December Part 4 - The rest of our vacation and New Year's Eve

One morning Brek convinced Grandma Jensen to pull out her cello. This is one of Brek's favorite things to do when we visit.

Then Grandma suggested we get out one of the old broken violas hanging on her wall and turn it into a more appropriately-sized cello for Brek. She pulled out an extra cello bow and go to work teaching Brek proper position and technique.

And then they started playing duets:

This is one of my favorite pictures:

Another day Joe & I had a date and when and did some shopping. We went to lunch at Zupas like we always do which is my favorite restaurant and I got the same thing that I always get. So yummy!!! We did some clothes and shoes and Costco shopping too. It's nice to visit a city after living in rural country. Then we met up with my sister and her family and saw the new movie Annie. Very cute!

On New Year's Eve day, we drove up to Salt Lake and went to the zoo. It was a free admission day. I knew it was going to be cold, but I wasn't quite expecting freezing. Brek was pretty whiny and unpleasant. There weren't as many animals out as we had hoped. But we hung in there for an hour or so and called it good. We did get to see the gorillas (inside, thankfully), and an elephant out playing in the snow, and the sea lions and seals (not even the polar bear was out!), but we did see the brown bears, and then the tigers too. They were pretty active.

Trying to get a picture with the tiger. Not such a good one:

Then inside. Brek liked the big turles the most:

Before we left we stopped and got hot chocolate in the zoo cafe.

That evening cousins arrived!!!

Playing with Jensen, Eliza, Mara, and Olaf

It just so happens that Mara and Eliza's new Christmas pjs are the EXACT SAME ONES that my mom got for my nieces, which match Brek's pjs. So they wore them on New Year's Eve together.

Tea party with cousins and Olaf:

Brek, Eliza, Mara, Lizzie, Olaf, and Sabrina

Our brother-in-law Matt got a race car driving simulator for Christmas, so he brought it over for our New Year's Eve party. As the evening dwindled down and got later, even Brek took a turn. His cousins Rose, Nora, and Mara were helpful so he could have several turns. Apparently he's really good at crashing:

It was fun partying with the Jensen family to ring in the New Year. It was the first time Brek has gotten to stay up until Midnight, which he of course thought was totally awesome (and of course made for a cranky boy the next day). We're grateful that Brek has such wonderful cousins that play so well with him. Happy 2015 to our family and friends!!!

Toddler Fashion

Brek has reached the age of dressing himself. The pictures can speak for themselves.

January 2014

Two monumental things happened for Brek in the month of January. First, he received his first black eye, apparently courtesy of a friend from day care. It took several hours to show tho, because his daycare provider neither saw the event happen, nor did the bruise appear while he was at her house, and I didn't notice it when I went to pick him up. But by the time Joe got home from work, it had surfaced, and he was the first to notice. We're pretty sure this won't be his last black eye. :)

Second, Brek got to give his very first talk in Primary at church. We practiced several times leading up to it, and even had mommy and daddy demonstrate. When we practiced at home, he had a hard time standing still and speaking clear enough and loud enough. (He is 3.)  

But when we went down for Primary and when it was time for him to give his talk, he went up and stood next to Joe, and then decided he was going to be shy so he stood behind Joe instead. Joe would tell him what to say, and Brek would repeat it loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. And we had him show this picture of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, he held it out from behind Joe for his friends to see. It was pretty cute!

This is his talk:

 This year in primary our theme is “Families are Forever.”

We can be with our families forever because of the temple.

When I was a little baby, I went to this temple and was sealed to my mommy and daddy, so I can be apart of of our eternal family.

When we go to the temple, we make promises with Heavenly Father called covenants.

Making covenants helps us to be more like Jesus, and that makes us happy.

Time line title: Very end of August through mid-November. Subtitle:ZZ

The very end of August brought our family a new experience, and it lasted until mid-November. I have permission to post these pictures and to talk about the past few months. There are tidbits of Brek and his milestones, but to be perfectly honest, almost everything going on in our home revolved around a little boy we call ZZ. 

We were asked to be foster parents for a brand new baby boy. He was 2 days old and just out of the hospital when we brought him home. Here are some pictures of Brek's first experiences being a "big brother".

Having a baby in the home spurred a lot of questions for Brek. He wanted to know about what things were like when he was a baby. We spent a lot of time looking through his baby pictures. Brek liked seeing him in the baby swing, and then seeing ZZ in the baby swing.

Brek decided he still liked the bouncy seat, so much in fact, that he broke it.

Brek loved doing tummy time with ZZ.

And he did a great job of taking care of him, comforting him, and talking to him.

loves.

Brek and Joe were introduced to the awesomeness of our local lake. So we did a family outing one evening so the boys could wade in the water and throw rocks. This is what ZZ did the whole time we were there.

