Jon & Jennifer's Family Blog

8 month pictures

2012-01-25T06:00:00.000-06:00

I took the girls' 8 month pictures a couple weeks ago and here they are! Hard to believe they are 8 months old already!!

{Julianne}

{Jocelyn}

{Julianne}

{Jocelyn}

{Jocelyn & Julianne}

{Joel, Jackson, Jocelyn & Julianne}

{Julianne}

{Jocelyn}

{Julianne & Jocelyn}

{Julianne}

{Julianne & Jocelyn}

{Jocelyn}

{Julianne & Jocelyn}

{Julianne}

{Jocelyn}

Article

2012-01-24T06:00:00.000-06:00

Last week I got an email from a reporter from a local newspaper wanting to do a story on our family and what it's like to have two sets of twins. I emailed him back and he later called me and we had a short five minute conversation. And this past weekend the story was published in the paper! You can view the article here. When you are reading it keep in mind that there is a misquote... "He said it's the first set of spontaneous twins he has seen since the 80s," Jennifer said. SHOULD READ..."He said it's the first time since the 80's he's seen two sets of spontaneous twins."

Build & Grow - Castle Time

2012-01-23T06:00:00.000-06:00

Last weekend we headed to Lowe's again for another Build & Grow session.

{Jackson waiting to get started}

They were sooo excited to start working and of course hammering!

{Jackson}

They worked so hard at getting all the pieces ready to go

This time a castle would be the finished product. It was a lot of work with tons of little pieces!

Daddy did most of the building

{Joel}

The girls got ancy in their carseats so they helped as well

{Jocelyn & Julianne}

And this was their finished product...a castle! There were even little dragons, knights and a princess cutout to play with. We're headed back this weekend to build a dinosaur! If you have a Lowe's in your area you should really check out this FREE workshop for kids, ours just love it!

Fatherhood Friday's

2012-01-20T06:00:00.000-06:00

I know it has been awhile since I have made a post but it has been crazy both at home and at work. Since the last time I had posted anything a lot has changed: the girls are all over the place, they are eating different foods, they have their own personalities, THEY ARE SLEEPING. The boys are growing so fast, new words and new phrases that make you say “did you really just say that?” They remember everything (most of the time we don’t even remember it but it must have made a lasting impression in their minds).

Right now I wouldn’t really change anything in my life, wait I take that back, I would change one thing and that would be to have more time in the day so that I could spend a few more hours with each of them. It seems like since the girls were born time has really flown by. Going through the week Mondays are always a drag but it seems like it is Friday before we even know it. I still can’t believe that Christmas is over.

What we are really looking forward to at our house is summer. I cant wait for it to be warm, even though it hasn’t been a bad winter, but more importantly I can't wait for it to be light out longer. That means that we can play outside most of the night and not have to be trapped inside trying to find new and different activities for 4 kids to do. You can only do so many puzzles and scribble so many pictures.

With that being said I hope that this summer our lives can slow down a little more and we can interact with each of the kids a little more, because you get them away from each other and they are each different people. I hope that I can get around to doing more of these post in the coming weeks.

Love Jon/DADA

8 months

2012-01-19T06:00:00.000-06:00

On Monday Julianne & Jocelyn were 8 months old. Since FINALLY at 8 months they seem to have decided they are ready to eat baby food I thought (actually it was Jon's idea) that their 8 month picture should be of them eating!! Just within the last couple of days the girls decided they are ready to eat 2-3 jars of baby food a day (they share the jars). Before we could only get them to eat a few bites from 1 jar. They are much more happier feeding themselves!

Julianne at 8 months you...

* weigh 16lbs. 9oz.

* wake up around 12:30 every night because you have escaped from your swaddle which you do right when we put you down in your bed at 8:00PM because you have to "be free" in order yo go to sleep yet can't just be laid in your bed without swaddling. I rewrap you and you go right back to sleep

*wake up to nurse around 3:30 or 4 and go back to bed until 7 or 8AM

*have your own little version of yoga you do on the floor in your attempt to actually crawl

*get very frustrated because you have NOT figured out crawling yet but you seem to scoot all over and lunge yourself forward while on all 4s

*can get from a crawl position back to the sitting position like a champ

*have started to pull yourself up to people to stand up

*have the gummiest smile; you don't share many laughs but are always flashing that gummy smile

*like to make your way to your brothers train tracks and trains and play with them when I sit you across the room, this makes your brothers pretty unhappy

*like to "scream" while flapping your arms like a bird and squinting your little eyes, you look pretty funny but get all our attention

*drink from a sippy cup

*when you see your mama you immediate "freak out" and want me to come pick you up!

