Happy Halloween

October was a SCARY month. The boys loved celebrating Halloween. They attended two Halloween parties and they loved all of the sugar. Jackson dressed as a knight and Drew as a dragon. Jackson tried to slay Drew a few times but was pretty much over that by the time Halloween came around. Unfortunately, for the boys, Mom and Dad ate most of their candy and it only lasted until November 1. When he discover the candy was gone, Boomer (Drew) grabbed his trick or treat bucket and said "more trick or treat" He was ready to head out the door and go again.

Jon made what he felt was a "scary" purchase. He bought The Maids franchise in Beaverton (Portland) Oregon. He's nervous about the timing with the poor economy but felt like it was the right business move. Michelle's favorite part is we finally get to reap the benefits by having maid service. The house stays clean for about 2 hours before we manage to mess it up again. (The 2 hours are during nap time.)

Michelle is feeling "scary" big. It didn't help that I ate 1/2 of the kids Halloween candy. I read that 37 weeks is considered full term and I am doing lots of positive thinking that "the Caboose" will cooperate and come early. It's always fun to have a baby to celebrate with at Christmas. She can play Jesus in our family Nativity.
We are looking forward to the holidays and a new baby. Life is good with the Pipperts!!

Milestones

On August 29 we celebrated Drew's 2nd birthday at the park across the street. He didn't quite understand that it was his birthday but loved playing with the kids who were invited. His favorite shows are Dora and Diego so we decided to do a "Go Diego Go" party. Drew frowned when we sang "Happy Birthday to you" I guess he takes after his dad who doesn't like birthday parties either.

September 12 was Jon and Michelle's 5 year anniversary. We celebrated with "The Maids" in Marco Island, Florida. Jon and 25 other franchise owners were invited to come to Florida for an all expense paid 3 day retreat. We came a few days early to celebrate our anniversary. Because of the nearby hurricanes, hundreds of people had cancelled their reservations, thus we were upgraded to one of the best rooms at the resort and basically had the place to ourselves. It was a little overcast and windy the first few days but turned out to be pretty great weather by the end. We also "got to" stay an extra day because all flights through Houston were cancelled on our trip home.
Our lucky little boys had Grandma and Grandpa Evans and Sean and Shawna (Nephew-in-law and Niece) watching them. Every time we called they were having so much fun they didn't want to stop to talk. It was wonderful to have some time away but we love being back with our guys.

IT'S A GIRL!!!

We still can't believe it!!! We're having a girl! We were sure we were going to have a family of boys. Thanks to all the positive vibes and all the girl votes. This was really the best ultrasound picture. It's PG-13 but it shows the Girl!!! label. To celebrate we went to the grocery store bulk section and bought all the pink candy we could find (taffy, cookies, jelly beans, sour gummies) and strawberry ice cream. The boys don't understand what having a baby means but if they get such great junk food they are crossing their fingers for more babies.

Great Expectations

Welcome back!! To those who don't know Jackson and Drew are going to be big brothers. We haven't found out the gender yet....so we wanted to have our friends and family start a betting pool. Being that you have a 50/50 chance, the odds are pretty good.
We have our ultrasound on August 11.... So let the betting begin!

Even though we've been told that three children is chaos,(we already thought that two was) we are excited to invite another little friend into our house. Jon is calling the baby Caboose...since this is the end of the line.

Jackson as a Knight, Dad with dragon flames, and Boomer as a dragon

Here's a quick update of the last 3 months:

May: We went to Gearhart (the beach) for a few days...I think we brought the camera but forgot to take pictures.

June: Michelle's birthday. Our good friend, Kellena Collier, bought a pinata for Michelle's birthday so we had fun hitting that with the kids. Jackson's cousin Annelise hit Jackson in the head instead of the pinata. After several attempts, she realized no candy was coming out and stopped the beating. (JK it was an accident.)

July: We celebrated independence day at Crater lake and Ashland, Oregon with the Collier family. Fun was had by all at the "crazy people parade" in Ashland, especially the topless woman rollerskating down the street. One of the highlights was our visit to Mt Ashland which had beautiful views of the city.

Jackson is still into knights and pirates. He plays pirates mostly as Grandma's house and says that he is "mean, stinky and rich." He picks out his clothes and dresses himself every morning and is saving up "rocks" for an astronaut suit. (He has a jar he puts rocks in when he does good things) He is very kind and likes to ask Mom "Did you have a rough day today?" "Can I rub your cheek?" or "Can I snuggle with you?" And randomly says "I like you Mama." He's learning to ride a bike, recognize his numbers and letters, and loves to "garden". Which consists of drowning the potted plants and chopping the shrubs with his plastic pliers.

Drew mimics everything, which is great because he has learned so many new words. He likes to play knights and joust with Jackson. He likes to try to go potty and is probably ready for potty training...it's Mom that's delaying the process. He has been putting two and three words together for that last week or two. He says "shake your body","sandy park" ,"Hi Daddy", "soccer ball" and many other phrases perfectly. He also says "yep" instead of "yes" which is very funny. He loves to sing songs like Twinkle Twinkle little Star, Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam, Popcorn popping, and Einsy Weinsy Spider. He does a little angry circle dance when he doesn't get what he wants and makes us laugh every day.

