're walking to the bathroom, he says, "Everyone laughed, but potty talk is not funny." So true. And Bry is out tonight, and Jax is so sad dadda isn't here. So as I left his room I just reminded him that he could pray for daddy if he was feeling sad. A minute later I hear talking in his room, so I snuck to the door and heard the tail-end of his prayer: "Please help dadda (sniff, sniff), I just wanted him at our house (sniff, sniff), please help dadda. I just wanted him and I was crying." He tried so hard to hold it together through it. I was proud he felt like he could talk to Heavenly Father though, even though it was breaking my heart! And a few sweet pictures of the kiddos doing what Jax and I have termed "baby-toy time" in the crib. They both love it. And a cute pic of an exhausted baby chilling with daddy.

Also, thanks so much to our Washington family for letting us stay SO long and showing us a good time! We love you guys! Sorry about the grumpy, tired kids.

Our cuties

2011-06-06T08:36:00.003-06:00

We blessed Brenna yesterday, it was a great day! She looked so cute and slept through the blessing, also good. She's a special girl, we knew that already, but her blessing was really neat. I'm also going to stick a few pictures in here of things I don't want to forget. Like the way Brenna puts her little fist under her chin when you cradle her, Jax playing on the floor with Brenna, and Jax wearing his undies backwards. That's the way he puts them on and "I like it that way!"

Also, doesn't Bry look so handsome?

Don't freak out

2011-05-17T20:08:00.003-06:00

Bryan: "Jax your undies are inside-out and backwards"
Jax laughs, then says: "Don't freak out dadda."

Pre-teen? I then proceeded to ask him to go take a potty break. "Mom I can't because a leprechaun stole my pee."

I love the things he comes up with. I'm trying to write them down so I don't forget and can tease him for the rest of his life. :)

Doing service

2011-05-14T15:37:00.002-06:00

Jax kept himself busy for an hour today rebuilding a town that was lost to a giant and a "crazy windstorm." He said he was doing service for the people who lost their homes. He took it very seriously, and emptied his entire bookshelf :) What a sweetie! I hope those people appreciate their new homes.

We're here!

2011-05-14T09:09:00.003-06:00

Been a long time since we've posted anything! Baby Brenna is here and doing good-one month old now, and Jax is a great big brother! His job is to "pretect baby sister." He loves her "toesie woesies" and just laughs at how little she is. He is way into Tangled right now. He carries around a 5-foot long pink ribbon with him at all times that he holds to his head for his Rapunzel hair. He throws it down the stairs to pull dad up when he gets home from work. He even holds it riding in the car and at nap times. Long hair is a lot of work! So between dancing, pretending to be Rapunzel and playing dinosaur train, he's a busy guy. He also has a great imagination now, it's so fun. We're in character most of the day. The other day he came out of his room when I was trying to get him down for a nap, and he said, I found a note that said, "Get out of bed Jax." So obviously he had to come out. He is always saying things that make us laugh. He also knows who Lady Gaga is and knows when a song of hers comes on the radio. I have never introduced him to Lady Gaga (not a fan) and I seriously have no idea how he knows her music, it's kind of freaking me out.

Baby Brenna is so cute and doing great. She had to be under bilirubin lights for 10 days, which was torture for everyone, but she's been great ever since. Newborn sleeping is hard to get used to, but I'm finally getting the hang of it. We love having her here! She's just starting to smile and coo a little bit, and we're eating it up.

Just have to dedicate a section to my mom here. She is amazing!! She has helped us out so much the past 10 months and I can't thank her enough. Brenna has my mom's (and my) middle name and I hope she gets her qualities too. She's always bringing dinners down and coming to help when she can and she's so kind and loving and I just feel so grateful to have such an amazing mother! I hope she knows how much we love and appreciate her!!! The rest of my family's all right too..... ;) I love and appreciate you all! You've all been awesome.

Well I'll try to keep updated better. It helps me keep track of the cute things I want to remember about my kiddos.

Here's some pics!

JAx mowing the lawn with daddy, and below (b/c I don't know how to organize pictures on blogger.... ) is Jax trying on Brenna's dress - to be Rapunzel of course- Jax and Brenna holding hands in the car - they both fell asleep holding hands, so adorable! - and Brenna under her bilirubin lights- hate those things!!

