The May Family Blog

Photos

2011-09-04T18:17:00.004-06:00

A Few Projects

2011-07-09T20:02:00.000-06:00

Here are a few fun projects I was working on before the baby arrived.

The upholstered headboard Jesse and I both made; mostly Jesse actually.

Blessing outfit (it does have buttons now)

Carseat cover

Hooded towel

Flannel blanket for a friend

Boppy cover

Fabric drawer. I've still got some more of these to make.

He's here!

2011-06-30T12:47:00.011-06:00

On my due date

Caden Allen May was born on June 24th at 12:24 a.m. He weighed 7 lbs 1 oz and was 20 inches long. The story: I started having contractions on the 22nd after I had gone in for my appt and the dr stripped my membranes. They were mildly painful that night, enough so that I didn't sleep that great. They kept coming on Thursday while I did some grocery shopping. My doctor wanted me to go in when my contractions were 3-5 min apart for 2 hrs. While I was making dinner they started coming every 5 min, so I had my parents come get the girls and had Jesse leave work. They were about 5 min apart from 4:30 to 6:30, but then they slowed down a bit and were less consistent so we didn't go to the hospital. At about 11 it was either head to the hospital or go to bed, so I decided we should go to the hospital just to be safe. When we got there (11:20) I asked the nurse what I needed to be dilated to for me to stay, she kinda laughed and said we'll see what your dr says. She asked me what I was planning on doing for pain and I told her I was planning on an epidural. Then she checked me and I was dilated to an 8! I wasn't getting my epidural, which was a little frightening since I hadn't really prepared for natural child birth. The nurse immediately moved me to the labor and delivery room. I was having pretty hard contractions at this point. By the time we got all the questions answered my dr came in to break my water. I was almost a 10 at that point, so as soon as my water was broken it was time to push. He came out with the cord wrapped around his neck and he also had a knot in his cord. It was quite the whirlwind of an hour. Recovery has been great and I'm thinking natural child birth is the way to go, but next time I would be better prepared. I'm not sure if it would go as smoothly if my water broke though.

Weighing in

Big sis!

Our family of 5

Going home. We left Saturday afternoon.

On Sunday before church.

Adjusting to 3 kids has been pretty good so far. Hopefully it continues that way!

A Few Pictures

2011-06-07T13:20:00.009-06:00

Thought I would post some fun pics from the past few months. Mostly of the girls. :)

Just chillin'
BYU at their sweet sixteen game! It was awesome to see it live even though BYU lost.

Cupcake face! Do all kids go through this goofy "smile" phase. Alyssa did the same thing.

As if one fork was not enough. She has THREE!

Alyssa being goofy.

Mmmmm...watermelon!

Brianna thought it was a good idea to put this box on her head. She looked pretty funny.

Brianna's new obsession...belly buttons...her own and everyone elses. :)

Baby Shower and Baby Bump

2011-06-07T13:05:00.007-06:00

I have some awesome friends here in Texas that threw me a fabulous baby shower. Lots of good food and good friends. It was great!

Super cute onsies!

The quilt we tied while chatting.

Opening gifts.

The diaper cake and cute cupcakes!

A now for the baby bump...

28 weeks

37 weeks

Catch up through Pictures!

2011-03-09T18:19:00.024-07:00

Well here is my catch up post. It's amazing how big Brianna has gotten and how quickly Alyssa's hair has grown. :)

Riding with Uncle Collin

Hanging out with 2nd cousins in Utah.

In Nauvoo with Uncle Chris

Crazy Hair

This reminds me of Napoleon Dynamite :)

Head Gear

Sharing

Christmas 2010 celebrated the Saturday before we left for Utah

At Grandma and Grandpa D's house

Olives!!!

Alyssa's 4th birthday

Princess Cake and Huge Banana Split

Baby Bump: 20 weeks

Huge Carrot from our Garden

6 months or so of the past. Now I can start on the here and now. Hopefully I don't get that far behind again. :)

We're having a BOY!

2011-01-31T18:35:00.005-07:00

Well, having Jesse's teenage brother move in with us and being pregnant has taken up a lot of time, but hopefully I can catch up eventually. :) We have some exciting news though that we wanted to get out to everyone. Probably not many know that I'm even pregnant.

The Proof

Profile

3D is pretty cool. :)

Swimming, Trip to Oklahoma, Etc.

2010-06-06T13:39:00.017-06:00

We recently got a new camera, so we seem to be taking more pictures. The internet is working on the computer we keep all our pictures on, so I don't have an excuse anymore not to blog.

Brianna loves red beans & rice! :)
Alyssa loves ice cream. This reminds me of her Aunt Shelly :)

Brianna loved wearing Alyssa's shoes. She thought the laces were so cool.

Getting ready to swim!!

The girls L.O.V.E. swimming. The first time was rough, but this time they got the hang of it.

Playing with a box.

My cousin, Andrew, who is about 8 months younger than me passed away a week and a half ago. He has been fighting brain tumors since he was 8. We drove up to Oklahoma last Sunday so that we could attend the funeral. Many tears were shed, but it was fun to be able to spend time with family. Andrew is such a great example to me and it is definitely a lot easier knowing that families are forever and I can see him again someday.

Trying out the headphones on the way to Oklahoma.

I had to make the 8 hour car ride fun somehow :)

Sister sword fights.

More swords.

While we were in Oklahoma, I got to meet up with one of my really great friends, Kyla. It was so nice to see her again and get to talk for a while.

Great Granddad with all of the great grandkids that were there.

This is what we came home to: a huge cucumer and summer squash. We actually had 3 quite large cucumbers, but this was the biggest. It didn't taste very good though; I think it was too big.

Brianna's daily ritual of pulling all of the movies out of the TV stand.

Random Stuff from the Last Few Months

2010-05-24T20:30:00.000-06:00

I'm finally catching up. Be prepared for lots of photos.

Here is Brianna in her 4 month pic. I haven't been very good at taking these since then :(

Daddy and Bri

Brianna loves to pull at the strings of the guitar. Her fingers get latched onto the strings most of the time, but when she does happen to strum she gets really excited.

Alyssa is always wanting to take pictures, but she is still figuring out the viewfinder. Jesse was playing his guitar when Alyssa took this one, he was originally standing, but after a couple of pictures of his kneecaps he found the right spot.

This is one of those time that Brianna just strummed. So excited!

Brianna's first tooth. Now she has 2 teeth and boy are those babies sharp!

At first Brianna didn't like the swing, I think she felt unstable and insecure. Now that she has figure out how to hang on she loves it.

Alyssa is constantly asking to swing. As you can see from the look on her face, she absolutely loves it. If you look closely you'll see the other thing she is always asking for, and that is band-aids.

No, this picture is not stretched out, Brianna is really that wide. Hefty baby. Wide load coming through!

Jesse commented today that our girls would look back at their childhood and only be able to remember mom, but would only have pictures of dad. Was he really that goofy?

No, she's not crawling, but this picture was so cute I had to put it in here. Instead of crawling she scoots around on her bum. She can get anywhere she wants that way.

Alyssa got new sunglasses, but Brianna thought they looked better on her!

Brianna the two things she is best at, eating and making a mess. She never did like baby food, so we've pretty much gone straight to table food. She eats a lot of canned beans, mixed vegetables and waffles!

Brianna in the swing again.

Here are my gardens. We have already eaten beans out of them and there is lettuce and cucumbers that are just about ready to be eaten.

This is one of the more complete rooms in the house now. We have had a lot of fun doing it. I made the comforters, valances and curtains and Jesse made the beds. We're still not quite finished, but it is getting there. And this is one of the reasons I never blog; it is too fun doing projects around the house :)

Here are my beans that we got out of the garden.

