Palmer Family Blog

Life With Three

2011-05-12T10:32:00.000-06:00

I've been meaning to blog for a while now, but life is a bit busier than usual and I was never that good at blogging to begin with. First of all, I just want to say that the transition from 2 kids to 3 has been my easiest transition EVER! Getting used to having one baby was harder than this, but getting used to two kids was sooo hard for me! And I've heard from many moms that going from 1-2 kids was the hardest, and from other moms that 2-3 was the hardest. So I did a lot of praying that going to 3 kids wasn't going to be harder than 1-2, cause honestly, that was hard enough that I probably would have had a nervous breakdown right now if this was harder! :) One thing that has been awesome is all the meals that we've received!!! I've never had people bring me meals before. Aside from my sisters and one or two close friends. But I got so many this time, it has been sooo nice!!! And Cyndi watched my kids every day for either the morning or afternoon, sometimes both, during the first week that Jeffrey went back to work!! It's been so nice to be taken care of! And again, can I just promote the placenta encapsulation!! HONESTLY IT HAS BEEN AMAZING!!! I encourage anyone who can stomach the idea to PLEASE DO IT!! Purebirth.ca. AMAZING!! I have had so much energy. Aside from having to nurse my baby every three hours, I don't even feel like I had a baby!! It's been so nice!! And it's been over a month now and I still haven't had any emotional breakdowns or signs of depression. Truly a miracle!!!

Thomas is such an amazing baby!! Since day 1, he's slept long hours in the night. As short as 5 hours to as long as 9 hours. It's amazing to actually feel like I sleep through the night. Makes the day a lot more manageable! I've had some nursing/milk issues, so I've had to pump a LOT and supplement that milk to him. He lost a lot of weight after he was born and didn't make it back to his birth weight by the two week mark. After all that pumping and supplementing though, he started gaining again. I was happy about that, but I sure don't like all the time spent pumping. Plus it HURTS! He is a very mellow baby, so easy! I think I've been so lucky, because my first two were easy as well! I guess that's what I get for being an angelic baby to my own mother. She said I didn't cry for the first however months of my life. Even when I got the mumps, I just kind of whimpered. :)

The kids have adjusted pretty well to having a baby in the house. They both love him to death. They want to be around him an annoying amount of time! It's hard to leave him anywhere without having someone stopping to touch him or try to put the soother back in his mouth. I'm trying to teach them that if he's not crying, he's happy and we leave him be!!!! Haha, Jaclyn literally just stopped his swing to kiss and maul him as I wrote this. Sighh... The only time Jaclyn shows any hostility towards us or the baby, is when she gets in trouble for doing something to the baby that she shouldn't. Only then does she get jealous, by trying to hit him, or professing her hatred for him or us. It's frustrating!! It's hard to share time with three children so that none of them feel left out. Obviously I know that the baby can cry and won't feel left out if I have to choose between the baby and the older kids. But it's still hard. That's probably the only thing that's been harder this time than it was when Jaclyn was a baby. There's less of me to spread around now! Oh well. We're managing!

It's so nice have warmer weather now! We've been able to get out a few times now to enjoy the sun and let the kids run wild!! I love it and the kids love it more!! I'm so excited for this summer and all the fun things that we're going to be able to do! We've got some plans to go out to Invermere and possibly Sandpoint as well. At least the kids and I do. Jeffrey's going to be working and I'm not sure if he'll be taking any time off. But it should be fun! Nothing better than sunning and swimming!

Okay, here are a few pics of our little Tommy. Sadly, we haven't taken NEARLY as many pictures of him as we have of our other kids. It breaks my heart, but when is there time???

Thomas Cameron

2011-04-13T15:48:00.012-06:00

I know I'm going to be grateful to have this all recorded, but I'm slightly dreading going over it again. Wasn't the best time I've ever spent. :) So saturday morning, literally as Jeffrey was walking out the door I had my first painful contraction. You know....one that actually meant something. I yelled that out to him as he left just so he was aware that things might start happening. Throughout the morning I kept having more, nothing regular, and nothing major. It was enough though to be uncomfortable and to not want to have to take care of Jacey and Jaclyn by myself. So I called Cyndi and asked if she could come pick us up and spend the day at her house. We wanted to be there anyway because Kandice and Brady were in town for a short time and we wanted to see them as much as we could. So most of the family was over there for the rest of the day and it was so nice to have other people to help with my kids and to visit with to keep my mind off of what was happening to my body! Jeffrey joined us after work and we were all about to sit down to a delicious steak dinner that Cyndi had prepared, when my contractions started to pick up a bit. They were getting a little more intense and more steady, being consistently around 15 minutes apart. It was 7ish at that point and we decided to head home (after we ate really quick...we couldn't resist) and get things ready for the home birth. We left the kids and headed home to tidy up and get the bed "birth" ready. At one point, my contractions stopped for about half and hour and I was nervous that I was jumping the gun and that perhaps this was false labour! I was a week early afterall and I've never been early before. And I'd always "induced" labour with castor oil, so I thought for sure since I wouldn't do that this time, I'd go over. Thank goodness they picked back up again!! Cyndi brought the kids home just after 8 (my contractions were on average 6 minutes apart by then) and helped Jeffrey get them into bed. By 9 o'clock the kids were sound asleep and I was definitely getting into the more intense-have to breath through them to endure it- contractions. They were getting closer so we called Carol. We had already talked to her that night, before we left Palmer's and she actually was in SW calgary babysitting her grandbaby. Luckily, Mark and Emily's movie was full (not lucky for them) so they were actually on their way home and Carol was free to leave and come help us!! Funny how things work out like that!! I guess it's not funny, it's actually just one of those things that shows me how Heavenly Father micro manages our lives more than we realize. Anyway, so Carol headed up to our house to check me out. I was about 4 cm dialated and was definitely in active labour. The next 3 hours were pure torture, as the contractions got worse and worse. I had flash blacks of being in the ambulance with Jaclyn and it made everything feel worse and brought back some of that fear I had in those moments. Jeffrey was great, always by my side, letting me squeeze his hands and putting pressure on all the right spots on my back. He joked at one point that he used to think it was fake when women would hurt their husbands' hands on movies or tv shows when they were squeezing them during labour....but he was now a believer! Haha! It was great to be at home. I laboured on the bed for a while, the birthing ball, the tub...actually I did a rotation of those three places. It was just so nice to be able to try different places and positions to find what was the easiest place to get through the contractions. Obviously there was no easy place, but some helped more than others. I didn't like labouring in the tub when I was pregnant with Jacey, but I wanted to give it another chance because I've only heard good things about water births. It was a lot better than Jacey's birth, but I still didn't love it. It felt nice in between contractions, but it still felt like it magnified the pain a bit. Luckily for me though, I just so happened to be in tub when the baby came. I wanted it to be there because I knew it would be the easiest place to contain the mess. It was my second time through the rotation of bed, ball and tub when I went from just having contractions, to going through transition and having to push! And man, was that the worst few minutes of my life!! I know everyone will think that Jaclyn's labour is the worst thing I could have been through, but I feel like this one was worse. With the memory of Jaclyn's birth, plus the pain of this one, it was like DOUBLE. I felt like I was back in the ambulance and it was a moment where I felt completely out of control and full of fear!! I "kind of" freaked out (that's an understatement) and Carol had to get right in my face to bring me back to reality and let me know that everything was ok and that it was all normal and I was about to have this baby! Anyway, so I barely had to push, or rather, I didn't push for very long and I felt that amazing, incredible, miraculous RELIEF that comes with having a baby out of your body!!! I cried purely out of relief for about 5 minutes afterwards because I was DONE!!! I felt kind of guilty about that later, because Jeffrey was crying too and I think he thought we were crying for the same reasons, but we so weren't. He was crying about the miracle of birth, and meeting our precious little baby for the first time. You know, normal reasons. And I was also in awe of and was so excited to see our baby, but my mind was consumed with other things at the time. Anyway, so after discovering that it was a boy (our intuitions were right) and having those first few bonding moments as parents and son, I was rudely bombarded by more cramping. I never remember delivering the placenta. Well I guess I remember delivering it, but I didn't remember that it was a painful thing, but man, it felt like I was having another baby! And the cramping didn't stop. I felt kind if jipped because that relief that I was craving and thought I was going to have, was gone. I know that after birth cramps are worse with every child, but these have been so much worse than I imagined. And they still haven't left. I have been living with a hot pad on my lap ever since. Anyway, after I got warmed up and all those after birth "shakes" subsided, I was able to nurse little Thomas. He ate like a champ! I had to stop him after an hour so we could bathe. He would have kept eating, it was awesome! We both got in the bath and cleaned up. It was soooo nice to be at home, especially at this point, because afterwards, I was able to get into bed, put Thomas in his bassinet next to me and just relax. There was no packing up and driving home from the hospital. It was amazing!! Cyndi was there (which was perfect because about 10 minutes before I had him, Jaclyn woke up crying and she was able to go in her room and help settle her back down) and so she was able to see him and hold him right afterwards. She slept on the couch the rest of the night to help out if the kids got up again. We were so grateful for her help and presence! The midwives packed up all their stuff after making sure baby and I were both good and healthy and then they left. It's been so nice to work with midwives, especially Carol, because they are so thorough and they come to you!! I love that I haven't had to go anywhere to get Thomas checked out or anything, they've been visiting me at home and will be back again tomorrow to see us.

These past few days have been sooo much better than with any baby I've had. Aside from the massive cramping that is. Thomas and I have figured out nursing with no problems. That has always been a problem with my babies. He loves his binky, the second night he slept for 8 hours. He is just a happy baby and has given me very little grief! One of the biggest things so far is that I haven't felt like crying 24/7. Without fail, on day 3, when my milk comes in, I cry all day. But here we are on day 4, milk has already come, and I am a different woman this time around! It's a miracle!! One that I could accredit to a few things. First being the lack of nursing problems. That has always been a reason for tears in past postpartum periods. Second is placenta encapsulation. Yes, I am indeed ingesting my own placenta. Thanks to purebirth.ca (thank you Emily for referring her to me) I was able to call a lady to come pick up the placenta the next morning and she took it away and basically dehydrated and ground up my placenta and put them into pill capsules. So now I am taking those pills daily and there are supposedly many benefits. Just to name a few; a boost in energy, a boost in milk supply, and the BIG one for me, helping curb the dreaded postpartum depression. And so far, I'd say it's working!!! The third reason, and the one that I am also giving the most credit to, is that wonderful Book of Mormon challenge that our ward did. Not having postpartum depression is something specific that I prayed for all the while, basically asking Heavenly Father to let this be one of the promised miracles that I could receive for accepting and achieving the Book of Mormon challenge from the Bishop. So whether or not the placenta encapsulation was the means for this miracle to come to pass doesn't matter so much to me. I am just happy that so far I've received this answer to my many prayers!!! Now I know that I could totally be speaking too soon and I know as well that having emotional ups and downs are normal anyway, but I've never felt this good at this point and I'm hopeful that it's going to continue!! I'm so grateful to Jeffrey who has taken the week off to be at home with us, to help out with Jacey and Jaclyn so I can focus on Thomas and getting my rest. I'm also so grateful to the many friends and family that have brought us meals/food and for giving Jeffrey a break by taking the kids for a few hours! I'm surrounded by so many loving, giving people and I don't know why I am so lucky to have that, but I sure am grateful for it!!

Speaking of Jacey and Jaclyn, they are absolutely in LOVE with Thomas! Anytime we emerge from the bedroom, they RUN to my side so they can "pet Thomas!!" That's what we get for getting a hamster before a baby. They treat him like an animal, always asking if they can pet him. Haha!! Sadly, both my kids got colds right as we had him, so I've had to make sure they stay out of his face and that hasn't been easy for any of us!! I can't wait for them to get better so I don't have to be so paranoid about all their love!! Anyway, we are just having a great time getting to know Thomas better. He is absolutely adorable. He has Jaclyn's nose exactly, and Jacey's mouth! He looks more like Jeffrey than Jacey does, if that's possible!! Today he's wearing one of Jeffrey's baby outfits, one that we have a picture of Jeffrey in..and it's like looking at twins! We are so blessed to have three healthy kids and have so much love in our home!! I love looking at the kids crowd around Thomas trying to kiss and caress him. And I love watching Jeffrey sleep with him in his arms. I just love my family so much and am honored to be apart of it!

ps. Tommy's stats @ birth - born at 12:38 am on April 10/11, 8lbs 4 oz, 21 inches long.

Happy 3rd Birthday Jaclyn!!

2011-04-12T14:20:00.008-06:00

Before I can post about the most recent happenings in our life, I have to document Jaclyn's THIRD birthday!! I can't believe she's that old already! She's my baby!! It started out rather early, I woke up in the night and found my husband MIA, and I tracked him down in the kids' room sleeping. I couldn't resist taking pictures when I discovered the position they were in! It was too adorable!
First thing we did when it was actually time to wake up, was get Jaclyn dressed up in her "ladybug dress". She asks me to wear it all the time, to which I usually reply "No, it's just for sundays". But how could I turn her down on her birthday??? So she got all dressed up. We decided to open presents in the morning so that Jaclyn would have some fun new things to play with throughout the day. She loved all her presents, her favorite being the bean bags I made her! Hooray for little kids not knowing how bad something is! :) This is pretty much the first thing I've sewed on my own and as easy as it sounds, they still weren't perfect. But I was happy with them and Jaclyn doesn't know any better. :) I made a poster for her too so that she had something to throw them at/through. Jacey and her played throughout the day and had lots of fun!

Later that evening, we had Jeffrey's siblings over for some cake and ice cream. The kids had a lot of fun and Jaclyn loved her rainbow cake! I still can't believe she's 3! I guess it does feel like a million years since she was born, but it doesn't seem real to me that I have a 3 yr old and a 4 yr old. Crazy! Jaclyn is such a sweet girl, but she's got a lot of fire in her! She is no pushover. In fact, she's more often now the pusher rather than the pushee. She's definitely coming into her "terrible threes". Everything's a bit more of a challenge with her, but she's just trying to figure out the whole independence thing. It's a lot more work, but we love her and she's worth it! She's still the super loving, snuggly little girl she's always been. She's always been more of a Daddy's girl, but to Jeffrey's dismay, she's gotten a little more attached to me. Always wanting mommy to do things for her. And even though that just means more work for me, it also means more affection from her. :) I like it! I'm trying to think of more things to say about her, but let's face it, my brain isn't functioning at 100% right now. She's a doll and we absolutely love her and everything she brings to our family!! We are grateful for her in our lives! Happy Birthday Jaclyn!!

Pictures...

2011-03-10T20:43:00.010-07:00

On Elizabeth's birthday, I took her girls for the afternoon so she could go
shopping alone! We had fun! These girls play so well together!

I love the way Jacey makes Jaclyn laugh!

Apparantly this is one of Jaclyn's faces, she's doing it in the picture at the top as well! :)

I can't express enough how much my heart melts whenever I find my kids snuggling like this!

And this...

We invited Claire down for a karaoke party one afternoon!
It was soooo fun to watch and listen to them! We got some great video footage!

They're singing their favorite primary songs :)

Jacey got really into it!!!

Jacey has been climbing off the top bunk lately to sleep with Jaclyn after she falls asleep.

I absolutely LOVE doing Jaclyn's hair! She is soo good for me too, sits like
an angel for as long as it takes! She asks me to braid it all the time, so I've started
experimenting with different ways to do it! Ahh...so fun!

This braid is made with a series of knots. It's soo easy and fun to do,
but her hair needs to be a little longer! As soon as we got in the car
and she rested her head on the back of her car seat, pieces started
falling out. By the time we got to church it was destroyed! :(

Happy Valentine's Day!!