Toddler Jax

2010-06-17T13:40:00.003-06:00

Not so much new going on here, just working in the yard and working in general. So just wanted to make an excuse to post cute pictures of Jax. His thing lately - other than dancing - is dressing up. And he LOVES coloring. He can color for an hour straight if I give him pictures of dinosaurs. Also, he's been talking in his sleep the past few nights. It started with him yelling "wood!", I went in to check on him and he said "Granna, sit." (Granna is my mom). The next night he just yelled out "Crumpit!" (that's our new dog by the way...ok, so I do have a little to mention there). He gets it from him dad. If I haven't told you the story about Bryan talking about being sexy and successful in his sleep, just ask. :)

So we got a dog two weeks ago. It was kind of a fluke, but Bry fell in love with this English setter at the pound and we had to bring him home. He works me over. He peed in the house four times the first day (I kept forgiving him and thinking he wouldn't do it again...) then he peed on my leg and he pulled me into the dirt when I tried to walk him, still, he's cute.

Here are some cute pics of Jax, don't have any of Crumpit yet.

Jaxy and Jar drawing. Jaxy likes coloring at his own little table

Coach and Jax watching "Just Haven't Met You Yet" music video. He loves it and asks for it - and that seriously wasn't my doing. Maybe I turned it on once, but who hasn't? My dad loves it.

Jax in one of his many disguises. Towels are actually his favorite to wear. A very close second is the Buddy outfit from Bry's My Buddy doll. The pants are tight capris on Jax and the shirt doesn't fit over his head - and he loves it.

Jax chillin' on our bed. So much personality :) We love that kid!

Birthday girl

2010-04-02T15:26:00.003-06:00

My birthday was last week but I told Bryan it wasn't over until the Buble concert (about a week after my birthday). I have a great husband to celebrate with me for a week. So the culmination of birthday week was the big concert! We were so lucky to win front row tickets to my most favorite artist of all time - Michael Buble - and it was so amazing! I never thought I'd sit front row at one of his concerts. And Bryan brought in his "Kiss my wife" sign (since that was part of how we won the competition), and Michael saw it in the middle of a song. His eyes got all big and he stepped back and smiled at me. It was really a fantastic concert, he was amazing live, and Bryan and I had so much fun. I'll never forget it! Thank you to everyone who voted, that was seriously so amazing. So, here are a few pics from the show, and a few cute ones of our darling Jax :)

Oh my gosh, the stage is RIGHT BEHIND US!

Pretty sure he was singing to me here.....

This is not photoshopped...that close!!

This is not photoshopped either, I came home from a church meeting and Bryan said, "I thought he was just drawing on the paper I gave him..."

In front of his new fish tank, we started with 12 fish, two frogs and three snails. 6 fish are still alive, they went shark on us and ate the snails and the frogs are holding their own. So nasty

Mo, Mo

2010-02-02T14:30:00.004-07:00

"Mo" used to mean "more," now it's "no." He uses it so well!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-11T13:56:00.004-07:00

Sarah, Brandon and the boys and Jax shoveling, he is loving the snow!

Just wanted to post a little about our holiday adventures. It was a great season, we had lots of fun with family. Brandon and Sarah and the boys came out for a week right before Christmas - so brave! Jax had a great time following around his cousins and poking at baby Jonah. He just stopped trying to walk down the stairs like the cousins too. (Hopefully we can buy ourselves a little more time there.) They got to be here for Bry's birthday too, so that was really fun. The guys tried to go fishing, Sarah and I got some shopping in, it was a great time. Thanks for making the trek guys! Then for New Years, we flew to Texas with all my family to see my Uncle T and family. It was the first time ever we've all been together, and we had a really great time! They are really wonderful hosts and we have cute, awesome cousins, and I can't wait to see them all again. We got to go the Alamo, which was neat, the riverwalk in San Antonio - a must see if you ever go there - and experience real Tex-Mex (not as good as Uncle T's cooking). Here are a few pics from the holidays.

Here we are at the Alamo, Jax liked the rocks, and below is Jax enjoying a Christmas sucker and looking like a mess.

Oh wait, I have to say that Bryan got me the best X-mas present ever, tickets to Michael Buble's concert in March! Yay. And... Jax was adorable opening his presents, he would rip off the wrapping paper in tiny pieces and throw them, so it took a while. Also, best wishes to my grandpa Miskell, hope you get feeling better soon. Also, I need to see if I can post a funny video of Shelby chasing birds..can't forget that.

Jaxy-isms

2009-12-02T19:29:00.004-07:00

Here are a few dang cute things I don't want to forget about our crazy toddler...

Jax LOVES helping. Every time he see us open the oven he runs and puts an oven mitt on. He also helps with dishes, whenever I turn on the water he drags a chair to the sink.

