Jackson ate play-do for the first time because Livia and Brooke left it about a foot away from him while he was sitting on the rug...it took ten minutes to get all of it scraped off the top of his mouth. And his hands and face are still stained green.
Livy cried for 45 minutes straight wanting me to hold her while I cleaned jackson up.
So I had these first two lines above in my draft box. I remember there were about ten other things that morning that made me go totally berzerk that I wanted to include so I could remember why I feel like I want to pull my hair out some mornings- and I can't remember them. And obviously I couldn't find the time to finish writing them that day. I still have a problem that I can't seem to finish a full sentence when I sit down to write something.
I guess I will just keep writing one or two sentences, maybe it will jog my memory when I read them fifteen years from now.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
No Peeking
This was the scene when I walked out of Jackson's room putting him down.
"Hi Budt " (Brooke turns around) Upon noticing that Brooke has a certain pair of pajamas on, Livy says in her usual loud, high pitch, kind of ear pearcing voice, "Hey! I wund no peetin" ("No peeking" is a pair of jammies that brooke and livy have the same of from christmas).
Brooke, "Well then go get it. You can choose it. (kind of in a big sister, very matter-of-factly , kind of bossy way)...(and then this in a kind, nice way.) And besides, Livy, yours is so much cuter. You look so pretty." Livy is wearing a WAY too small princess night gown with these pajama pants that are for 18 months that have yellow and pink hearts on them. And Livy simply comments, "Oh." and that was the end of it. -Thank you for no tantrum and a cute scene!
"Hi Budt " (Brooke turns around) Upon noticing that Brooke has a certain pair of pajamas on, Livy says in her usual loud, high pitch, kind of ear pearcing voice, "Hey! I wund no peetin" ("No peeking" is a pair of jammies that brooke and livy have the same of from christmas).
Brooke, "Well then go get it. You can choose it. (kind of in a big sister, very matter-of-factly , kind of bossy way)...(and then this in a kind, nice way.) And besides, Livy, yours is so much cuter. You look so pretty." Livy is wearing a WAY too small princess night gown with these pajama pants that are for 18 months that have yellow and pink hearts on them. And Livy simply comments, "Oh." and that was the end of it. -Thank you for no tantrum and a cute scene!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Grateful
I am grateful to awesome Nursery, primary and pre-school teachers that help teach my children good values and really fun songs. My girls love to sing. And Brooke is always singing a bunch of songs I have never heard. FCNS is so great about teaching kids with music!! And now I hear Livy walking around singing parts of the songs Brooke sings. They both love music and have really good memories when it comes to music -even if some of the lyrics are a little off. The makes it even cuter.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
pictures
The Rain Boots for Church. Her favorites right now are these, or the white ones in the photo below.
Our smiley guy!
Brooke always setting up a "play area" for Jackson.
Jackson's Laugh
This little guy has the best laugh. All sorts of sounds come out when he gets the giggles! Mom and Dad, we wanted to post this one especially for you so you can here his sweet laugh.
Jackson at 6 months
Jackson is already 6 and a half months. He got his first tooth on Tuesday (April 6th), and no his second one is coming in. He isn't quite as much of a drooler as in the past. He sits up like a champ. He is still fascinated with his feet. He wears 12-18 month clothes and some 24 months. He slept 8 hours again last night. Yes! (I think it was his teeth bothering him the last week or two, because his sleeping was way off.) He is eating rice cereal/barley cereal with water and apple juice. He loves prunes with apple juice, green beans, peas, and pears. He does not like sweet potatoes. I have to make sure he gets enough prunes and apple juice, otherwise he is really cranky and irregular (I know, too much info for some of you reading this...but hey, it is my journal.) He eats about a jar and a half of baby food mixed with rice cereal in a meal. I know, chow-hound. He was a little fussy the last week. I think it was teeth, but he has been a little sick too. And then yesterday when Ben was feeding him and he kept wanting more and more, I realized that maybe I could not be feeding him enough "real food". So I have been giving him more and he does seem a little happier and he slept longer...He still nurses a ton, too.
