Merry Christmas....

Some of you will be receiving your Christmas card for 2009 this week. We kept it down to a minimum this year because so many of you are on email/blog/facebook!!
Merry Christmas 2009!
To sum up the year, “We worked too much, slept too little, and enjoyed our kids as much as possible.” Two brilliantly bright spots in our year were the birth of Hunter Kade on May 24th and my acceptance into the physician assistance program at James Madison University, made official just after Thanksgiving. Eight days overdue and 2 inductions later, Hunter was born weighing 8 lbs 5 oz and was stretched to 19 ½ inches long. Now that he’s 6 months old and 21 pounds, we can’t get enough of him. We love when Chandra’s mom, Martha, carries him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes since holding him in front of her throws her off balance. He rolls over, sits up, pinches and scratches, and loves to laugh. Alexis can get him to giggle almost on command. Although he still has no teeth and hardly any hair, he is extremely loveable.
Alexis Marie turned 4 years old in October. She attends pre-school during the mornings every Tuesday and Thursday. She helps Ethan with his homework and the ultimate game seems to be slapping down Ethan’s sight word flash cards and having those two try to say the word quicker than the other…silly kids! She is also fond of singing in the van, the bathroom, throughout the house. She often will say a hilarious one-liner and keeps us rolling in laughter! She is quick to tear up when someone speaks harshly and equally quick to wrap her arms around us regardless of who is hurt. She is such a sweetheart!
Ethan Christopher turned 5 in April and is in kindergarten. He enjoys school and works on many projects and songs which he brings home to share! He has many friends in class and enjoys seeing them and spending time in school with them. He likes to learn lines from songs on the radio and sing them repeatedly. He usually plays well with Alexis, who idolizes him, as long as he gets the better end of the deal! He likes to help with the dishes and even made us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch recently. He is eager to help out with things he feels he is now big enough to handle. We are very grateful to have him in our family.
Our address will remain the same for the next few years, as will our phone and email. We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year!

Look what dropped our way today....

SNOW~ about 5 inches total! Fun, fun, fun! Chris and I decided to go to the Christmas Tree Farm and hike and cut down our own tree this year. It was awesome, especially in the snow. The little kids and big kids had a great day! Enjoy the pics...

What a good looking tree Ethan and Alexis picked out. Chris cut it down. Hunter and I supervised! :)

Hunter fun

I'm so glad this hat, which Ethan and Alexis wore when they were little, fits Hunter this year!


PRUNES, ANYONE?

Thanksgiving fun!

My mom and dad came for Thanksgiving. We went to my cousin's house and had a feast! The food was delicious and spending time with family and friends was very enjoyable. A great time was had by all! We missed a special someone, but I know that she is having her own feast in heaven!

Christina and her kids came later on that night! We had such a blast on Friday with a little shopping in the early am, the children's museum later on in the day and a great dinner that evening.

MAIL....

So, Chris ran to get the mail today....and he just barely called me at work...
"JMU is pleased to announce that CHRISTOPHER HAL JEPPSON has been extended a seat in the Aug 2010 PA School! CONGRATS!"
Yes- it's our time to finish and finish hard....and then move on.
I am sitting here at work crying as I write this! THANK YOU to all family and friends! YOU helped us to make this possible! Thank you for all your fasting, prayers, ect..... Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
YES!!!
You have to know that Ethan and Alexis have been saying in their prayers..."Please Heavenly Father, please bless daddy to get into PA school so we can fly to Utah to visit Grandma and Grandpa." If one forgets, the other sternly reminds him/her that they forgot to pray for daddy's pa school! IT'S the cutest thing!

It's Official!

Hunter is 21lbs even and is in the 95% for weight! HAHAHAH! Poor kid got 5 shots today! What a trooper!
Ethan and Alexis held on to Mam-Maw's leg for about 5 whole minutes when she got here, and chanted her name like she scored the winning point on their team!
Thanksgiving is tomorrow and the entire house smells like yummy pumkin!
My dad killed a bambi and so we have lots of deer meat....yummy! We love it and use it in tons of recipes! THANK YOU DAD!!
I love my family!

Hunter 6 months...Ethan 5 1/2 Years....