He loves playing hide and seek. His favorite thing is to put things under his leg and then put his hands up next to his head (the "I don't know" sign) when we ask where it went. He can do that over and over...and he does! It's adorable. He's also a little helper right now. If (when) he spills he'll say "uh oh" and go get a towel and wipe it up.
His little buddy got water all over himself the other day and Jax ran for a towel and patted him down. He also loves his daddy (and shoes "doos") and will run to daddy to step on his doos when he gets home from work. He also is learning how to rip his clothes off. He didn't quite get it the other day though, got it over his head (the cute pic on the left) and then ran around patting his belly, it was really funny.

We love that kid! Always something...

Before and after

2009-11-16T12:40:00.004-07:00

Also had to post what's been keeping Bry and me up until nearly midnight every night for the past week. Been busy painting! Bryan actually sprained his ankle the night we (I) started, so he watched for the first few days, but thankfully, was able to really help out in the end. We really like the way it turned out!

We do exist . . .

2009-11-16T12:02:00.004-07:00

Here's what we've been up to:
Okay, I have no idea how to organize pictures on blogger - lame! So here's the descriptions: Far left, Dr. Jax on Halloween with Nacho Libre (Jaron) - too bad you can't see his nylons and underwear over them! And then Jax on the phone is at the Children's Museum in TX, where Uncle T took us. Below that is Uncle T! We love him and had such a blast visiting. And down below is the annual tradition of tagging a Christmas tree. Didn't take too long this year and we mostly agreed! It's lots of fun and we always go to the candy factory afterwards, which is also a great tradition. :)

The House! and a haircut

2009-09-10T20:04:00.004-06:00

Well I am finally posting pictures of the house for Brittney! Sorry it's taken me so long Britt! It's still not as clean as I want it to be....but if I wait any longer it will never happen. I've learned my house is never really clean, but I'm accepting it b/c I love the baby who makes all the messes!

Also, we cut off Jax's darling locks (sigh), so I have to post the before and after shots. And! Have I mentioned on here that Jax is walking all over the place? More like running these days. He worked up a sweat tonight literally running circles around us downstairs. It's so adorable. And he always has something in his fists, doesn't go anywhere without something, so things are getting lost.....

Okay, I'm putting all the picture captions up here b/c blogger is lame and I can't get a text box under the photos....

So, first is one angle of Jaxy's room and my version of "curtains" (working on it). Next is the downstairs living room (the playroom for now), then a few different angles of the great room upstairs. The rest of the bedrooms are boring, just white walls now. We have cool lofts above two of the rooms though, including Jax's, but we haven't done anything yet up there. We'll evetually make them little play lofts and put ladders up to them. I want to paint the great room soon too...probably tan? And our bedrooms is just white too, it's a good size though and we have a master bath, which is sweet!

And below the house, Jax's before and after hair-do pics. :) He looks like such a toddler with the new do.

Birthday Boy!

2009-08-24T20:44:00.004-06:00

Jax is officially one year old. I am not sure how I feel about it... that year went so fast and I already feel like I'm losing him! I just adore that kid. I can't imagine life without him.

So, we threw him a birthday party up the canyon with some family and friends and it was so much fun. We are so lucky to have some amazing family and friends. Anyway, just wanted to put some of the party pics up here and hopefully a video my good friend Jen made for Jaxy too.

Jax we love you sooo much! Happy, happy birthday!!!

When he finally got into his chocolate basketball cake (the cakes were cute thanks to Brook!)

In his plastic bag . . just protecting the cute birthday outfit.

Before he dug in. He wasn't quite sure what to do for a few minutes, we had to help him along.

This was on the way to the party. We had to wake him up go so he was a little out of it at first.

Few more things

2009-08-07T21:08:00.003-06:00

Just had to put a few more pictures in here. We just had a great visit with Brandon and Sarah and their cute boys and have some fun pictures from that. The boys were so good with Jax! We're glad he has so many cousins to look up to and grow up with.

Cute nephews Sterling and Hyrum at the Dinosaur Museum

Jax and Sterling playing drums in the kitchen together - and then, Sterling made that spoon a weapon, and then, he killed me

Hyrum and Jax looking at fossils. Hyrum totally reminds us of Jax in a year or so, busy and so cute!

Everyone waiting in line at the Dinosaur Museum (that's not the only thing we did the whole time, just what I have pics of!)

And lastly, below, a picture of Jax standing on our hike, that's a continuation from the last blog post, it wouldn't let me add it there for some reason.......