Life's good with the Pipperts. Let us know if you have any good name choices. We probably won't use them, but at least you can feel like you gave your input. Love to all!!

Spring "Break"

The first week in April, Jon and Michelle spent our first multiple nights away from the kids since...well, since we had kids. The kids did really well and had fun with their Grandma and Grandpa and cousins Shauna and Sean.

Jon had a "The Maids" convention in Scottsdale, Arizona. We were there 4.5 days. It was beautiful weather. Michelle went for a run one morning and got to hike Pinnacle Peak another day. It was a huge needed break from all of the rain we have been having in Portland. Michelle is trying to talk Jon into Moving there next winter. Jon enjoyed the conference and enjoyed meeting other franchise owners. Michelle's favorite part of the confernce (besides the weather) was winning a vacuum. She's hoping it will encourage Jon to vacuum more. We got to see some friends we hadn't seen for awhile. We also traveled to Central Arizona to see Grandpa Bubs and Grandma Cloene. We had a great time hearing about their mission to Nauvoo, Illinois.
Drew is learning a lot of new words and wants to watch Dora the Explorer and Diego with Jackson. Sometimes he comes to the TV and says "Doh, Doh" meaning he wants to watch Dora. He has a very strong will and gets very frustrated when he doesn't get what he wants. He's very good at saying No. He loves going for walks. He had a great smile and is easy going most of the time.

Jackson is learning how to talk back. He loves to play priate and loves to play tickling pirate with Dad. He still loves firefighting but also likes to dress up as a knight (in his fire gear still) and also a policeman, paramedic, and pilot. He wants to know what time is it and what day it is and asks all day long. He has a great laugh and is a lot of fun to play with.
Even though we enjoyed the break from the boys, we were both really glad to get home and see our boys. We sure love them.

February

February went so quickly we can't even remember what we did. We each took about a week being sick. The last weekend of the month Jon and Michelle went to Seattle for an overnighter. It was a belated Christmas present from Jon. We decided Jon got the short end of the stick after that one. Michelle bought Jon a keyboard (musical) and Jon got Michelle an overnighter with a great hotel, dinner, and shopping. The only downside was it was Michelle's first time away from Drew in 18 months. Grandma and Grandpa watched them and Drew was just fine. There was only a little crying..mostly from Michelle.

Drew turned 18 months old this last weekend and got to go to nursery at church for the first time. We've been working up to this day for the whole month of February. The exercise gym has a child care area so four days a week Mom, Drew and Jackson have been trapsing off to the gym every morning so that Drew could get used to being left with a sitter. It worked well and Mom got the fringe benefit of exercise. Drew loves reading books and when he gets tired he lets us know by grabing his blankito and whining until we take him to bed.

Jackson is learning to spell, learning to talk back and very independent. He is also very obedient and sweet. He still loves firefighting and wants about 50 fire, abulance, police stories a day. He is still working on potty training. He has some food allergies and gets really itchy on his feet. Most nights we wrap his feet up with lotion and gauze to help them feel better. He looks like a little leper. He loves to be tucked in tightly at bedtime and is missing his blankito. We finally had to throw it out...Jackson had a habit of chewing on it and it was getting ragged and stinky so it went missing for about a week. Mom told him it went to blankie heaven. He still wonders if it will be resurrected.
Life is good with the Pipperts! Hope you all are doing well.

Jackson Turns Three

Jackson celebrated his third birthday this month. We went to the fire station, as planned, followed up by "Pump it Up" a place with inflatable play structures. He wore his "bunker gear" and had a great time.
We're still potty training. I was mistaken to think we would save money buy not having to buy diapers anymore. Potty training has turned out to be much more expensive than we planned. Jackson had been asking for a Fireman Sam toy for going potty. After extensive searching we were only able to find the toy online in the U.K. The cost was 40 British pounds which I figured would be a little over 20 American dollars. Unfortunately, I figured wrong!! When I got the bill for $109.00 I was shocked. (Note to self: Have Jon do the math in the future.)

Boomer (Drew) is officially a little boy. He understands and follows directions really well. He knows a few signs, and is learning new ones every day. He is saying lots of words even though we can't understand them very well yet. He loves playing with Dad and Jackson. Although, after about 10 minutes one of them starts crying because someone ends up getting hurt...unfortunately, it's usually Dad. When Dad comes home Drew likes to grab a pillow for a pillow fight. He loves building forts with Dad and Jackson on Saturday mornings.

Jon is celebrating a year of owning his first "The Maids" franchise. So it is officially an "old maid". He enjoys it most days. In Ocober he bought a second franchise in Boise. Michelle's routing for one in Portland so we can get free cleaning.

Michelle is taking a class this month called "illustrating children's literature". I'm learning a lot about what it takes to publish/illustrate a book. Believe me, it's not child's play. Love to all!