Jackson's 4th Birthday

 Jackson asked for a Thomas the Tank Engine Party this year. This was the cake we made him; my sister came over to help decorate it and we had a lot of fun putting it together! Complete with trains, village, train tracks, bridge, mountains and a waterfall. I printed the village off on cardstock and stuck it on the frosting at the very end. 

 He had a wonderful day. I asked him what made him feel special and he said the balloons... because they were a surprise. He liked them so much he wanted to go to sleep holding his balloon. A few hours later, I went back in to check on him and he was still clenching his balloon!  (I snuck the balloon away at that point for safety and he got it back this morning).  

He asked for "red mountains" for his birthday, so we found a gorgeous picture of the St. George temple with the red mountains as the backdrop...he loved it. He also got a kid camera, a couple of lego Thomas trains, the Lightning Mcqueen shirt he is wearing, a plane and some cars for his birthday. He was so excited for his birthday and enjoyed having the family over to celebrate with him. 

I can't believe he is 4 years old! I feel like I have been a mother longer than that! But then again, it feels like he was born not that long ago. 

We LOVE having him in our family and adds such a special part to our lives. He is beginning to be very helpful around the house and will do most things he is asked. He loves his brother Eli to pieces and loves to make him laugh. He is very smart and social and loves Primary and school.  He is also very sneaky and a negotiator, and this can get him into trouble at times! But he is mostly very tender hearted and can get his feelings hurt easily. Although he loves TV, he gets scared very easily too, so I have to be careful of what he watches (even Disney can get a little intense at times for him).  He loves things to be "just so" (very routined and doesn't like disruption from that), cornmeal pancakes, the lower case "j'' instead of the uppercase "J", keeping all his schoolwork, sleeping with the light on, hiding from dad when he comes home from work, building things, and making messes :) 

Thanks for making me a mom Jackson! 

Snow Canyon

We took a trip to snow canyon this past weekend. It was a lot of fun and now Jackson is asking for "red mountians" for his birthday....hmmm, I'll have to think about how that wish can be fulfilled!

Zoey and Jackson just had a blast, and we loved hearing comments like these throughout the trip:

"I have loved these mountains all my life!" Zoey
"Those are the mountians I love, those are the mountains I have been looking for!" Jackson, upon seeing the "red mountians" for the first time.
"I am a rocker climber!" Zoey
"It's morning! I hear birds outside, it's morning!!" Jackson at cerca 5am
"I want a smarshmellow" Zoey
"Mom, I peeded!" Zoey- after which she drug her pants arund her ancles through pee-mud to show me. yuk!

We were so busy having fun that we were all worn out and ready to get home. Nothing feels better than a good nights rest in your own bed, especially after camping! I can't remember when the last time I slept so well!

Here are some pictures of our fun:

We had so much fun, that I frequently forgot my camera, so these are just a few shots I did manage to get. But jackson went rock climbing in a full body harness and he loved it! They also went caving, to the sand dunes, hiking and scrambling. They were never bored! 

Eli's 7 month update

Well, almost 7 months. He's a week short of it officially, but he has had two major accomplishments this month. As a proud parent, I'm excited to share all things that make our life so fun at this stage...as small as they may seem to anyone else!

Crawling and sitting alone!! I love how simple things like a spoon can be so motivating....

 oops....missed the mouth!




 Oh..there it is.

Way to go Eli! I'm still wondering where your top teeth are?!? Anyway, these were taken first thing in the morning, so the light isn't very good and the house is not picked up...but oh well!

Just for fun, here is a video!

Lake Las Vegas

We had an awesome family vacation at Lake Las Vegas last week. It was so overdue! 

if you asked Jackson, he would say his favorite thing we did was ride a boat. Zoey would say the 

poo-wa (pool). For me, it was seeing the kids so excited over all the little things. I think we could have stayed longer. The kids didn't want to go home, and Zoey woke up this morning determined to wear her swimsuit (yes, even with snow on the ground). She settled for walking around the house with her floatie instead :)

So, a lot of pictures, and not a lot of writing. Just know that we are tanner than when we left! The weather was in the 80's and 90's and we LOVED every minute. It was nice to have a fun place to go that wasn't too far away, and the resort was really family friendly. All we needed was right there on site. We didn't have to go to the strip once. 