New adventures

2009-08-07T20:47:00.003-06:00

We are in our new home! We've been here for about a month and it really does feel like home - I think that's Jaxy's doing since he's crawled in every corner and cupboard and spread his toys in every room - I love it! We feel really blessed to be here and feel like we're in the right place. Jax already has some really cute friends next door and we're settling right in. We are soo grateful for all the help we had from family and friends to get here, you'll never know how much that meant to us. Thank you so much!!

Jax is also almost one year old! I can't believe it. He's growing up so fast I didn't think it was possible to love him more but Bryan and I adore him more every day. He is so fun and just so special, we are so lucky to have him, we really had nothing before him, sounds corny, but so true! He's just amazing. He is really trying to walk these days, he's getting more brave every day, but he usually needs to hold a hand to stay steady. It's so fun watching him get his balance and gain confidence though. He's trying to copy some words too, like "choo choo," he's says "too," and he always points at things he's watching or trying to figure out and he'll grab our hands and hold them up and make us point too. He loves life. We took him hiking last weekend and he stood the entire time in the backpack and just checked everything out. Here are some pictures of him lately:

Jax loves being outside and putting his face (and snotty nose in this case) on the window.

Bryan and Jax exploring the creek in Hobble Creek Canyone by our house. Jax loved the water and didn't mind the cold at all, he never complained - he actually just kept trying to sit in it - brrr

Jax with a little gel in his hair. Can we really cut that? Oh it's so cute. We're having the "cut or not to cut" debate right now....

Jax helping daddy clean before the big move

Moving along...

2009-06-15T19:20:00.004-06:00

I think this will be our last post for a little while, things are getting super busy and we have to get packing and moving! But wanted to post a few cute memories (I probably look at these more than anyone else!).

Runnin' Jax

2009-06-02T13:11:00.003-06:00

Just had to post a cute video of Jax running circles. It's his new favorite thing to hold my hands and walk all over and it's hilarious to see where he leads me - last night, it was just around and around until I made him stop because my legs were tired.

We hate railroad tracks.... and cars

2009-05-28T10:50:00.006-06:00

It's been a crazy few weeks for us! Two weeks ago, Bry crashed his road bike going over railroad tracks, he hit a lip going about 14 and went straight up and straight down. He cracked his helmet in three places, and we thought his shoulder too, but luckily there were no breaks. He did end up with some ligament and muscle damage, but seems to be doing a lot better this week. About four days after that happened, Jax and I got rear-ended. Totaled our car, but we are both Okay! So scary with a baby in the car. I am seeing a doctor for some twisted vertibre from whiplash, but overall, we feel really lucky that it wasn't worse. On a happy note, our house is moving right along (totally framed, plumbed) and Jax is doing great! He cut his first tooth two days ago, top-left front tooth, he's pulling up and standing all the time and crawling around. He just gets more and more fun, and cute.

Here are some pictures of our past few weeks:

Jax out for a walk. He rides with his feet up on the tray and makes me feel like I'm chouffering him around! He loves being outside.

Jax at my parent's on Memorial Day. He had fun climbing the fence - and their stairs (his new favorite talent)

Jax swinging with his buddy Asher

Auntie Brooke holding Jax in front of our house

Bry after the ER. His poor purple ear got really swollen too.
Little movie of Jax playing in his crib. I am posting it for my Grandma Miskell so she can get to know Jax and his cute personality a little. Enjoy!

Our House! The beginnings....

2009-05-10T14:56:00.003-06:00

We went out to our house yesterday with my parents, it's starting to come together! We are so excited. Here's what we've got so far.

We love the views. We've got mountains all around.

Also, Happy Mother's Day! My first one, I just love being a mom, Jax makes it easy to love. And I had the best example growing up. I have an amazing mother - who is now also an amazing grandmother! - and I am so, so grateful for her and everything she has taught and continues to teach me. I love you mom! Jax with my mom - that's his new cheesy grin Jax all dolled up for Mother's Day. His hair is still hopeless. :) (What little he has)

The Latest

2009-05-04T12:28:00.005-06:00

So we haven't done too good at keeping this up, which I was reminded by Bry's aunt Barb this weekend (thanks for the nudge Barb!) - so here's a little rundown of what we've been up to.

Jax has been busy as ever! He loves trying new things (by trying that usually means tasting) and doing everything. He became mobile in the past month -army crawling) and it's so cute to watch him discover all the new things the floor has to offer. We also had to get a new vacuum because of this because he discovers a whole lot of stuff. He is still a very happy boy and is quick to give anyone a smile who gives him some attention.