2011-02-14T12:51:00.007-07:00

I never liked doing crafts as a child. I hated it in fact. Actually I hated anything to do with developing skills, such as cooking, sewing etc. I pretty much only read as a child. And played the piano. I obviously regret that now because I feel like I fail in the "housewife" department. I don't know nearly enough about the things that I'm supposed to be able to do effortlessly! But I don't mean to get into all of that, I'm getting off track. Now that I'm a mom, I LOVE doing crafts!! I think it's so fun and I love getting my kids excited about whatever craft I can. So I love special holidays that bring out an even greater desire to create. But because I never had much practice doing crafty things, my finished products look like a child did them. Because, well...that's the level I'm at. So I feel kind of dumb posting what we made today for Valentine's Day. Most people post professional looking products that could be sold for money!! But that's okay. :) My kids don't know they have an "underdeveloped" mother. Okay, now I'm really laughing at myself, because I didn't even come up with these crafts myself. I found them online. I'm not a creater, I'm a copier. But I still had tons of fun and so did my kids! That's all that matters, right?? Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!!

These would have worked a LOT better with cardstock. The hearts are made with crayon shavings melted by the iron between wax paper.

About to devour their heart sandwiches. And yes, it's lunch time

and we're still not dressed. Some days are just like that!

I know this is more of a girly craft, but Jacey still wanted to make one. :)

Miracle #1

2011-01-18T10:34:00.017-07:00

This month our Bishop gave our ward the challenge to read the Book of Mormon in 85 days. The past few times there have been Book or Mormon challenges, I've had good intentions, but never did anything about them. This time (same as all the other times) the Bishop promised us miracles in our lives in accomplishing this goal. It hit me this time that if there was ever a time in my life that I needed some miracles, it was right now!! I won't list off all the reasons why! :) Anyway, I had faith that regardless of what the miracles or blessings would be, my life could only improve and be happier if I accepted and accomplished this challenge. So it's been almost a week and a half and I've been keeping up to the schedule and last night, I realized that I've already witnessed my first miracle!! And it is HUGE. Huge. I've blogged many times about how bad of a sleeper Jacey is. Whether it's him being in our bed all night, or parts of the night. Or whether he's having periods of insomnia when he's WIDE AWAKE for 2-3 hours a night. Ever since just after Jaclyn was born, he has been a thorn in my side as far as sleeping goes (literally, he's glued to me in our bed) and especially now that I'm getting more pregnant and my back and hips are failing on me, getting good sleep is crucial. I can't even recall all the things we've tried to get him to sleep in his own bed. But there have been many!!! And sometimes we've been successful for a couple of nights here or there, but it always reverted back. And even the success we had, was minimal and recquired a lot of work. For example, he would go back to his bed, but after fighting us on it, then cry about it forever and we'd have to sit in his room for an hour, stuff like that. But this week, when I explained to him about the pain in my body and how sleeping alone was so important for me to be healthy and not hurt, he just got it. It clicked. It's been 4 days now, and he hasn't even woken up at night. I can't even remember a time when he hasn't woken up at night once. Even when he slept with us, he always woke up at least once. But he's been sleeping straight through and not sneaking into our bed once!! And in the mornings, he calls out to me to ask if it's morning and if he can get out of bed! I can't even believe that this is happening to us!!! I've been waiting for this day since he was about 17 months old!! And he's four now! Actually, the first night, he did wake up once. Jeffrey went into his room and Jacey was the one that told Jeffrey that he couldn't go to mommy's bed because her back hurt. And then he went back to sleep. That was when I knew he got it. He's never been rational about staying in his own bed at night before!!! Now I know many people will say that he's just old enough now to get it, or all this time and work has paid off, but I KNOW that this is a miracle!!! I know Jacey. And he is stubborn!! He doesn't just give in if it's something he really wants. And sleeping with me has always been what he wants the most! So the fact that he so easily gave it up and we haven't had to fight him on it, I know it's a miracle!! And I credit it directly to my obedience of the Bishop's BOM challenge. :) I'm happy!! If this was the only miracle that came out of reading the BOM in 85 days, I'd be so happy!! But the Bishop said miracles, and now I wonder what else is in store for me! :)

Looking back over the years through pictures...

I will admit, I loved snuggling him in bed and I will miss that sometimes. But I now cherish my own space. And I am WELL aware that I created my own problem by allowing him in my bed in the first place. :) I learned this lesson the hard way!

The end of an era.

Hawaii/Christmas 2010

2011-01-05T01:08:00.014-07:00

I should have done what lots of you do and blog as you're on vacation, or at least document things as you go so that when it's time to make a big post about it, you don't have to try to think back and remember everything. But I'm not that organized so we'll have to see what I can come up with! So this year for Christmas, Jeffrey's parents gave all of their children a 2 week vacation to Hawaii to stay at their condo in Ko'Olina, Oahu. Within a certain time frame, we could choose whichever 2 weeks worked for us, but we all wanted to overlap and be there together for Christmas. Jeffrey and I decided to go earlier than the rest of the family and we left on Dec 10. We had 5 days alone before Kevin and Cyndi came out and a few more days with Kandice and Brady after that before the rest of the gang got there. When we first planned this, I was a little sad that we would be alone for the first week, but I am now very grateful that we did that! We had a lot of fun with just our kids and it was nice to be able to do our own thing and not worry about making plans with 10 other people. Cause we all know that can sometimes get chaotic! We had great weather pretty much the whole time! Only 3 rainy days. Two of which fell on sundays which was AWESOME!! And one on a monday. But even some rain in Hawaii isn't bad. It was still warm and we were able to drive around and see some of the island and not feel bad that we were missing out on a beach day. Our kids were sooo well behaved on the flights both there and back and they were GREAT in Hawaii. I kept imagining myself chasing them around the entire time and basically getting no time to relax. But they were really good about sticking around, and not going too far into the ocean. It was really fun to see Jacey and Jaclyn play together, they are truly best friends. They made some good memories! We were lucky enough to have a great pool to lounge around at and a very quiet beach to go to. And neither one was better than the other. So if one was a little busy for our liking, we'd just walk to the other and were just as happy! Jaclyn loved the sand and was constantly burying her legs in it. And they both loved the waves pushing them around at the shore. Because of the rocks around the lagoon, the waves were pretty much nil, but to a 25 lb girl and a 35 lb boy, they still were enough to push them a bit. I love that both of my kids love water and aren't afraid to swim around on their own (with lifejackets and water wings of course). They were basically in heaven the whole time we were there and have asked several times since we've been back if we can go back to the condo in Hawaii!

While we were out there we were able to celebrate Jacey's 4th birthday!! He was so excited to be able to do that in Hawaii!! It was pretty low key. We were still the only ones out there at that point. He opened his presents in the morning, then we spent the day swimming at the pool, and we ended the evening with personal size chocolate lava cakes! I'm so glad he's too little to realize his mom bailed on making a cool cake! :)

One day we decided to head to Honolulu and try to find some places to do some souvenir shopping. We had no clue where we were going and were lucky to stumble into a little strip mall type place that backs onto a port for cruise ships. The prices weren't too bad and we got the kids each a Hawaiin outfit and some puca shell necklaces and Jaclyn got some cute flower clips for her hair. If we had waited till everyone got there, we would have gone to a much better place for souvenirs where they apparantly got more stuff for much cheaper! Oh well...live and learn. :)

When Kevin, Cyndi, Kandice and Brady got there, we walked over to the Mariott time shares and we (as in Jeffrey, Jacey, Jaclyn and me) experienced our first SHAVED ICE. Mmmmm..... honestly it was the best thing I'd ever tasted!! So light and fluffy and delightful. And it was topped with condensed milk...mmmmm. I'm making myself crave one right now! Now that I'm home I wish that I went over there more often to get them. Oh well...another live and learn experience. Haha!

The day we were waiting for Melinda, Heather and children to arrive, we walked around the Ala Moana mall in Honolulu. The kids saw Santa there...which was kind of weird. A big polynesian Santa. My kids were too shy to even look at him though, so I'm pretty sure they didn't even notice. That mall is pretty cool, most of it is outdoors. It was amazing to be able to be outside so much of the time and be HOT! It definitely made it NOT feel like Christmas though. But it was really fun and a great break from the freezing cold Calgary that we live in. The next day was slightly rainy so we started to drive to the North Shore to see some of the beaches up there. We first stopped at the Dole Plantation and had some yummy pineapple ice cream. After that, we only made it as far as Turtle Beach, where we saw 4 or 5 turtles surfing the waves. It was really cool! Jeffrey got some pics, but it's hard to see what it was like in person. After we stopped there, it started to get really hot, so we decided to go back to the condo and enjoy the sun where the kids could swim (the North shore does not have kid friendly beaches..too many gigantic waves). On wednesday of that week, Kevin chartered us a private boat to go do some whale watching and snorkelling! It was AMAZING!!! We saw 5 humpback whales throughout the tour, all of which were amazingly close to our boat!! And tons of dolphins. And there was even a big sea turtle swimming with the group while we snorkelled. I actually wasn't in the water with the turtle, I was on the boat with my kids waiting for my turn, but to be honest, I wouldn't have liked that anyway, I'm too much of a pansy. Even snorkelling with the fish freak me out. I don't really like sea life, it's kind of a fear I have. Seaweed scares me too. :) But when it was my turn to snorkel, after I got used to the breathing again (seriously makes me feel panicky and claustrophobic) I really enjoyed looking at all the colored fish. It was pretty cool! I didn't think my kids would want to get in, but they both did and Jacey even put on a mask so that he could peek in the water. It was really fun! We got to see the big "Black Pearl" from the Pirates of the Carribean movie, it was sitting in the same marina that our boat was in. We got to drive right past it and see all the detail on it. It is a beautiful boat and SOO big!! It's called something different in the next movie though, something about Queen Anne's Revenge. Actually, I think that is the name of it. Anyway, kind of fun. Like seeing a celebrity. :)

Christmas Eve was kind of surreal. We spent it on the beach, building sand castles, turning the girls into sand mermaids, swimming. We tried to end our beach activities early that day so that we could have a nice dinner and watch some Christmas stuff. We watched the Andrea Bocelli (there you go Katie) Christmas Concert on DVD and also the Nativity movie (you know the one, like 5 minutes long). And those helped it feel a little bit like Christmas, but other than that, it was a normal day! We did have a small tree up and some lights on the balcony, but it just doesn't feel like Christmas when you are wearing your bathing suit 90% of the day. Christmas Day felt even less like Christmas. We had all decided to do our own Christmases with our kids either before or after Hawaii (we chose to do ours after) so there was no present opening that morning. Weird. We spent that day at the pool (it was our last pool day) :( and then had a HUGE traditional Christmas dinner with the Seidels down by the pool. The dinner was Christmassy, but eating outside by the pool vetoed any Christmas feeling the turkey and potatoes brought. We were so excited that Angie Takahashi and her husband Mike and kids came to hang out with us that day. They were able to spend some time at the pool and then eat with us. The kids became friends quickly and later we had them watching movies together in some of the rooms while we played some fun games out on the balcony. It was great and I was glad they were able to come spend time with us!!

The next day was our last day, and after church and packing up all our stuff, we headed to Pearl Harbour. It was great to be able to go there and see the place where such a historic thing happened. It was sad to read all of the names of the people who had passed away there, and sad even to see the names of the people who survived it. It would have been very hard to overcome those events. We were able to go down into a submarine and see where some of them lived for months on end. It was unbelievably squishy and again...very claustrophobic. The cots were all smushed together, 3 on top of each other. And definitely not built for a man...really short. The kitchens were puny and the eating area was small too. And every opening into another area, was a small hole that you had to step up to, to go through. Unbelievable what those men went through just in living in those conditions, to fight for their country. And that's not even thinking about the actual fighting that they did! We walked through a museum there and saw lots of things from their time. I love nostalgic things like that, they have a special feeling about them.

So any time we weren't doing any of the specific things I talked about, we either were at the pool all day or at the beach. I discovered that I absolutely love playing in the sand! I'm totally a sun worshipper, but with kids it's just not possible to lay in the sun all day. So when they wanted me to play with them, either in the water or sand, I discovered that it was just as good as sun bathing. And in fact, more fun!! I seriously loved organizing sand castles and giving all the kids different jobs, either bringing more water, more sand, rocks, whatever it was while I was heading up the main sand castle area. :) I remember as a kid it was always soo much more exciting when an adult participated in whatever it was that we were doing as kids. And I'm glad I was able to do that for my kids and neices and nephews. I'm also glad that Jeffrey loves the water as much as he does! I can only stand being in it for so long and then I get cold. I'm constantly in and out as I get hot and cold. But if the kids wanted to play in the water for a long time, Jeffrey was their man! It was perfect! I manned the beach, Jeffrey manned the water. (Is that how you use that term?) We are the perfect beach team! :)

Sadly, that brings us to the end of our trip. It was a very bittersweet feeling. It was the perfect amount of time to have been in Hawaii, but coming home to the cold did not sound appealing! I'm really glad we had our Christmas to look forward to, because I think it would have been harder for me to leave otherwise. Our kids did great on the flight home again! I had a terrible flight, didn't sleep at all..and it was overnight..and when I got off, my feet and ankles were the size of an elephant's!!) The kids were really reluctant to leave though. They fully understood what leaving Hawaii and going home to Calgary meant. And they were not happy about it! Again, having Christmas to look forward to really helped. When we got home on the 27th, that was our Christmas Eve. We spent the first part of it sleeping to catch up for the lack of it while flying. And actually, I'm completely drawing a blank as to what we did the rest of the day. I was definitely jet lagged! That evening the kids opened their Christmas jammies and we watched that new Owl movie and had some goodies and hot chocolate. The kids fell asleep REALLY easily about 9ish and I got to work on the presents and stockings. And can I just say, that it was the most fun, satisfying, happy Christmas Eve I've ever had!!! I LOVED wrapping all the gifts and getting the stockings ready. I've never done my own kids' stockings before (good ol' Nana Palmer has always done that) and I absolutely loved it! They were no where NEAR as amazing as past years, but my kids have been too little to remember and so there was no disappointment the next morning. Christmas morning was sooo fun with just our family. This was our first year doing that as well, and I had more fun than ever!! Jeffrey and I didn't get any presents this year. We must have been naughty or something! :) But it didn't even matter. It was just so fun to watch the kids open theirs. Jaclyn got a purple princess dress and accessories and not only is she in love with purple, but dresses as well! So it was the perfect combo! Her body was literally shaking with excitement as I helped her dress up in it. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen!! She wears it every day and loves it just as much!!! Jacey's favorite gift was his Iron Man "heart". It connects to whatever T-shirt he's wearing and when you push it, it makes various Iron Man noises and he runs around pretending to blast things to pieces with the guns in his hands. He wore it for 48 hours straight! It was pretty adorable! With Grandma and Grandpa Draper's Christmas money, he was able to buy a mask to go with it. Now he's really in heaven!!! :) So Christmas was a complete success and the perfect ending to our trip!! New Year's was a lot of fun too. We had a games' night with WAY too much good food with my siblings, Gannon and some of the Stehmeiers at the Palmer Home. Our kids were not good to us that night, they only let us get 2.5 hours of sleep before they woke up at 6am and decided they wanted to get up for the day!!! My wonderful and amazing husband got up with them and let me sleep in to my heart's content. He's so good about doing that on pretty much ALL of his days off. I love him for it!!

I know this is a lot of writing and most of you won't read it, but I wanted to document it for ME. So it's okay if you just look at the pictures. Although I will say, I'm a reader and I never skip people's written portions. So maybe that will guilt you into reading mine. :) Haha, just kidding. It truly doesn't matter! But just to sum things up, we had a fabulous December and Christmas/New Year's! I don't necessarily want to do another tropical Christmas again, but I"m pretty sure I would never turn down a free trip! :) We were excited to welcome home Michael, Melinda, Heather and their kids today. They were definitely sad to leave, but we are excited to have them back! Kevin and Cyndi are still there for another week, enjoying the peace and quiet that's for sure!! Okay, anyway, now I'm just blabbing. I hope no one is still reading! :) Hope you all had fabulous holidays!!! Now on to the depressing part of winter..blah!!!!

Okay, I decided to post this now and do separate posts for my pictures. Just because it will be wayyy too long if I do them together! And I posted way more pics on facebook, cause blogger takes way too long to load them. FYI. :)

Pics from Hawaii and Christmas

2011-01-05T01:00:00.015-07:00

The first of many sand castles.

Practicing their floating skills.

She stood on this rock for about 10 minutes.

Getting buried, Jaclyn pretending she's dead.

Mermaids!!

