Another Nebraska Story.

Right before we left for Nebraska, one thing I really hoped wouldn't happen, happened. Andy learned how to climb out of his crib. However, when we put A & A to bed the first night in Nebraska in pack n plays I wasn't really worried. They were BEYOND exhausted and I thought for sure they would be out in seconds. Nope, it was more fun to climb out of the pack n plays over and over and over again which means they had no nap in 5 days and it took us an hour and a half every night to get them to sleep. This was not a good thing. They normally take a 3 hour nap every day and are in bed by 7:15/7:30 without my assistance. They were so tired but just wouldn't give in. Andy has bruises on his face from falling down so many times because of exhaustion.

CRAZY Kids!

This was how I got them to relax before bed. Baby Mozart playing on the TV and yes they still drink bottles before bed...don't judge me. My wonderfully kind friend bought a crib tent for us before we got home so we would be able to lock him in his crib our 1st night back.....heaven!

An Ashlyn moment on the airplane.

On the way home from Nebraska, we had a 2 hour flight, an hour layover, and a 55 minute flight. The kids were BEYOND tired. They slept before we got on the plane so I thought they would be okay. Boy was I ever wrong and next time I will just give them the sleeping drugs without thinking twice. Ashlyn was especially crazy. She cried A LOT, screamed EVEN MORE, and pretty much just made me laugh/cry out of pure exhaustion and embarrassment. At one point she was standing between me and the seat in front of me (its a good thing she's little) and she was carrying on. She finally got so frustrated from being contained she stripped off her clothes. Apparently that relieves frustration. I tried multiple times to get them back on her but with no success SOOOOO she walked off the plane with complete attitude and spunk into the airport terminal in just a DIAPER. I REALLY wish I had it on video because it was the most hilarious thing and we would have for sure won America's Funniest Home Video's grand prize, no contest! Lots of people were laughing and making comments that at least she left her diaper on. It is a special memory that I hope stays ingrained in my mind forever. I can see her funny little walk/strut, her big belly, and her saggy diaper that is too big that I make her wear because having different size diapers is such a hassle.

Thank you Ash for making us laugh everyday and being so unique and fun.

Our Trip to Nebraska Part 1 (warning: lots of pics)

1st question you ask yourself : NEBRASKA? What's in Nebraska?

And the answer is: The Drapers, AKA Tyler's sister and her family.

Next Question: Why do they live THERE?

Answer: Quinn is in his last year (YEA!) of Orthodontics school.

We hadn't seen them in a year and a half. We decided we better get out there before we have to buy 5 airline tickets (only 2 months left, where else should we go?) We had so much fun with them. Taylor absolutely LOVED playing with her cousins and cried for 45 minutes when it was time to leave. It is sad all her cousins live so far away.

The first day we celebrated Allie's 3rd birthday and went to an INCREDIBLE children's museum. It was 3 floors and packed with everything you can possibly imagine with every detail accounted for like sirens that work to a scanning/cash register that actually scans. Our kids had a BLAST!

GO HUSKERS!

University of Nebraska fans are alive and well.

Big red N's can be found everywhere.I love this girl even though she makes me loony sometimes.Andy LOVES airplanes.Mission Unaccomplished: Get a cute picture of all 7 kids.

Attempt #2, this time with the grandparents.

Still unaccomplished.There was face paint.And this creepy thing. Can you guess which one is Tyler?

Andy also loves playing in the water. He was soaked after this little adventure.

Here are the prairie dog girls.

I think this picture should go on Tyler's business card right under the title CEO.

Stay tuned for more. I know you can hardly contain your excitement.

Dear Super Nanny,

My kids are out of control and I need your help. A couple weeks ago, we were cruising, life was smooth, I had control. Something has happened because what little control I thought I had is officially gone. I don't know how or where it went but it is gone. Let's take Taylor for example. I think something happens to a child's ears when they turn 4. They plug up or get filled with frosting from the birthday cake because I could tell Taylor that a monkey (1st thing that popped into my mind) was coming after her and was going to attack her and she needs to come to me NOW, and the minute that command would be issued, her ears would literally stop functioning. It would be as if I was talking to myself and I know I'm not that old. What age do they do hearing tests because I think that might be in order here. And then there are the twins, oh the joy of twins, everything comes times 2. They cry, scream, and throw tantrums ALL DAY. Sometimes Taylor thinks I really wanted triplets so she chimes into their crying nonsense. Seriously how much crying am I supposed to be able to listen to in one day??? I want to find a hole, bury myself inside, and come out when they are 18. On a positive note, they are cute and in between tantrums, they say and do cute things but seriously I must be doing something wrong because HOLY COW! So here is my proposition Super Nanny, we have a spare bedroom, I promise to make lots of chocolate cupcakes, PLEASE come to our home and help us rise out of this chaotic mess.
Thanks,
A worn out mother of 3

