Happy

They make me happy.....

School is already becoming crazy so I can see my blog quickly being put on the back burner. Hopefully I can try and keep it updated as this is the only scrapbook/journal that I have tried to keep up with! And yes, doing my blog and keeping it updated with pictures of my kids..... makes me happy!

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Yesterday we went to my FAVORITE store Wal-Mart to pick up a few more pairs of unders for Jack since we no longer wear diapers. We finally found their location and I excitedly rattled off his options in big boy underwear choices... spongebob, thomas, elmo, baseball, diego and he looks around and points right past me and picks out the HUNTING underwear. Oh man, as much as I don't want it to be it looks like we have a mini hunter on our hands. His dad is so proud! And speaking of hunters.... remember this guy?

My husband the mighty hunter.... ya well his elk is so big it makes the record books...don't ask me which one.... but some record book and I couldn't be prouder! I know you are all jealous..... but seriously this makes him so happy and that makes me happy for him!

Speaking of proud..... this makes me proud....he is pretty much fully potty trained....

Just Because....

I Love Them!

Swimming

Aunt Jenny arranged a swimming date for all of us and I'm so glad she did! Jack had so much fun and hasn't quit talking about it since. Ella wasn't quite sure at first. She gets nervous around lots of people and noise but after a few minutes she started enjoying herself! I feel bad I haven't been able to take them there much since we had Ella because honestly I know I can't handle two at the pool by myself! Looks like we are going to have to be going as a family more often! We can't wait for your pool to open again Jen and Nate..... Oh and for Nate to be home so he can entertain Jack in the pool!

(I know the color on these are kinda funky but the pictures I stole(thanks guys) were kinda funky themselves so I thought I would spice them up!)

Happy Birthday Maa Maa

January 20th was my sister Mandy's birthday (Jack calls her Maa Maa) and we decided to make her a cake and dinner. The wait until she got there almost KILLED Jack. He just couldn't stand the wait and after I ran upstairs for a minute and came back down he suspiciously had some red smear on his finger and face. Apparently he just couldn't wait! Once she got there we did cake first - well we lit the candles 5 times and then he was satisfied and was able to continue on with dinner. I made a spaghetti bake so we made all the kids strip down before they ate so their clothes wouldn't be ruined! They thought it was delicious and slurped it right up.... but don't worry they made sure they left some room to eat the cake too! When Jack's not fighting with Okie.... he sure loves his cousins to come over and play!

Potty Training Take TWO

So once again Jack decided he was ready to be potty trained and I wasn't sure I was ready for this but I thought what the heck..... SO I am happy to report that 4 days down..... only two pee accidents....and he was DRY all day long today. And the best part of all of this is that he has been Pooping on the potty for three and a half weeks straight with hardly no accidents! (we won't count the day he had the runs! That's hard for even the fully potty trained person!)

My baby boy is growing up...... now we just have to get him out of the crib..... but he doesn't mind it......he likes it even..... Is it bad to be two and a half, potty trained and still in a crib??

The Sippy who Made Noises!

Another one just so I can remember.....

A few nights ago we put Jack to bed and it wasn't long before he was yelling for his dad. It's not too uncommon for him to come up with ridiculous things to try and get us to come and get him out of bed so we ignored him for a few minutes. He was becoming more insistent so Ryan went to check out what was wrong. He found Jack sitting at the top of his bed pointing at the far end of the bed where he had placed his sippy as far away from him as he could manage. He then proceeded to tell Ryan very insistently that "sippy was making noises!" Sure enough the sippy was making a small squeaky sound out of the vent holes and Jack was scared to death of it. He had gotten as far away from that thing as he could. Every time he sees this certain sippy in the cupboard he exclaims to me "that sippy makes noises!" Needless to say we won't be using that sippy anymore as my child is scared to death of sippy's that make noises!

Lately.....

This is what I get when i tell him to "say cheese!" He says it's his silly face and yes, on the toilet is the only place I can get him to sit still long enough for a picture!

Love, Love, Love of my Life

TEETH

Watch your fingers..... she's got some chompers!

She didn't have teeth forever and then all of a sudden she has 5!! And we won't talk about the HUGE gap between those top two!

Splish Splash X 2

These two love to bathe together and although it is double the work for me they think it's double the fun! Pax usually likes to get in on the fun too and lick up all the water they splash out all over my floor!

Smarty Pants

Jack has said some of the funniest things lately and I just want to remember so i'm writing them down....

Sitting at dinner the other night he put his arm around his dad and said..." I love you babe!"
The other morning I mentioned we might make cookies and Jack immediately looked at his dad and said...."Dad, go to work and make us some cha-ching." He knew we wouldn't be cooking until his dad left so he was ready to get him out the door!