Christmas Break

2010-04-11T14:17:00.001-06:00

All the fun we had.

Brianna's blessing

2010-04-11T14:15:00.000-06:00

We decided to bless Brianna during Christmas so that both of our families could be there. I know, I know, I'm 4 months behind.

2nd Christmas

2010-04-11T14:13:00.000-06:00

More pictures from Christmas.

Picture Scavenger Hunt

2010-04-11T14:08:00.001-06:00

Well since I never got around to putting captions on these I figured I'd better at least post the pictures. This is at the mall during Christmas time when Jesse's family was here. Pictures are the best thing about blog posts anyway, right?

May Family Pictures

2010-02-21T20:45:00.009-07:00

We took some family pictures, while Jesse's family was here and they turned out pretty good. Jesse did have to do some editing on the one with everyone in it. It is just two hard to get that many people to all look good at the same time.

The girls
The boys

The girls in our Yellowstone hoodies from Sarah.

The whole family.

Alyssa's b-day

2010-02-21T20:29:00.005-07:00

We celebrated Alyssa's birthday twice, neither time was actually on her birthday. I wanted to make her a Candy Land cake, but I thought it would be best used if both Jesse's family and my family were able to partake of the awesome-ness. Plus I got help from Alyssa's wonderful, artistic aunts.

Here is Alyssa helping out with her cake.

The finished product.

Blowing out the candles.

We were going to invite Alyssa's friend Parker over for some cupcakes on her actual birthday (he was out of town when we had the cake), but Jesse was sick and we didn't want to pass around germs. We celebrated it on the Saturday after and I started to feel sick right before our friends showed up. Luckily we didn't get anyone sick and Alyssa and Parker really enjoyed their cupcakes.

Three months and poop!

2010-02-21T18:56:00.003-07:00

Here is Brianna at 3 months old.

And this is the kind of mess Brianna creates. This is really gross, but I just had to document it. At the time this was pretty big, but it seems like she has a blow out like this almost every week. She must drink a lot of milk because she is a big girl and she poops a lot. She usually has 5 blow outs a week! Most of them are smaller than this one.

Two Months

2009-11-24T21:14:00.000-07:00

We went in today for Brianna's two month checkup and here are the stats.
Weight: 13 lbs 5 oz 95th percentile
Height: 23 in 75th percentile
Head: 16.25 in ~90th percentile
She is definitely one chunky little girl. The doctor said just to keep on doing whatever we are doing. He was very impressed with her head control. She had to get three shots which were not fun at all, but she did pretty well. They definitely made her grumpy later on though.

Here she is today at two months old.

Here are a couple pictures of Brianna from the last few weeks.

Trying out the jumperoo.

"Mom, what is this thing?"

"Alright I think I'm ready to get out."

Isn't she a cute little sleeper.

Halloween

2009-11-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

So this post is a month late, but I wanted to get pictures of Alyssa in her costume on here. She was such a cute trick-or-treater.

Collin as G.I. Joe, Alyssa as a bunny, and Zach as G.I. Joe. Collin and Zach are best friends and Collin is my little brother.
My cute little bunny rabbit.

Close-up!

One Month Old

2009-11-09T13:08:00.001-07:00

Here is Brianna at one month old and a couple of other fun pictures.

One month old

Alyssa captured this shot of Brianna. She loves using the camera.

Dog pile!

A & B

2009-11-09T13:07:00.000-07:00

Here are some adorable pictures of Alyssa and Brianna together. Alyssa absolutely adores her little sister. Sometimes it is a little too much, but at least it is too many hugs and kisses and not slapping and scratching.

Watching something on the TV.

After church.

Showing off their cute polka-dotted dresses.

First Week of Life

2009-11-09T13:06:00.002-07:00

Okay, so I'm finally getting around to posting this stuff. I planned what pics I was going to use and got the pics in posts, but it doesn't seem like I have two free hands much and it is hard to type with only one free hand. So sorry that this is old stuff.

Here I am 5 days late, the night before the induction. Man I look huge. I think the shirt exaggerates my roundness some, but I guess I was over 9 months pregnant.

The Labor & Delivery Story
I wanted to write down what happened in labor because otherwise I'm afraid I'll forget. I think I'm already starting to forget. Anyway, I started having contractions the morning of my induction at about 4. These were really only my second real contractions (I had had some for about an hour a few weeks before). I think my body was ready to have a baby. The nurses in L&D called me and told me that we could be there at 6:30. We arrived at the hospital pretty much right at 6:30 and they got me set up in a bed with a gown and the monitors strapped to my tummy. The nurse put an IV in and at about 8:00 she started me on pitocin. Not long after that my doctor came in and broke my water I think I was only about a 2 and a half at that point. After that I was having some good contractions and it didn't seem like I was dilating that quickly so I told the nurse I wanted an epidural. I figured I'd be in labor for quite a long time like I was with Alyssa and I didn't think I could endure the pain for that long. She said I had to wait until I was a 4. She checked me a while later and I was a 4 so she called in the anesthesiologist and I got my epidural. The nurse said the doctor was really good at giving epidurals and it should only take 2 or 3 minutes, but she took 10 to do mine. They had Jesse leave the room and I sat up. I couldn't see what she was doing, but it didn't feel very good and I kept having contractions which didn't help anything. Apparently she expected my cavity to be small because I'm a smaller person, but it was a lot deeper than she expected and so she spent a lot of time digging around in my back. I'm sure I'm not explaining that correctly, but hopefully you get the gist. About 45 minutes later the nurse checked me and I was an 8. I was like 'what' that was fast. Then a half hour after that I was ready to push. If I had known I only had a little over an hour left of labor, I'm not sure if I would have gotten the epidural. I only had to push through two contractions and she was here. And here she is below just after birth.

Just look at that beautiful blonde hair.
On the scale and not happy about it at all.

Our new little addition.

This is my brother, David, and his girlfriend, Hayley, checking out the new baby.

Daddy, Alyssa and Brianna.

Grandpa D holding the baby.

Her first bath at home given by grandma D.

Caught her smiling.

All dressed and ready. Not long after this she pooped clear through her diaper and my mom had to bathe her again.

The long road ahead

2009-09-27T20:26:00.008-06:00

To be honest with you, when Alyssa was born Katie and I thought she was the cutest girl to be born into this world, and we were even reassured constantly by the nurses who (though they likely tell this to all new parents) told us that our baby was the cutest of the group they had in the nursery. While birth is no cake-walk, Alyssa was relatively small and so she came out fairly unscathed. She wasn't as beat up as I remembered my younger brothers being when they came home for the first time. She has never let us down in her continuing cuteness, and I hadn't realized how grown up she now looks until I saw the following picture.

Wow, what a cutie!

Brianna on the other hand came into this world weighing practically 2 lbs more than Alyssa did, and the trip, while faster, was a little rougher on her. She was a little swollen coming out, and we later found that her collar bone was fractured along the way. Out of the gate Katie and I had the same silent opinion that she maybe wasn't as cute as Alyssa (I know, we are terrible parents). And so the comparisons begin. I am beginning to realize that this will be one of the curses of being a younger sibling. Katie and I of course are the oldest and so do not know the pressure that is put on younger siblings, especially when the elder is so perfect (as in Katie's case, not mine). To tell you the truth it is difficult to avoid comparing them, but it reminds me of Jeffrey R. Holland's talk about being careful with that, so we will have to work on it. Fortunately Katie took back her comments and now claims that Brianna looks just like Alyssa did. I disagree, but think she is just as cute (now that the swelling has gone down) in her own way. I had to pull out some old pictures and compare the two, and I think there are some similarities, but they are by no means identical. I decided to post them here for your consideration.
Now, one of these girls seems to be saying "Errrrgg DAD!". That would be the one who later learned that exact phrase from an old mission companion of mine (she now uses that phrase all too regularly, thanks a lot Pitt).