P.S. If anyone makes reference to the Don't Blink or You're Gonna Miss This songs, I may have to scream at you. =)

Future Rock Star!

Would you believe that Taylor doesn't watch Hannah Montana on TV? It's true. Despite my attempts to keep her attached to Cinderella and the other Princesses (prolong the transition from toddler to tween as long as I can), she is obsessed with HANNAH MONTANA.

Now on to the craziness.

For those of you who don't live in California you may not know but Southern California is on fire once again. Pretty much all the land between us and Downtown Disney is on fire. So on the way to the party we drove through this.

Shortly after we emerged from the smoke they shut down the freeway. By the time the party was over, the 2 main freeways we should take to get home were shut down. After a few pow wows and sig alert checks we chose a route home that was long but would hopefully, at least, be moving and not packed with cars. Basically a 30 minute drive ended up to be 3 hours. We did make it though. One of our guests wasn't as lucky and had to get a hotel for the night.

It was an eerie feeling driving on the 91 when it looked like this. We were being rerouted so the rest of it was closed.

Thank you to everyone who braved the fires to come celebrate with us. I'm certainly grateful that everyone made it back safely and so far no one we know has lost their home. We pray the fires will be contained soon.

Taylor is 4!!! (FINALLY)

Taylor has been talking about her birthday since last year's party ended so today was a long time coming. But we are happy to report that she is FINALLY 4 and super excited about it.

We had a weekend full of fun (and some craziness of course) as we celebrated Taylor. Yesterday we started out with a Mommy and Taylor date at the nail salon. It was her first visit to one of my favorite places. Her nails looked so cute.

It was then off to her Birthday Party at Build A Bear at Downtown Disney. She had to have the Hannah Montana Bear.

And the Hannah Montana clothes.

It was so fun and all the bears looked super cute.

We then headed to a restaurant for snacks, cake, and the very important present opening part of the party. She received so many great gifts. I do think it is safe to assume that our guests pretty much provided the funds to pay for Miley Cyrus's car payment next month with ALL the Hannah Montana stuff that was purchased. Taylor was in heaven though. Thanks Trish and Russ for the great dance mat and video. Perfect gift!

Tyler discovered this place nearby that creates custom cakes... too fun. I can't wait for the twins birthday so I can go there again and spend way too much money on a fancy cake that receives oohs and ahhs from everyone....

and then gets destroyed by all the little guests.

Totally worth it in my opinion. This is my favorite shot of the day.

After our 3 hour car ride home (explanation will be provided in another post), Taylor was dressed and ready to go before I even had everything out of the car.

Happy Birthday Taylor Marie! We love you so much and are so grateful Heavenly Father sent you to our family. You complete us!

We've Joined the Dancing World.

Taylor has been taking dance for 2 years and this year became eligible to be on the Dance Club team. They rehearse once a week and participate in 3 competitions throughout the year. Last week was their first rehearsal and they were too cute. She loves it and we are so happy to have our friend Miss Andrea as her teacher.

A Day In The Life of Miss Ashlyn.

I have decided that I think Ashlyn will be my most challenging child. She is very independent, full of spunk, and hilariously funny. Are you wondering how those 3 words result in a challenge? Let me walk you through a typical Jorgenson Family Day:

-8Am (yes I MAKE my kids sleep in) I go into the twins room to get them out of bed only to find Ashlyn completely naked, that includes no diaper. It is only really bad when poop is involved.

-Time to get dressed which requires me to make a big deal over how pretty her outfit is in order for her to let me put it on her. Sometimes it doesn't work and she picks out something else and at age 22 months she doesn't understand when something matches or is weather appropriate.