Hunter....I can't believe that you are already 6 months old today. It seems like just yesterday, you were kicking my ribs and I was up and down to the bathroom half the night! Now look at you....big boy with a smile so wide- almost ear to ear. Your giggle makes me laugh and you love to spit and taste new foods....peas, squash, sweet potatoes, and green beans, oh my!!! You love your mommy and hold on to her clothes tightly!!! You babble and are very curious looking all around your surroundings! You love your daddy and sister and brother too! Alexis can make you laugh at just about anything. She loves you and showers you with hugs and kisses all the time. Ethan loves to hold you and play piano with you. As you can sit up now for short periods of time, you enjoy playing on the floor and reading books....they taste yummy....and are getting marked up with all your wetness! :) You are loved and are such a huge blessing to your family!
Ethan, what a great example and such a good young boy you are turning into. You are such a big big help to mommy....helping in the kitchen with setting the table, cooking, mixing things together, playing train with Alexis: coloring, puzzles, school, drawing, reading short books. You know all your sight words...and are a great little reader these days! Mommy and daddy are SO proud of you. We are very blessed you are in our family.
Alexis, mommy is proud of you too! You are such a huge helper...always praying for Hunter, Ethan and daddy. You think of others before you think of yourself, giving Ethan your flashlight so he won't be scared! You are an example to all of us! I love you, sis!
It brings tears to my eyes to think of how big my kids are and that they are growing and growing! I love being their mommy and hope and pray everyday that I can teach them like Heavenly Father teaches all of us! I fall short, but I can say that nothing brings me more pure joy than to be with my husband and kids! I love you, family, extended and all!

New pics....

Hunter in his birthday suit!

Silly Alexis!~!

Say Cheese!!!! Not too bad of a self portrait!

Dandilion Wishes....

So, you have to know that Alexis absolutely loves Monopoly JR. She is really good at it too. Chris as beaten her a time or two...but I have yet to win! Silly girl, I don't know how she does it! It's all in the rolls she gets and the houses she decides to buy with the option for double rent, which I usually land on her property and the I have to pay her tons of $!!! The girl is learning fast...that's all I can say. Well, today we are sitting here...I just picked her up from school. They went to the firestation and had a great time. She was asking me to play a game....she goes over and gets Monopoly JR. Then she says to me...
Mommy, I wish you would win some time ....mommy...don't worry, that'll be my next wish on a dandilion flower!
OK, I said! :)
What a cute thing....she reminds me of my sister growing up. Christina would always say the funniest things!!! I love you Alexis....don't worry, I'll win Monopoly someday!!! :)

Enjoy the pics....


Chris ready for his PA interview, which went really well...we are waiting to hear and will keep you updated! Alexis and the outfit my sister bought her for her birthday! She loves it and wears this sweatshirt everytime she sees it hanging in her closet.

Hunter.....5 months....almost sitting up on his own now....

My 'Uncle Louis'. He's actually my great uncle...but I've called him uncle louis since I was little! Visits with him are fun! He owns property with mature trees. Last time we visited we played in the leaves and the kids had fun!!!

Happy Halloween....

This halloween was really really fun! The kids were able to dress up a few times between church's trunk or treat, actually halloween night, and school halloween party! Ethan was a vampire, Alexis was a princess, and Hunter was a pumpkin!!! Enjoy the pics....



Poor sleeping pumpkin....he has croup! So, we dressed up in the house!

Alexis was such a beautiful snow princess....


Happy baby Hunter!



Ethan loved the scary, crazy teeth his Aunt Vicki sent him! Thank you!

Ah! Here they all are.....in all their cuteness!!!

Happy Birthday....little ones....

Alexis is now 4 years old....where has the time gone! She is now reading small 5 letter words with Ethan....she loves...absolutely loves Monopoly Jr. She's really good at it too...I have played her about 6 times....and have yet to win! (I'm actually trying to win now...still can't) To watch her have to pay me rent when she does land on my 'land' is priceless. She had a haircut....it frames her face and she looks just darling with a little barrette clip in her hair. She is a great helper with Hunter...loves to feed him when I'm at work....loves to hold him and give him kisses, is always making him laugh when she laughs! It's just wonderful to watch her grow. She is into trains and her kitchen set....loves her magformers. She is really imaginative and loves to build things. She can write her name well. She loves to sing. 2 weeks ago, our family, well- minus Hunter- sang in Sacrament Meeting- 'A Child's Prayer.' It went really well- brought a tear to my eye when Ethan was cowarding down and she bent over and gave him a kiss up there....it was the sweetest thing! She is such a innocent little girl. She knows what she likes and folds her arms and sasses you when she doesn't get her way. (We are working on that part). We are totally blessed to have her as a part of our little family. You are loved, Alexis Marie!