Here's a good side by side comparison, Alyssa on the left and Brianna on the right. You decide, as for me they are two of the three most adorable girls in the world!

Brianna Lynn

2009-09-24T15:24:00.003-06:00

Well, we had a baby today. Brianna Lynn May was born this morning at 11:51. She weighed in at 8 lbs. 5 oz. and was 21 inches long. Katie started having contractions this morning at about 4 am, and we got a call from the hospital at 5 to be there for an induction at 6:30. She got set up and they started the pitocin at around 8. Everything went smoothly and both Katie and Brianna are doing great. I'm sure Katie will want to do a post on here about when she gets home. Here are some pictures.

The Big Day Has Arrived...But the Baby Hasn't

2009-09-18T20:33:00.006-06:00

Well there is no way this baby is coming on her due date. Even if my water broke right now I don't think she would make it before midnight, so looks like another late baby for me. I am scheduled to be induced on the 24th, but I am really hoping she comes before then. It would be really nice not to have to face all the people at church again, but I guess we'll see if I can go into labor before Sunday afternoon.

Ten days before the due date with a glimpse of the babies room.

Five days before the due date.

And here is today on the due date.

I love Alyssa in the last two, that girl cracks me up. Well I sure hope this baby arrives quickly. I wish she would listen to the pregnancy count down ticker on the side 'It's go time!' I'm not really that uncomfortable, but the anticipation is killing me and I'm just ready to have this baby. Atleast I think I'm ready, we'll see what I think after she actually arrives.

22 Point Underdog BYU upsets No. 3 OU!

2009-09-06T17:44:00.013-06:00

Wow, that's all I can say. Mostly because my voice is completely gone. I had the amazing opportunity to have good seats with some friends at the BYU vs OU football game in the Dallas Cowboys version of Disneyland. Let me just start by saying that before the game I looked at tons of pictures and videos of the stadium, and none of them do it justice. The place is ridiculous. The exterior, the interior, the screen. That screen (the worlds largest HD screen that stretches for over 160 feet of the field) is huge and crystal clear. Everyone there was joking "I have got to get one of those at my house". OU has a great tradition in football, and they created a great atmosphere for the game.
To be honest, I was telling myself all week that BYU was going to lose, and could lose big. I had a lot of hope that they would pull it off, but was wary from the end of last season and knew that if we did get blown out I would be sent spiraling into a football depression if I wasn't prepared. So I told myself it was possible but BYU would have to play perfect and OU would have to have an average game. I was wrong. BYU played lights out, especially on defense. The place was loud and rowdy and hanging on every play because BYU's defense stepped up and won the game, despite 3 offensive turnovers and a muffed punt.
I am still reeling from the experience and will never forget that game. I took a few pictures, more as proof that I was there than anything because like I said before, pictures don't do that place justice. We were way outnumbered as BYU fans, but the OU fans were pretty classy, even while drunk. They weren't insulting at all, but they definitely cheered hard for their team! We had a group sitting in the row behind us and they were very respectful fans. Much rowdier than your average BYU fan, but no hateful cheers or yells with the exception of the following. It seemed like every 30 seconds one of them would Yell Boomer and the rest would reply Sooners as below:
"Boomer!": "Sooners!"
"Boomer!": "Sooners!"
"Boomer!": "Sooners!"
"Texas!" : "Sucks!"
I can definitely respect a good rivalry.
Katie and Alyssa stayed home mostly because Katie didn't want to be going to the game with 2 weeks left until her due date.
Well, I may get some more pictures or comments on here after I get them from the friends that I went with, but this is it for now.

P.S. Unfortunately the pictures uploaded in reverse chronological order and my browser freezes every time I try to re-arrange them, so since I don't want to upload them again they stay as is.

Didericksen Family Pictures & David's Call

2009-08-30T21:02:00.005-06:00

We took pictures with my family recently because my brother, Scott, just got back from his mission and is off to BYU and my other brother, David, is preparing to leave on a mission. This one is probably the best one out of the bunch.
The last two times we have taken pictures with my family I have been pregnant and this time I'm practically nine months pregnant. I guess I should have timed it a little better.

My brother David got his mission call on Friday, so it is a good thing we got those pictures taken. He has been called to the Fresno, California mission and reports to the MTC November 18th. We are super excited for him and know that he will be a great missionary.

Astros Game

2009-08-30T20:37:00.006-06:00

Thanks to the G. family, we were able to attend an Astros game. Sarah's dad used his frequent flyer miles to get a suite and it was definitely sweet!

We had awesome seats, lots of yummy food and all the soda and water we wanted.

We even got ice cream in that hat Alyssa is wearing on her head. Needless to say, we ate way too much.
Alyssa absolutely loved the game. She barely wanted to leave her seat on daddy's lap to go and get ice cream. I don't think she understood what was going on in the game, but she wanted to be right in on the action.

After games held on Friday nights, they open up the roof of the stadium and blast off fireworks. It was a pretty good show and they played music in tribute to Michael Jackson.

One More Month of Pregnancy & Elder Didericksen Returns

2009-08-30T19:13:00.008-06:00

I know that now I have less than three weeks until my due date, but I had Jesse take a profile shot at exactly one month before and am just now getting to posting it.

Getting close to looking like I'm about to pop. I definitely like black maternity shirts. From the front you don't look so huge.

My first bread making experience using my own home ground wheat (Thanks mom and dad for that wheat grinder for Christmas--we didn't get to take it back to Provo so I'm just now getting around to using it). This is half white flour half wheat flour. It turned out pretty good and I recently made two more 100% whole wheat loaves which turned out pretty good as well.

My brother Scott just returned from his mission in Brazil. He served in the Cuiaba mission until the very end when they switched him to the Manaus mission. He already headed back to BYU, so he had to adjust to being back in the states pretty quickly.

This is what Scott brought us back from Brazil. It is pretty sweet having a hammock in our back yard. Jesse especially likes to use it while talking to his family. I think Alyssa has spent the most time in it she gets in it with either of us and has been in it by herself as well. Scott also brought us home some T-shirts and Alyssa got some shorts as well. We'll have to take some pictures in them.

Potty Trained

2009-08-09T18:51:00.003-06:00

Well I believe Alyssa is officially potty trained. We started about a month ago and she had it down in about a week. She is still wearing training pants at night, but most of the time wakes up dry or comes and gets me in the middle of the night needing to go. The first day was really rough for me because she really didn't understand the concept and she had lots of accidents. She pretty much had #1 down after the first day, but #2 took a few more days. M&m's and popscicles definitely worked for Alyssa. Now, hopefully she doesn't regress at all after the baby is born. It is so nice to be done with diapers, but I guess it is only for a little over a month.

4th Anniversary!

2009-08-09T18:12:00.007-06:00

Today is our four year anniversary. So I thought I would post some reminiscent pictures. Jesse woke up this morning sick and ended up throwing up, so not such a fun day for him. At least we got to go to the temple yesterday to celebrate.

Here we are on the front steps of the temple with everyone that was there.

Flicking the garter. This was actually a few days after our wedding day at our reception in Ponca.

Stuffing each others faces with cake. We weren't super nice to each other, but it was definitely fun.
I can't believe that we have already been married for four years. Time flies by so fast. I'm so glad to be sealed forever to a wonderful husband. It has been a fabulous four years.