This is such a Claire pose, I love it!!!

These boys love each other!

Kissy face!!

Such a cute pose!

Our first sunday there, exploring the grounds.

He looks like some sort of swimming super hero!

Matching outfits!

First shaved ice!

Making a face...as usual.

I LOVE this picture. She's getting ready to chuck

something into the water!! Look at her stance!

They loved their head rest pillows. I actually bought the frog for me to use, since they didn't have any adult ones left. But of course, Jaclyn claimed it for herself.

Christmas Day dinner with Angie.

Our Christmas Eve at home.

All ready to go for Christmas morning!!

So excited about her outfit!

Learning up a storm with his new map!

A Hint of Nutmeg

2010-12-09T14:54:00.002-07:00

A friend of mine just started a home based business making the cutest hair accessories! I know there are a LOT of people out there that do the same type of thing, but I can honestly say, I've NEVER seen hairclips like this yet. They're absolutely adorable and very original! Check out this page on etsy to see her work. She also has a group on facebook that you can check out! She's even doing a giveaway right now, if you want to participate!!

Okay, well I'm off to Hawaii tomorrow and I won't be back till just after Christmas!! Hope you all have a fabulous Christmas!! I know I will! :D

Baby #3 Ultrasound

2010-11-23T13:14:00.003-07:00

I realize now that I haven't mentioned anything yet on this blog that we are expecting another baby. So for those of you who don't know...we are!! We're due April 16/11 and are soo soo soo excited!!! I've been so much more paranoid this pregnancy, with having lost the last one and even with Jaclyn's lung problems in the womb, that waiting for this ultrasound to come around was TORTURE!! And I'm pretty sure I drove the tech doing the ultrasound crazy with all my questions! Ha. But after she was done, she said that everything according to her looked normal and healthy. I had to tell her that I wouldn't hold it to her if something turned up wrong, I knew I kind of put a lot of pressure on her!! It was soo fun to see the baby moving and kicking and see it's little heart beat!! Such a relief as well!! I've been feeling the baby move around more, but it's not enough for me!! It is totally my favorite part of pregnancy and that also has been a torture to wait for! I don't want to just feel it, but SEE it moving!! Anyway, just wanted to post a few of my favorite pics from today. The baby totally has Jaclyn's nose, and Jacey's legs. :) So cute!!!! I'm really excited to see how this one looks. So far we have a mini Jeffrey and a mini Emily. Wonder who this one will look like!!!

My Tender Little Boy :)

2010-11-08T13:18:00.002-07:00

Friday night Jacey and I were snuggled on the couch watching something on Playhouse Disney, when he turned to face me with his eyes filled with tears and his lips quivering. He looked at me and said "Mom, when I was in heaven and you were at work....I reaallly miisssed yoouuuu!!!!" and he burst into tears!! I couldn't help getting choked up myself with his sudden display of emotion!! He didn't elaborate anymore than that, and after a few minutes of sniffling and snuggling, he was back into his show again. Jacey has randomly said things of this nature to me before and I try to think back to any sort of conversation we may have had about me working before he was born, but I can't think of any. So I'm convinced he was really remembering something from when he was heaven while I was working. When I was on my mission, my mission president told me that if at times I felt discouraged, to think of my kids up in heaven cheering me on! And after hearing things like this, I'm sure at times that they were. I know that I often think loved ones up there are too busy with other things to make the time to look down on us, but I'm also sure it happens! I always like to think that my grandmas are looking out for me from time to time too! :) Anyway, I'm grateful for this experience with Jacey to remind me of the bigger picture. I'm grateful for my knowledge of the plan of salvation and that we existed before this earth, that we have a purpose here now and that we will exist again after!

Random Fact

2010-10-19T12:35:00.003-06:00

So I was just wondering if it was just me, or does anyone else feel this way? Sometimes (actually, most times) when ambulances or police cars or firetrucks alarm their sirens and everyone has to pull over to the side to let them pass, I cry. Not because I'm thinking about the person they're rushing off to help, but because I feel some sort of weird kinship and connection to the other drivers I pulled over with. It gives me this strange, prideful feeling. In a good way. Like I'm proud to be a Calgarian with these other people who are respecting the rules together to make the way for our city servants to help those in need. I don't know, it's weird. But I can't help it! I get choked up. Tears come to my eyes. Almost every time. Am I alone in feeling this way?? Please tell me I'm not! :)

Wow, they've grown!

2010-10-07T14:34:00.004-06:00

Claire was downstairs playing with my kids today and they were so adorable all snuggled up watching "The Princess and The Frog" that I couldn't resist taking pictures. While looking at the pictures, they reminded me so much of the pictures we took of them just over 2 years ago. Here they are!

I can't believe how much they've grown! They are such good friends and love to be together! Sometimes they fight like siblings but that just means they love each other like siblings too! :)

Hee Hee

2010-08-04T09:43:00.022-06:00

I laugh looking at my last post and how LONG it's been since I posted that. I know I should feel bad about not posting more often, but I just really don't. :) I might regret it one day, but for now I'm fine.

So, this summer has been tons of fun so far!! We've been able to get away enough for it to feel like summer (aka...go to places that actually have summer!) It officially started when the kids and I went to Invermere with Cyndi, Heather and kids and Brett. We just went for a few days but it was so fun! The first night was not so much fun. Me and the kids were all sleeping in the same room and there wasn't much sleeping going on. Jeffrey surprised us and came out to stay for the rest of the time. I was sooo happy and soo grateful that he could help with the little crazies!! We did nothing but play at the pool. What more could you want though?

Next, the kids and I went down to Cardston with my sister, Becky and her kids for a week. Mandi came down halfway through the week with her kids as well. We had tons of fun, riding in the wagon, going for argo rides, going to see the neighbors new kittens, swimming at the swimming hole and riding Scout (he's a horse) :) It was pretty windy down there, but the sun shone every day and it was warm enough to be outside! When we weren't doing something specific, the kids would stay outside and just play. Blowing bubbles, riding in the horse swing, playing ball...we even tried the sprinkler one day, but with the wind, it just felt too cold! Becky, my parents and I watched movies each night. Jeffrey and I are movie lovers and I had a whole list of movies for them to see that they hadn't yet. There was also lots of game playing and yummy snacks. It was really fun, but I missed Jeffrey terribly and I'm not sure when I'm ready to do that again. He stayed at his parents' house that week and hung out with them and his brother. They were able to go to the rodeo and the grand stand show, so he had lots of fun and had things distracting him enough to not miss us too much. Who am I kidding? He missed us insanely and told me I'm never allowed to go anywhere without him again!! Haha!!

After Cardston, I thought our summer trips were over. Jeffrey has officially started his own company Alberta United Insurance. He's doing it with Mark Stehmeier and they have been super busy getting things up and running. They're doing really well so far, things are moving along a lot better than I thought things could this early in the game! And of course I'm biased, but they really do provide GOOD, quick service (in French and Chinese too) and they have some really competitive rates. So if you're looking for insurance, or think you might be paying too much for yours right now, check out their website and contact them for a free quote. Auto, Home, Renters etc. I'm really proud of him and all his hard work and all the TIME he's put into it. He's been working long hours every day (except Sunday of course). Needless to say, we miss him around the house! :( Anyway, because of all that, we decided we wouldn't go anywhere this summer and we wouldn't even go to the Palmer Family reunion in Sandpoint. The Palmers all left to go, and we decided that to make it feel like a holiday, we'd live at the Palmers' new house while they were gone. It was fun, but I didn't enjoy following my kids around cleaning up after them and making sure they didn't destroy anything! After a week there, Jeffrey had a change of heart and decided that maybe we should go to Sandpoint for a few days!! I was ecstatic and agreed with him very quickly before he could change his mind again! We left Saturday and came back the following Friday. :) :) :) I was sooo happy to go! It was so fun to be there with everyone (and to see Kandice and Brady again!!!) and enjoy the SUN!! My kids were little fish, which is what I was hoping for! Last year in Sandpoint was when Jacey really took to the water and I was hoping Jaclyn would do the same thing. And she did! I think it helped that Claire was swimming around on her own too. Jaclyn loves to do what those she loves are doing! And on a side note, I'd just like to say right here, that I'm so grateful that my kids do have older cousins who are a good example, because little kids really do mimic what they see other people doing. Setting a good example is sooooo important!! It's just something I've been thinking a lot about lately because Jacey especially will do something or say something and then tell me exactly who was doing it and where and why. So I'm thankful that for the most part, it's been good stuff!! Anyway, back to Sandpoint. We literally tried to spend every moment we had outside. Either at the pool and hot tub or on the boat. It was literally heaven. My kids were so independent that I could lay out if I wanted to, or be in the hot tub or pool when they were in the other. And there were so many adults around and other kids, that there was always someone close by to give a hand. And they loved the boat. Although they usually ended up falling asleep by the time the ride was over. How can you not with all the lulling rocking! It was really really hard to leave this year. I think it meant more this year because we almost didn't have it. I miss the lake already. I absolutely love lake water!! It's so refreshing and one of my favorite things is to jump in from the boat and go for a swim. Jeffrey and I on our last night, left our kids with Cyndi and went down to the dock to jump in for one last swim. Ahh..it was really hard to leave. :) The kids traveled really well this year. I used someone's idea from FB (can't remember who) and had wrapped up little trinkets (a car, a ball, a book etc) to give to the kids each hour of the drive to keep them entertaining and happy. They loved it and it honestly made the trip go so smoothly. As did these-thank you Lizzie for introducing them to me:Wow, that's a large picture. Anyway, they were perfect. My kids love to tip their ziploc bags of treats over and I can't tell you how ANNOYED I get of cleaning up crunched up fishies, or salty popcorn twists from the car floor!! But these amazing, heaven sent snack bowls, allowed the kids to tip all they wanted and only very few crumbs could escape. PLUS, it takes the kids MUCH longer to get through the snack, because once they stick their hand in, they can only pull out a few at a time. So they were happier longer. :) And I was happier longer! You can get these miracle bowls at Walmart for only $5. :) WORTH EVERY PENNY!

There is a Cameron Family reunion (Cyndi's side of the family) down in Cardston this weekend, and we are contemplating going down for the saturday. To go to the parade and participate in some fun activities. Then the weekend after that, we are planning on having a GIRLS' weekend in Invermere. NO KIDS ALLOWED! Except for baby Warren of course. It's still a little up in the air because of a few things, but I'm determined to make it work....I want a REAL holiday ;) And depending on if Jeffrey and I can separate again, I may or may not go down to Cardston again to my parents' place. Totally undecided still.

For now, I'm working on potty training Jaclyn. She's showed a lot of interest in going and has actually gone a few times on the toilet before. Having Jacey as her example (again with the good examples) has helped her a lot. She wants to be like her big brother! I follow the book 3day potty training (if anyone wants it, I can email it to you) and one of the things it suggests, is to completely take away diapers and to not use pullups or any sort of "crutch". That way, if they have an accident, they're aware of it and the discomfort and don't want to do it again. Of course, it takes a LOT of tries, but I think it's a pretty good method! We're on day two right now and so far we've had an accident free day. Yesterday, we had 4 accidents, but she went on the potty 6 times, one of which was NUMBER TWO!! (sorry for details, but every mother knows how exciting that is!!). I'm excited!! It's hard work and I've never really had to do it before (Jacey's a freak of nature and potty trained himself, if you remember). It's so fun to see her run around in big girl underwear though and I know these few days of dedication and work will definitely pay off!! Okay, I just have to add that she JUST opened the bathroom door, turned on the light, took off her little undies, climbed up onto the toilet and went to the bathroom ALL BY HERSELF!!! :) This method is working so well!! Major progress! :) So proud of her!!

There are two things that happened this week that I've been wanting to document. One cute, one scary. I'll start with the scary. We had the youngest two Sherwood kids with us this past weekend while Becky and Keith were at trek. That's it..that's the scary story. Haha, jk. (lame joke) We were at the Palmers for sunday dinner and afterwards, they were all playing outside. And I rarely check on them out there, because everything is gated off and they always have fun and keep themselves entertained enough to not try to escape. But thank goodness for promptings and the Holy Ghost, because I felt prompted at one point to just go see how they were doing and when I went out, Jaclyn wasn't there and the other kids didn't know where she was. I paused to listen to see if I could here her somewhere and sure enough, I heard SCREAMING, but FAR away!!! And I couldn't figure out what direction it was coming from. I called Jeffrey to come and he pointed to where it was coming from. She had gotton through some bushes at the top of the yard and took off. I booked it to find her, thinking she was stuck somewhere, or in someone's yard with a dog or who knows what. Her scream was one of those "I'm dying" screams. Apparantly I was really moving, because Jeffrey said that he and Brett were sprinting behind me and they couldn't keep up with me! I found her 5 yards away, crouched over on a rock. Nothing was wrong with her, nothing was physically hurting her, I just think she realized she was lost. I am SOO grateful she was screaming because we would never have known where to look!! And I'm so so so grateful to Heavenly Father for looking out for us and letting a negligent mother know when to check on her children! Looking back on everything, I know that it could have been much worse, and we were really lucky, but when I start thinking about all the things that could have happened, it makes me want to cry and my heart starts pounding!!! Anyway, on to the cute thing. Jacey has his first crush. Or rather, someone has a crush on Jacey for the first time (that I've been aware of anyway). There is a beautiful, curly haired blonde girl in his primary class at church. This sunday when they came in from class to sharing time, she sat down on the same chair as him. He was there first, and so immediately he starts complaining that it was his, he was there first, blah blah blah! I asked the little girl if she wanted to sit beside him or move to another spot. She was like "no, i want to share with him!" and Jacey kept getting upset. He didn't want to share. Of course, he wouldn't move to another spot either, he was there first after all. (stubborn child). Cyndi tried physically lifting the girl up to move her over a chair and she held on for dear life and was like "NO, I want to share with him!" So she stayed. And stubborn Jacey didn't move. So for most of sharing time, they both sat there, side by side, sharing that small little sunbeam chair. It was soo funny to watch!! Eventually her mother (who is their teacher) made her move over, but I almost wish she didn't, it was so cute!! What's funny, is that the little girl's younger brother is in nursey with Jaclyn and has tried kissing Jaclyn before. Who of course, always refuses! Such cute little romantic children. :)

Well that's been our summer so far. Hopefully August ends up being as great as July's been! :)

PS. My blog is no longer private, so those of you who have my link listed as private, might want to switch it so that you can see when and if I update. :)

Does anyone even look here anymore?

2010-06-16T18:24:00.004-06:00

I'm quite sure that my blog has become one of those blogs that people never check anymore because I NEVER post!! :) But, I just can't do it without pictures. So I'm determined to bother Jeffrey until he edits some pics for me and then I promise I WILL blog....soon...so stay tuned! :)

Enjoying the Sun

2010-03-21T22:07:00.005-06:00

This past saturday, we were determined to enjoy the "good" weather. :) We went on a bike ride with Michael, Melinda and Claire and stopped at a park for a picnic and some playtime for the kids. The kids had a blast and it was a good workout for the adults. Well...at least for me. My backside's a little sore from the puny bike seat. I need a few more rides until I'm used to that again. It was a little windy, but the kids were bundled up in the chariots and the rest of us worked up enough of a sweat to actually enjoy it. Here are a few pictures from the day.

We're Alive!!

2010-02-12T12:10:00.025-07:00

Last week was the worst week of sickness we've had around here for a long time!! We all got what I'm guessing was H1N1? I don't know...but it was awful! Coughing, stuffy/runny noses, sore throats, fever, chills, body aches! It started out with the kids, which worked it's way to me and then on to Jeffrey. From about monday of last week (the 1st) to monday of this week we've been kind of quarantined to our house. We didn't want to go anywhere in case we got anyone else sick..and quite frankly, we didn't feel like leaving. Until about thursday when I started going insane from being stuck in our house all day everyday with no change in our routine. And having Jeffrey at home only made it seem longer, because we didn't have him coming home after work to break up our day! We decided that we needed to get out and take a walk around our street and get the mail. It was a very small thing, but I think it saved us!!! It felt so good to have fresh air and to move!! Anyway, we still are coughing and have runny noses, but we feel so much better now and I think the contagious period is over! So we'll be able to go to church this week, which I'm excited about! I always hate missing church, it definitely makes the week different...and not in a good way!