On the family front, we just signed on a home! We're building a house in Springville, about 5-10 minutes south of where we are now, so that is very exciting. We also have a new nephew, Jonah, we are excited to meet him. And, Brittney just got married so we have a new addition to the family there too! Welcome Paul! We just got back from their wedding, which was May 2. It was really nice and it was fun to meet lots of family Jax and I didn't know.

Now, to add to my digital photo album, have to post a few really cute pictures of Jax. :)

Classic sad face - one of those and we cave.

Going for a walk, Jax LOVES riding on Bry's shoulders,
he just laughs and laughs. We try to go out every night.
Jax swinging. He loves the park, too!

Jax riding in a bucket. I just love this face.

Jax handling his Coach and Uncle Jar. :) He makes it look easy!
Hope this video works! It's Jax army crawling last week. So cute.

Hawaii and THE DIAPER

2009-03-17T20:05:00.011-06:00

We took Jax on an exciting adventure across the ocean (brave or crazy?) to Hawaii at the beginning of the month. We were so lucky to be hosted by Brook and Matt - who were the best tour guides of the island Oahu - and Jax got a lot of cousin time too. Hawaii was gorgeous, only bummer was we got lots of rain. But we made a lot of fun memories, and that's what matters. Here are some highlights and fun pictures of our adventures:

I wouldn't even know how to begin to pronounce the names of most of these beaches...but this is one of the prettiest.

Jax was so pooped out after a long day sitting on the beach (protected under a little tent we made him) - he just gave up at the end of the day.

I snorkeled! I am so afraid of fish, but none got me.

Jax playing on the sand. This was taken before he dove face first, was covered in sand, and got really, really ticked off. He found out pretty fast that the sand didn't taste good so he was over it.

Jax and his cousin Tanner protected from the rain at the swap meet.

The fam at Pearl Harbor. This was before Jax's hat was blown off his head into the water over the ship. That was embarrasing. They fished it out so fast.

At the Valley of the Temples. Learned a little about Matt's ancestry. :)

A sea turtle! Bry was so proud to get a picture. We both got to see them snorkeling.

I wish we had pictures of all the awesome people we met there too. Thanks to Matt for sharing his family and friends - they were so kind and hospitable.

Now, about that diaper. On the return flight from Portland to SLC, I felt a little rumbling on my lap so I decided to take Jax back for a diaper change. As I waited to get in the restroom I noticed a stain leaked through his onesie and pajamas around his entire waist. This wasn't looking good. There was no changing table in the little bathroom so a steward got us two blankets to lay on the floor. I layed Jax down, unzipped his pajamas and found before me the biggest blowout I have ever seen. It was up past his ribs, down his legs and he managed to get his hands in it. Without going into too much detail, the whole event took about 20 minutes, 15 wet wipes, 10 wet paper towels (the steward stood by and kept handing them to me), 4 antiseptic towelettes and some foam soap (also the stewards idea). We threw away his onesie, pajamas (you have no idea how caked on that stuff was), and the two blankets I changed him on. Jax and I returned to our seat just as the plane started descending into Salt Lake, and we had to quickly get some clothes on him before we landed because it was snowing. I kept apologizing to the steward, who just replied, "the kids just doing his job." I hope he never does it that good again! (At least not on a plane.) Sorry no pictures of that one. :)

Getting a taste for things

2009-02-11T20:31:00.006-07:00

Jax is definitely at the phase where everything he touches goes straight to his mouth - and I mean everything. Yesterday he fit his burp rag and my cell phone in his mouth at the same time (I'm so proud of my son). Socks are one of his favorites though, as soon as he discovers he's wearing them, he's eating them.

Jax with his bottle, if nothing else
is in his mouth his bottle is

He loves his bibs, eats more
cereal off his bib than his spoon!

Jax and his sock

What to do in the winter???

2009-02-04T09:36:00.009-07:00

Just wanted to log some cute pictures of Jax. It's hard to keep the little guy entertained - especially when we're trapped indoors! I love the snow, but can totally understand why some people go south to miss it. I can tell Jax is bored, lately he's antsy and kicks his legs ALL day long and can't sustain any activity for more than 5 minutes! So we've been trying everything. Here's a few of yesterday's activities (excluding two visits - he loves watching kids run around):

Hanging upside-down - that was our most successful activity indoors

Playing dress-up and looking in the mirror

Playing the keyboard

Dancing

Walking in the cold

Jax's Baby Blessing

2009-02-02T12:49:00.007-07:00

We blessed Jax January 17. He was a little big, but we wanted to wait until we could get Papa here. It was so awesome to have both grandpas there to take part in his special day, and Uncle Brandon got to come too! We are soo grateful that Norm and Brandon made the trek out to Utah for Jax. It was perfect! Jax didn't fuss through the whole blessing, but he did kick the bishop the entire time and tried to sit up until he found my dad's tie, which he ate through the rest of the it (thanks Coach!).