Jocelyn at 8 months you....

*weigh 16lbs.

*can be "laid" in your bed on your tummy without being swaddled and go right to sleep. You like to be covered up with your blanky and snuggle right in

*we HAVE to wake you up when your sister gets up to eat around 3:30 or 4....who knows how long you'd actually sleep if we didn't wake you to nurse when your sister gets up

*can get onto all 4s and rock and roll back and forth. You flop yourself forward on your tummy to get what you want

*love to laugh ALL THE TIME! Your brothers talk to you and you just start giggling

*can easily entertain yourself on the floor for much longer than your sister can

*don't take a paci but a paci is your most favorite "toy" to play with and chew on

*love your snuggle time you get to nurse with your mama

*drink from a sippy cup, actually guzzle from a sippy cup you just can't get enough!

*instead of storing food in your cheeks like a chipmunk you store food in your hands

*love to feed yourself

*are always smiling but when someone you don't know looks at you, you turn your face to the side in an effort to be shy

*are the easiest and most laid back baby EVER you NEVER cry and have that "go-with-the-flow" personality

*has 2 bottom teeth

Snuggle

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000-06:00

The girls have lots of babies and snugglies in their cribs that they snuggle when they go to sleep. Jossy snuggles with her little giraffe most often.

{Jewels..just escapes her swaddle and snuggles her blanky}

{Little Jossy Jo}

Many faces

2012-01-17T06:00:00.000-06:00

I love this age of babies, they have so many different looks and are always doing something silly with their faces. Julianne is no exception and it's just too cute!

She always, always has this tongue out when she smiles!

New toy

2012-01-16T06:00:00.000-06:00

This is my new "toy" I got for Christmas! I love it!

This is waaaayyy nicer than my little hand held mixer I've been using.

And it looks so pretty sitting on my counter!

Workin' Out

2012-01-13T06:00:00.000-06:00

I don't know the first thing about yoga poses but it looks like Julianne does! Check it out..

What do you think??? She does a pretty good job...I think she'd be happier if she could actually figure out how to crawl, although it does appear she is working on it...or her planks or yoga or something!!

Miss Jossy Jo...

2012-01-12T06:00:00.000-06:00

is the first little girl to have a tooth

she was just so smiley

and wanted to show it off

for you all to see.

Can you see it?

If you look really close

you can seen tooth #2 making its way in too!

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-11T06:00:00.000-06:00

We've had a rough few days around here, can you tell?

Allergic

2012-01-10T06:00:00.000-06:00

So last Thursday I made pancakes for the boys for breakfast I was trying out this new Bisquick Shake and Pour containers, which I loved...didn't make a lot but was perfect for the boys and I . Anyways...the girls were sitting on the counter next to me in their Bebe Pods and drooling over me standing their eating. So I had an extra pancake and gave them a few pieces...they LOVED it! A couple hours later after I got done nursing the girls I changed them and noticed Julianne had little welts ALL over her legs, butt, some on her tummy and wrists. I called the pediatrician right away and made an apt. 2 hours later we were in the doctor office and they were drawing blood to do allergy tests for egg, milk, wheat and soy. I got the call from the pediatrician yesterday that Julianne is allergic to eggs. They rank allergies on a scale from 1-5, 5 being the worst allergy and Jewels' is a 2. So more than likely she will grow out of it by the time she is one but in the mean time we have to avoid anything with egg or egg product for her. I don't have to change my diet as she is getting a little bit from my milk but not enough to cause the reaction it is just when it was given directly to her. I didn't even think when I gave her the pancake that it would cause a reaction or be worried about egg; it was soft and easy to eat and they are loving all finger foods right now that they can pick up on their own and eat and that was on my mind more than anything! So we hope that by the time we go in for their one year apt. in May and they do another allergy screen that she will be egg allergy free! In the meantime, we have our Epipens on had at home and in the diaper bag in case we ever need it!

Weekend Update

2012-01-09T06:00:00.000-06:00

On Friday we headed to Marshalltown to take the kids to Grandma and Grandpa's works and leave the boys for the weekend. The boys were very excited to see where Grandma and Grandpa worked. We all went for an early supper and Jon and I left the boys for the weekend and we headed back home!

Saturday Jon and I spent the day doing some deep house cleaning and lots of laundry and ironing. My parents had gotten the boys new carseats for Christmas and we moved the seats around in the van and put their new carseats in. The boys are now in the back and the girls are in the middle row. We also watched "Trespass" that afternoon while the girls slept and then headed out to dinner. After dinner we hit up Dahls, Hy-Vee and Fareway for our weekly groceries and came home, put the girls to bed and watched our 2nd movie of the weekend , "Hall Pass" two great movies in one day!