The Past Couple Months

2009-07-14T18:14:00.012-06:00

I know, I know, I have been terrible about updating the blog. I had lots of pictures to put up, but I didn't have the right cord for the camera and I figured it would be easier to put the pictures on our own computer. Once we got moved into our house, we've just seemed to be really busy. I started this post over a week ago and haven't had a chance to finish. I don't know how we did it when we were in school. I stay at home and feel like I don't have time to do anything. Maybe I'll catch up eventually. Here are some pictures that are pretty old now. I'll have to do another post soon with some more pictures.

Since we didn't actually attend graduation, we figured we ought to atleast get pictures in the gowns. Thanks to Tawna for letting us borrow your gowns and taking our pictures for us. We appreciate it.

Somehow Alyssa came up with the idea of using my hair as her moustache. She would pull my hair up to her face and say look at my moustache. I helped her for the pictures.

Both of us with moustaches.

For playgroup, we went to a children's museum. We went with Sarah and Parker G. and Collin came with us as well. This was the first ward playgroup that we went to and we never found anyone in our ward there.

Alyssa playing in the sand at the children's museum. The kids had a great time and didn't want to leave. I needed lunch so I finally got them to go.

Alyssa swimming in the new pool that grandma D. got for her. It even has a cool slide. I think this pool helped her warm up to the idea of swimming again because before she got in her pool she refused to swim in any real pools. She will now swim in real pools again.

Playing with the golf balls in the pool.

This is the bed that Jesse made for Alyssa with Alyssa in it pretending to sleep. He plans on making a second one for the baby. Even though she won't need it for a while, he'll probably make another before his family comes out for Christmas so one of his lucky siblings will be able to sleep in it. Now I just need to find bedspreads for them.

Another project we worked on. I sanded down the bookcase and then Jesse painted it white along with the bed. We have many more projects ahead of us that we have started or will be starting soon. We will have to document them.

I realized that I haven't taken any belly shots. I've been meaning to do this for awhile, but just hadn't done it. This is me at 30 weeks, looking decently big. I'm definitely bigger than I was with Alyssa, but I don't feel huge so that is nice. You can also see the blue paint that we used to paint the family room and kitchen. We also got new couches, but I might wait and take a picture of the family room when it is all done. We definitely have a ways to go. The only room that is pretty much finished is the nursery and it still needs some finishing touches.

We Bought A House!

2009-06-28T08:11:00.009-06:00

Well, we closed on our home and moved in. We still have junk all over the place and are trying to get it unpacked, but we are here. I don't know how many people Katie has told, but for those of you wondering here are the stats of our home that is way too big.

Bedrooms: 5

Bathrooms: 3

Other rooms: Living, Dining, Kitchen, Breakfast area, den, laundry, game room.

Garage: 2 car attached

Square Footage: way too much (the plan is to grow into this one in the next 5-10 years)

attached are a couple of videos of the home. The first one is the quick version for those of you who are pressed for time.

Just in case that wasn't good enough for you here is the longer version.

Well, we're excited to have our own space now, and feeling more and more permanent every day. My job is going well, and we have some friends and family close by. Katie is due to have the baby on September 18th. We think we have decided on the name Brianna Lynn. Alyssa is pretty excited to have a baby sister. That's about it for a quick update. Hopefully Katie gets on here soon and posts what is going on in more detail.

2009-06-13T11:48:00.013-06:00

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there. We recently got the rest of the band for Guitar Hero, and Alyssa loves playing the drums. It kind of reminded me of my own dad, who is constantly drumming on the table, the steering wheel or whatever is around. He played the drums growing up, and has continued to have a good beat. I thought that this video would be a good tribute to him and the joy in drumming that he has apparently passed on to Alyssa.

I know that Katie loves to watch videos of other people's kids, so in case you wanted to hear what Alyssa was actually saying and doing through the video I have added the undubbed version below. If you listen closely you may hear a couple of yells for "Cookie monsa an' Gwova!"(Grover). Enjoy.

-Jesse

It's a ...

2009-04-17T16:10:00.007-06:00

Well we seem to have a healthy baby. Since we are moving I wanted to make sure everything was okay so I had my routine ultrasound at 18 weeks. The ultrasound technician recommended that I have another ultrasound when we get to Texas because she couldn't see the heart and lips as well as in a 20 week old baby. I'm due September 18th which matched up exactly with what the ultrasound said. Scroll down to see our next little bundle of joy and to find out what it is.

Face
Foot

Legs

It's a girl! We're excited to have another girl. Jesse says he isn't disappointed at all as long as we eventually have a boy. I just wanted a healthy baby.

What we've been up to

2009-04-05T21:20:00.012-06:00

So I've been thinking that I didn't have anything to really post about, but I decided that I should update on what we're up to. I took the pictures off of our camera and found a ton of pictures that made me laugh and that I thought I should post. I guess I should take pictures off the camera more often so I will post more often. Anyway, we're headed out of Provo to Houston in a little over two weeks! We're excited to both be done with school and headed out into the real world. We've been looking at houses more seriously lately (we've been looking at houses for about 8 months) and have been in contact with a realtor which is very exciting. Now we just have to get pre-approved and pack up all our stuff and move it, definitely the not so fun part. Not much else is going on, but when we find a house we'll have to put up some pictures. Here are the pictures from the last two monthsish.

Here is Alyssa in her cute apron and hat getting ready to help mommy cook.Somehow Alyssa got this noodle stuck in her hair.

Jesse's ABC block tower.

Alyssa trying on mommy's shoes.

Reading stories with Grandma May.

Playing Guitar Hero. We got a Wii a few weeks ago.

Alyssa eating ice cream.

Trying to put her pants back on. I'm not sure if you can tell, but they are upside-down.

Tucked in dress.

Pretending to sleep in the laundry basket. She did actually fall asleep like this the other day, but we forgot to take a picture. This is the reinactment.

Alyssa was up playing in her room all by herself. I went up to check on her and this is what I found. She has four or five blankets piled on top of her.

Picture Tag

2009-03-09T11:36:00.003-06:00

My friend Kyla tagged me on her blog the other day. It is fun to see what picture it is.
Here are the rules:
1) Choose the fourth folder from wherever you store your pictures on your computer.
2) Choose the fourth picture in that folder.
3) Explain the picture.
4) Tag four people to do the same.
5) No cheating (cropping etc.)

This is a picture of Alyssa when she is about 2 months old just chillin' out on the couch. Man she was a chubby little baby.

I tag anyone who is reading this that wants to do it.

Alyssa Video

2009-02-17T18:02:00.007-07:00

Here is some fairly recent video I took of Alyssa, within the last month. It's just a bunch of random stuff, and about 7 minutes, so you may not even want to watch it, but there it is.

Alyssa is 2!

2009-01-24T18:49:00.006-07:00

My little girl is already 2. I can't believe how fast time has passed. Alyssa's birthday was over 2 weeks ago and I'm just getting around to posting about it. Alyssa is such a sweet happy girl. She almost always does what she is told. She is very independent and very loving, always giving hugs and kisses. Here are a few pictures of my little girl on her birthday. We had Alyssa's friend Emmalee and her family over for cake and ice cream.

Here she is blowing out her candle. She loves to blow out candles.

Opening Candy Land. Finally a game for her age. She is always trying to get out our games and play them.

Here is the tutu she got from her friend. When she opened it Emmalee's daddy told her it was a hat and immediately she put it on her head. It was pretty hilarious.

Wearing her new tutu. She loves dancing in it. Thanks B* family.