Love the scenery

Usually when I go running, it's out and around the lake and back.

This is Joe trying to give instructions about throwing rocks so he didn't get hit.

Brek wasn't the only one who was enthralled with having a baby in the house. Muser the cat was too. Well, she liked the pacifiers. At one point, I was too slow to capture it on camera, but she actually had one in her mouth. She's a silly cat.

Here's a non-ZZ moment: This is Brek before we took off his last LAST diaper. Diaper free baby! At this point, he had been diaper free during the day, with no accidents for quite some time. We still had him wear a diaper for most naps, and all bedtimes. He was really ready to not wear them, so we made him go a full week of waking up dry and using the potty in the mornings without fighting us (he's pretty cranky when he wakes up.) He made it 5 days and then had a few not so good ones, but then made it a full week. In a way, I miss the cuteness of my little guy in a diaper; it makes me feel like he's still my baby. But then again, a little boy in underwear is just so adorable too!

*Part of me feels I should be totally honest and document that we have had to use a couple diapers since then, as he's had diarrhea a few times, and after cleaning up poopy underwear 3 times in 10 minutes, I was ready for a break. And shortly after ZZ left, Brek was acting out and peeing on things on purpose, so I made him wear a diaper for 2 days straight until he was ready to use the toilet again. We've had less pee on the carpet since then, but more clogged toilets, as he's found another way to act out. :) Gotta love toddlers!

Just capturing another silly Brek moment. Gotta love his "dark, curly hair."

ZZ's mom Patty has become a dear friend to our family. She has been in our home almost daily for many hours, and we have just loved getting to know her and seeing the incredible woman that she is. ZZ is definitely a momma's boy. He loves her tons, and to put it kindly, he hasn't been huge fans of us. This was one of those sweet moments were Patty got him to sleep before she left for the day.

Brek having another "big brother" moment and holding the baby.

They've both got some great faces going on here.

Can't pull out the camera without giving the "grumpy face."

"Ok, I'm done."

Having a newborn, working part-time, having a toddler, and being in Joe's busiest time of year made our life crazy. My sister was able to come out for a week and took all of the nighttime feedings with ZZ so Joe and I could catch up on sleep after the first month. It helped, but life was still rough. It was determined by court peoples and social workers that there was an issue with "bonding." From our point of view, ZZ was a great kid, but not meant to be "our" kid. We have all the faith in Patty that she's the right mom for him, and that she is totally able and capable to actually be a great mom, because she is one. They felt it was a conflict of interest, blah blah blah. There were some issues. Still, great baby. Hard baby, but great baby. Wonderful mom. Tired Jensen family.

This was the first time ZZ ever smiled at Joe or I. He's somewhere between 6 and 8 weeks here.

Brek got sick one day. So sad, but so cute.

Halloween happened. We went trunk-or-treating at the church the night before, and then trick-or-treating around town on Halloween. We didn't last as long as last year, but he still got a bucket full of candy and we enjoyed eating it. Glad he's still young enough to not know.

Our cute little cowboy.

Brek story:
For those that don't know, Brek is totally obsessed with the band. Concerts. Marching band. Pep band. DRUMS! He's pretty certain he can play any of the instruments. He's been singing pep band songs and the school song for over a year. This year he picked up the drum line cadence and the marching band song. He'll carry his hand drums around the house in marching band style. If he's on the drum pad, he'll stick the drum part and then call out the song, and then start singing it. He's crazy. He picked up the drum part to one of the pep band songs called "My Sharona." He and Joe had a good little gig going one night - Brek played the drum part, and Joe played the melody on kazoo. It's awesome, and totally embarrassing all at the same time. I promise we don't brainwash our kid. He just loves this music stuff. 

We came to a point where we felt like we needed to stop being foster parents. In reality, I held out much longer than I should have, for my mental and emotional well-being. I hated letting Patty down, and I felt terrible for requesting the change to take place. Luckily, Patty has forgiven us. It was the right decision for us. I am glad that we were able to be apart of Patty's and ZZ's lives, and that we've developed a wonderful friendship because of this. I'm also glad that we're able to mellow out our lives a bit and work to get our family back to a good place.

Had to capture some "brother" moments before ZZ left.

ZZ at 10 weeks- man they grow fast!

This one is my favorite

awww!

All in all, Brek did a pretty great job being a big brother. He was helpful in getting diapers, wipes, blankets, you name it. He loved Patty and her supervisor Christine, (and Pat too). He loved all the baby things and toys, and wanted those bottles and pacifiers like crazy. For the most part, he was very gentle and loving with ZZ. He always wanted to share, even when it was things that should be shared with a baby, like food. Glad we've got ZZ and Patty as a part of our "family!"