The Chapman boys - Brandon
Norm, Bryan and Jax

The Jones clan - Mom, Jar,
Brooke, Tay, Dad, Kim and Jax

Jax with the best grandpas
in the world! (We feel lucky!)

Curious Jax

2009-02-01T15:13:00.009-07:00

We don't scrapbook or do much for keeping memories at our house, so I figured blogging would be a good way to keep a "digital journal" of our family. Jax is just too dang cute and we don't want to forget all the little things he does. Plus, there is a benefit to blogs for family members who don't get to see Jax very often. He's growing and changing so much and we want to share that, too. So, here we go!

Just wanted to start with a little description of baby Jax. We call him Curious Jax because he's always got his hands into everything within his reach, and since he was born he hasn't been able to hold still. He pulled his head up off of the bed at the hospital and he's been checking everything out since then. He rolled at one month and is constantly looking for more ways to be mobile. He loves bouncing around in his jumper, rolling, eating toys and eating period. He eats constantly. He also has the most expressive and beautiful blue eyes and used them to scowl at everyone the first three months of his life. We love him to pieces and are so excited to learn and grow with him!

Here are a few pictures chronicling the months we missed on here:

Here is Jax at 4 weeks. We took him
to the studio to get some nice shots.
That was an adventures. This cute
outfit only lasted about 5 minutes.
Luckily we had a back-up onesie in the
diaper bag.

1.5 months-old. Trying so
hard to push himself up he
went cross-eyed!

2-months-old. He really
does like bath time.

3-months-old. At a BYU game
sitting with Coach. (That's Grandpa
Bob.)

Jax and mom at 4 months in
his Christmas jammies.

I love my baby boy!

2008-11-12T21:07:00.002-07:00

It has been a long time since I have posted but thought I would write a little tonight.

Jaxy just fell asleep on my chest. I think it the most amazing thing. Especially when he starts radiating heat. It is such a special time and I'm excited to put him to bed at night. He really is amazing. He is starting to make a lot more noise and is very active. Just the past two days has he gone to bed semi-early and is taking naps...must be growing!

Kim is an amazing mom. I've never seen a person with so much patience and love. She teaches me so much and I want to be better. Her desire to be a stay at home mom is admirable considering how advanced her career had gotten even at a young age. When I see her with Jaxy I am amazed at all the love she shows him!

Being a parent is great. There are hard times but they are the minority and the big smiles I get when I come home from work and Jaxy sees me is amazing.

Thank God for the miracles of little boys.

Jaxy is here!!! Here's some stats!

2008-09-06T18:22:00.004-06:00

Okay, for real, I suck. Jax was born 2 weeks ago. He was born at 1:29 pm on August 23rd.

At birth, Jax was 7 lbs. 5 ounces and was 19.5 inches long

Two days later when leaving the hospital he was 6 lbs. 14 ounces.

On August 28th his measurements were 7 lbs 9 ounces (30.69%), 19.75 inches (39.19%), and his head was 14.5 inches (62.23%). Basically, his head is huge.

September 5, 2008--weight 8 lbs 3.5 ounces, 21.5 inches, and his head was 14.4 inches.

He is also the cutest thing in the world.

The time is nigh at hand

2008-07-29T22:00:00.002-06:00

It has been a long time and there is some stuff to catch up on.

1. We had our first weekly appointment with the ob/gyn. Jaxy is due on the 22nd and the doctor thinks Kim will still be right around that. He predicts a smaller baby but says since Kim is tall you can't really tell. Anyway, she has had the perfect pregnancy. The doctors get really excited when they see us because they say it is so easy with us--Kim's weight gain and everything is exactly perfect. It makes me really grateful we haven't had any complications or problems thus far. I mean, we can complain about this and that but we would really be the ungrateful servants.

We see the Dr. every week from here on out. Right now Kim is 50% efaced and looking good.

2. Work has been really busy for me. I've been working on this huge project for Florida contractors. The state requires contractors to complete 14 hours of C.E. biennualy so I partnered with the Executive officer for the South Florida Associated General Contractors to provide this education. He is the marketing driver and the influence and we are the education drivers. So far it has worked well. Because I have been the account executive it has really cut into my time to do other tasks. Many times I just wanted to pass the whole project on but I couldn't--it just isn't in me. In any case, at the beginning of July I got to go to St. Pete Beach, Fl to sit in front of the licensing board and make sure our courses got approved, which they did. St. Pete was beautiful. It was 90 degrees with 90 percent humidity and the gulf was 85 degrees. Every morning and night I swam and multiple times we saw dolphins, including one 15 feet away. It was crazy cool. We worked out of our hotel most the time and I got some things started but ended up re-doing them with more quality work. It was the first time I had been east of Utah and I realized it was just like everywhere else.