Do they not look ecstatic to be outside???

This week has been MONUMENTAL for us!! In terms of bedtime! We've had Jacey in our bed for I don't even know how long?? Coming up on a year maybe?? Anyway, it's just getting awful, he's so big now and he sleeps sideways with his feet in my back and we wake each other up all night and are pretty much miserable with each other the whole time! Poor Jeffrey is sleeping on the edge of the bed holding on to the bed frame for dear life so that he won't fall off! And Jaclyn's been sleepng like a queen in her own room!! So we decided to brave it and are preparing ourselves for a really scary month (hopefully not longer than that) and have started putting Jacey back in his room in his own bed. The first couple of nights, we put Jaclyn in the playpen in our walkin closet and had Jacey by himself in their room. Those nights ended up with me sleeping in Jacey's bed the whole time and Jeffrey in our room dealing with Jaclyn who would wake up every couple hours crying. So we thought we might just abandon ship and return to the old routine. BUT, I felt prompted to put Jaclyn back in her crib and try to get them to sleep in there together. It didn't really seem like it would work, I just couldn't fathom how they would fall asleep together..especially Jaclyn who has been used to her own room forever. But that first night, after a lot of praying and perserverence and explaining to Jacey, and an hour and 15 minutes of making sure Jaclyn stayed in her crib(she decided that day to attempt climbing out!!!) and telling Jacey his choices were sleeping alone in the room, or sleeping in there with Jaclyn (he kept crying to come in my bed with me)....they actually fell asleep!! And slept the whole night with no interruptions until 6:30am. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!! Even when Jacey's in my bed and Jeffrey and I haven't gone to bed yet, he wakes up. Every night, without fail. So I was kind of in shock when I looked at my phone and saw the time when Jacey appeared at my bedside the next morning!! I knew that it could possibly have just been too good to be true, but last night, our second attempt at the new arrangement only took 40 minutes and they were both fast asleep!!! Jacey did wake up around midnight and woke Jaclyn up with his whining and crying. So Jeffrey was trying to settle her down and I was trying to reason with Jacey and get him to stay in bed. It actually worked...my reasoning with Jacey that is, and he laid back down, and after 10 minutes of Jaclyn crying it out, they were both back asleep again!! Till 6:30am. Normally Jaclyn wakes up at 7am and Jacey wakes up at 8am, but I will take 6:30 for a while, until they can get used to all of this!! I can't even tell you how ECSTATIC I am about this!! And to sleep in my bed with JUST Jeffrey and have my own space and comfort, it's surreal!!! I barely remember what it feels like! And actually, I keep waking up throughout the night, expecting Jacey to wake up and come in...or something bad to happen. But so far, so good!!! I really can't take any credit for any of this, and nor can I explain how this has actually been working so far...except to say that I KNOW this is a direct blessing from Heavenly Father!! This is something that we've struggled with for a long time...Jacey and his sleeping issues. And for some reason, this new change just seems to be working and I know Heavenly Father is answering our many prayers and pleas for help!! It's an amazing feeling to feel the loving hand of our Heavenly Father in our lives! It for sure gives me strength to go on and deal with all the problems and trials that I will face, knowing that I don't have to do it alone!

Her favorite outfit..doesn't quite fit yet!

Helping me dust. I love this picture sooo much. Notice how Jaclyn's looking at Jacey? She WORSHIPS him and will watch his every move and try her hardest to do exactly what he's doing! It is so adorable and I just hope Jacey will always be a good example for her, cause she'll definitely follow it!

pretending she has hair (this totally did not work at all by the way!!!)

Sporting my new boots (I'm 27 and still get hand me downs from my sisters...thanks Becky!)

Jacey's little sidekick

There is nothing more adorable than a sleeping baby!

What's Your Mirror Face? :)

2010-01-26T11:17:00.013-07:00

Okay, you know when you look at yourself in the mirror and you kind of "pose" for yourself. Well, I was looking through my pictures and was trying to figure out why this picture looked different to me, but SO familiar. And then I realized it's because this is my mirror face. I raise my eyebrows and just give a small smile. Totally not what I ever do in any situation in life. But apparantly, this is how I feel I look prettiest. Thus why I made the face for a "self-portrait". Hahaha!!!

Well, I don't really have anything that I want to post, but I figured I might as well post because this is a family journal. It's kind of ironic that I just posted about us being pregnant, cause now I have to post about us losing the baby. It happened Jan 14. I was 13 weeks along (or 3 months). I wasn't completely surprised about it happening, I had felt for a few weeks that something was different/wrong, but I was trying my best to ignore those feelings and was looking forward to the exciting part of pregnancy, where the sickness goes away and the baby starts moving around and letting you know they're in there! But....it was inevitable I guess. I was okay with it all at first, but after the hospital and being home again, it all hit me and I had a few sad days, but I'm doing okay now. I know that it was all meant to happen and hopefully I'll be able to have another one soon! And I wouldn't post this normally, but since I announced the pregnancy already, I know this is the only way to get the word out to some of you that I won't be having the baby.

On a happier note, I've been able to do a ton of dejunking in my house. I completely gutted the storage room under the stairs and have WAYYYY more space to put things in this tiny little basement! I started my room the other day, trying to get rid of the clothes that are NEVER going to get worn again...even if i do one day lose weight! I stopped though in the middle of my sorting and cleaning, because our car wouldn't start, and we were supposed to be picking up a new dresser to put everything in and since we couldn't get one, my enthusiasm died and so did my working. So now my room is a complete disaster and I can't get up the energy or desire to start up again. :( Jeffrey has the day off tomorrow so hopefully we'll get a dresser then and I'll be able to finish the job. I hate starting big projects like that, and I always feel like I get in over my head while I'm in the middle of them..but as soon as I'm done, I LOVE it and I can't stop looking at what I've done and just relishing in all the work I've accomplished!! It's a bittersweet cycle. :)

As for my kids, I don't think I've really done any updates on them for a while. This is just going to be very brief and point form.

Jacey
-still sleeping in my bed
-says everything is stupid
-is really good at sharing with jaclyn and being her best friend, but the very next second is being completely mean to her and making her cry
-decided that he won't try anything new to eat and barely eats the stuff he does like
-has become almost as computer literate as i am, getting on the internet and finding his favorite shows websites and games through google search
-has discovered rhyming and walks around chanting rhyming words
-climbs the counters and gets in the fridge to find his own snacks (i actually really like this one because he doesn't bother me to do it anymore...and so far there have been no disasters or messes)
-has learned how to spell a few names and words and knows what most sounds each letters makes
-learned how to play twinkle twinkle little star on the piano
-is still in love with my hair and can't sleep without it in his hands
-still loves to snuggle and cuddle and i don't think i can ever get enough of it!

Jaclyn
-repeats any word or sound we make (not always properly, but she tries)
-loves to dance and has a different dance for her 2 favorite songs (both from Glee!!)
-is in love with her daddy and more often chooses him over me (hooray!!!! jacey's the complete opposite and i would die if she was too)
-continues to be an angel and sleep through the night by herself...she needs to give jacey lessons!
-eats anything and everything she can get her hands on
-still weighs around 20 pounds..maybe 22 lbs.
-gives the best kisses and also gives bisous (the french double cheek kiss)
-wants to do anything that jacey does and gets mad at us if we try to stop her
-is completely sassy and independent
-bites her hands and throws herself to the ground when frustrated
-bites jacey if she's mad at him (the poor boy has so many bruises)
-has the most adorable smile that's hard to turn down
-loves to snuggle jacey..probably one of her favorite things to do..in fact, every morning when jacey and i wake up (jeffrey and jaclyn get up first), jaclyn runs over to jacey, calling his name and the two of them lay down together on the floor and just snuggle for about 5 minutes. it is absolutely adorable and this morning i finally got it on video and will for sure post a little bit of it when jeffrey helps me get it on here.
-loves to point out pictures of Jesus and read the book of mormon stories with me
-loves to play the piano and will pull mine or jeffrey's hands off if we're playing so that she can play.

Well, I can't think of anything else new or exciting. I'm loving that they (or I guess Jaclyn) are old enough to just play together and I am able to get things done even if it's not naptime. Like taking a shower...or blogging..or dishes or laundry or cleaning. All of the things that if I attempted doing while Jaclyn was awake, they would both throw fits because I wasn't playing with them. Now they play together and just ignore me. :) Not always, they still like me to play with them, but I am more productive now. While Jaclyn naps, Jacey and I have our "quiet time" and we'll often do learning games or paint or play with playdough. All the things that can't happen with Jaclyn around (cause she'll just make a HUGE mess). It's a fun time for us to bond and I wish I could have that alone time with Jaclyn too! It would definitely help her with her learning. I try to sit down and help Jaclyn learn letters or numbers, but Jacey just kind of takes over. Mr. Know It All :) haha jk. Oh well. :) Actually Jacey's really good at teaching Jaclyn things, it's really cute to watch! Anyway, that's all that I really have to post about right now. Maybe I'll look for some pictures to post. :) My camera's dead right now and I'm too lazy to charge it so I can load the pictures. Aaaaanyway, I better go get lunch ready for the kids. Ciao!!

2009-12-19T11:28:00.009-07:00

So I know that everyone already heard on Facebook that we are having baby #3, but I figured I'd just put it on here for the journal aspect of the blog. We're due July 22 and we are so excited! Although, we'd love a girl or boy, we're kind of hoping for a boy so that Jacey can have a brother close enough in age to actually do things with growing up. Any more spread apart and there will be a big gap that might make them not be as close. My dear sister, Lizzie and I were just under 2 years apart and she definitely has always been one of my best friends. :) And I want that for all of my kids! And I know they can have that with a sibling of the opposite sex, but there's something about playing with barbies that just wouldn't be the same with my brothers. :) haha. In all honesty, I'm actually terrified about having this baby....but only for the actual labour and delivery. I'm sure many of you remember my surprise circumstances with Jaclyn's labour and it still makes me feel panicky when i think of it! I have issues I hope I can deal with before July comes! This past month has been tough, the lovely sick part of pregnancy that you are all aware of! Diclectin is my best friend! It's amazing the difference it makes the next morning, if I take it when I go to bed! I've been more tired than I remember being in past pregnancies and I feel like I can't get enough sleep! Having Jacey in my bed is a problem (obviously that we need to fix before the baby comes) right now though, because he sleeps RIGHT at my side and my back is already killing me and I find myself waking up SEVERAL times throughout the night to readjust. It's awful! And I haven't even gotten big yet! Anyway, all the lovely things we go through to bring our beautiful children to the world! It's obviously worth it, or we wouldn't do it, right?? :)

Since I've been so tired and sick, I decided that any energy I do have, needs to be directed at my kids, since they're obviously suffering from my lack of attention. So to help me focus on that important job, I decided to deactivate my facebook account. Rather than going to the computer when I feel okay, I need to play with my kids! It was really easy the first couple of days, but I find myself wondering what everyone is up to! It's crazy how much I relied on facebook to feel connected to anybody and everybody!! And also it's funny and also kind of pathetic how much I went on there. The first day I deactivated it, I was doing laundry and cleaning...and I was feeling so proud of myself for being productive...so I started walking towards the computer so I could put on my status "I'm having such a productive day!" Then I remembered I didn't have facebook anymore, and I started laughing at how stupid that was!!! Oh man, it's so funny! I didn't realize how much I truly centered my day around facebook. Now, probably most of you aren't THAT addicted to facebook, but I will admit that I was. It truly was an escape for me from my daily grind to get on and feel connected to people! Anyway, because of this realization, I'm glad I decided to take a break from it for a while, because I need to get out of the habit of it! Just as much as I need to spend more time with my kids. But I do miss you all! And knowing what you're doing..and seeing pictures etc. I feel a little lost, but it's okay..there was life before facebook and there can still be life now :D

So this year, we decorated for Christmas early, I think i mentioned that in my last post...and i will NEVER do it again!! It's WAYYYYYYY too long!! A few times I've come really close to putting them away early! Jaclyn cannot keep her hands off the tree....I feel like I redecorate it 3 times a day! And my pile of broken decorations is growing!! Maybe it's just so bad because my kids are so little, but I'm pretty sure Christmas can't go from the beginning of November till the end of December. Or else the magic dies early! But..lesson learned! I'm still excited for Christmas, but I sure can't wait to put my decorations away!!! And I will never decorate before Dec 1 again. EVER.

I've always been jealous of people's husbands that get time off around Christmas. Like my brother Jonathan..he gets 3 weeks. And my brother in law, Keith, he gets 2 weeks. Not like my husband, Jeffrey...who gets 2. Two days that is. Christmas Day and Boxing Day. We're lucky because this year, boxing day is on Saturday, so monday is off for boxing day. Which I'm actually surprised his office is doing! They're not very big on closing their office for ANYTHING. Which is good for business...just sad for the employees and their families! BUTTTT... I just found out that Jeffrey has 4 days saved up that he can take for holidays (which never happens because he usually has used them all up through the year already) so he gets all the days off in between Christmas and New Years AND an extra day a couple of days before Christmas!!! So including stat holidays and weekends, he'll get 10 days off in a row!! Plus that one extra day! I'm ECSTATIC!!!!! We're going to be able to actually DO things with our families instead of just hear about it! Like maybe go to Banff and go skating...or go to the Mountain Home (every year my whole family goes for the week between Christmas and New Years, and I've NEVER been). Kandice will be up with her boyfriend, Brady and I'm excited that we'll actually be free to hang out and get to know him better!! Anyway, most of you probably all get that time off with your families, but I am excited to experience it for the first time!!!! :)

Okay, so just to end. Here are some family pics that Heather took for us. We've never really done a family photo shoot before. Jeffrey and I don't like getting our pictures taken! But, obviously, we need to do it once in a while! The lighting was really bad when we did it though, it was getting late...and it was FREEZING and our kids didn't really want to cooperate. So we just got a few good ones. We're going to have to try to do it again soon though! I do like what turned out however, it's so nice to have us ALL in the pictures and like them!! :D

Christmas Time!!!

2009-12-01T12:32:00.007-07:00

They totally had to trade hats this year. Jaclyn is CRAZY! :)

I am sooo beyond excited for Christmas. We've been decorated since Remembrance Day, the earliest I've ever done it! We love turning all the lights off except for the Christmas lights and dancing around to christmas songs. Well actually, mostly Jingle Bells because to Jacey, "that's Christmas!" My kids love running around and laying on and playing in this Christmas blanket we inherited from Cyndi. This is totally something Lizzie and I would have done when we were little. We always marched around the border of the area rug in our living room to many different types of music growing up...and this Christmas blanket would have been such a treat! :) We watch Christmas movies daily and drink hot chocolate! Polar Express and The Grinch (real live version) are our favorites right now. I haven't gotten sick of them yet! The only problem I've encountered so far are the broken decorations. I have quite a collection building up in my room that I have to glue back together. In all reality, I'll probably wait until the Christmas season is over and do it all at once so I don't have to do it multiple times! Jeffrey and I are done our Christmas shopping (with the exception of some online orders) and it feels GOOD! I can't wait to wrap all the gifts, it's one of my favorite things to do!! I have to wait until we get closer though, or we'll be having Christmas early at our house! There's not a chance my kids would leave them alone! I love that they're too young to notice the mounds of things hiding under blankets in my closet though. They have bumped them and walked by them a hundred times and not even questioned it. It's kind of funny! I remember my mom would just load her bathtub up with gifts (they had a separate shower..don't worry, they didn't just forget about showering during Christmas) and then put a big blanket on it and just trust us not to look under it. I will admit that some years I peeked and others I didn't. And the years I didn't look, Christmas morning was ALWAYS better. Anyway, I just love Christmas. I love all the memories of past years and making new memories with my kids! It's so fun!! Here are some pics of my kids enjoying Christmas. I decided with Jeffrey busy getting his insurance company/website up and running, I wouldn't wait for him to take pictures for me. So I forced this photoshoot on my kids today so I could make sure to preserve some memories. I also photoshopped them myself...or attempted to. I have to say this so that no one thinks Jeffrey's amazing skills are going down hill! :) Hope you are all enjoying this wonderful Christmas season!