-Breakfast time. Always a fight to get her into one of two booster seats. She feels the need to pick which seat she wants for that meal (it is always changing), she doesn't think she needs any assistance climbing into it or hooking the straps (it takes FOREVER but no one better help her). She likes cereal. During her eating process she decides the cereal would make great shampoo for her hair. That's right, nasty milk in the hair.

-Clean up time, which sometimes requires a full bath, and then we are out the door.

-Back home for lunch and the fight with the high chair resumes again (you may be asking why I even bother with the booster seat, well, she is short and can't sit in a normal chair and reach the food).

-Serve lunch that she never eats (I REALLY don't know how she survives because the kid barely eats anything).

-Nap time is great.

-Wake up from nap and once again she is naked. If poop wasn't involved in the morning, it is now.

-Clean up for the 3rd time.

-Playing and causing havoc. Here are a few things she likes to do: She pushes a chair over to the counter, climbs up to feed pennies to Dorothy The Fish. Searches the pantry for junk food (she will eat that). She does like to clean which means she opens the wipes and continues to pull them all out until she has a sufficient number to wipe off her face, toys, other people's faces, the walls, the couches, you name it. I do hope that trait sticks with her. She jumps from the coffee table to the couch and somehow makes it every time despite how little she is. Sees a toy Andy has and HAS TO have it which results in a biting match.

-Dinner time is a fun time. She will take all her food in both hands and release it over the floor and then decide her hair once again needs shampooing. By the way, I am not EXAGGERATING any of this.

-Clean up for the 4th time.

All of this is the reason she is in bed at 7:00 where she will talk and jump and occasionally strip off her clothes until she decides to close her pretty brown eyes sometimes over an hour after I have laid her down. Good thing Andy can sleep through it. She is BY FAR my best sleeper though.

Now one child doing all this can be bearable on some days, the problem is she does it EVERYDAY AND has a brother that copies her so he shampoos his hair with food, throws the food on the ground, and feels the need to give Dorothy pennies for a meal. Problem with the climbing thing is that he is not as good at it as she is so today he fell off the counter. On a positive note, he has not yet decided to copy her in the bare bum department, thank goodness.

In between bouts of wanting to pull my hair literally out of my head, she makes me laugh. She walks with spunk, talks with spunk, and is just crazy. She definitely brings sunshine into our lives and keeps us on our toes.

Nothing Makes Me Happier.

In our family we have a tradition of saying:
"Who's my Handsome?" followed by Andy raising his hand.
"Who's my Pretty?" followed by either girl raising her hand.
"Who's my Blue Eyed Girl?" Taylor
"Who's my Brown Eyed Girl?" Ashlyn
You get the idea.
So Taylor participates in this question answer game especially to "Her" Handsome but recently she has given me one.
"Who's my best mommy?" After which I am supposed to raise my hand and say "ME!"

Dear Uncle Russ:

We were sad to hear you had to have surgery. We hope you get better soon.

Here's a video to put a smile on your face. We love you!

PS Sorry my voice is so loud. I guess I shouldn't yell right into the camera =)

In the Christmas Spirit.

I am compiling my Christmas play list on my IPOD (great use of my time) and I am now ready for Christmas despite the 75 degree temperature outside. I wish it would freakishly snow at our house. So help me fill up my play list. What is your favorite Christmas song and by who? I expect lots of comments. =)

I did it!

I took the kids to Disneyland by MYSELF !
That may not seem like much to some but it feels like an accomplishment.

We spent the first part of the day with Sara and the second part on our own. The kids were doing so well that we stayed until Tyler got off work and could meet us. It was such a fun day!

The girls REALLY wanted to meet Tinkerbell at the new Pixie Hollow exhibit. We got there and were told the wait was an hour to an hour and a half...ummm no thank you! Sara decided to wait in line while I took the 4 kids on rides. Luckily, the lines were short because everyone was in line to meet Tinkerbell.

We went on Alice in Wonderland,

Tea Cups
and the carousel.

Finally it was off to meet the fairies.
Sara and I bought the girls fairy dolls which is Taylor's new sleeping companion.
When Sara left, we headed over to California Adventure. I let the kids out of the stroller 1 time and 1 time only and this is how I got them over to Play House Disney.

So glad to see this guy.

I was pretty exhausted by the end of it all but it was definitely a great day.