We took an excursion to see hoover dam and the new bridge. It was really impressive. 

 We did a lot of swimming. The kids didn't want to do much else! The resort had 2 pools, water slide, and a white-sand beach, sports court, minature golf, bike riding, boat rental, etc.. This was the view outside our room:

happy family = happy mom!

The kids looking up at a tall palm tree

This was where the kids liked to start their day...the white sand beach. Zoey thought it was snow :)

It was a perfect place to get hot before jumping into the pool. The lake is swimmable, but it was still a little cold for the kids. I'm sure it would be perfect later in the year. The pool was just the right temperature for us. Even Eli took his first swim..it took him a bit to get use to it, but he did end up really liking it.  

A lot of swimming led to a lot of this:  

We wore them out! 

 We stopped in St. George for lunch on the temple grounds and for a break on way home and in between sessions. It was a great vacation. Can we do it again?!?! I can't wait for warm weather!

Eli is 6 months!

I love this photo because in my mind I can hear the sound coming from his mouth and it makes me happy! If you look (really) close, you can see budding teeth coming through!

This month has been a month of big "firsts" for Eli. I will try to record a few:

1) first big illness (RSV) followed by his
2) first trip back to the hospital!
3) first tooth... followed by his second, third and fourth (all on the bottom row!)
4) first taste of avocado, mango, salmon, broccoli, prunes, (and sadly to admit...ice cream). He loves them all! A little non-traditional baby food items, but he just begs for solids of any sort, and sometimes this is all I have to give him when a hunger craving hits.
5) first family vacation...lake Las Vegas.
6) first time to meet Elmo and Judy, he loves them too!
7) first crawl! yup, he has the crawling thing down (backwards, but hey....he will soon get the forward thing. I can see he is very close)!

He is a great little boy and we love his skinny booty to pieces!

March Madness

Yes, Brian did get to enjoy some of the "March Madness" in Las Vegas as he cheered his cougars on in the Western Conference Tournament. BYU played some great games, I heard, but this post isn't really about that kind of march madness.

When I was pregnant with Eli, we heard this cliche saying that goes something like this: "When you have one child, you play double-team; when you have two children, you play man-to-man; when you have three, you play zone defense; and more than that you play self defense!"

I would have to agree, except the self-defence part kicks in at child #3! I admit that a lot of my blog posts are of the highlights of our family life. That's what I want to remember about this time in my life afterall. But the past few months have been especially difficult for me (and all of us, I should add). Brian has been traveling a ton more than usual. At the worst point, this last Sunday, he was home for 12 hours before he had to leave again (from 3am to 3 pm in the afternoon). The kids cried because they missed their dad so much and he was leaving again. And I was having a hard time keeping it together.

Something about fate is that whenever he is out of town, the kids get sick. All mothers know what it's like to take care of sick kids. No sleep. Fussy Children. I won't get into details. I am beat, stretched thin, and feel so overwhelmed at times that I have felt a nervous breakdown coming on! It's not just the  constant taking care of small children, but a demanding calling, teaching yoga, keeping the house clean, and training for a relay race of which I am the captain. I had no idea that I would have so much on my shoulders several months ago....

But here I am. And there isn't anything that I can change about it.

The Young Women's president in my ward began sending girls over each afternoon to help me out. An hour or two break from the kids was all I needed to be a better mom, get some things done for my calling, or even iron the clothes....A few ladies even brought dinner. All of this was so so so appreciated!

Through these past months I have learned to appreciate a few things a little more: Single mothers (my heart will forever feel for them), busy women who still find time to serve others, moms who have more than 3 children (bless you all!), prayer and priesthood blessings.

Sooo ya, I struggle. But I have been reminded, and know, what is important for me to do right now. And not everything will get done....on time.

 

 

Punky Brewster

Not to leave anyone out, Zoey also has her update. I look a these photos and think "Punky Brewster!"She has a fascination with crawling on countertops and getting into whatever she shouldn't. This day, it was my jewelry...all of it! I couldn't help but think it was cute. Although she didn't like me too much when I took it all back and put it away! She has these moments when I think, yup-she's all girl!