Hunter is now 5 months old! Honestly, didn't I just have him....8lbs 5 oz....he is now 20lbs....a Butterball Turkey!!! :) I just can't believe it! He loves his family....When we each play with him...he giggles and laughs. He loves to babble and stick his tongue out. He is drooling all over the place...no teeth yet though! His back and belly are so ticklish....when you tickle him, he goes crazy laughing and giggles so much. I love it! He is wearing 12 month clothes now. He enjoys his belly and kicks trying to move to reach his toy. He holds his head up great and loves to watch what we are doing. He'll sit up for a good 1-2 minutes before falling over. He sleeps very well...taking naps during the day 2 times for almost 2 hours each. He puts himself to sleep and it's just so wonderful! We are very blessed to have him in our family. We love you Hunter Kade!

pics to come hopefully tomorrow...when I'm off work!!!

60 degrees, late October, and sunny equals...

Chandra is working this weekend which means I get to entertain the kids for a while. Yesterday was supposed to be the best day for a while. After lunch I packed Hunter, strapped inside his car seat, into the bike trailer. The other kids rode their bikes next to us and we rode down a dead-end road and back. It was windy and now the kids have coughs, but we got out of the house.

Today we can't go out in the weather, but I wanted to get out anyway. I remembered when I was young that my family would go on outings during October General Conferences where we drove somewhere for the first session while listening to it on the radio, eat our packed lunch, and ride back while listening to the second session. Well, I modified that to reflect the times and situation; we live on the East Coast and we already had Conference. From our house I drove over 2 mountain ranges and then turned around. I was awe-struck at the beauty. My crappy camera-phone might have well just taken black-and-white snapshots for the comparison to what I saw and what you see. I describe it as a panorama of tie-dyed cottonballs held up against the sky. I have never seen entire mountains and valleys clothed in this hippie-esque garb and it was breath-taking. I rode past the entrance to Skyline Drive, which can be driven from lower PA to somewhere in SC I am told, and the line to get on the road was a mile long. On my road, Highway 211, the trees curved in over the top of the road on both sides. It was like driving along a curvy driveway lined by technicolor puffs. Some trees had pink and red leaves on top and green on the bottom; others were flourescent yellow.


I started thinking about all the things I am learning since I have moved out here. Things like I prefer having all my kids around as opposed to the easier 1 or 2, like nothing chases the grumps or blues away quicker than listening to Hunter laugh his 5-month-old laugh complete with squeeks and grunts, like beating Alexis in Monopoly isn't as fun as watching her face when I land on her properties and have to give her money. After coming home Ethan pulled out a human anatomy book I had on the desk. He began looking at the pictures and surprised me by how fascinated he was at seeing the different bones and muscles. He showed Alexis a picture of a baby in utero and explained to her exactly what it was, a baby inside the mom before being born. My experience from today helped me to appreciate the experiences my kids are having. I want more kids. I see it as having a child for every stage of development. When Hunter gets into the toddler stage, bring on another infant. Plus it doesn't hurt that the older kids fight over who gets to feed Hunter the bottle. I hope that keeps up until he can hold it himself.


On a different note I have been looking up information regarding physician assistants to prepare for my interview next week with the program here. I heard they want to know what the interviewee knows about PAs as proof that they are walking into the program with their eyes open. Well, the average age of the first year PA student in 2007 (the latest data published) is 25. 66% of the students are female. 25% are married. It seems I might add diversity as a married male with children...who would have thought that single white females would be the majority?


Anyway, things are crazy as always. With work Chandra and I both have pulled a 16-hour shift within the last month, but we normally stick to 8-12 hr shifts at one time. We have Chandra's mother come over from MD about 1-2 times a month to help out since our schedules overlapped and no one wants to come over at 3 AM to watch the kids.