Here she is a couple days later playing with her blocks that she got. I helped start her out, but amazingly she did most of this by herself. She kept saying it's "big and strong". It was so cute, but finally fell over. I love you Alyssa you are such a wonderful daughter.

A Little Before and During Christmas Vacation

2009-01-04T14:46:00.011-07:00

Well, it has been a while since we last posted. The break was nice, we were in Houston with Katie's parents. The weather was very nice, and we mostly just relaxed. We decided to just post a few pictures we have taken since the last post.

Here are some cupcakes that Katie made. They were amazing, cream filling and all. We are going to have to make those again soon.

Alyssa likes to eat yogurt, and in this picture she decided she didn't need a spoon any more.

Alyssa loves to draw, we're still working on interpreting what it is that she is drawing, but it is definitely something she loves to do.

Alyssa loves to stick her head through the bars on the stairs, here she is just above the computer, where she likes to sneak up and grab things she probably shouldn't have.

While with Katie's parents, and waiting for all the video games that Santa brought for Christmas, I got with Katie's little brothers and we made some ornaments. We made penguins, and then I made this polar bear. It is made out of sculpey, and was very easy to make.

Here is one of the video games that Santa brought the Didericksen home. Alyssa wanted to give Guitar Hero a shot since mom and dad were spending so much time rocking out. She played on practice, beginner where you only have to strum, and she got like 20% of the song. Not bad, she actually had the beat sometimes.

We celebrated Alyssa's birthday while we were in Houston. She was pretty excited to blow out the candles.

Here is Alyssa with her birthday present that Grandma D got her.

Yeah, a kitchen! Alyssa loved it, too bad we had to leave it there until we go back.

We had a great time visiting with family and playing lots of video games. We even got to go to the Jazz vs Rockets game at the Toyota Center. We didn't bring our camera, so we'll have to try to get some pics from Katie's parents and post those later. We were also able to go on a drive to look for neighborhoods we might want to live in. We definitely found some we didn't want to live in and others that are possibilities, now we need to talk to our realtor and see what she thinks of the areas.

Family Pictures

2008-11-23T15:09:00.008-07:00

A couple weeks ago we had our family pictures taken by our friend Melissa. She does photography part time, and does a great job of it. She knew of a great place to take our pictures with a really cool rock amphitheatre, lots of leaves, and two ponds. She took tons of pictures for us and it was really hard to decide which ones to post. But here there are. If you want a fabulous photographer for family pictures, engagements, wedding pictures, etc. you should call Melissa. Her website is http://folksphoto.com.

Alyssa absolutely loved playing in the leaves.
Whenever we were kissing Alyssa she would think it was funny at first and then she would say "stop, stop!"

I love this innocent face.
Alyssa had a fun time throwing leaves into the pond. We were disappointed that we didn't bring bread to feed the fishes and duck.

So sweet!

Our family!

Throwing leaves again.

Giving mommy kisses.

I thought this picture was hilarious. "Mom & dad, what are you doing?"

Walking up the path.

Melissa also has a blog, which is one of our links to the right. You should check out her work.

Pumpkins and Pictures

2008-10-28T08:59:00.014-06:00

Last night we did our pumpkin carving, so we just wanted to post a few pictures on here.

Katie carved the bat, Jesse carved Elmo, Alyssa colored on her little pumpkin, Garr carved the storm trooper, and Sally carved Ironman. Sally is of course the most artistic of all of us, and the only one who just sketched hers on the pumpkin. The rest of us used cheat sheets.

This is part of Alyssa's costume. Unfortunately she looks way cuter without the rest of it. She has fairy wings and a tutu, but they are orange, and she doesn't have anything that goes well with them right now. We'll have to see if we can fix that.

Here are some vegetables that we got from the garden we inherited from our former neighbors the Jeppesens. Thanks guys!

Alyssa got a cool house for a couple of days from our washer and dryer boxes. She liked it for a little bit, but really didn't want to go in there unless mom or dad was going in to play with her.

ABCs

2008-10-19T16:10:00.002-06:00

Alyssa can count to 13!

2008-09-30T21:24:00.002-06:00

We haven't posted in a long while, sorry about that. As soon as we got settled in to our apartment, school started and we've been pretty busy ever since. Hopefully I'll do an apartment post later, but I wanted to commemorate this day to Alyssa's counting. For a while now she has been saying 2-3-10, but today we caught her counting to 10. I had to go take a test, but Jesse asked her if she wanted to count with him. She would lead the counting all the way to 13 and then Jesse would lead to 20. When they came to pick me up from my test, we started to count and she didn't want to stop. What a smart little girl. Now we just need to get her to say all her ABCs. She says most of them, but she skips some like e, i, and r. When we get the video camera charged we'll have to get video up of her counting and saying her ABCs.

Happy 3rd Anniversary to Us!

2008-08-10T18:54:00.010-06:00

Yesterday was our 3rd wedding anniversary. It is crazy how quickly three years go by. I thought I would post a few wedding picture to reminisce. We were married in the Nauvoo temple. Here we are with our beautiful bridesmaids and handsome groomsmen. My mom made all of the bridesmaids' dresses, most of the groomsmens' ties and all of the flowers. She is pretty much amazing.

Doesn't Jesse look handsome?

Now for what we actually did on our anniversary. We spent about 5 hours staining my parent's fence. Luckily it wasn't too terribly hot outside. This is the neighbor's gate next to our newly stained fence. Doesn't it look so much better.
This is the part of the fence that Jesse and I worked on mostly. Next weeks task will be landscaping the backyard.
After staining the fence, we did go out for dinner. We went to Tgi Fridays, which was some pretty good food. After that we did a little bit of shopping. We got some treats and came home to enjoy a movie together. I have to say it was a wonderful anniversary, it is really nice to accomplish something. Now we couldn't leave a post without a picture of Alyssa. This isn't a picture of Alyssa, but it leads to a picture of Alyssa. My brother, Brett, was putting Alyssa's farm animals on his face as you can see.

After that Alyssa was trying really hard to do the same. We helped her out a little bit and here is the outcome.

What a funny girl.

Recent Happenings

2008-08-03T20:01:00.010-06:00

In our ward here in Texas, there is a lady that had quadruplets about 5 months ago. She brought three of them to church a few weeks ago and she let a few families hold them since she can't hold three at once. My mom was holding Nathan and so I took him from her. After that Alyssa wanted to hold him. We let her hold him for a while, but he started to look uncomfortable and we took him away from her. She had a fit and wouldn't stop unless she could hold the baby. Crazy girl; she didn't seem jealous at all because she wanted to be with whom ever was holding the Nathan. In nursery when the toys come out she always picks up a specific little dolly. Sounds like she is about ready for some siblings, but she will have to wait until I'm done with school. Which is less than a year away. Hooray!