Picture Update For Kandice

2009-11-19T21:46:00.011-07:00

Since Kandice is away and doesn't get to see my babies grow, and also since she recently hounded me to update my blog :) I thought I'd just throw some of these pictures on here for her sake. These two are getting so big and crazy. I love them and they keep me on my toes!! Enjoy Kandy Jill!

she looks sad, but i promise she's in heaven! every time "in the night garden" comes on, she collects her toys to watch!

getting ready for family prayer

look at their height difference!

this is what her hair looks like when i take the elastics out

Of all the spots on the couch Jacey could have chosen to sit, he chose to sit RIGHT by Jaclyn. :)

It's About Time...

2009-09-29T10:16:00.005-06:00

I'M PREGNANT!! Haha, just kidding. That was fun. For me at least. It's actually just about time that I posted again!!! It's been more than two months. That's just sad! I'm not even going to write anything. I'm just posting these pictures that have been waiting to be posted since July. One of these days I'll actually work up the energy to catch up. It's too overwhelming today though. So enjoy these pics of our little backyard barbeque!!

Enjoying the Summer

2009-07-06T16:35:00.021-06:00

CAUTION: THIS IS A VERY LONG POST!!!

This is the first summer I've had so far that I've actually been able to get out and enjoy with my kids. Jaclyn was too much of a newborn last year and I'm not a fast recuperater (is that a word??) and the summer before I'm not sure what happened. I think I just figured Jacey was too little to do anything and we stayed inside. But I sure am enjoying the outdoors with my kids now! If the weather permits, we usually walk to a park in our community and have a picnic and then play on the playground. I haven't gotten sick of it yet! It's good exercise for me and the kids LOVE being outside!! My rule for Jacey is that he has to eat lunch before he can even set foot on the playground. Otherwise he'd never eat. He's been very happy to comply because he knows he'll get lots of time to play after. I'm so proud of him when he's out there playing, he can do everything at the park (except the monkey bars). I don't have to follow along and spot him. He climbs all the ladders, tries all the slides. He loves to make new friends and play games with whoever will include him! And because of that, Jaclyn and I can play together at her pace. Which usually includes her playing in the rocks (and me taking them out of her mouth) and sitting on the sidelines and watching. She loves ledges/curbs. She will sit and and stand and sit and stand and sit etc. It's apparantly a game for her. :) She LOVES the baby swing and can't hold back her smile when she's in it! Here are a load of pictures from the park.

Can't you just see this outfit on a cute Asian baby?? I love it!!

My mom watched Jaclyn one afternoon last week and Jacey and I went with Heather and her kids to Calaway Park! That was a blast! I wasn't sure of how Jacey would take it all. But he tried all the rides he could go on, alone or with me and loved them all! He even cried when he had to sit one of the rides out that his cousins could go on that he wasn't quite tall enough for! The afternoon ended with the little rollercoaster. He cried the whole time because the guy running the ride did his seat belt up for him, and Jacey wanted to do it himself. I guess the whole day couldn't be perfect! Jacey talked about the rides for days though. He absolutely loved it!!! We're definitely going to have to go back with Daddy soon! I didn't have my camera with me, but Heather documented every moment (at Jeffrey's request, as he was missing Jacey's first time there). So when I get some pics, I'll post them!

The Palmer grandkids in age and height order. Works out perfectly!

So, many of you know that for the past while night times in our home did not include very much sleep! Jaclyn was in her playpen in our room and Jacey was in the crib in his own room. But Jacey would wake up every night without fail for 2-3 hours, come into our room, wake up Jaclyn and then we'd all be up for some time...and sometimes it happened more than once in a night! We felt like we were losing our minds and life was not happy for any of us. If no one gets any sleep, the next day is also a nightmare. We have tried almost everything with Jacey, I'm not even going to list all the things we've done! But I think it was 3 weeks ago that we made some bigger changes in our nightly routine that have actually resulted in ALL of us getting a FULL night's sleep!!! We put Jaclyn in the crib by herself and put Jacey in our bed with us. Now that does not sound ideal at all. I've never wanted my kids to sleep with me. Actually that's not entirely true, because I always have the kids as newborns in bed with me when I nursed them. But I never wanted that to last more than a year. But as much as I didn't want it, it is actually the best thing right now! Jaclyn sleeps like an angel and from the time we put her down until morning, we don't hear a peep from her! And Jacey, who we thought had insomnia because of his 3 hour average of WIDE AWAKE time in the middle of the night, sleeps the entire night!! I don't know if our bed is just more comfy for him, or if he just has peace of mind knowing he's with us, but whatever it is, I'll take it! It's the first time since before Jaclyn was born that I get to sleep the whole night! It feels amazing and I'm a better mom during the day because of it!! :) I really hope that we can figure out something for the near future that will allow Jeffrey and I to have our own bed, but for now, I'm just relishing in my normal nights!!

Jacey, Madi and Nixon in their fort.

Jaclyn has discovered a new "talent". Her voice. She has always been a really sweet, easy going, basically perfect little baby. But I think she's tired of being a pushover or something, because now she fights back!! She has this squawk, screech, scream, cry...call it what you want, it's LOUD!! And if she's not happy with something, out it comes!! Sometimes it drives us nuts, and sometimes it just makes us laugh!! It's most common occurence is when there is food involved! She loves to eat. She's very serious about meal and snack time and will let you know if you're not moving fast enough! The lucky duck has the best metabolism and still only weighs 20 lbs putting her in the 25th percentile for her age and height. But I couldn't possibly feed her more, she pretty much eats all the time! She will love that about herself when she's older!! She also has this growly voice that is hysterical!! She will make all sorts of noises and sounds in a low, rumbly voice. She knows it's funny and loves to keep going the more we laugh! I still need to capture it on video, it's definitely something I don't ever want to forget! She doesn't say very many words yet. Just Daddy, Jacey, Mommy (only sometimes), bye bye, bubba (yet she won't take one), and no. Very small vocabulary. One time though, me and Jeffrey both heard it, Jeffrey said I love you to her, and she repeated it back PERFECTLY!!! It has never happened again, but we know that it happened! :) She still communicates well though, with her smiles and laughs and her screams. She loves to give kisses and blow kisses. She gives hugs and pats your back. She is so loving. Jacey and Jaclyn will kiss and hug for long periods of time throughout each day. It is such a joy for me to see!! And I've said it before, but Jacey and Jaclyn make each other laugh like no other can! It is soo wonderful!!! They are truly best friends!

We try to bath the kids as often as we can at Nana's so they can actually have a tub to play in. (We just have a shower and a small baby tub..not as fun!)

Jacey is getting so big and soooo independent. He completely potty trained himself, during the day and nights too. I honestly didn't do a thing. I got this e-book that a few people I know have used and that worked for them. But before I could even read it, he just started using the toilet by himself. He had only a few accidents at the beginning, but now he's pretty much 100%. The ONLY problem he has is not wanting to go and he'll wiggle all over the place and I have to remind him that it's time to go. But even then, he holds it in. I guess life is just too much fun to take the time out to go to the bathroom! Something that Jacey has started doing in the past few days, is call me Emily. At first I thought it was funny and a little cute. But now I don't like it. Mommy is a special name and title and for all that I do for him, I feel like I deserve to be called it!! I'm ignoring him when he calls me Emily to see if he'll get the hint and switch back to Mommy. I think he's getting it. I hope so anyway!

This summer we are soo excited to take a few little vacations. Tomorrow night, just Jeffrey, me and our kids are going to BC to stay at the Palmers condo until Friday. We've never gone there just by ourselves and we're looking forward to the time alone to relax and enjoy the sun and pool/lake! Hopefully we get good weather! The August long weekend we'll be heading down to Cardston to stay at my parents' "mountain home" for a few days. I love how peaceful and calm it is out there and am looking forward to being able to spend some extended time with my parents (and all the other family members that will be out there). In fact, if I feel brave enough to part from Jeffrey, I may go down for three days at the end of July with two of my sisters and my parents. And with the kids of course. But the thought of being away from Jeffrey brings me anxiety! So we'll see. THEN in the middle of august, we're going to be going to Sandpoint with the palmers!! We're renting a big house right on the lake for about 10 days! We are so excited for that, hopefully our kids will let the traveling go smoothly! Jacey didn't do that drive very well last year when we went to Portland! Anyway, we are really looking forward to all our getaways and family time this summer!! I love the memories I have of my childhood vacations (mostly to BC and the lake) and really hope that we can always provide those experiences for our children! And of course, they'll have the added bonus of trips to Cardston too! We're lucky to have both of our parents have places for us to vacation at! :)

And just to make this post longer, a few other things I have to look forward to this summer are Michael and Alana's first baby, and my first Primary party. Alana is due July 31. We're sooo excited to meet their little one (gender unknown)!! They are going to make such great parents! The primary party will hopefully go well, we're having a birthday party for President Monson (I know his birthday's in August) and are going to be doing a few service projects for people in the ward...as per President Monson's request. I'm super excited for it!! Oh yeah, I also am looking forward to Elizabeth and Levi FINALLY moving up north once they finish renovating their house up here! It's been torture for us all who live up north, all within 10 minutes of each other, to have Lizzie in Okotoks! It'll be so fun to all be so close and to be able to hang out more often! I also have some get togethers with some close friends that should be fun! My summer is just so jam packed!! It couldn't be better!! I'll be back to post pictures and hopefully share some fun stories..so stay tuned!! And happy summer to you all!!

GOING PRIVATE

2009-07-01T23:22:00.002-06:00

So I guess it's my turn. I'm not one to be super paranoid about people looking at my blog and finding out things about me. But that doesn't mean I shouldn't be. Anyway, my sister's sister in law said that she was googling something to find my husband's photography and my blog was the second site to come up. And she was concerned for me. I was grateful for this information because obviously I care for the safety of my family and I guess I don't really want strangers to find intimate details about my family, especially my kids and for anything bad to come of it. So not that I have the hugest following of my blog or anything, but for whoever would like to continue reading my blog, please leave a comment with your email address and I will add you when I made it private. :) Thanks!!

My Lovely Laurels

2009-05-31T23:14:00.005-06:00

So not only are these girls GORGEOUS on the outside as is so apparant from these amazing pictures (courtesy of Heather Ward Photography) but they are just as beautiful, if not more so, on the inside!! I have had the amazing privilege of being their young women's leader for the past two years or so. (I actually can't remember when I was called). I have absolutely loved my calling, which included teaching them every sunday and participating in weekly activities. I have learned so much from the things I have studied and from these girls and their amazing testimonies and examples! I was devastated to the point of tears when I was told a few weeks ago by the bishop that I was being called to another area in the ward and would be released from being their advisor. I knew this day would come eventually, but I was hoping it would be maybe 6 years from now??...if that!! I will always cherish the relationships I have made with these girls (and all the YW and leaders) and I know that our friendships will continue to grow from here on! Thank you girls for loving me and accepting me the way you have!! You're amazing and I love you!!!

PS. Sadly, a few of the Laurels couldn't make it to the shoot. We missed you!!!

PPS. My new calling is the second counselor in the Primary presidency, which I am VERY excited about! It's very different and very applicable to my life right now as I have little ones at home! I'm look forward to the different ways I'll learn and grow from this calling!

Dorothy the Dinosaur

2009-05-15T12:20:00.009-06:00

We are huge Wiggle fans at our house (not at first though, believe me, we couldn't STAND them). And along with the Wiggles come Dorothy and all her fun friends. So when we saw that Dorothy was coming to Calgary, we jumped on the chance to go. Since I was such a keener, we got second row seats along with Heather, Gannon and their kids! The concert was this past tuesday night and let me tell you, I thoroughly enjoyed myself! But from looking around, I think Jeffrey and I were the only adults dancing along. haha! I was soo happy that we decided to go. When Dorothy walked out on stage, Jacey looked like he had died and gone to heaven! I think he was actually in shock! It looked like he was in love! The cutest was after a few minutes of watching her, he looked at Jeffrey and I, smiled and put his arms around both our necks and gave us a squeeze! It was his little way of saying thank you!! I think I would do anything for him just for that little act of gratitude!! He melts me! We didn't get a lot of pictures, but here are a few of the show and of the kids enjoying it. Jacey and Nixon were so cute, every time a song started, they would get off their chairs, turn around and use them to bounce up and down on. Nixon didn't always join in the dancing, and when he didn't, Jacey would twirl all by himself. What can I say, he LOVES Dorothy! :)

These next two pictures aren't the greatest, but I love them anyway. We built a fort yesterday and the kids had a blast being in it. Here Jacey is making Jaclyn laugh. And when she would laugh, he would laugh. And then I would laugh. Life pretty much can't get any better when my kids are laughing! As you can see, both my babies need a hair cut! Jaclyn definitely has a mullet and Jacey's is just too shaggy. Maybe that will be my next post! :)

This weekend ALL the Palmers and the Pratts are going out to the condo in Invermere and because of Jaclyn being sick this week and Jacey's major sleep issues (I'm pretty sure he has a sleeping disorder), we opted to stay home. We will miss everyone and all the fun they are bound to have!! Don't have too much fun without us guys! To ease the blow, Jeffrey is going to take me out either tonight or tomorrow night. I do love a good night out! :) And they don't happen often enough! Anyway, hope everyone has a fabulous long weekend! And I hope the weather gets better too!

SPRING - oh where oh where can you be?

2009-04-27T21:43:00.007-06:00

I have been putting off blogging because I feel like I have no new pictures to put up! I have all the ones of Jaclyn from Heather, but they have already been seen on facebook and/or Heather's blog. And I don't want to over do it! Having said that....I do actually have a few that you haven't seen yet! She is so funny, I love that Heather caught this face!

And then there's this one, I just want to kiss her!!!

And then there is this precious one that is my profile pic on facebook, but I can't get enough of it!

Anyway, I've been really excited for/impatient about the weather getting nice because of the new bike/bike gear we're getting! All of the Palmers are getting bikes so that we can get out and have fun and exercise all at the same time!! It's been quite the process trying to decide which bike to get and which trailer to get to lug our kids around in. It seems that each time one of us goes out and looks at a bike, it's better than the last one we were all excited about. And it keeps on going! But finally, I chose one today. I'm pretty pumped!!!! It rides really nicely!! Not that I'm a bike expert by any means, but I think I made a pretty good choice! I'm a little nervous about it. I haven't ridden a bike since I was a LOT younger...to give you an idea, the last bike I rode had pedal brakes. You know, when you turn your pedals to the reverse and that was how you braked. I've never actually ridden a bike that had handle brakes. So it was pretty long ago!!! I'm also nervous, because the proper fit of a bike doesn't allow me to touch the ground very well while sitting on the seat. So I have to master the coordination of braking and sliding forward off my seat to properly dismount my bike, all the while trying to maintain a vertical position. So many new things!!! But I'm really excited to have a new, fun way to work out!! And to spend time with my family. Immediate and extended!! Oh yeah, this is the bike that I finally went with. The Specialized Ariel Sport. It's pretty. :)

Tomorrow night Jaclyn starts swimming lessons with Claire! I'm so excited!! I tried her bathing suit on her today and I couldn't get over how cute she looked in it!! I LOVE having a girl!! I'm not sure if these lessons will be easier or harder than they were with Jacey. She can't fight me as much as Jacey can, but she also can't understand me as much as he can. We'll see!

Other than that I can't think of anything else that would be of any interest to anybody. I just bought a new spring coat. I'm pretty excited about that. :) Got some new summer clothes. Haven't had any of those for a few years. Last summer I had just had Jaclyn and wasn't interested in shopping. The year before that I was pregnant with Jaclyn and the year before that I was pregnant with Jacey. So it's been a long time coming and I just can't wait for it to warm up so I can actually wear what I bought. And ride my bike. I'm just grateful that I stay home with my kids and so if it snows out, I don't have to leave if I don't want to! :) Well I could also attribute that to the fact that I can't leave anyway as I don't have a vehicle. Anyway, now I'm just blabbering. :) Sorry to have bored you all!!!

