Photo Tag

My friend Trina tagged me with this photo tag, so here we go...

This is the 4th picture in the 4th folder. ..a folder I created for a slideshow for Jackson's 1 year birthday, and the picture is of him when he was born...just one day old. I love it and it brings back fond memories. Brian looks so awed by his son, that he is holding so proudly in his arms.

Here are the rules:
1. Choose the 4th folder where you store your
pictures on the computer
2. Select the 4th picture in the folder
3. Explain the picture
4. Tag 4 people to do the same...

I tag: Sara, Mauri, Lindsay, and Claire

About Time

So...we are making the much needed jump and taking our blog private. Please send me an e-mail if you would like to be invited or wish to get our updates (if you're familiar with us, you should have mine or Brian's e-mail).

We love keeping you all up to date with our family, but we want to keep our family safe from unwanted visitors and traffic. I hope you still come back to check on us often!

Say Cheese!

Zoey has been growing like crazy! She is our little chubby cheeks! I just can't get enough of her rolls!

I haven't taken many pictures of her this month because she has battled sever baby acne, cradle cap, a clogged tear duct that turned into an eye infection, and...sniff ,sniff....balding (on only half of her head). She's going through what we like to call a "phase".

The most exciting thing for us, however, is seeing her learn to smile and find her voice. She coos like crazy and scares herself sometimes when a noise comes out. I am most likely to catch her smiling after she's finished a meal (her happiest time, if you can't tell by her double chin). I tried to take advantage of that today while Jackson was napping, but you know how cameras are. Just not quick enough to catch those fleeting first smiles!

I had to post these snapshots because I realized they looked more like she was trying to poo than smile (don't worry, she wasn't going poo, THAT only happens once a week...and MAN I won't say more)! It made me laugh...

Snowed In

"Last night's snow storm caused some major problems around the state"....this is what the headline on KSL.com said this morning.



No doubt about it, if you have to travel, snow can really mess up your plans. Luckily we had no plans to be anywhere the last couple of days...and what could have been a real problem turned out to be a fun adventure.

I took the kids to visit my parents yesterday after church and spent the afternoon with them. Jack loved getting the grandparents attention, and Zoey was spoiled with being held and cuddled. But what started out as rain and slush when we arrived, turned into ice and snow within just a few hours. As it started to get dark, I packed up the kids to leave, but we would not be going far! The roads were just too bad, and my car was not fit for traveling in them. For fear of getting stranded somewhere with two little ones, I decided to stay put and we "camped out" at my parents house last night.

Jackson thought it was AWESOME! We popped popcorn and watched Horton hears a Who. Jackson went from sitting by grandma, to grandpa, to Brandon...and then he'd do it all over again. He got to sleep in a "big person" bed in the same room as me, which he thought was something else! He was so excited it was hard to get him to go to sleep. He finally cuddled up next to me, and if I ignored his chatting, he finally calmed down enough to fall asleep himself. It was hard for me to hold back laughter at times listening to him! He was so funny! At one point, while I was pretending to be asleep, he kept saying "mommy?....mommy?....mommy?"and then he sat right by my head and tooted!

Once they got to sleep they slept great, but I am hoping for long naps from both of them today. Going to bed at 10pm and waking up at 6am might be a great night's sleep for most adults, but its not so great for a toddler!

Valentine's Day

I can't say that Valentine's Day has always been a favorite holiday of mine. In fact, there were years where I wished it would slip by unnoticed. Up until Brian and I had our infamous "first date" that would change our lives as we knew it, I had only two Valentine's in my life: a boy from the 5th grade--who made me want to fake being sick so I could stay home from the school Valentine's party (who likes boys in the 5th grade?), and my Dad.

I'm not sure if my Dad knows just how important it was that he was my Valentine for all of those years, especially during High School and my early twenties, when having a Valentine was some kind of iconic symbol of how much a girl is loved. But it was always nice to be recognized by someone, even if it was my dad, with flowers and a card. It is probably because my experience with this holiday that I find it's not just a holiday for lovers and the romantic.

I love decorating my house this time of year because it gives me little reminders each day to let my children know how much I love them. We have been busy already with making crafts and decorating heart shaped cookies. I hope my actions speak louder than words, although I feel I could yell from the roof tops how much I love my family.

I have a tradition of filling this handmade mailbox with love notes for Brian each day in February up until Valentine's day. Without this holiday, where would we be? Now happily married with two adorable children later, I'm thankful for this holiday. It's fun the let him know how much he is loved, and this year, Jackson gets to help make the cards!

I got creative this year and hung anything that was pink or heart shaped from our chandelier over the kitchen table (yup, that's a cookie cutter). Jackson had fun watching my stand on the table and gave his approval by telling me it was "cute!" Thanks J!

Orange?

It's a wonder we ever learn to pick up the English language! At first, Jackson called any fruit that was round an "apple." We would point to an orange and say "this is an orange. ok Jackson what is this?" "Apple!" Sigh.

We finally got him to distinguish between apple and orange. Then we started to teach him colors. He knows the names, but gets the colors mixed up. He will call something blue, red or something yellow, green etc.

This morning, I was preparing breakfast for us...just simple toast and jam, cereal and sliced fruit. Jackson is always impatient to eat and gets really excited about food. I was cutting up an orange and I was obviously not getting the food to him quickly enough because he kept (anxiously) saying "orange? orange, please? orange." He must have thought he was saying the wrong word, or that I couldn't understand him because he finally stopped and said, "red?" I started to laugh. It was a great way to start my day-- a little toddler humor!