Jackson always laughs when his sisters are around. Even when I think he should cry because they are smothering him SOOO much, he smiles and laughs. He is so easy going. He loves to suck on my chin or cheek when I let him stand on my lap. Brooke calls it kisses, and gets a little mad because he doesn't do it to her. He moans and groans when you put him to sleep. He still rarely cries, but has been getting a little more anxious for interaction. He absolutely loves his excersaucer, but only stays in the johnny-jumper for about 5 minutes at a time, except of course when Livy has pulled her chair up to him and continues to "yell" funny things in his face and they both laugh. He is the handsomest baby ever. And he loves to stare at people very intently. He has eyes that light up the room (I remember Brooke's eyes being the same way.) We love you Jackson. I only wish the time wasn't going to fast.
Jackson always laughs when his sisters are around. Even when I think he should cry because they are smothering him SOOO much, he smiles and laughs. He is so easy going. He loves to suck on my chin or cheek when I let him stand on my lap. Brooke calls it kisses, and gets a little mad because he doesn't do it to her. He moans and groans when you put him to sleep. He still rarely cries, but has been getting a little more anxious for interaction. He absolutely loves his excersaucer, but only stays in the johnny-jumper for about 5 minutes at a time, except of course when Livy has pulled her chair up to him and continues to "yell" funny things in his face and they both laugh. He is the handsomest baby ever. And he loves to stare at people very intently. He has eyes that light up the room (I remember Brooke's eyes being the same way.) We love you Jackson. I only wish the time wasn't going to fast.
Memories of Kids
I want to remember the little things and sometimes when I am getting ready for bed or rocking livy to sleep I think about all the little things my kids did that were so cute that I will write in my journal (AKA Blog), and not five minutes later I have forgotten them...so here is a short list of things that will hopefully trigger my memory of the little fun times with such adorable kids:
Livy dancing down the aisles of the grocery store like she is doing the hokey-pokey with her hands going up and down. She does this a lot. But it is especially cute when you see other shoppers stopping to stare and laugh, because she is usually singing a song as she goes. (some of her favorites lately are Taylor Swift, the joy school welcome song, "he has tant ee heyr"- her name for I am a child of God., and twinkle, twinkle little star).
Livy standing out in front of the check out counter while the cashier is ringing up the groceries and stopping her one foot forward and yelling in her deep voice "HI" to everyone that walks by. Or "BOO". It is really cute and kind of embarrassing at the same time. But it is really funny to watch people's reactions. Some step away, others laugh and wave and say hi back, and then there are those that immediately look around for her mother and roll their eye's with that smirk that says-"Are you kidding me."...it really is pretty funny, especially because it is so Livy.
Livy wearing her yellow rain boots to church today. And I didn't fight it today...it was one of those mornings. And again, because of this little girls cute, spit fire, fun personality, it just me laugh. (the old me would have either forced her to wear different shoes and have her kick and scream and yell, or been so embarrassed of what others might be thinking about how I could ever let my child wear yellow rain boots to church. But today I laughed and let it make me smile whenever I looked at her. And Livy, it did rain today on our walk home from church, so good for you for wearing your rain gear.)
I want to remember how eager Brooke has been to do her "secret service". We did an FHE lesson on service and we all picked names out of a hat of who we would serve. And even though it is kind of totally pointless for Jackson and Livy, it has been such an awesome activity for Brooke. And she asks all the time if we did our service or lets us know what service she has done for Jackson.