On Sunday we got up and had breakfast and then headed up to Hickory Park to meet Pat, Joan and Janna for lunch and to get the boys. We had a yummy lunch and by time we got home it was nap time. All 4 kids slept and we watched our final movie of the weekend, "Limitless" with Bradley Cooper. Three good movies, if you can't tell I'm on a movie kick here lately!

We had a great weekend and the boys had a wonderful time with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Janna. Now back into the swing of things this week. We have preschool conferences Monday, preschool for the boys on Tuesday and Friday and then storytime at the library on Wednesday and Thursday. Should be a fun week!

Weekend Recap

2012-01-05T06:00:00.000-06:00

I know it is Thursday and I'm just now recapping the weekend but better late than never! We had a wonderful and relaxing weekend. We all loved having Jon home for three days too! On Friday night Jon met some friends at the Elkhart bar to watch the Iowa game. The kids and I hung out at home and after putting them to bed I watched "Water for Elephants", what a fantastic movie! I had intentions on watching the second one I rented but by 10:30 I was sooo tired!

Saturday morning I had a photo shoot and then we headed out to Jordan Creek. The boys got Build-A-Bear gift cards from my brother, Kyli and the kids for Christmas so we did that, a little other shopping and then had an early supper at On the Border. Then we headed downtown Des Moines to try the Imagine Eve event for New Year's Eve. The kids LOVED it and had such a great time. The long lines were a little much

but despite that we will be going back for sure!

{Jocelyn}

{Daddy and Jackson messing around while waiting in line}

{Joel getting ready to run through a bounce house}

{Joel}

{their favorite slide}

{waiting to go down}

{climbing to the top}

We came home and watched "Friends with Benefits"...another great movie and then headed to bed, well before midnight!!

On Sunday we got up and had breakfast at our local Dahls...it is sooo yummy and the boys love it too. We then did our grocery shopping and headed home. We rented another two movies and watched "Something Borrowed" while the kids napped. That night we had a yummy supper and watched our 4th movie of the weekend, "Horrible Bosses". I didn't make it all the way through that one but Jon liked it.

Monday brought another relaxing day and after lunch we headed out to my parents to check out the progress on their remodel. We didn't stay long as they were finishing up laying the new hardwood floors. So we headed back home and I did some tagging for the March multiples garage sale and then we all got ready for bed. What a great 3 day weekend!!

My 4 on the 4th

2012-01-04T06:00:00.000-06:00

{Jackson with Julianne & Joel with Jocelyn}

headband organization

2012-01-02T06:00:00.000-06:00

So this is one project that I've been meaning to put up and show off. I did this quite some time ago...probably when I started acquiring all these headbands around when the girls were 2 months old. So here is how I keep everything organized....with an over the door shoe organizer! These things are perfect and I think I've said before but I have them on almost every door in our upstairs!

Bows and clips are on the outside of the holder and headbands are grouped with their matching mate in a small snack size baggie.

Each holder is color coordinated

This works fantastic and I can even tell Jon to go in and grab a pink headband and he can pick out something that matches without having to dig through tons of headbands that aren't paired together!

Christmas with the Ganders

2011-12-30T08:00:00.000-06:00

On Monday Jon and I hosted my families Christmas. My parents are under a HUGE remodel at their house so big as to have no kitchen counters, cupboards, sink or toilet on the main level! Can't wait for them to be done and see how wonderful it will look. So we had everyone over here. Monday morning I got up early and headed out to do some after Christmas shopping. I got great deals and beat the crowds! My parents and brother got over at 10AM and then we all headed to breakfast at McDonalds and then my brother and mom rant to Target for some things. We all had snacks Jon and I had made for lunch and then went for a LONG walk and went and found golf balls at the golf course, it was such a beautiful day! Ben's family got over around 4and then we opened gifts and had steaks, garlic mashed red potatoes, corn and rolls. It was a nice day and after dessert at 8PM everyone talked about how they wished they didn't have to go to work the next day!

{Brynna, Jackson and Joel waiting patiently to open presents}

{Julianne}

{Brynna opening her big gift from Nana and Papa}

{Now she can keep up with Jackson and Joel on their tractors...she pretty much sat on this whole time we opened gifts!}

{Jon and Ben both got patio heaters...they are super excited!}

{a shot of part of the chaos!}

{Joel opening his gift}

{Mama and Jossy}

{Julianne trying to get a nap in}

{Mr. Braylan}

{Miss Brynna}

{Kyli and Ben}

{We see you Jewels!}

{Papa and Jossy with her new giraffe}

{Julianne talking to her giraffe}

{Julianne}

{Jackson, Joel and Brynna waiting for supper}

A shot of all 6 of mom and dad's grandkids!!