Baby Model

2009-04-15T21:54:00.004-06:00

I am just so excited about these pictures that I can't wait until I get them and post them myself!! So I'm giving you the link to see some of them now. Click here to check them out on Heather's photography blog. After swimming lessons this week, Heather was kind enough to do a one year shoot for Jaclyn. Jaclyn was actually really cooperative and smiled most of the time. Jacey and Nixon had her distracted sometimes, but otherwise she was really good for Heather! The pictures have turned out sooo great and I couldn't be happier!! Thank you Heather for being so willing to share your talents with us!!!! We are SOO grateful!

Happy 1st Birthday Jaclyn!!

2009-04-04T02:52:00.004-06:00

There are so many more pictures I want to post and will, but I had to get some of these on here right away!! We celebrated Jaclyn's first birthday a day early with the Palmers and a delicious DQ ice cream cake! Jaclyn enjoyed it and had fun opening her gifts and watching her brother and cousins play with them! She's such a good sharer....but does she really have a choice? :) I can't believe Jaclyn is ONE!!! It hit me when she officially started walking 2 days ago. All in one day, she decided she was going to be done with crawling and walked everywhere!! It is so cute to watch and I can't believe how steady she is! She only has 3 words down...dada, hacey (jacey) and mumumumum (and that's only when she's crying and needs me). She makes the cutest sounds and has the biggest grin! She's a complete flirt with her big eyes and long lashes! We are so in love with her and feel soo blessed to have her in our family! She's such a snuggler and loves to be in our arms. At the same time, she loves exploring and is happiest when she is wherever Jacey is. She plays shy with most people, but has a definite love for a few other people besides her mom, dad and brother. She knows who she trusts! She is the best eater a mother could have, eating anything and everything I give her! She out eats Jacey at every meal! She naps and goes to bed perfectly! She is still waking up every night at least once or twice, but goes back to sleep in seconds when I nurse her. Which I need to stop, but for now I'm too in love with sleep! She still nurses 3 times a day, showing no interest in bottles or sippy cups. I always told myself I'd never have a child over 1 who nursed and here I am with one!! That's gotta end soon! Anyway, those are some of the things about Jaclyn that I wanted to document for her first birthday! We're contemplating having further tests done to see the nature of her possible cyst in her lung. It may or may not still be there, and since she has shown no symptoms of one, we don't know if we should put her through a CT scan and accompanying radiation exposure, just to make sure. The peace of mind would be nice, but is it worth it?? Anyway, Happy Birthday Jaclyn, we love you!!

New Camera

2009-03-31T11:23:00.010-06:00

It's my birthday in a couple of weeks but I got to open my present early this year! I've been complaining to Jeffrey about not having any pictures of my kids. For two reasons, one-he is so busy he doesn't get time to take any and two-I have no clue how to use his camera, even on auto I seem to mess it up! So I've been begging for my own little, point and shoot digital camera!! And he got me one!! I'm so excited! It's really really nice too! Here's what it looks like.It's so wonderful! It's 10mp and has complete underwater capabilities up to 10 feet and is shock proof and crush proof! Which is awesome because I've already dropped it and so have my kids! It's a total versatile little thing and can handle a lot of wear and tear. It was quite funny actually, I didn't realize it was waterproof when Jeffrey gave it to me and after he had looked at it and was handing back to me, he "accidentally" dropped it into a glass of water and I FREAKED out!! He of course had a great laugh but then explained it to me! It doesn't look waterproof, you would expect it to be covered in plastic or rubber or something. Anyway, I took it to swimming lessons today and got a few pictures! And since it's so easy to use, I've taken tons of my kids over the past few days! It makes me happy! And although the picture quality is nothing compared to Jeffrey's camera, at least I'm capturing memories. Plus, Jeffrey can always photoshop them anyway, so they still have potential! :) Here are just a few random ones I've taken. My kids are getting so big to me, Jaclyn is starting to walk on her own now without being coaxed and it just hit me that she is actually big enough to be turning one (this saturday)!! They are so much fun and LOVE to play together. They can make each other laugh like nobody else can! It makes my heart happy to watch them!! :)

Annnddd then here's the nice picture!! :) Jeffrey did this one. He looks so angelic, I love it! I wish he was always this angelic. He has been an absolute nightmare lately during the night. Won't go to sleep, wakes up every few hours..ahh!! And I wish I could just let him cry it out, that's how we used to solve this problem, but now he gets out of bed and comes out!! Drives me nuts and I don't know what to do about it! Any helpful sleeping tips would be VERY appreciated! :)

Pics & Swimming

2009-03-04T00:10:00.005-07:00

First off, I have been wanting to post these pictures since the weekend, and have only now gotten around to it! Heather was kind enough to take some pictures of our kids, since Jeffrey has been too busy to even open our camera bag! I'm SO glad she is so willing to do that for us, because I love her work! We didn't intend on doing family pics, but we thought we'd jump in for a few anyway. Jacey wasn't really interested in posing well, so we'll definitely have to do some more again later, but they're still cute, so I thought I'd post them anyway. There are more of the kids that will come later, and I'll be sure to post them when they do. Thanks again Heather!!!
I also just wanted to document Jacey's first swimming lesson! My sister, Katie and sister-in-law, Mandi along with their kids Alexa and Brooklyn, and Jacey and I, joined a swimming class together. Since they're so young, we get to be in the water with them! It was so fun! It's at the VRRI, so basically it's like taking a big, warm bath! I was almost too hot! The class is really fun, they learn through songs and games different skills, like floating on back/tummy, blowing bubbles, hopping up and down, splashing, kicking etc. Mostly learning how to be comfortable in the water. I was a little worried about how Jacey would take it, since he hates lying down in the bath, or getting his head wet to rinse all the shampoo out. But he had a blast!! I'm so glad he is really excited about it, I hope it lasts the whole 8 weeks! His favorite part was the 5 minutes they got at the end of the class to go down the slide into the water. He was the first one in line and he went down with zero hesitation!! And he kept going and going! I was so proud of him!! It was a fun mommy moment! :) I'm excited for the following weeks and I hope he keeps progressing and gets more comfortable with his head/face being wet! I'm really excited too, because the week after Jacey's lessons end, Melinda and I are in a class with Claire and Jaclyn!! I wish there were some way I could take pictures!! Oh well! :)

Best Picture of the Year

2009-02-26T18:06:00.010-07:00

Well, this week was Jeffrey's birthday, so firstly, happy birthday my love! The two of us went out for a night on the town; dinner at Applebees, which was so so, and a movie. Thank you Mark & Emily for babysitting for us, you're the best!! We decided to go and see Pink Panther 2, we loved the first one and so decided mutually that it'd be an appropriate solution since there didn't seem to be anything good out right now. Boy, was that a bad choice! After about 15 minutes of watching that movie, which really only repeated the same jokes as in the first, we walked out. Jeffrey asked the ticket checker person if we could just go hop into Slumdog Millionaire since it was just about to begin and Pink Panther was lame-o. They didn't seem to mind! So, after 2 more hours had passed, Jeffrey and I found a new favorite movie!It's now no wonder to me why it won EIGHT Academy Awards, including best picture, best song AND best score! The 3 songs I've added to my playlist are all from the soundtrack and remind me sooo much of my mission, they really hit home for me. Anyway, we definitely would recommend this movie to all movie lovers! Just thought I'd share!

Of course...

2009-02-18T10:34:00.012-07:00

... my family is sick! Again. We all have had sinus/coughing issues, but starting sunday night some sort of flu began! We spent the weekend in Edmonton at one of Brett's high school basketball tournaments (which he won btw...GO BULLDOGS!!). We went to West Ed for a while, though I'm not sure what we were thinking on a long weekend!! Jacey liked looking around at everything, but it was a struggle to keep him happy in the stroller. We let him out for a bit, but it's a nightmare to keep him going in the direction we want, so we ended up having to buy a bunch of candy to bribe him back into the stroller! :) Anyway...we had the sniffles under control, but sunday night when we got home and into bed, the vomiting began! Jaclyn was up all night getting sick over and over. That continued throughout monday and monday night. Tuesday morning Jacey and Jeffrey joined her. Luckily, I seem to be fine and have been able to tend to all the laundry and cleaning carpets that comes with missing the bucket and not making it to the bathroom in time! Not to mention all the baths that have been given! I haven't been able to keep up with my work out routine, but I've been worked out in a different way I guess. It's sad to see everyone feeling so bad, but I've got to admit, I love the snuggling! Jeffrey had a midterm Tuesday evening and was a trooper and went despite how he was feeling and left me with both kids. I was a little concerned about dealing with them both, especially if they ended up throwing up at the same time, but it was actually the greatest couple of hours!! They both slept in my arms for almost the whole time and I just watched Little House. :) Today started out rough, but I think the worst is over! Both kids have been more active and actually kept down solid foods! I can't wait to get back into our normal routine again. As normal as normal can be. I'm headed to Cardston this weekend with my sisters and my mom for a girls weekend! I'm looking forward to the break from my house and one child (I am taking Jaclyn with me as I am still her lifeline...she won't take the bottle) but I can't even think about being away from Jeffrey without tearing up, so I won't mention that part of it. Oh wait, I just did. :( Anyway, I think the break will be so good for me! Jeffrey and I don't even go on dates, so I am ALWAYS with my kids. And even though Jaclyn will be with me, having just one kid will be break enough. Plus there will be 6 other women I can hand her off to, hopefully, who can share the "burden" with me. As if Jaclyn's a burden. :) I'm actually hoping to get her sleeping through the night while I'm there. I'm taking advantage of being with my sisters, who don't mind a crying baby in the night. I'd say I'd post pictures of our weekend when I get back, but I probably won't take any. :) Actually I know I won't. But maybe I'll have a few stories to share. We'll see!

This is Jacey's piggy bank from Nana. It's actually what he calls his Mission Bank. If you can't tell, it's a missionary, he's got a tag and he's holding a Book of Mormon. Jacey doesn't know what a mission is yet, but he LOVES to collect money from anywhere he can find it, wallets, coats, drawers etc and put it in his mission bank! I hope he continues to be as enthusiastic about it later on in life, as he is right now!
My sick, snuggly baby. She is irresistable!
I don't know if it's big enough to tell, but this picture shows Jacey's eye colors really well. His eyes are two different colors, one is green with a smidgen of brown and the other is completely brown. I hope he's never bothered by it, because I think it's beautiful!!

UPDATE: I spoke too soon, both my kids threw up again tonight at bedtime. :(

It's My Turn!

2009-02-10T11:10:00.007-07:00

I have complained for 10 months now, actually 2 years, about being overweight and feeling badly about myself. And for some reason, all of the reasons why I hate my weight and body have never been enough to do anything about it. UNTIL NOW!! I have totally come to a new point in my life where I actually WANT to work out and lose weight! And feel good about ME! Sunday night I was at my parents house for dinner and I made my sisters let me feel their stomachs. And man, do they have abs of steel or what!! And two of them have had FIVE kids each!!! After feeling depressed about that for a while, I decided I was just going to do it! So that night when I knelt in prayer, I PLEADED with Heavenly Father to help me keep the motivation and the will and the desire to work out every day and to watch what I eat. I know that I can't go on an extreme diet and only eat protein, or cut out the majority of good stuff I like to eat. That's not realistic for me at all! So my food goal is to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner (just good, healthy food). And have a snack either in the morning, or in the afternoon, maybe both depending on what it is. Keeping it around 1500 calories/day. Then after dinner I can't have anything but water until breakfast time. For exercise, I'll do a 30 minute cardio workout of some sort and then on top of that, pushups, situps and arm dips things. I don't know how to say it, but you know, you put your arms behind you on a chair and dip yourself down, then back up again. To work the triceps. Anyway, with those goals and myfitnesspal.com to help me keep track, I'm destined to lose a pound a week! This way, I can always keep them off! I have to have it fit my life style, or it won't happen! Now it's only been two days since I've started, but I feel really good about it!! I know this is it! I AM going to lose weight!! Everyone says the first day and the first week are the hardest, but I haven't felt that way yet! In fact, I'm sad that I've already worked out today, I wish I could just skip to that part of every day and do it again!! I know it's because I included Heavenly Father in my plans! He really has the power to do anything and if our desires are righteous...and I believe mine are!!...He can bless us with all sorts of miracles!! I've been so jealous of my sisters and others who have been so dedicated and reaped the wonderful rewards of weight loss and getting in shape...but now it's my turn!! If there's anyone out there who finds themselves in my position, do it with me!!!! It'll be SO worth it!! I'd post a before picture, but since I still hate my body, I won't! But when I've reached my goal, I will post the before and after picture for you all to see! Wish me luck!!

Why Not?

2009-02-09T22:59:00.001-07:00

The first 5 people to respond to this post will receive something made by me to you....my choice...made especially for you.

Of course there are some restrictions and limitations:

1 I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2 What I create will be just for you.
3 It will be done sometime this year.
4 You have no clue what it will be... it may be a story; it may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may draw or paint something; I may bake something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure.
5 I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on their blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did will win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!!

Oh and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!!

My Little Man

2009-02-05T10:58:00.008-07:00

I guess this post is dedicated to Jacey. I haven't taken any pictures of Jaclyn lately! :( I have NO clue how to work the camera at all and Jeffrey has been too busy to break it out....so we've been having a picture drought! Heather and Melinda, any time you feel like whipping out your cameras to capture my babies, feel free! :) This first set of pictures you've probably already seen, they've been on facebook, but I have to put it here too, for when I one day make my blog a book. Jacey's hair had been getting really out of control. He has Jeffrey's hair I think, because it has SO much body! It wouldn't sit down on his head ever! Always poofy! And he has soo many cowlicks that there is no possible way to do his hair. So he was in desperate need of a hair cut! However, the last time I took him to Beaners to get his hair cut, I ended up holding a screaming child captive in my arms for the entire hair cut. It was a tad embarrassing! So since neither Jeffrey nor I know how to give real hair cuts, Jacey got a buzz!! We were worried about it after the first strip of hair came off, but we've gotten used to it. He's lucky his head is so round! He pulls it off nicely, I think. :) Plus, now it'll be a while before we have to worry about his hair again.

This next set of pictures I can thank Lizzie for. We didn't bring our camera down to Cardston when we went down last weekend. We went down for a 3rd ward YW temple trip. We had all the girls, leaders, the bishop and his wife stay at my parents "mountain home" on friday night, and went to the temple early saturday morning. With my family there, there were 32 of us down there at once! It was sooo much fun!! In fact, I'm going to snag a couple of the pictures from one of the young women's facebook pages to show you just how cute these girls are!!
We're a loving bunch!

A couple of my amazing laurels! It was super windy on friday night!

Okay anyway, I meant to just post these pictures of Jacey, but I got carried away! Jacey LOVES his Aunt Lizzie! He had fun posing for her and the camera! If you notice the table in the background, Jacey set it all by himself! Not bad for a 2 year old! :) He loves to help any way he can! Such a great age! :)

New Hobby

2009-01-29T00:39:00.004-07:00

This past fall for my ward's Super Saturday, one of the things I signed up to make was bows. I've never been that interested in crafts or that good at them! But I LOVED the bow making! It was a lot easier than I expected and so fun!! So although Jaclyn doesn't have enough hair yet, I decided to start making some barrettes. I took advantage of new year's sales at Michael's and bought TONS of ribbons and cute embellishments. Every spare moment I've had this past week, I've pulled them out and gone to work! I've made 16 so far and I have no desire to stop! Here's a picture of some that I've made so far. The silver clips are just there to show what kind of clip I'm covering. FYI. :) I'm so excited for Jaclyn to be able to wear these, but for now I guess I'll be giving them to my neices and as baby shower gifts etc. What's funny is that only one of them is like the ones I made at Super Saturday! I kind of went another direction with them! :)

Baby Leggings

2009-01-26T22:27:00.006-07:00

Heather bought these cute leggings and was trying them out on Claire and Jaclyn. Here are some she got of Jaclyn! I'm in LOVE with them and am so happy she took them!!! Thanks Heather!! :)

I Hate Thinking Of Titles!!