I want to remember how in love these girls are with their little brother. Brooke will play, hold, "read", set up toys and pillows, kiss, feed and just enjoy this boy. She CANNOT get enough of him. Last night at the table she looks up at me with a huge smile and her eyes of excitement and says, "Mom, isn't that so great that Jackson got a tooth. It is so great! He is so cute!" Livy loves to sit next to him in the high chair (of course this is after a little tantrum becasue she is not in the high chair) and yells "hi" in his face and they both laugh and laugh. Then she has to feed him a few bites of food. Then she goes to find any toy that is near (even if it is not a toy) to give it to jackson and sit next to him and tell him all about the object she just gave him. On friday when i was putting Livy down for a nap, Brooke was in charge of Jackson. She kept calling me to come look. You could hear the excitement in her voice. "Mom, come quick you have to see this. Jackson is SOOOO cute. Mom! Hurry!." When I finally got out to the family room, she had taken jackson's onesie off around his shoulders and belly and was tickling his belly and sides and making him laugh and laugh and laugh. It really was cute. And it was even cuter that she was so excited about it and was enjoying it so much. Every night she still has to give him ten thousand hugs and kisses and loves (as she calls it) before she gets in bed (and after she gets in bed-and after jackson gets in bed...the wanting for more loves to give to Jackson never ends. And I am grateful for it.)
I want to remember how considerate brooke is becoming of others. If I sit in the chair at night for a little bit she always asks if i would like a warm blanket from her closet. Last night it was, "Mom, I can get you a warm blanket from my closet if you want, or there is a blanket on the back of your chair. You can put it over your legs." And today, after putting Livy down for a nap, I came out to the family room and she had put Jackson's blankets on ben's legs and lap because he had fallen asleep. She said, "Mom, look, i tried to make dad comfortable and warm. Isn't that good."
I want to remember how important it is to tell and show Brooke how much I love her. She has asked about five times a day for the last three days that even if I am mad at her do I still love her. Even if she does something wrong, will I still love her? Even if she forgets to do her chore will I still love her? She is going to be a girl that needs and wants a lot of verbal and physical affection, and I need to remember that to be a good mom to her.
I want to remember how smiley Jackson is. I want his belly laugh to be ingrained in my memory forever.
Livy dancing down the aisles of the grocery store like she is doing the hokey-pokey with her hands going up and down. She does this a lot. But it is especially cute when you see other shoppers stopping to stare and laugh, because she is usually singing a song as she goes. (some of her favorites lately are Taylor Swift, the joy school welcome song, "he has tant ee heyr"- her name for I am a child of God., and twinkle, twinkle little star).
Livy standing out in front of the check out counter while the cashier is ringing up the groceries and stopping her one foot forward and yelling in her deep voice "HI" to everyone that walks by. Or "BOO". It is really cute and kind of embarrassing at the same time. But it is really funny to watch people's reactions. Some step away, others laugh and wave and say hi back, and then there are those that immediately look around for her mother and roll their eye's with that smirk that says-"Are you kidding me."...it really is pretty funny, especially because it is so Livy.
Livy wearing her yellow rain boots to church today. And I didn't fight it today...it was one of those mornings. And again, because of this little girls cute, spit fire, fun personality, it just me laugh. (the old me would have either forced her to wear different shoes and have her kick and scream and yell, or been so embarrassed of what others might be thinking about how I could ever let my child wear yellow rain boots to church. But today I laughed and let it make me smile whenever I looked at her. And Livy, it did rain today on our walk home from church, so good for you for wearing your rain gear.)
I want to remember how eager Brooke has been to do her "secret service". We did an FHE lesson on service and we all picked names out of a hat of who we would serve. And even though it is kind of totally pointless for Jackson and Livy, it has been such an awesome activity for Brooke. And she asks all the time if we did our service or lets us know what service she has done for Jackson.