{Jackson, Joel, Braylan, Julianne, Jocelyn and Brynna}

We were all soo spoiled by mom and dad I can't WAIT to use my new KitchenAid stainless steel mixer!! And the boys LOVE their new remote control cars!

Christmas with Grandma Millie

2011-12-30T06:00:00.000-06:00

On Saturday morning after we did our own little Christmas we headed over to my grandma Millie's house to have Christmas. My dad had cooked a yummy prime rib and had french silk and oreo pie for dessert...yum! We always do a fun gift/white elephant exchange and we came home with a couple great gifts! I'm super excited about the aquatic center/pool passes the kids got from my gram we will use that a lot this summer!

{Ben and his little guy, Braylan}

{Brynna}

{Jackson}

{Joel}

{The boys...they LOVE these shirts and picked them out at Target all by themselves...this was a very popular movie these last few weeks!}

{Brynna and Joel}

{Brynna checking out her new doll}

{How sweet...giving Great Grandma Millie a hug for her new doll}

{Julianne & Jocelyn...I just love these outfits..the bows are over the top but that's what they are called "over the top bows" but look cute in pictures!

{This is my little nephew, Braylan Tyce born November 21st. He just hung out and got passed around and you never knew he was there the little man hardly made a peep!}

{My cousin Corey playing with Julianne}

{Check out that cute ruffle butt!}

{Nana and Julianne}

Another wonderful Christmas was had by all!

Our Christmas

2011-12-29T08:00:00.000-06:00

When we got home Saturday night we had to sprinkle out the reindeer food as to make sure Santa's reindeer had something to eat too. The boys were sooo excited! Sophie happened to get out when we got home and were carrying stuff in and was eating their reindeer food, the boys were freaking out, so in the kitty went! We got our cookies and milk all sat out too.

We all slept in on Christmas morning. The girls got up at 7:30 and the boys shortly after so by time we got downstairs it was close to 8:30! The first thing the boys said when they saw all the stockings filled and the gifts was "wow, wow, wow" it was sooo cute! They were excited that Santa had eaten the cookies they left for him as well!

{Jackson}

{the girls were so smiley and happy little Jossy girl}

{Jewels loves the tags}

{Jocelyn}

{Jackson}

{Joel}

{Joel trying on my new hat}

{Jackson was sooo excited for his McQueen lunchbox its all he asked Santa for each time we saw him}

{Joel opening his Santa gifts}

{Jackson}

{Jossy}

{Joel being silly in his new hat}

{I was sooo excited to get a little tool set to keep in the house in the closet, I was getting tired, err Jon was getting tired of running out to the shed/garage each time I needed a hammer/nails/screws!}

{Jackson trying on his new apron}

{Joel in his apron}

{Jossy}

{Julianne checking out her rock}

{Mama and Joel}

{Daddy helping Joel put on his new slippers}

{Julianne and Jocelyn opening their gifts}

{Julianne}

{I found these little rocks at the craft show, they will look cute in a flower bed this summer so we each got our own!}

We had so fun opening gifts on Christmas morning. After we were done we ate monkey bread (a tradition we have done for the last 5 years) that I had put in the oven when we started our gift opening and then we all got ready to move on to my grandma's house for lunch!

Christmas at the Waters

2011-12-29T06:00:00.000-06:00

On Saturday morning we got up and headed to Marshalltown to spend the day. Last year we packed our snow pants and snow boots...this year we didn't need all that stuff, no snow on the ground here! We got there around 10:30 and had breakfast and then we exchanged gifts. All of the kids were spoiled by Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Janna. We had a great time. We then hung around until time for church and watched the boys play with all their new trains and toys. Their favorite....Cranky and Flynn Save the Day...those parents who have train loving kids know what I'm talking about! Later that afternoon we all got cleaned up and went to church. After church we came back to the house and had supper with all of Jon's extended family and we exchanged gifts with all of them as well. We tried to get all 11, yes 11 kids and one on the way (Jon's cousin is due early next year) on the couch for a picture...didn't turn out so hot but will be fun to compare these each year. So here is our wonderful day in pictures!