Grandma decided she wanted to put curlers in Alyssa's hair. I only have a picture of the curlers in. Afterwards her hair looked kind of funny on top. The next time grandma decided to only put them in on the sides, but the curls don't last very long, especially with an active little girl. My dad's work celebrated its tenth anniversary by having all the families go to an Astros game vs. the New York Mets. It was a really great time and the company even provided pizza, hamburgers, hotdogs, cake, etc. We even got to witness a grand slam in the 8th inning. The game was tied 3-3. The bases were loaded and one person struck out and then the next person hit a homerun. It was awesome and the crowd went wild. Something Alyssa didn't like very much. Towards the end of the game I could tell Alyssa was getting really tired, she kept walking back and forth through the bleachers trying to keep herself awake. We wanted to wait until the end though because they have Friday Night Fireworks. Minute Maid Park actually has a roof that can be opened up. During the game the roof was closed and they had air conditioning so it was pretty darn cool. After the game was over they opened up the roof for the fireworks. It was pretty amazing to watch the roof slowly open up. The firework display was amazing. It was set to music and was really a great show. Alyssa ended up falling asleep during the fireworks, which I found pretty funny. Here is Jesse and I enjoying the food and the game.
Recently I have been making some decorating items for when we get back to our apartment in Provo. Thanks to the Jeppesens, we actually have an apartment in Provo that we will be moving into on the 21st of August. I've seen these in a lot of people's houses and really liked them, so I decided to try to make one. My mom has all kinds of crafting materials that I can use.
Here is my flower arrangement, double-sided table runner, and kitchen soap dispenser for our kitchen/dining area. I have also been working on and have finished a 4-month meal plan that includes weekly shopping lists. Hopefully this will make my life slightly easier during school and pretty much from here on out. I'll probably have to update it a little when our family gets larger.

On Saturday we went to a 1st birthday party, so my mom went to Toys 'R Us to get a gift. She ended up getting Alyssa a little farm house because she said she really hadn't gotten her anything for her first birthday. Here is Alyssa with Brett trying to figure it all out.

We went over to Max's (the little boy turning one) house and Alyssa had a blast. Max is an only child so far and his parents are well established and so he has quite a few toys. Alyssa especially loved this zebra jumping toy. She bounced up and down; Jesse had a hard time getting her to stop so he could get a good picture. This one is a little fuzzy, but pretty good for the camera on a cell phone.

We only have a couple weeks left here in Texas, which is crazy. It almost seems like we just got here. We'll be sad to leave my family, but it will be fun to see friends that we have missed in Provo.

Summer Pictures

2008-07-16T05:47:00.000-06:00

Last night we were at walmart and Alyssa and I were walking past the electronics section. I was very pleased when I heard her yell "Ba-Ball" excitedly. She apparently had seen a basketball game on the tvs and was excited about it. That's daddy's girl! Here are some pictures from this summer that we have been meaning to get up. Hope you enjoy, but be warned, viewer discretion is advised on the last picture.

Dad and Alyssa hat shopping.

Looks like we found a couple of hats we liked!

The neighborhood was pretty crazy with a lot of fireworks going on for the 4th, and Alyssa loved them for the 2nd straight year.

Texas is really getting into Alyssa's blood.

She loves that fudgecicle.

Alyssa in her new swimming pool. She really likes to play with about 20 golf balls in there.

She is also able to swing really well, she has a baby swing now, but she can handle the big kid swing on her own too.

So this is the last one, go on if you dare. We were in Ross the other day looking at swim suits for Katie, and we found this little jewel. She wouldn't let me get it for a gag gift, so I had to share it with everyone. Maybe you have seen these, but it is basically a bra for your bum. It keeps it perfectly shaped and firm looking! Hilarious!

Throwback to the old school

2008-07-04T09:57:00.000-06:00

Hey, this really is a coincidence, but that last video had an old rap song becuase it was kind of a boxing song. This next one is one that Katie's brother David taught Alyssa, so we had to put it on here. I think it's now her favorite song. Ice Ice Baby!

Mama Said Knock You Out!

2008-06-25T20:54:00.000-06:00

As you can see from the video, she favors the right hook.

Some new pictures

2008-06-15T12:48:00.000-06:00

Well, things are going well, kind of. Katie's job is ok, and I am really liking mine. FMC is a good company, and I am enjoying my work. I have been sick this week, and Alyssa woke up pretty sick this morning, but she has been surprisingly cheerful. She is a lot of fun. She is starting to get really talkative, she had a conversation with my sister Sally for about 15 minutes over the phone the other day. Of course nothing of what she said was understood, but she would listen, then laugh, and then she would talk when Sally asked her questions. She is getting pretty good at saying some words too, along with her many signs that she knows. Her favorite fruit is now a strawberry, she says "staabouy".

We finally got some of the pictures off of our camera, so I wanted to put some of them up here.

The other night I was filling up the bath and stepped out of the bathroom for a minute. I heard a splash and a gasp and ran in to find this.

She loves to lean over the edge of the tub and touch the water. I guess she leaned a little too far!

Alyssa loves to try on shoes, especially ones that aren't hers. Here is one of those times, it also gives a shot of her haircut that grandma gave her.

I thought this was a funny picture so I had to include it.

More shoes

We have found a new problem in that Alyssa refuses to understand that she can't draw on her body, or the table, or the chairs, or her doll, or anything she wants really. We're working on it.

Alyssa loves to play in the bath, and one of her new tricks is to blow bubbles. She really likes it, we need to take her swimming more often.

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T19:03:00.000-06:00

I hope all of the mothers out there had a wonderful day today. Things are going great here in Houston. We have been playing Wii a lot since we have some extra time right now. I've also been trying to make monthly meal plans for when we are busy again. I've been going through cook books and picking out the recipes we like. Jesse has been reading a John Grisham book. The weather is getting pretty hot already. It is too bad we can't be here in the winter instead of the summer. The winters here are supposed to be pretty nice. I had an interview for an internship on Wednesday. It sounds like they are going to hire me, but I haven't heard from them yet. Jesse went to the doctor on Wednesday and got a boot to replace his cast. The doctor told him that he could put 30% of his weight on his hurt leg. He could be off crutches in two weeks; the doctor will evaluate how he is doing then. After the summer we are going to be back in Provo and then we will be graduating in April, pretty exciting. If anyone knows of any good housing in Provo opening up in August please let us know. Here are some of the fun things Alyssa has been doing. You may not notice, but Alyssa has Collin's (my little brother) shoes on. These are pretty huge on her, but she likes to put them on because they light up and just because they are shoes and she likes putting any shoes on especially when they aren't hers.

Here is Alyssa posing in the window sill. She really enjoys sitting here. It is the perfect height for her.

Collin also likes to sit in the window sill. I think part of the reason Alyssa likes it is because Collin sits there and she likes to copy Collin. He was hitting himself on the way home from church today, so Alyssa was doing the same.

Here is Alyssa eating ice cream with daddy. She almost looks like Mario to me with her lovely moustache. This picture cracks me up.

In Houston

2008-05-04T17:14:00.000-06:00

Wow, it's been a while since we posted on here. A lot has been going on, from finishing up school work, to finals, to packing, to driving to Houston. There is no way we would have been able to move without the help we received from ward members, thanks so much to any of you who may read this. We have been here over a week now though, and have just been lazy. The weather is nice, it was snowing when we left Provo, and 85 and humid in Houston when we got here. Katie is still hoping that she will get an internship, and I start work on the 19th. I get my cast off in the next week or so. Alyssa is loving the big house with plenty of room to roam, plus stairs to go up and down. She is a little show off, performing for people who ask. She knows around 100 signs now, and so people will ask her words and she will sign them, and then laugh and clap for herself. It was cute for the first 20 times or so. She is still our little cutie though, and people are always commenting on how much she looks like Katie and Katie's little brother. One thing she has loved here is finding Easter candy in closets and all over really, she always seems to find the candy and get it in her mouth. The other day she came out of a bedroom with chocolate all over her face and hands, and with aluminum wrappers in her mouth. I'll post a picture. Overall things are good here.

Moving boxes are so much fun!

Nothing but her shoes and a diaper on. At least she covered her bust line.

Things have been crazy!