I want to remember how in love these girls are with their little brother. Brooke will play, hold, "read", set up toys and pillows, kiss, feed and just enjoy this boy. She CANNOT get enough of him. Last night at the table she looks up at me with a huge smile and her eyes of excitement and says, "Mom, isn't that so great that Jackson got a tooth. It is so great! He is so cute!" Livy loves to sit next to him in the high chair (of course this is after a little tantrum becasue she is not in the high chair) and yells "hi" in his face and they both laugh and laugh. Then she has to feed him a few bites of food. Then she goes to find any toy that is near (even if it is not a toy) to give it to jackson and sit next to him and tell him all about the object she just gave him. On friday when i was putting Livy down for a nap, Brooke was in charge of Jackson. She kept calling me to come look. You could hear the excitement in her voice. "Mom, come quick you have to see this. Jackson is SOOOO cute. Mom! Hurry!." When I finally got out to the family room, she had taken jackson's onesie off around his shoulders and belly and was tickling his belly and sides and making him laugh and laugh and laugh. It really was cute. And it was even cuter that she was so excited about it and was enjoying it so much. Every night she still has to give him ten thousand hugs and kisses and loves (as she calls it) before she gets in bed (and after she gets in bed-and after jackson gets in bed...the wanting for more loves to give to Jackson never ends. And I am grateful for it.)
I want to remember how considerate brooke is becoming of others. If I sit in the chair at night for a little bit she always asks if i would like a warm blanket from her closet. Last night it was, "Mom, I can get you a warm blanket from my closet if you want, or there is a blanket on the back of your chair. You can put it over your legs." And today, after putting Livy down for a nap, I came out to the family room and she had put Jackson's blankets on ben's legs and lap because he had fallen asleep. She said, "Mom, look, i tried to make dad comfortable and warm. Isn't that good."
I want to remember how important it is to tell and show Brooke how much I love her. She has asked about five times a day for the last three days that even if I am mad at her do I still love her. Even if she does something wrong, will I still love her? Even if she forgets to do her chore will I still love her? She is going to be a girl that needs and wants a lot of verbal and physical affection, and I need to remember that to be a good mom to her.
I want to remember how smiley Jackson is. I want his belly laugh to be ingrained in my memory forever.
Spring Break...the rest
Healthy Eaters Potluck- great recipes to use.
Baseball game-Ben took Brooke and went to the Giant's/A's exhibition game with the Droubays and Wirthlin's. I hosted the potluck at our house.
General Conference-Amazing!
Easter Egg Hunt with Adam and Kimberly
General Conference
Dinner with Dad and Amber/JT- used China for the fourth time in 8 years (and three times in the last 6 months).
Rained off and on...so we went to the Parking lot when it was clear
Went to the Zoo and then hung out with Becks and had dinner and games together (while someone else cleaned the ENTIRE house! Thanks Mom for THE BEST birthday present ever!)
Went to the Beach and soacked in a ton of Sun and Sand. I love the Beach!
Went to the tide pools where it was so windy that we only stayed about 10 minutes before I decided Jackson was getting way too windblown. Laura was so great to let Brooke stay with her. Brooke is a total water girl. She loves anything to do with the water. And she loved the star fish.
Went on a few walks, played at the cement playground again (I just love the church parking lot for fun!)
Cleaned out and organized the pantry and got the yard ready for our garden.
Very fun with lots of memories!
(May 1) Post note- I am so glad I wrote this down. i would have totally forgot about what a fun spring break we had. I had grand plans of having Ben put the pictures from the camera to his computer and do a great post with all the details about our Spring break extravaganza....well, like many things, it didn't happen. But I really am coming to terms with the fact that I am not a great blogger-but the most important thing is that I write a little, so someday when I look back, I will remember we did something besides try to clean up after the kids, change diapers, etc....
Baseball game-Ben took Brooke and went to the Giant's/A's exhibition game with the Droubays and Wirthlin's. I hosted the potluck at our house.
General Conference-Amazing!
Easter Egg Hunt with Adam and Kimberly
General Conference
Dinner with Dad and Amber/JT- used China for the fourth time in 8 years (and three times in the last 6 months).
Rained off and on...so we went to the Parking lot when it was clear
Went to the Zoo and then hung out with Becks and had dinner and games together (while someone else cleaned the ENTIRE house! Thanks Mom for THE BEST birthday present ever!)
Went to the Beach and soacked in a ton of Sun and Sand. I love the Beach!
Went to the tide pools where it was so windy that we only stayed about 10 minutes before I decided Jackson was getting way too windblown. Laura was so great to let Brooke stay with her. Brooke is a total water girl. She loves anything to do with the water. And she loved the star fish.