Yesterday he crawled up onto my lap and said " Hi baby!"
Also yesterday I handed him his sippy and he said "thanks lover!"

A few nights ago Ryan was eating his dinner and Jack wanted him to be done so they could play. Ryan went to get a second helping and Jack proclaimed.... "NO DAD. Food costs MONEY!"

This kid is so full of it! And last but not least he has taken to calling Ryan and I hosey hosey's. Not sure what this means or where it came from but I'm not sure I like being called a hosey hosey!

Santa Brought Nate

All Jack talked about for weeks was that he wanted Santa to bring Uncle Nate home from the Army. He has been gone to basic training for awhile now and Jack has been having withdrawls! We decided we would surprise Jack when Nate finally got home and have him be in a box and let Jack open it! We were all so excited because we thought Jack was going to be ecstatic! Boy, were we ever wrong! He and Ella both screamed and screamed! I'll admit.... Nate did look a little different..... shaved head.... skinnier....I don't think at first Jack had any clue who was coming out of that box! Unfortunately I didn't catch the whole screaming attack on camera but as he is running away you can hear a tiny glimpse of it!!


Don't worry though.... once he realized who it was he was once again head over heels in love with Uncle Nate!

Sleepovers,New Years, Yost and Potties

Pictures are in no particular order.... much too lazy to try and organize them!!!

Grandpa "Burp" and Jack on the tractor! Jack thinks his name is Burp and insists on calling him that! It's too cute!

Ella had some MAD hat hair!


We did some sledding and there WAS snow until the tractor drove over it lots of times and turned it into a dirt/snow pile but it didn't stop the sledders!

Brynn and Ella.....What cuties!

LOVE the nose smashed against the window!

Daddy and Jack keeping the fire pit perfect!

Ella and I bundled up to head out and watch them work!

A girl has to keep up on all the latest fashions and gossip!


After Christmas we got the bright idea that it was time for Jack to have his first sleepover with Grandma! We loaded him up and off to Idaho he went. Ella and I went the next day to get him and spend a few days in Idaho. The day before we were set to come home Ryan decided to hop in with my brother and come to Idaho too! We had a quiet New Years in Declo with lots of sequence, scattergories, buzz word, fun and food! It was just us, my parents, the kids and my niece Ainslee. It was quite but it was a lot of fun! Once again I didn't think of taking any pictures but I don't think any of us that were there will forget the night and my mother's attempt at playing the games!

My parents are in the process of building a cabin so we headed to Yost to work on clearing the spot and spent the night in Aunt Shawnae's cabin. We weren't planning on spending the night but Ryan and Lee left before us and were gone about 30 minutes when they called and said "you better pack for the night because it's snowing like crazy!" So we ended up making a weekend out of the adventure and had lots of fun. Jack LOVED riding in the tractor with Grandpa and pushing all of the trees over and the highlight was that we then had to burn them all which is another one of Jack's favorites! (FIRE) He spent several hours riding in the tractor and took several short cat naps in there! Keep in mind that this is coming from the boy who can't sit still long enough to watch a full episode of Barney! We had a great time and I can't wait for many more weekends spent at Yost while building the cabin. Yost holds a special place in my heart and I can't wait to share it with my kids and the stories of my Grandpa Dalton who grew up there and loved it!

Jack's highlight of the trip was pooping in the snow! Two times he did it and will gladly tell anyone that will listen! I was proud of my little guy.....until after we got home and he INSISTED that he wasn't going to go in the potty anymore.... he wanted to go in the backyard and poop in the SNOW! I quickly explained we can ONLY poop in the snow places where there was no potty. So hopefully none of you who are my neighbors see Jack out in the front yard doing his business.
Speaking of poop....(what a great subject) but it's been two weeks tomorrow since he's done it in his diaper.... I think we are close to trying to be fully potty trained!!

Christmas 2009

Jack chilling with some of his loot... new beanbag, new sippy, new Barney.... What more could a boy want??

The professional Gingerbread house makers....boy was that thing a disaster by the time they were through!

Our annual Christmas self portrait!

My favorite little grin!

Christmas wouldn't be complete without at least one fit!


We had a wonderful Christmas this year and was able to spend it with both of our families. I absolutely love that my parents come to our house for Christmas so that we don't have to choose whether to spend Christmas at home or in Idaho. This way we get the best of both worlds and I am so greatful! We spent Christmas eve at home with my parents, Mandy and Emma. Jack LOVED having Emma here to help with the gingerbread house and to go see the Christmas lights with Dad and Grandma Rosie. Before they left they sprinkled reindeer dust and left out cookies.... Just in case Santa decided to come by early! They were so surprised when they got home and Santa had indeed come by and left both Jack and Emma (Ella too) LOTS of presents!