2009-01-23T11:37:00.012-07:00

I decided I'm not waiting for Jeffrey to touch up any more pictures! He's been so busy lately with work and class that any spare time he has, I make him share with me, not the computer. So I can't complain! This picture makes me laugh every time I look at it! We did not plan this pose, it was totally candid! We just happened to make the same dumb face at the same time and I'm so glad we did!! Because it makes me happy! :)

Here are Jaclyn and my mom! My sister, Elizabeth pointed out that it looks like my mom is holding my dad as a baby. I had to laugh because it's true. Here's my dad as a baby.

My kids and I got his eyebrows! Thanks Dad! :)

So I've been wearing my glasses for over a year now. I ran out of contacts and I never made an appointment to get a new prescription, and I can't buy more contacts until I get one. I don't know why it's the biggest hassle to make an appointment and actually go to it, but for some reason I haven't yet. And I HATE it! I've always felt like a total dork with glasses, because I've had them since grade 3 and was basically called that a lot! So even though I know my glasses are "stylish" and I don't look like a total dork, when I feel them on my nose, I automatically feel like I'm 10 again. So I want my contacts back!! Maybe I'll call and make an appointment today! :) On the plus side, I've saved a lot of money from not buying them for a year! :)

Okay, these next few pictures are still from Christmas Eve/Morning and I know that is long gone, but I still wanted to share a few.

Brett was an angel and put Jaclyn to sleep on Christmas Eve and then eventually fell asleep himself and held her for a few hours like that! It was soo cute! We kept asking him if he wanted us to take her, but he'd wave us away and fall back asleep again. He loved it and so did she!! I love seeing the nurturing come out of young, tough guys! Brett is that way with all his neices and nephews, he's a softy for them! :)

I just love this picture of the kids eagerly waiting to go downstairs and open all the presents! Jacey loves his Claire, he always talks about her at home and wants to go upstairs and play with her! He often can't resist kissing her, like he is in this picture!

After all the hustle and bustle of opening presents, Grandpa and Jaclyn zonked out on the couch! There is nothing as cute as snuggling sleeping babies!!

So now that I've gotten all the Christmas stuff out of my system, I guess I'll give a little update on our family and what's going on this new year.

Jeffrey's taking his first course towards getting his CIP. He loves it and has been pursuing insurance on a new level. For me, I've been thinking a lot lately about my health and weight (as we all do, especially after Christmas) and have been doing a lot better about what I eat and especially when and what I snack on! It's hard, but it will be worth it. Now I just have to figure out a workout that will fit into my daily schedule and things should hopefully progress the way I want them to! It all seems so far away though, it's hard to keep at it! I totally admire those who do!!!!

Jacey has been acting like a newborn at night lately and will wake up and NOT sleep without us either snuggling, or singing or whatever! It's driving us nuts, because Jaclyn will still wake up throughout the night too, so both Jeffrey and I will be up several times and it's getting really old!! I feel like this will never end and I will never get a full night's sleep ever again! It's depressing! :( Other than that, he's great! He's got such a fun personality and he is starting to speak so well! He makes me laugh all the time, especially when he's supposed to be in trouble or in a timeout. It's so hard to keep a straight face! He still loves to cuddle and is basically just a big baby! Which isn't always good, but we sure love him!

Jaclyn loves to dance and will do it on command! It's adorable and always brings a smile to my face! She loves Jacey and follows him around and laughs at everything he does. They love to play together, which makes me SO happy. For two reasons. One, they keep each other busy and I can get more done, and two, it melts my heart to see them love each other so much! One thing that keeps me busy with Jaclyn is constantly making sure she's not eating or choking on something. EVERYTHING she finds goes straight into her mouth! Jacey NEVER did that, he would even play with money and not even one piece would end up in his mouth. I'm constantly finding Jaclyn choking on wet wipes, kleenex, leaves, lint, food Jacey's dropped on the floor etc. It sure keeps me on my toes!

Over all, we're doing pretty well! I can't wait for the snow to go away so we can go outside and play! That always seems to break up the day nicely! For now, we're just having fun in our little basement suite, playing and learning! :) I've been told that one day I will long for the days when I was at home with my little babies, so I'm trying to enjoy every moment of it! I'm blessed to have really good kids. Sure they drive me nuts almost daily, but they really are good and are TONS of fun! I'm blessed to have such a wonderful husband as well, who will take time to play with our kids and take care of me. I'm a very lucky lady!!! :)

Just A Few Pics

2009-01-14T09:16:00.006-07:00

Hello! I have tons of pictures I want to post, but I can only post as fast as Jeff works on them. Here are just a few of Christmas Morning! It was so much fun to have a child that was aware of the gifts and had fun opening them! And this year no one was sick for christmas morning, so that was a huge bonus! We are all sick right now though and it really stinks! Jacey and Jeffrey have recovered, it's just us girls that need to get better now. Anyway, I hope to post more pictures soon!

Rice Krispie Wreaths

2008-12-21T00:56:00.004-07:00

There was probably an easier way to make these (buying the red and green rice krispies for starters) but nevertheless, I made these and am pretty darn proud of them! Please keep in mind that I am a new cooker/baker, so I'm still taking baby steps, but I'm having a lot of fun doing it!! I hope my Laurels enjoy these!

Happy Birthday Jacey

2008-12-14T00:40:00.004-07:00

Jacey turned two today!! (Yet we still let him have his "bubba"). I can't believe how fast the time has gone. I know everybody says that, but it's so true! We had a pretty fun day today! We started off by having a waffle/bacon breakfast which we invited Michael, Melinda and Claire to share with us! Jacey loves waffles and bacon! So he was pretty happy! We gave Jacey his present in the morning so he could enjoy it all day! It was a little people train thingy. Toy/something to ride on. He loves trains so we thought he would enjoy that! My parents came over later on in the afternoon and gave him some clothes and some really cool blocks which he LOVED. They have the alphabet and numbers and shapes on all four sides so he's pretty much in heaven building towers and using his brains all at the same time! :) After dinner, I made my very first cake ever! I know, I'm 26 years old and today was the first time I have ever baked a cake. From scratch. By myself. :) I'm almost embarrassed to post a picture of it because it's NOTHING close to the cakes most of you supermoms create for your kids! But I'm proud of it nonetheless. I decorated it with my ghetto homemade ziploc bag icing tool. I didn't want invest in the real icing equipment until I thought I would actually use it! Jacey loved it and it tasted really good, so I was happy! :) I hope to make many more cakes and improve with each one, cause it was actually pretty fun!! Jacey must have been paying attention to past birthdays of cousins, because he knew what to do with the cake! As soon as we sang Happy Birthday he blew out the candles! No prompting needed! He had so much fun that he had to do it three times! :) We love Jacey so much and are soooo grateful to Heavenly Father for sending him to our family!!! We can't imagine life without him!!

Our Little Doll Face!

2008-12-13T21:44:00.012-07:00

I just had to add these two pictures of Jaclyn! She has had this new smile the past couple of days! She is so toothy and sometimes her nose squishes up and her eyes get all squinty!! And it melts my heart! These pictures don't do it justice, but they're pretty darn cute so I wanted to share!

'Tis The Season

2008-12-11T23:43:00.002-07:00

This month is just zipping by! We finally got out today and did some Christmas shopping! It wasn't too busy and our kids were well behaved, so we were pretty lucky! I'm so excited about what we got!! Giving gifts is seriously one of my favorite things about Christmas! I love wrapping them and I love seeing the reactions when they're opened!!!! I have no clue what I'm getting Jeffrey..I never do...but I think that I have almost everything else I need for all my other gifts! I wish I could be like my sister, Becky and be done before Christmas even comes, but I'm not that organized. One year maybe. :) Hopefully. Well, I forced some pictures on my kids today and we didn't get even one shot the way I hoped we would. I wanted a nice, smiley, straight on picture of my kids with their santa hats on. Jacey of course with the "naughty" one, and Jaclyn with the "nice" one. They turned out cute enough I guess. Maybe I'll try again another day! The pictures with the Jacey and the Christmas tree were taken very early one morning when Jacey refused to sleep any longer. I made Jeffrey get up with him and I'm glad I did, cause he got such cute pictures of him admiring the tree!! I wish I was a kid again and everything could seem so magical! My sister Lizzie and I used to turn all the lights off except for the Christmas tree and then just spin around the room. For hours! We loved the atmosphere and the magical feeling of Christmas!! I'm so excited for my kids to experience that!!! Jacey's getting there, but he still doesn't really know what's going on! Anyway, tomorrow night is the first Christmas party of the season and I'm sooo excited for it!! I love the weeks before Christmas more than I love Christmas Day! The anticipation of it all is my favorite part!! I hope you're all enjoying it too!

Veggies

2008-12-10T12:09:00.006-07:00

These are a bit old, but I still wanted to post them. Some of you may remember Jacey's first experience with eating vegetables. If you never saw those pictures, you can see them here. There are a few similarities as well as differences. I wanted to make sure I documented Jaclyn's first time too, because Jacey's ended up being so entertaining. We gave her butternut squash and she did NOT like it! She still actually doesn't like vegetables, we struggle with getting them down. Jacey ended up getting over it quickly and ate tons. Every child's different I guess. Well, enjoy watching us torture our daughter!!! :D

Look at how trusting she is!

The terror!!

On The Go...

2008-11-22T09:37:00.013-07:00

First things first, Jacey did NOT make it to the top ten for the Vibe's Cutest Kid Contest! It was a sad few minutes after we realized that we would not win all those wonderful prizes...but we were soon over it because chances of winning were so slim and I, personally, have never won anything in my life, so why would that change now!! We are now voting for #89, the cute little curly blonde haired little girl, she is adorable. I don't know her, but she's cute so she I think she should win!
Jaclyn has learned to crawl!! She gets everywhere!! Slowly but surely! It's so much fun to watch. Picture an inchworm, and that's how she moves. She's getting more steady on her knees and will soon lose the inchworm effect, but it's so cute for now! Jacey never crawled on his knees, he went from army crawling to walking, so it's extra fun to have a real crawler!
Jacey learned a new trick a couple of days ago too! He can officially get out of his crib. He figured it out a while ago, but fell and hurt himself, so he stopped trying. But now he's in and out, easy as can be! It makes bedtime a longer process than normal. And what's worse, is that when he wakes up in the morning, he can just get out and come wake us up. Usually I hear him talking or playing, but I leave him in his crib until 8am. Now it doesn't matter what time it is, if he's awake, he's up! It's kind of sad. Actually really sad! Because he's often awake by 7 or 7:30, but that didn't matter before, because he was fine in his crib. Now I have to get up then too! :( We actually bought him a bed awhile ago, but he doesn't sleep in it yet. Cause he won't stay in it. But now that he's mastered the crib, we'll have to move him over and get Jaclyn in the crib. Hey, here's a question...how do you get two kids to sleep in the same room? I'm so worried that they'll wake each other up. Actually, I know they will. So what do I do? Cause I'm tired of Jaclyn sleeping in my room in the playpen. It's too squishy!

I'm not sure who got ahold of the green pen first, but as you can see they both ended up with ink all over themselves and the carpet and surrounding toys. Thankfully it all came out!
Jacey has also developed an allergy or something. He's got this rash/hives all over his body. They come and go all day. And they're super itchy! We took him to the doctor and all he said is that it was an irritation to a change in detergent or a new food or something. But I haven't changed detergents or introduced new food to him, so I have no clue where it's coming from. Actually, it might be from dust. Our doctor said a while ago that he might have a mild allergy to it, and I did find him in the dust pan and brush the other morning. But since then, he's bathed and I washed his bedding...so I can't figure out what it is!! I just feel bad for him because he's so itchy! We have some cream for it and if it gets really bad I can give him Benadryl, but that's about all I can do. Poor guy. At least it's not affecting his breathing or anything. I just wish I knew what I could do to prevent him from getting it!

Okay, from the time I started writing this post and the actual posting time, I videoed Jaclyn crawling, so you can see the inchworm thing for yourself! It's not a very exciting video, but I figured some of you might appreciate seeing this little milestone! Since you're not here to see it in person! Oh and Jeffrey just got home and so we decided to add a few more things to the video. We went to the zoo this week, even though it was below zero, and we had a great time!! Enjoy the clips and sorry for the extra footage of the tiger!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Vote for Jacey in Cutest Kid Contest

2008-11-07T23:57:00.017-07:00

I know that everybody thinks their own kids are the cutest, and that is the truth, everyone's kids are the cutest!! So that is why we entered Jacey in the VIBE985 Cutest Kid Contest....because as his parents, we think he is the cutest! :) If you don't have a child of your own in the contest and you would like to give us your support, PLEASE go to http://vibemorningshow.com/gallery.html?page=35 and vote for Jacey to win! He's #1765. The voting begins Nov 11th at 6am and goes to Nov 20 at 11:59pm. If Jacey then makes the top 10, there will be voting until Nov 27th when the winner will be announced! There is one vote per day per IP address, so if you can remember, vote everyday!! :) Please pass our plea for votes on to your family and friends!! Your help, time and support will be greatly appreciated!! Thanks everyone!! And may the cutest kid win! :)

PS. The prizes consist of a 3 yr lease on a 2008 Honda Odyssey, a year supply of groceries from Sobeys, a year supply of clothes from Kiddos and Co., monthly spa packages for mom and dad for a year, studio pictures from a studio that I'm currently forgetting, and a playhouse for the kids. I know...AMAZING!!!! :)

Halloween!

2008-11-02T09:42:00.011-07:00

Jacey and his cousin have matching grins!! Can you tell they're related or what? They made such a cute couple trick or treating! Too bad Jacey wasn't Chewy. If you can't tell, he's a monkey. People kept mistaking him for a bear. Which is fair I guess, but not true! Do bears have long tails?

Darth Vader (Jeffrey) ran into some trouble with Carter, a Jedi MASTER (I originally said Knight, but was corrected). I love how into it Carter is, he is a HUGE Star Wars fan!!

I LOVE Jacey's face in this picture, it's the exact reason I always call him my monkey man, he looks just like a monkey!!

Stay tuned for a picture of Jaclyn, plus more of everyone...we have to get them from Jess and Melinda, thankfully they took pictures for us!!!

Who Looks Like Who??

2008-11-02T09:36:00.002-07:00

Like anyone is surprised, anyone that meets either Jacey or Jaclyn is always quick to tell us that Jacey is a mini Jeffrey and Jaclyn is a mini Emily. People have also told Jeffrey and I that we look alike, so our kids are pretty much a good mix of both anyway. :)

Camera Down

2008-10-31T12:56:00.004-06:00

So Jeffrey's camera broke this week! We don't know exactly what happened, he got a new lens and about 20 pictures in, the camera shut down and hasn't worked since! It's so sad! We have it insured, but since we already made a claim on it last year (it was stolen) if we claim it again, word is that no one will want to insure it again after that! We will send it in to Canon to see if they can fix it, but there is no guarantee! So pretty much, it all stinks! Either we buy a new one or claim it and have to pay the next time something happens. And who knows which would cost more in the end! I'm especially sad today, because it's Halloween and I wanted to take pictures of my babies in their costumes!! Hopefully someone else will take pictures of them for us (hint hint Melinda). :)

This week we have all gotten sick. Jeffrey and Jaclyn both got it first and then Jacey and I. Jacey has it the least, which is actually the greatest, because he would be the hardest to deal with. Poor Jaclyn though, her nose and her eyes were constantly runny and she looked so tired and puffy the whole time! It was sad, but she was still really cheerful! She's an angel! It's basically just sinus issues we're all dealing with, but it's annoying! Oh well, could be worse!!

Today Jacey and I made our very first craft while watching Mister Maker!! It was so fun! We kind of made up our own version of it because we didn't have paint or feathers, but we created a little man out of an empty water bottle! We have so many of those floating around I figured it would be easy enough to do with some construction paper! He had so much fun coloring the paper before we cut it out. It's kind of a Mrs. Potato Head type thing with curly paper hair! He just holds it and laughs at it! It is pretty funny looking but we had a lot fun making it!! I'm so excited that he's getting old enough to start enjoying things like that!! And it's only just beginning!!

I'm so excited for tonight, it's "Soup Night" at Cyndi's! The traditional soups-and-homemade-cheese-buns dinner before trick or treating begins!! This is the first time Jacey will have gone trick or treating! I'm excited to take him!! And of course I'm excited to eat the yummy food and to share Jacey's goodies!! Because whether or not he's aware of it, he will be sharing! :) Hopefully I can get some pics of them all dressed up to post next time! Happy Halloweening everyone!!