Went on a few walks, played at the cement playground again (I just love the church parking lot for fun!)
Cleaned out and organized the pantry and got the yard ready for our garden.
Very fun with lots of memories!
(May 1) Post note- I am so glad I wrote this down. i would have totally forgot about what a fun spring break we had. I had grand plans of having Ben put the pictures from the camera to his computer and do a great post with all the details about our Spring break extravaganza....well, like many things, it didn't happen. But I really am coming to terms with the fact that I am not a great blogger-but the most important thing is that I write a little, so someday when I look back, I will remember we did something besides try to clean up after the kids, change diapers, etc....
Monday, April 5, 2010
Budget Bootcamp
Its easier to be on a budget, when you are working for something. Its easier to be "joyfully" living on a budget (click here for an incredible talk on living within your means) when you have an end in sight. A goal. So I am determined to get back on BUDGET BOOTCAMP so we can put new cement in our back and front yard! Instead of saying, "Ugggg, I can't afford it." I want to think, "I would much rather have a finished backyard where we can play together as a family." But it is so much easier to say and think about doing it, rather than really changing, and doing it.
Gratitude
I have had a "D.I. pile" (goodwill) for a really long time. And when it gets a little too high, Ben spontaneously takes it to the trailer when he goes to seminary. Well a little while back, a friend of mine gave me a bunch of clothes (can I tell you how awesome it was!! It reminded me of college, when my roomates and/or teammates would all go through their closets and we would put stuff in the locker room and people would take what they wanted. Loved it! Especially since most of my teammates bought WAY more expensive clothes than I did.) Since I got a bag of "new" clothes, I had to get rid of a lot of mine. (Our closets are really small.) So I went through my stuff and got rid of some thing. I sent a box to my sister-in-law, since a lot of it was stuff that wasn't in bad shape, i just found myself not wearing it very often. She was so grateful for it that it made me want to look for more things to get rid of and send them to her.
Recently, I did the same thing with Brooke's clothes. Again I had been given a few things from some older girls. And what didn't fit Brooke I gave to another friend, along with some more of my things that I didn't need anymore. Again, she was so appreciative of it, that it makes me want to go through and get rid of more clothes just to give it to them. It made me so glad that she liked it so much. Especially since some of the clothes were things I still really liked, but I just didn't wear it anymore (isn't it funny how we get attached to little material things). It just made me so happy inside they liked it.
Today I was thinking about blessings. I think that is how it works with the Lord. When we show so much appreciation and gratitude and bless others with what we have been given, He really wants to give us more. Just like I was so glad that my sister-in-law and my friend were so grateful for something so small, but it made me so happy that they liked it, that I wanted to do it again (just wish I had more things to give away.). Again, i think that is how it is with blessing from the Lord, of course on a much bigger (and sometimes smaller) scale. The more we appreciate the little things and show gratitude for them. The more He wants to give us. A simple lesson that I have always known, but sometimes you are reminded of it in new ways.
Like the signs say: Count your Blessings. And: Be Grateful, It's Contagious.
Recently, I did the same thing with Brooke's clothes. Again I had been given a few things from some older girls. And what didn't fit Brooke I gave to another friend, along with some more of my things that I didn't need anymore. Again, she was so appreciative of it, that it makes me want to go through and get rid of more clothes just to give it to them. It made me so glad that she liked it so much. Especially since some of the clothes were things I still really liked, but I just didn't wear it anymore (isn't it funny how we get attached to little material things). It just made me so happy inside they liked it.
Today I was thinking about blessings. I think that is how it works with the Lord. When we show so much appreciation and gratitude and bless others with what we have been given, He really wants to give us more. Just like I was so glad that my sister-in-law and my friend were so grateful for something so small, but it made me so happy that they liked it, that I wanted to do it again (just wish I had more things to give away.). Again, i think that is how it is with blessing from the Lord, of course on a much bigger (and sometimes smaller) scale. The more we appreciate the little things and show gratitude for them. The more He wants to give us. A simple lesson that I have always known, but sometimes you are reminded of it in new ways.