Since I got back and we went life we had a huge catastrophe with them. Microsoft had done an Internet Explorer update which screwed up our training and Len got call after call after call about the training and how bad it was because of the errors. Well, we got the errors fixed and now everything is hunky-dory. Some contractors even emailed Len telling him how great it is....I will agree when we sell more than 8 :(. More so, I am just so glad the majority of the project is behind me...60 hour weeks were killing me and Kim wasn't a happy girl...it seemed I was putting her 2nd for work and I was but I was only doing it because it can directly influence our future.

3. We are re-organizing at work. I am handing all the coordination over to someone else so I can have more time to do marketing and accounting and such. I am so relieved. I was going Mach 3 with my hair on fire and it was taking a toll.

That's all for tonight. I'll try and write more later and be a better blogger...

32 Weeks Pregnant

2008-06-26T09:28:00.000-06:00

Baby weighs 3.75 lbs or 1702 grams. Baby is 16.19 inches or 42.4 cm long.
Fetus may hiccup, cry, taste sweet and sour, and respond to pain, light, and sound.

Baby Jax needs a bigger house...

2008-06-25T12:25:00.003-06:00

Kim's belly is getting Tina Kendall huge...okay, that's like comparing short skinny guys to fat girls with greasy hair...not that Kim is a man. It's just that, he doesn't kick as much as he used to, which of course saddens his daddy.

The point is Kim is the sexiest pregnant woman out there. From the front, or the back, you can't tell she is pregnant. I think I saw some laces in her belly. What, the mark of the beast on Jax's forehead...no, that's Spalding(r) (registered to keep from getting sued by Kobe Bryant, or the victim.

The point is, Jax is running out of real estate. He has as much acreage as Yoko Ono in Tokyo. Poor fella. His 4 lb, 15 inch body is crammed into a fetal knapsack meant for a PB&J and some cheap cookies mom used to get us at the run down wonder bread store in Lacey...as a reward for enduring endless hours of shopping. One time she made me buy them myself. At the time I thought I was getting a steal--$1 for 500 vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry cookies with white crisco in the middle. The quantity overrode the quality and oxygen had raped the cookies of any crunch...who cares at 5 years old when you first learn to tie a shoe or wipe properly. Not until Mom tried to get Brandon to pop ear blackheads with a bobby pin (she probably kept) has injustice so occurred as the deception of the Wonder cookie.

Why do movies and TV shows depict female officers of the law as busty bombshells with tiny wastes and thighs that could kill an anaconda? I've seen 3 women cops in my day. 1, the detective lady from church. 2, the 7 foot amazon women who responded to the meth freaks who rear ended me in Christie Holts car. She almost ate them. At least 220 and could bench press a tow truck. The mullet headed cut off jeans shorts wearing (they were thigh highs) toothless Javelin driving crapfaces (nice wheels on the car) almost got killed by Xena's ugly sister. I bring this up because of the 40 year old cop hitting on the guy in from Justin to Kelly after she gave him several tickets.

Last, I get to go to Florida next month. I've never been east of Park City, UT...I'm excited about the adventure of humidity AND heat. More so, I get to see the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. I'm going to swim in pirate waters and go fist-to-cuffs with Carcharhinus limbatus. I will win. I will visit shark tooth beach...to out wit a shark you must think like a shark. If he goes left and tries to flank you, perform an outside pivot parallel to the horizontal sceptor of sunlight. If he comes at you head-on, duck. From the right, extend your heal into his nose in a kicking motion, yelling, "Cobra Kai." I'm ready for them.

Kim likes to walk at night....every night. She could walk for hours and miles and miles. Our long walk became our regular walk. Our longer walk took its place....Now we run...she is almost 8 months pregnant yet we run...well, jowalk. I guess it's good for me.

Jax...Check out his Ultra Sound pics under Me and Kim.

2008-04-07T11:04:00.002-06:00

Well, to our amazement, we found out last Thursday that Kim and I are having a boy. He's a Cosby, he runs the touchdowns! We were kind of shocked because we were totally expecting a girl. We had both had dreams of a little girl. In fact, I have had two dreams. She is a total cutie with dark brown curly, wispy hair (freaky, but check out a picture of Britt from when she was little and there's her hair. She has Papa's blue eyes. Her name was Brylie.