She graduated to a  big girl bed, is trying hard to learn her colors, has her potty training down really well, and loves to have someone read to her. She is full of questions, half of which I don't think she knows what she is asking, but copies Jackson's inquisitive personality and thinks it's the thing to do. She asks all the time when she can go to school. She likes to play tea party, loves her pink blankie, and sings herself to sleep. She's the best and the worst at times. She can be a real sweetheart and I'll think there is nothing sweater, but then she'll have horrible tantrums that make me think...well, otherwise! We love her!  

Jackson

Jackson is growing and learning so fast, and in so many ways. Yesterday, Annie offered to tend the kids for an hour so I could run and get a a break (Brian has been traveling a lot, so it was really appreciated)!

While Eli and Zoey were napping, Jackson and Annie went to a bike ride around the church parking lot behind our house. A conversation went something like this:

Jackson: "Do you see Jesus in Primary?"
Annie: "I am not in Primary, but I try to feel Jesus when I am at church." She then starts to explain about the Holy Ghost.
Jackson: "Can you lose the Holy Ghost?"
Annie: "Yes, sometimes you can."
Jackson: "Next time you lose the Holy ghost, you call up Heavenly Father and tell Him to get you a new one!"

So cute! I love that my children can learn principles like this from our family members...we have such a great environment for them to grow up in. It's nice to know that these teaching moments aren't wasted when I can't always be around.

5 months!

Eli is now 5 months old, I can't believe it! He has started eating solid foods, which means I have started making baby food. I am excited about this, it was one of my resolutions to make/puree/freeze baby food this year, and I think it will be better tasting, healthier, and cheaper. He likes carrots and bananas and rice cereal so far. I am going to try sweet potatoes and butternut squash this next week. He is ravenous for food! Loves it!

You will also often find him doing this:  

He loves his hands and tries to fit his whole fist into his mouth, but particularly his thumbs...which has me a little worried. Since he was born "tongue tied" he had to have his tongue clipped. But since then, he has been exploring the new freedom his tongue has and often reminds me of a lizard or snake. His tongue is constantly on the move, in and out, in and out....

He will have nothing to do with a bottle or binky. He sleeps well, and is really happy. He is my first baby to be "smiley" to strangers. He has the most interesting laugh i have ever heard. I love the uniqueness of it. When he gets really going on his laugh, he makes himself cough, which makes the family laugh even harder. 

Eli is also rolling now and will get on his knees and rock back and forth, so I'm sure crawling is just around the corner...as well as teething. 

SO far his eyes are still mostly blue, but they are starting to change, speckles of green and brown are appearing. I am always so sad when the eyes change....I wish they could stay the same forever. Not that he won't have beautiful eyes in another color, but I do feel sad that the eyes I have known for the past five months will be different. It's a sentimental thing of a mother, I guess. 

In a nutshell, he is awesome!  

New Calling

I was released as the Activity Committee Chair a few weeks ago and was enjoying my brief reprieve of having no calling at all. A first in my adult life! I had a feeling that the bishopric was looking at me for some new position, so I tried to avert any contact with them, but they soon caught up! I have been asked to serve as a secretary in the Primary presidency, and I'm actually quite excited about it. Jackson is in Sunbeams now, so I get to be with him (and Zoey will be joining next year, so I'll have two of our kids in Primary). I think it's a great stage for me and this calling.

Anyway, I share that because I received this e-mail from one of the former Primary counselors and thought it was so cute I had to share it. I always wondered what Jackson was like in his church classes!

She says:  " I'm so excited for you to be working in Primary. I've LOVED being there while my children started as Sunbeams. It's the all-time cutest thing to watch. So today, the Bishop was teaching about Faith and asked the children what faith was, got lots of odd definitions, none of them even close. Then the Bishop was trying to explain that most people haven't actually seen Heavenly Father and that believing he's there w/o seeing him is Faith. He asked if any of them had seen Heavenly Father. Jackson raised his hand. Then Mark, not to be outdone, raised his hand even higher. Then Daphne, then all the little kids have their arms shooting up in the air. So funny. I hope you have a great time in your new calling. Jackson is an absolute doll and he is so well-behaved in there. "

How cute! I'm glad he got the whole primary involved!