Like the signs say: Count your Blessings. And: Be Grateful, It's Contagious.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Starting off Spring Break
Today we kicked off "Spring Break". I had grand plans to do something FUN everyday of spring break. I am learning that I am a better mom when we are out and about. I don't do well when I try to get too much done at home, i am a grouch to the kids and I feel like I don't get much done anyway. (I think every mom has a few things they are REALLY good at, and one of those things for me is taking my kids places and doing things-sometimes I wish my strength was keeping an immaculate house and staying on top of laudry, but its not, and I need to remind myself that there are other things I am good at...because, lets face it, you don't "see" all the things you are good at sometimes because they aren't tangible)Anyways, I had planned on taking the kids to the park and helping Brooke with rollerblades, getting Livy on my mom's strider bike, etc. but it was a BLUSTERY day. And I woke up with THE WORST KINK in my neck. It is 9:30 at night, and I still can't move (and I have already been to the chiropractor once). So i changed plans and we dyed easter eggs (a huge hit). Livy's hands are still a bit green and blue. I am glad they loved doing it, because to be honest- I am not a huge fan of dying easter eggs. I think it is because my grandma always had us at her house up in the mountains for easter and we did elaborate easter egg dying and I loved doing it, but I always noticed how my eggs were never as "cool" as Heidi's and Ambers. They definitely got the artistic/creative genes and I didn't have it. So whenever I dye eggs now, I know they are never going to look as good as the pictures on the box. (I know, stupid). But I am so glad Brooke and Livy loved it so much and didn't care at all at what the eggs looked like. We even ended up dying 18 uncooked eggs along with the dozens of hardboiled ones (thanks, Cheri for that idea) because they kept wanting to dye more.
We were all still in our PJ's and it was 11, so I invited Stephanie and Kora over for lunch, you would thing that it would;ve kick me into gear to get us dressed and ready for the day, but it didn't. When they came over to play and eat, we were still in our PJ's (and lovin' it.) We are going to miss those guys when they move this summer. Kora and Brooke played, and I took livy with me to get my neck adjusted. She is my little buddy now and loves to go anywhere with me. Especially if it is just her! I am soaking it in. And even better, is that she always has to have her purse with her. She is on a ribbon kick, so her purse is usually packed with hair ribbons. She is so much fun. We cleaned the house a little for our healthy potluck group-it was our turn to host- and brooke and I watched a show together while J and Livy napped, and I iced my neck. It was a great start to a spring break. Not what I had planned, but great nonetheless.
It was good to have a low key day since we have conference, easter egg hunts, the beach, zoo, tidepools and whatever else sounds fun to do planned for next week! Now lets just hope the weather gets a little warmer to enjoy all the great things planned. But now matter what, the beach will be great. Warm or Cold!
We were all still in our PJ's and it was 11, so I invited Stephanie and Kora over for lunch, you would thing that it would;ve kick me into gear to get us dressed and ready for the day, but it didn't. When they came over to play and eat, we were still in our PJ's (and lovin' it.) We are going to miss those guys when they move this summer. Kora and Brooke played, and I took livy with me to get my neck adjusted. She is my little buddy now and loves to go anywhere with me. Especially if it is just her! I am soaking it in. And even better, is that she always has to have her purse with her. She is on a ribbon kick, so her purse is usually packed with hair ribbons. She is so much fun. We cleaned the house a little for our healthy potluck group-it was our turn to host- and brooke and I watched a show together while J and Livy napped, and I iced my neck. It was a great start to a spring break. Not what I had planned, but great nonetheless.
It was good to have a low key day since we have conference, easter egg hunts, the beach, zoo, tidepools and whatever else sounds fun to do planned for next week! Now lets just hope the weather gets a little warmer to enjoy all the great things planned. But now matter what, the beach will be great. Warm or Cold!
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