We celebrated at home on Christmas Eve so that we could be at Grandma and Grandpa Paxman's bright and early! I actually enjoyed doing it this way because I think Christmas would have been way to overwhelming for Jack if we would have tried to do it all in one day! Ella wasn't all that impressed with the whole idea but she did enjoy eating some paper and chewing on a few of her new gifts! We tried not to go overboard with Christmas this year and I'm glad we did because out of all Jack's presents his favorite thing was a balloon (same as last year) and a $3 rocket launcher that was in his stocking. It always amazes me when he chooses the simplest things to enjoy after I have spent a month fretting over what he would like! Christmas day was also fantastic and I'm mad at myself because I didn't take ONE picture on the actual day! I'm hoping Jenny or Lisa can save my bacon on this one??? (Did you guys take any Christmas morning??) Overall it was a great Christmas. We received some great gifts but the greatest one was the memories we made and the time we got to spend with all of our loved ones! My kids really are very very spoiled with all of the people that love and care about them so much!

Aunt Maa Maa with Ella.


Sprinkling the dust....oatmeal and glitter so Santa and reindeer can find their way!

Aren't they cool?

Ella had a great first Christmas!

We hope you all had a great Christmas and that Santa found his way to all of your houses!

Happy Five Years to you BABY

Wow- Tomorrow it will be five years! I can hardly believe that much time has already flown by! I can honestly say the BEST five years of my life. Throughout all of our ups and downs I am so glad I have had you at my side. Without you in my life I don't know where I would be and I definitely wouldn't have the two most precious gifts in my life! Thank you for not only being a great husband but an even better father to our children. I am thankful that you are always there for us whenever we need you! ) I love you and am so thankful that we took that leap of faith 5 years ago. Even though I'm not always a peach to live with you show us everyday how much you love us and it is truly appreciated!

Some of my favorite things about my husband....
He is SMART... He is definately more book smart than me but I'd like to think I'm more real world smart!
He does all the dirty jobs..... garbage, cat litter, poop scooping.... ya he lets me off the hook on all of these.
He fits in my family...... He is comfortable enough to join in on the fun and doesn't mind getting made fun of.
He is understanding..... Even when he comes home from work he never complains if there's cereal for dinner and that Hurricane Jack and Ella have left their mark on the house.
He listens.... well not usually when I'm asking him to do something but if I really need him to listen he is always there to hear me complain!
He has no fashion sense..... this one is a double edged sword because I have to dress him but he also doesn't ever care if I am just in my pj's and will always think I look good no matter what I am wearing!
He is a GREAT dad.... both of our kids LIGHT UP the minute he walks through the door and Jack begs every morning for his dad to stay home from work!
Well I could go on and on but he is going to be home from work now so I better hurry and get that bowl of cereal sat out on the table! :)

Happy Anniversary Ryan! I Love You!

Scared the BeeeJEEEBBBIIIEEESSS out of me!

Tuesday morning we got a surprise a little after 1 am. Of course, Ryan and I were sleeping like logs when we were both awakened by an EARTHQUAKE. Yes, you read it right.... an earthquake. What??? This is supposed to only happen in the movies and to people in California! Luckily, it was a relatively small one measuring a 2.9 but it was still enough to shake our entire house and to wake us all up from a sound sleep. I was FREAKING out and Ryan acted as if we experience earthquakes all the time and that it wasn't that big of deal. I'm glad it was a small one but it scared me enough to re-evaluate our 72 hour kits and our food storage just in case this was just a practice run for a big quake or another emergency! So.... off to Wal-Mart to stock up on some more food items.... I just LOVE that store (insert sarcasm here!).....

Happy Birthday Grandma

Having your birthday so close to Christmas makes it easy for it to get overlooked, so this year I wanted to make sure we didn't forget about Grandma Rosie's special day. It wasn't pretty because it was made in just a few minutes and with 4 kids under my feet but we celebrated with cake for Grandma's big day. The kids all loved to blow out the candles and it had to be repeated several times. It may or may not have had a slight layer of saliva once they were done but we all took our chances and had some yummy cake!

Jack couldn't even take his eyes of the cake for two seconds to snap a picture!

Happy Birthday Grandma Rosie. We love you so much and are so thankful for all that you do for us! I couldn't ask for a better mother and best friend. You are one very special woman and I am so happy that my kids are able to spend so much time making memories with you. Ryan always jokes that we are still attached at the umbilical cord but I don't care because I couldn't ask for a more caring, loving, fun, and amazing best friend. I love you mom!