In any case, it's a BOY!!!!! The Ultra Sound was an amazing experience. Just to see the baby inside Kim's belly was incredible. It was moving around like crazy...An athlete??? We got 12 pictures because we were so excited and the Ultra Sound lady loved how excited we were. The nurses upstairs came down because they heard me screaming. We saw the whole skeletal system, the heart beating, the chambers, the brain, and the third leg...oh, wait, that was his penis. Despite Norm's wishes to call him Bruno, his name will be Jax Taylor Chapman. Taylor after his Aunt. Chapman after his Chapman.

Kim is really excited now and growing every day. It is funny how all of a sudden there was a bump and now it is growing growing growing. I will get her measurements and post them. I think it is exciting, she thinks that is weird.

Mom and Dad came to visit us last weekend for conference. Me and Dad built Jaxy a baby cradle. It was a lot of fun working with the tools I have and getting it done! Me and Kim now have to putty, sand, putty, sand. The cradle rocks and turned out really good. We routered a basketball in the side. We thought about leaving it blank so all our kids can use it but IT IS Jax's cradle after all.

My wife is a pirate...

2008-03-14T18:24:00.003-06:00

I went to Las Vegas this week for business. I, of course, had to stop by Treasure Island and see the pirate ships. On the high seas I would be a fearsome pirate. Take all you can and give nothing back!

I have since realized that my wife would be a far better pirate than I. Yes, laddie, she may lack rum drinking skills, or any desire to rape, pillage, plunder, or otherwise pilfer her weasley black guts out, but she at heart is a pirate.

Below is 5 reasons she is a fantastic pirate:

5. Many people are under the assumption that pirates only love the sea. This is an incorrect assumption. Pirates equally love deserted islands where they can hid their treasure, make booby traps, and have bonfires with rum. These three don't do well on board ship, especially the bonfires. Pirates have to be equally loving of land. My wife has demonstrated this over and over as we go to Seaside, the mountainous regions of the inland, and the tropics of Saint Diego. She loves to camp, see the sites, be by water, and hoards the money (she won't let me spend it).

4. She is tall and sexy. When's the last time a famous pirate was short and squatty?

3. She is a master shipbuilder and can build a tight fort which cloakes the treasure, and is light free.

2. She understands the value of healthy food. Unless someone poisons the apples, the crew gets scurvy, the water goes bad, the rats eat all the cheese, the bread gets moldy, the crew gets lice, the cabin boy gets seasick, there is a mutiny, cannibals eat the first mate, we get attacked by a coalition of pirates because no one pirate ship is capable of defeating us and the British can't hack it, especially since the Interceptor is no more, the ship burns, the cannons rust over, the powder gets wet, bootstrap, the treasure map ink smears, or a host of other problems then a pirate's life is for her.

and

1. To be a great pirate she would have to be married to a great pirate and together, the dread Chapman pirates make a heck of a team.

Baby Amazement

2008-03-02T08:27:00.003-07:00

Kim is now 16 weeks pregnant and getting over morning sickness. The first 8 weeks were great. Weeks 9-14 a different story. I now know what perdition is. To put it a little more practical, it was like wanted cereal and having no milk, or being on the pot and finding a shred of white on a recycled brown tube that you know would only serve physical pain above the mental pain....add that to nobody being home and you are quite helpless. You really only have two options and both involve grossness I can't endure. So, you sit there, legs becoming 1000 pounds a piece and you resolve to have a pink ring tattooed on your buttocks.....

I have felt worthless and have been frustrated by not being able to help Kim. Here discomfort has been the cancer of most women's pregnancies. But with Kim it was different. You have to eat to not be sick and Kim is too "empty calories" to want to eat snacks or junk all day. So, she tried carrots of all things and of course, regurgitated them in the stairway at Intermountain. If only she was a parent bird--her skills would be almost complete.

Now things are much better. Kim now is finally admitting to herself that she is showing a little baby belly. It is still little but I love it. She isn't sick anymore and seems to be getting more and more excited about a little one running around. Well, crying, eating, and pooping at first, which she should be used to from weeks 9-14.

I am so excited. We heard the heart beat a month ago and I haven't been that giddy since...it was very cool. Next week we get to hear the heart again and a month later I get to find out if I get a little girl or not...I want a girl to spoil.

Yare!

2008-02-21T18:51:00.001-07:00

Our first blog.....Take all you can and give nothin' back!