2008-04-08T22:44:00.000-06:00

So, things have been pretty crazy around here the last week or so. At the beginning of last week I was trying to get ahead on everything so I could get my surgery done. Too bad I can't get ahead on dishes and taking out the trash among other things, because now Katie has been overloaded. She now gets to take care of a 15 month old, go to school, work, and take care of a newborn like 190 lb man. I haven't even been any help with making decisions because I've been so loopy on pain killers. Fortunately the surgery went well, they had to cut my achilles tendon in half, overlap it some, and then sew it back together. My leg is in a cast right now and I had to stay laying down for 5 days after the surgery. Monday was my first day back in class and I didn't get anything out of it, the drugs were still wearing off. Today I was more alert, but overdid it with 3 labs I had to turn in, and a term paper that was pretty big. I think the Dr. just wanted me to be getting around the house and that was all by today. Anyway we haven't had much time to post here, and since Alyssa still isn't asleep and it's almost 11pm I'm posting while Katie tries to get her to sleep.

We were looking through some pictures, and there are a lot of good ones we haven't posted yet so we may have to get them up in more than one post. I'll try to upload as many as I can tonight. Here they are.

We went to Chuck E Cheese a week and a half ago. Alyssa really liked the car rides.

Here is Alyssa in her Strawberry Shortcake dress on Sunday, there is no way Dad can say no to that.

Here Alyssa decided her doll needed to swing in her swing. She put her in there and then rocked her back and forth for a minute or so, then put her in the pack and play for a nap.

Alyssa loves to sign hat, and I am assuming that is where this idea came from, she gets to have so much fun with aunt Sally and Uncle Garr when they babysit.

Here Alyssa had just gotten into mom's makeup while dad had her on the bathroom counter one morning while he got ready. Oops.

Her is a good picture of Alyssa with Uncle Garr. I had to put this one in because it just happened to be his favorite number on the camera, that's right it was picture number _ _. Ok, well those who know Garr definitely know what number that was.

Hanging out with uncle Garr again!

Here I am hiding behind a cast and a computer.

Final Four Update

2008-03-31T22:26:00.000-06:00

Well, time for an update. I think I will just tell you how my bracket is going, because Katie doesn't really care much about hers anymore, partially because it isn't looking too great. I have gotten lucky so far and this last week was really good to me. I didn't have Davidson beating Wisconsin, but other than that I picked all the Elite Eight correctly, and the Final four. On ESPN's bracket challenge I am in the 99.8th percentile, of course that sounds better than 7737th place, even if it is out of over 3 million brackets submitted. The great news is that I got my name in the BYU paper. I am the overall leader for BYU's bracket challenge, and so that was exciting to see today. At this point I am thinking that I will be out of the running next week because I have North Carolina and UCLA in the championship game, and I'm afraid that UCLA might lose to Memphis, Memphis has just been tearing through the tournament, and I just hope UCLA and Love can pull off a win. Here's a picture of the leaderboard as it was printed this morning.

On a more serious note, I have recently found out that I need surgery to repair a torn achilles that I suffered playing basketball a few weeks ago. I will be going in on Wednesday to get the surgery done, and then recovery should take 8-10 weeks. Well, if North Carolina beats UCLA in the Championship game I'll have a BOSE ipod system to listen to while I'm a gimp.

-Jesse

A Head of Lettuce!

2008-03-24T18:16:00.000-06:00

So we were sitting down to dinner tonight and Katie had washed a couple very large pieces lettuce for our tuna melts, and I had an epiphany. It just looked so much like a wig, but it was too small for Katie and I, so the natural guinea pig had to be Alyssa. If you think this is cruel, well Katie was party to it since she couldn't stop laughing to make me take it off. Hope you enjoy

-Jesse

Easter Pictures

2008-03-24T18:08:00.000-06:00

Well we have some pictures of Alyssa from Easter that we wanted to put up.

She loved finding the eggs!

Sweet Sixteen!

2008-03-23T19:26:00.000-06:00

Well, it's time to check in with our brackets. Sorry that the links are broken, I haven't had time to fix them. Our scores based on the point system of automatic 64 points to start, one for each team, and then two for the next round and doubling each consecutive round.
Katie has a total of 132 points. The main upsets that Katie picked correctly were #13 Siena over #4 Vanderbilt and #12 Western Kentucky over #5 Drake. She also picked #10 Davidson over #7 Gonzaga.
Jesse has a total of 150 points on our bracket and a 86.5% rating on ESPN's bracket challenge. That is still only ranked around 400000 on there, but it looks good, we won't mention Katie's percentage because it is disproportionately low. The main upsets that Jesse picked correctly were #12 Villanova over #5 Clemson, #10 Davidson over #7 Gonzaga and then #10 Davidson over #2 Georgetown. He also picked #9 Arkansas over #8 Indiana.

So far the brackets look O.K for us. Katie had a few misques in the Sweet Sixteen with over half of her picks not making it there. Jesse has 4 teams he picked that didn't make it there, thanks in part to Duke for losing to West Virginia. As far as the Elite Eight that we have picked all of Katie's picks are still viable except for one, and All of Jesse's picks are still in the running.

We'll have some Alyssa Easter pictures and possible videos up soon hopefully. She had a blast looking for the eggs! Until next time.
-Jesse

March Madness!!

2008-03-19T21:01:00.000-06:00

Well the madness starts tomorrow and so Katie and I decided to fill out a bracket. We mostly did it for BYU's bracket contest, but it is fun to fill them out and see how we are doing.

This bracket assigns 1 point for the first round and the points double each new round. Maybe if we have time we will keep an update of our points. Feel free to leave comments to let us know how your bracket is doing.

We also uploaded images of our bracket, if you want to see the entries click on it and hopefully it will be big enough to see.

This one is Jesse's

And this one is Katie's. Last year Katie was one of BYU's leaders after the second round. After that she dropped off though. Hopefully she picked all winners this time so we can win a Bose System!

Crazy week

2008-03-16T17:11:00.000-06:00

This week has been crazy and I haven't had time to do much of anything. I had a take home test with two real life design problems that probably took about 20 hours. I had no idea how I was going to get everything done I needed to, but somehow I survived and managed to get it all done.

I love to cook so I thought I would post a picture of an interesting meal I made the other day.

This is Mexican Manicotti, it turned out really good, but we decided the stuffing in the manicotti shells could have used some taco seasoning. One really cool thing about this recipe is that you stuffed the shells without cooking them and then let them soak in water and salsa overnight before you cooked them. This is definitely something I'll cook again.

Here are a couple of pictures of Alyssa that I wanted to post earlier, but didn't have time.

Alyssa has learned that she really likes to drink out of a cup without a lid. She actually does a pretty good job all by herself, although when she is not drinking she isn't very careful and will fling juice or milk out of her cup.

This was so cute. Alyssa put her coat on the couch and then laid her baby doll on top. She then proceeded to big the doll up and try to carry her around it was pretty funny to watch.

Alyssa loves to be outside. She must have been paying a lot of attention when I was trying to unlock the door from outside because she picked up my keys and went straight for the door. She can actually say "door" now. She knows that it leads to outside.

Alyssa is cutting a molar right now and its bleeding a little bit. This definitely explains the screaming she was during at night a couple of weeks ago. Besides saying door, she also tries to sing the them to "Signing Time", it's pretty darn cute.

got milk?

2008-03-12T21:38:00.000-06:00

Well, we decided to put Alyssa to work earning her keep. We thought that making shoes would be a good start for her, but apparently she is a little young for that, so we decided the next best thing would be baby modeling. Of course we only want to endorse products we actually use, so the natural was milk. What do you think, will they buy it? Actually she just had a great milk mustache this morning that we had to take some pictures of it. Enjoy.