{Jocelyn opening her gift}

{Jocelyn}

{Julianne enjoying a box}

{Joel}

{Jackson}

{Jackson, Jocelyn, Julianne & Joel}

{Jocelyn & Julianne}

{Jossy opening her stocking}

{Julianne checking out her new baby}

{Jossy}

{Jewels}

{Daddy helping Jewels with a new toy}

{Grandpa and Joel}

{Notice Jackson playing with Cranky in the background?}

{Jackson}

{Attempts of all of the kids}

{Carter, Maddy, Autumn holding Jocelyn, Ashton holding Julianne, Joel, Jackson, Jaxson, Larrs and JJ}

{Grandma helping Joel and holding Jewels}

{Grandma and Jewels}

{Grammy and her girls}

{Aunt Janna and Julianne}

{Julianne}

When we got home that night, Christmas Eve night, all of the kids had baths and then we all opened up our new jammies and put them on and sat on our bed and read the Night Before Christmas it was the end to a great day.

Christmas with Grandma Schauper

2011-12-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

On Wednesday night we headed into my Grandma Schauper's house for our first of 6 Christmases.

{Julianne & Jocelyn - I love this little outfit even though it isn't super girly it was one the boys wore}

{Julianne & Jocelyn}

{Jackson, Julianne, Jocelyn & Joel}

{Jackson, Julianne, Jocelyn & Joel - a little blurry but not bad}

{Jackson, Joel and Brynna playing with Brynna's magna doodle}

{Joel}

{Brynna}

{Owen}

{Grandma and Mom}

{Baby Jocelyn's baby blues}

{Joel opening his present}

{Jackson opening his present}

{Mom and Brynna}

{Uncle Michael getting the boys}

We had a great time visiting with everyone and a great start to our Christmas weekend!

Blue tree

2011-12-23T06:00:00.000-06:00

The boys were sooo excited to pick this tree out for their room. They picked a pink one out for their sisters but I said maybe next year. They have made all the ornaments that are on it and they leave it on all day and night and surprisingly enough, it has never been a distraction for them!

7 months - December 16, 2011

2011-12-22T06:00:00.000-06:00

Our baby girls turned 7 months old last Friday. I'm just not getting around to posting these pictures!

At 7 months old Julianne you weigh 16lbs. 3oz. You have FINALLY stopped waking up every 2-3 hours at night to snack and now only wake up once, close to 4am. You get up eat and go right back to bed until 7-7:30. At 7 months you ate your first jar of baby food after 3 months of not wanting to eat any type of food or cereal!

Jocelyn at 7 months you weigh 15lbs. 13oz.. You are the happiest girl and love to smile and stick your tongue out like a little snake. You have been a great eater too these last couple days...I think we are finally on the up and up with eating!

We are so looking forward to this holiday weekend with you girls! Even though you won't be able to open many presents you will sure have fun trying!

first christmas program

2011-12-21T06:00:00.001-06:00

Last friday morning the boys had their first Christmas program. They were very excited and knew that mommy, daddy, the babies, Nana and Papa, and Grandma and Grandpa would be coming to watch them.

{Jackson & Joel} Besides Joel's little potty break in the middle of it they did a great job! {Their whole little class}

{Jackson} Their favorite song they sang was We Wish You a Merry Christmas, they had such cute little actions to go with it!

They looked so handsome standing up there and we are all so proud of them! After the program we went and all had a snack together in the banquet room it was a fun morning!

Baking 2011

2011-12-20T06:00:00.001-06:00

Over the weekend we had our annual baking weekend we didn't make nearly as much stuff this year which was nice so didn't take a full 2 days but still had a lot of yummies! We went into my Grandma Schauper's house again this year, she loves having us and she has a lot of room to spread out! The boys did a little help on Saturday with helping to mix things together but were very excited for Sunday morning when we decorated all the cookies. Here is a our day in pictures!

{Nana and Julianne having a snuggle moment}

{Daddy and Jocelyn} {Julianne} {Joel with an apron on} {Grandma dishing out oreo balls} {Daddy getting help on the tablet} {daddy entertaining the kids playing angry birds Rio version} {Santa Claus stopped by for a visit}

{Jackson watching his pretzels dry}

{Jackson...doesn't he look cute in his little apron they were sooo excited to wear them, good thing that was one of the things we got them for Christmas} {Uncle Michael on puppy chow duty!} {Joel watching over Grandma's shoulder as she gets the frosting all mixed up}

{Nana, Joel and Gram}{Joel doing a little taste testing} {Joel giving mama a taste} {Jackson letting mama taste his pretzel} {Nana helping Jackson frost...they went from frosters to decorators with the sprinkles and pretties, they liked that job a lot better!} {Uncle Michael helping Joel} {Grandma Schauper} {Mama dippping pretzels} {Daddy getting a nap in while the boys were decorating and the girls were napping too} {Joel, Grandma, Jackson and Michael} {Daddy and Julianne getting some snuggle time...just love this picture!}

What a fun weekend had by all!