Jesse

What did I get into? Kind of Gross

2008-03-11T21:45:00.000-06:00

Jesse here,

Just a warning for the faint of heart, if you have issues with potty humor, or potty in general you may not want to read on.

So Katie has this habit of letting Alyssa run around naked for a few minutes after her bath. Partially because Alyssa loves the freedom, and partially because she gets some wear and tear on her bum from the diaper and Katie likes to let it air out. Anyway, whenever I give Alyssa a bath I always go straight to getting her dressed, but for some reason tonight I decided to let her roam. I was checking out some of the comments on the blog, and remembered, "Oh yeah, Alyssa is still naked, better go get her dressed." I turn around and see her standing by the couch playing and notice she has something stuck to her bum. I thought it was a leaf or something, and then I realize it is growing. Sure enough it was a turd about 3 inches long and barely holding on. I make a diving catch to save our carpet(why I don't know) and not so calmly ask Katie to get me something to put it in. She has never peed on us when she was naked and this was definitely a first. Guess who's getting dressed right after baths from now on!

P.S. As a side note I have a favorite quote from the movie Nacho Libre, it is Incarnacion and she says in a Mexican accent, "My favorite animal is poopies and my favorite color is light tan." I think I have quoted that one just one too many times while changing Alyssa.

Oh and I saw this picture in a folder and assumed a bunch of you haven't seen it yet. It's just more proof that she is getting big!

More of Alyssa

2008-03-09T15:59:00.000-06:00

Well, we have found a new reason to take pictures, that is so we can post them on here. This is the most recent family picture, we took it last night after Alyssa's bath. This is the reaction we get when we won't take Alyssa outside. She absolutely loves it out there and takes every opportunity possible to let us know that. This picture is of one such opportunity.

Aunt Sally thought Alyssa would look good in a mohawk, Alyssa thought it was pretty punk so she gave us her intense face!

Yesterday we went to the park and Alyssa got her first experience with a real swing. After about 5 minutes in there she was swinging herself back and forth with pretty good timing. it was about 40 degrees out there and she refused to get out of the swing, she absolutely loved it.

A Day in the Life of Alyssa

2008-03-04T21:30:00.000-07:00

Last night started out like a regular night for Alyssa. Dad gave her a bath and made sure to make her onsie and t-shirt into a hat in the process of taking them off.

Then Alyssa and I got onto my bed and read some books. Alyssa loves to "read" books. As soon as she knows it is time to read some books she starts to sign book. Mostly she likes to flip through the pages and jibber jabber, occasionally she'll point to some mammal and start barking like a dog (buh buh, pant pant). Sometimes she'll let me read to her while she turns the pages, but most of the time I read to her from another book while she looks at her own.

Last night was pretty rough. Alyssa woke up every 2-3 hours and would just scream. I would hold her and she would just continue to scream, eventually she would go back to sleep, but only after 10-15 minutes of screaming. One time when she woke up I decided to put her in her swing and let her watch signing time. She fell asleep, but after about an hour was screaming again. She even woke up this morning screaming, so I tickled her and she finally started to laugh. I'm guessing she is probably teething or sick. Hopefully teething because she has been sick off and on all winter. Between her 9 and 12 month doctors appointments she went from the 75th to the 13th percentile. Kinda crazy. When we went back into the family room, Alyssa wanted to get back into her swing again. She just loves her dolly, but she always seems to take the diaper and pants off of her.

Alyssa hasn't let me put stuff in her hair much, but it had been a while so I decided to try again. We ended up with a crazy pony tail and some curls in the back. She decided she wanted to help brush the curls in the back.

Alyssa decided to help me get dinner in the oven. She is quite the helper. In the process she stole a frozen tater tot and decided she wanted to eat it. She got sick of it pretty quickly.

While I was studying for my test, Alyssa decided she wanted to put my shoes on. She tried and tried, but to no avail, she couldn't get them on. I told her to bring the shoes on over and we finally got them on her. She wasn't very happy though when she tried to walk and they didn't stay on. I had Jesse put her Nikes on her even though she already had shoes on. The Nikes are a size six, two sizes too big, but they made her happy.

Nicer Weather = Surfing?

2008-03-03T09:19:00.001-07:00

So I couldn't resist. The weather is getting nicer and I can't help but think about one of my new favorite pastimes. I work with a guy who has gotten me addicted to wake surfing. He has a pretty nice boat and he will take a group of us out to the lake for about 2 hours on Fridays before work when the weather permits. The following is a video of the last time that we went out, I think it was in November or late October, but the water was pretty cold, and so was the weather outside. That is why we are wearing a dry suit. Underneath the drysuit I am wearing a hoody and my regular shorts. It was great. Anyway I'm not putting this video to show off(ok maybe a little) but I'm really not very good so there's not much to show off. I'm just getting excited about the nice weather coming back.

hope you don't mind the Beach Boys

Some pictures 3-2-2008

2008-03-02T21:47:00.000-07:00

Such a good helper around the house for mom (when she's not spreading her toys around like a tornado).
Alyssa relaxing in her armchair.
A basketball lover, just like Dad!
Alyssa loves her missionary Elder Didericksen.

Start of our Family Blog

2008-03-02T17:11:00.001-07:00

Well, Katie was looking through the blogs of some people we know and really wanted to start one so I decided to get on here and see what we could do. Things are great in the May family right now. We are pretty busy with school, Katie has a heavier classload than I do, but we both keep busy most of the time. Katie and I both have a year left of school after this semester is over, and we are both excited about the idea of finishing. I have an internship in Houston for this summer, working for a company that does control systems for sub-sea trees. I'm not entirely sure what that will entail, but it sounds like the controls for underwater valve systems for oil harvesting. I'm excited about the work and opportunity to apply some of what I've been learning. Katie is hoping to get an internship there also since we will be living with some very reliable babysitters. We will be living with Mom and Dad Didericksen and we are all really excited about that. I'm sure they are mostly excited about being able to spend more time with Alyssa, but I can't blame them.

Alyssa is adorable. I may be slightly biased because she is my little Princess, but I'm sure most people can see it. We do actually get comments about her at church all the time. I think that has more to do with the fact that she is the most distracting child there than anything else. She loves open spaces, but is insistent that if there are open spaces she should be able to explore them. At church she refuses to be quiet if we are holding her, and so she gets to run all over the place. She is really cute, playing with all the people in the ward, but I wish we could keep her a little more stationary so she wouldn't be such a distraction for others. Right now people love it because we are in a married student ward, so there are a lot of little babies, but not too many little girls that can run around and play with them.
Alyssa is showing us more and more that she has her mom's intelligence. She loves to explore things and get into messes (that is more like her dad), and she is learning more and more signs. She recently has added "hot" to her sign language vocabulary. Whenever she sees something steaming whether on the stove or on the table, she will sign hot, and make a high pitched noise that is supposed to sound like hot. She is also trying to expand her verbal vocabulary. She knows momma, dad, pa (grandpa), ma (grandma), dsa (aunt Sally), gdaw(Uncle Garr), wawa, ball, baball(basketball), bu bu (the sound a dog makes, and most other hairy mammals for that matter), and a couple others that I can't remember right now. She wants to write right now so here is Alyssa's entry for the day. ku89klku8a9aalrktirilcgfttrfiehjiotrodtriropkfujfri b b nii9iiit9 She is a ham for the camera so we have plenty of cute pictures of her. My most recent acquisition is a picture of her stern face. I think she is imitating us when we tell her no or scold her, but she makes this face when she doesn't like something we are doing.

Here it is.

I think this face means "I don't like what you are doing right now" or "Don't mess with me!"

Well, that's it for my first post, we'll see how consistent we are about keeping it up to date. Until next time.