Tag Mania

2008-10-27T15:14:00.006-06:00

I've been tagged again...so here goes!

Someone loves my blog...pass it on...

1. Where is your cell phone? On my couch
2. Where is your significant other? at work
3. Your hair color? brown
4. Your mother? ...is always there when i need her!
5. Your father? ...makes me laugh all the time!
6. Your favorite thing? being married to jeffrey
7. Your dream last night? jeffrey and i went to visit his mission (france) and we were constantly being chased by bad people and they all had goatees. a random detail i just remembered.
8. Your dream/goal? to raise my kids so that they will always make good choices
9. The room you're in? the family room/den/kitchen.
10.Your hobby? i want to start a new one...making hair ribbons/bows..it's so fun!!!
11. Your fear? something terrible happening to my kids
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? in a bigger house
13. Where were you last night? my parents' house, then jeffrey's parents' house.
14. What you're not? a good cook
15. One of your wish-list items? to be skinny again
16. Where you grew up? Calgary, AB, CANADA
17. The last thing you ate? how embarrassing...ice cream with chocolate sauce. i guess you all know now why i'm still not skinny. :)
18. What are you wearing? sweatpants and one of jeffrey's shirts. i'm creating a lovely image of myself, aren' I?
19. Your TV? ...has jacey's sticky handprints all over it!
20. Your pet? peeve? Pet -- my family dog, Tillie. She is old and will die soon. Pet Peeve -- I used to have a lot, but I guess I've relaxed a lot over the years, because I can't think of any..I guess that's a good thing!
21. Your computer? ...has been reformatted way too many times..Jeffrey is OCD about that. Actually maybe that's my pet peeve!
22. Your mood? pretty good, excited about dressing my cute kids up in their cute halloween costumes this week!!!
23. Missing someone? I always miss my Grandma Wood and I always miss EVERYONE from my mission.
24. Your car? ...has the back right reverse light burnt out
25. Something you're not wearing? my watch
26. Favorite store? any store where i can buy my kids clothes
27. Your summer? ...is 8 months away, i have nothing to say about it.
28. Love someone? my eternal love, Jeffrey <3
29. Your favorite color? Green, like a really nice olivey green...I used to HATE green, but my second mission companion is Irish and got me hooked!!!
30. When is the last time you laughed? Before Jacey went down for his nap, he makes really funny faces
31. Last time you cried? I cry almost daily, tv shows, daymares I create about my family..you name it, I cry about it. the last time JEFFREY cried is more funny. I was watching an episode of Little House on the Prairie, and Jeffrey found himself watching it with me, Mary had just won 2nd place in a state arithmatic competition and her whole town was celebrating her success, I won't get into any more detail than that but as soon as Jeffrey realized that he was starting to cry he stood up laughing/crying and said "I'm outta here!" I love my sweet husband.

I pass the "I Love Your Blog Award!!" to:

Everyone on my blog list....and whoever else needs something to blog about!

Tag!

2008-10-23T10:34:00.002-06:00

Thanks Jessica for tagging me, I actually was lacking in stuff to blog about, so this is great!

5 places I have lived

1. Calgary, Alberta
2. Louisville, Kentucky
3. St. Denis, La Reunion
4. Quatre Bornes, Mauritius
5. Provo, Utah (MTC...does that count?)

5 snacks I love

1. Cool Ranch Doritos
2. Swedish Berries
3. Cashews & Almonds
4. Tortilla Chips & Salsa
5. Cherry Nibs

5 jobs I've had

1. Cleaning my dad's office.
2. Prairie Mill Bread Company - Dough Roller (my official title)
3. Palmer Salmon Insurance - Technical Assistant
4. Full Time Missionary (Can this count too??)
5. Mom

If I had 1 million dollars I would...

1. Build ourselves a big house...one where we could stay forever...I hate moving!!
2. Work on creating and/or selling Jeffrey's many inventions
3. Get laser eye surgery
4. Take a long vacation to visit Jeffrey's mission and mine
5. Take another vacation (without kids of course) just to relax on a beach!

5 things I love

1. evenings with Jeffrey when he isn't working or preparing seminary lessons
2. sleeping babies
3. comments on my blog :)
4. Laughing so hard I cry (it was a good one Jess)
5. getting a full night of sleep...when and if it actually happens

5 people who should do this tag:

Anyone can do this who wants, but specifically, I tag:

Becky
Heather
Alysha
Laura
Crystal

Thanksgiving Weekend

2008-10-14T10:22:00.004-06:00

Hey all! We had such a great time down in Cardston for Thanksgiving this year! Last year both of our families were out of town, so we had our own pathetic meal, but this year I wasn't having that. So we traveled. I thought that we were going to miss the big meal again because after the first night down there, Jeffrey and I couldn't get the kids to sleep until 7:45 AM!! We all slept in the same room because there were so many of us down there, but that just created chaos. Jaclyn kept waking Jacey up, and then Jacey would wake Jaclyn up. And Jacey doesn't fall asleep unless he's alone, so he would just stand up in the playpen and see us, and continue to cry and scream. If we pulled him into bed with us, he either started playing, or he got angry because he was tired and he didn't like touching us, or having the blankets on, or whatever else he could find to be mad about. We probably slept in 10 minute intervals until the morning when finally we were all too tired to care about one another and zonked out for about 2 hours. We didn't want to do that again, so our plan was to leave just before naptime so the kids would sleep for the drive home. But, my family was so sad that we were going to leave, that everyone shuffled around sleeping arrangements so that Jacey could have his own room to sleep in. It was SOO kind of them, and I felt bad, but they all assured me they would rather have us stay. So that was awesome! They love us!! It made us feel pretty good! :) Dinner on sunday was delicious! We had it kind of late, because my dad was driving back from Calgary. But better late than never! I totally over ate, and it was wonderful!!!! Jacey went right to sleep that night, but woke up around midnight and cried for about 2 hours. My sisters made me stay strong and let him cry it out, so that he relearned to put himself back to sleep. We've done that before and he slept through the night fine, but sometime in the last 2 months, we've lost that routine. So it took a lot of will power not to go comfort him. My sister, Katie, even confiscated my baby monitor from me, so that if he cried again later, when we were all sleeping, I wouldn't hear it and want to go get him. I made her give it back, but I promised if I heard him, I wouldn't go. He did wake up and cry a while later again, but I let him be and he fell back asleep rather quickly. It was torture, and I felt bad, but in the morning, he was as happy as could be and didn't seem to be mad at me, like I thought he should be. Last night he slept the whole night without any waking up at all. So I guess it was worth it to get back on schedule. Even though it was hard!!! Anyway, we drove home yesterday just in time to have Bell come set up satellite for Michael and Melinda upstairs. It was fun to go away, but there's no place like home. I love my bed! Plus, I was excited to get back because I've been looking forward to this week for the past year and a half. I am finally going to get my kitchen!!!!!!!!!! Ikea is coming on Thursday to assemble and install the whole thing! I know that most of you think I'm crazy and don't know how you would have survived with only a fridge and a microwave. Oh and a toaster and a sandwich grill. But most of you cook and would have known exactly what you were missing! I still don't know how to cook and have a lot to learn. But I am SOO excited to start!!!! Plus, I am so sick of food that you can make in the microwave. I want an oven and a stove!!!!! And a kitchen sink to do dishes in! Anyway, I am ecstatic!!! I will definitely be posting pictures of the blessed event!!! I still won't believe it until I see it, but I think this is finally it! I'll keep you posted!! For now, here are some pics of our weekend!

Family Update

2008-10-11T01:32:00.020-06:00

I figured that it's been a while since I've actually talked about my family (meaning Jeffrey, Jacey and Jaclyn and me) and it's definitely time for an update! Starting with the youngest member of our family... This little lady has been keeping me busy that's for sure! Not only has her sleeping-through-the-night pattern been disrupted by growing in teeth, making my nights a lot less enjoyable, but she is getting to be more active. She likes to roll around our house finding new things to play with! She is going to be crawling soon, I swear. She gets herself into this funny little position where she lifts her body off the ground and rests on her face and her toes. Then she pushes with her toes and scoots forward a few inches! She's managed to get up onto her knees a few times, but hasn't figured how to move with them yet! With her on the ground more, I have to be extra aware of what Jacey's up to. So he doesn't run her over! But I don't want to move onto Jacey yet. Jaclyn is the sweetest girl, she smiles at anything and everything! I love when Daddy comes home from work and she watches him from the time he comes in, as he makes his way through hugs and kisses from Mommy and Jacey, until he looks at her. As soon as they make eye contact, Jaclyn's face bursts into this happy, glowing grin, which melts us every time!!! She has this laugh, that is sooo adorable! It kind of reminds me of my sister, Elizabeth's. Not the way her laugh sounds, but that it can turn into a scream/laugh! Man, can Jaclyn squeal! Piercing laughter! Jeffrey and Jacey can make her laugh better than anyone, it's so much fun to watch! Every day at least once, I'll find Jacey and Jaclyn face to face laughing at each other. Hard. It is probably one of the happiest times I have had as a mom, just to watch them laugh together! And not only is Jaclyn just a happy baby, she is a snuggly baby. I've been lucky, Jacey was a snuggler too! Every time you pick Jaclyn up, she curves into your body to snuggle! It's so wonderful! :) I am loving everything about this stage in Jaclyn's life. With Jacey, I always couldn't wait for the next stage to begin, just to see what was next, but with Jaclyn, I would be so content to just stop here and have her like this forever.

I don't even know where to begin with Jacey. He is the funniest, most charismatic little boy! Obviously, I think that because he's my son! But he is, I swear! :) He is the smartest kid I have ever met (I'll get to that in a sec) but when it comes to walking and running, he's got a lot to work on! :) He falls down more than any child I know. I don't know if it's because he's not looking where he's going, or if he's just really clumsy, but he falls down all the time! And it's not always because he trips over stuff, he falls over nothing quite frequently! The greatest though, is what happens after the falls. Sometimes he'll just get up and keep going, but if he hurts himself, he will hold onto whatever he hurt, like his knee, and very slowly walk over to me while holding onto that body part. Usually he hurts both knees, so he'll walk to me, while squatting and holding his knees. And he looks hilarious! So I start laughing and then he starts laughing, but doesn't break his grip at all and continues to walk and laugh. He totally knows he's being funny! That is just one example of his funny personality! The best is when he hurts his feet. He tries to walk while holding his toes...hahaha! I laugh just thinking about it! But despite his physical trials, his mental abilities are above and beyond what they should be! This kid has known the entire alphabet since he was 18 months old. All uppercase and most lowercase. He can count to 10 in english and french. He knows his shapes and colors. And I don't mean he knows all these things by pointing to the right one when we ask "where's the B" for example. He sees them and tells us what they are on his own. He finds letters and shapes in everything. A roll of duct tape is an O. A vacuum head is a T. A hook for potted plants that comes out of a ceiling is an S. It's freaky sometimes how he sees everything as a letter! The best thing is that he is the one that wants to learn. I didn't sit down with him one day and make him memorize everything. He always asks!! His first words were "what's that" and he truly meant it!! He is so curious and never lets me ignore his questions! We are so proud of him!!!! Also, he is the greatest big brother! He loves Jaclyn so much!! Whenever we get ready to go somewhere, I always put Jaclyn in her carseat, then run around making sure I have everything I need for the diaper bag. Usually Jaclyn will start to get fussy while waiting and while I'm getting everything together, Jacey will kneel over her and kiss her or rock her carseat to make her happy! And it almost always works! In Jacey's baby blessing, he was blessed to worry about his siblings and to care for and protect them. And it's already started happening! I love watching them play together! I also love watching Jaclyn watch Jacey play. She ADORES him!! Seriously, she gazes at him like a lovesick puppy! That's the only thing I can't wait for Jaclyn to start doing...playing with Jacey for real! I know she wants to and Jacey can't wait for it either!

I know this doesn't represent me, but it's the closest I have to a picture of myself. :) That was taken in my dad's truck down by Cardston. We did a little off roading to look at some land he bought last year. Jacey had a great time bouncing all over the place. Anyway....me. I have nothing really significant to say about myself. I wish I could tell you all that I've lost 50 lbs and have finally gotten down to my pre-baby weight, but that would be a lie. I have however, started to work on it. I don't lose weight when I'm nursing very well, and ever since I was pregnant with Jacey, I've either been pregnant or nursing. With no breaks in between. And that's been 2 and a half years exactly. So I haven't exactly had a great window of opportunity to get into shape. I wish I could stop nursing Jaclyn already, but she hasn't taken to formula very well yet. I'm working on it though. It'll be a great day when I have my body to myself again and can do what I want with it! In other areas of my life, I'm loving my calling in my ward. I'm the Laurel Advisor! It's so fun to be with the Young Women, they are so much fun and always keep me laughing!! There are some changes occuring right now with the Young Women leaders and I just keep praying I'll stay put! I'm sorry, this paragraph about me is quite boring. :) My life is my kids, so please refer back to the previous two paragraphs for the real updates. :)

Jeffrey has a lot going on his life right now! He's very interesting to read about! :) He just started teaching seminary this year. He team teaches with Sister Layton and Sister Turner. He and Sister Layton switch off every other week from Monday to Thursday and Sister Turner focuses on scripture mastery on Fridays. He is LOVING it! He stays up rather late on the weeks that he teaches, preparing his lessons, but he loves the kids and he is loving the things he's learning! I don't envy his lack of sleep, but I'm happy he's so happy with his calling! He's still working as an Insurance Broker for Insurance Express and loves that too! What's great for him, is that he gets to help people in French every day! Although, most of the time, it's people from Quebec, and that French isn't as nice as the real deal! :) The biggest thing for Jeffrey is his new website! Some of you may have already checked it out from my facebook page, but if you haven't seen it, GO!! It's awesome, I'm so proud of him! He is such a wicked photographer and I know that he'll do well with it! He has a lot more pictures he needs to add to his site, but he's got some great ones on there to start! He really wants to get into commercial photographer/advertising. He was introduced to CJ Burton's work this past year, and that's the field of work he loves!! I don't doubt that he could do well in it! For example, the lovely new fall header above that he made for me. :)

I know that this was a pretty long post, but I rarely do major updates or at least not very often, so I had to get it all over with at once. We're heading down to Cardston this weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving. My whole family will be there, so it should be pretty fun! I hope it's nice and the kids can be outside most of the time! I know Jacey would love that! His favorite thing to do is to chase the puppy around. I say puppy, but really, Tillie, our beloved family dog, is almost 14 I think. Or actually, she is 14 and a bit already. She probably won't be around for much longer. That will be a sad day. Especially for my mom. Anyway, wow, that's a morbid way to end my post. :) Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Enjoy your long weekend!!

Lucky!

2008-09-29T17:58:00.009-06:00

This truly is how I feel about Jeffrey. That I am SO LUCKY to be married to him! I will never understand why I was so lucky and blessed to have him choose me! Anyway, it was our 3 year anniversary last monday and I made a little slideshow of all the pictures I could find of us from the past 3 years or so. There aren't many, we don't like taking pictures of ourselves. In fact, most of these pictures are from our family cruise about 5 months after we got married. :) Oh well, it's the thought that counts! :) One of the reasons I made this, besides the fact that I love Jeffrey and wanted to do this for him, is because my sister, Katie, introduced me to this wonderful song and when I heard it, I immediately thought of mine and Jeffrey's relationship (I know you all feel the same about your spouses too). I have no clue how long this song has been around, but it was my first time hearing it as I never listen to music! So, here's to three years with my best friend! Oh, by the way, neither Jeffrey nor I could fix the stupid program that I made this on. The pictures are very wonky, they spin all over the place. Sometimes you can't see one of us in the picture and also...you may become dizzy. Just ignore that part and it'll be great! :)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Can & Doo Doo

2008-09-21T22:20:00.008-06:00

My very own little doll. I love dressing this little girl up, it is one of the funnest things I do each day!!! My mom got her these little headbands, and even though she has hardly any hair, I can't resist putting them on her, because she's so cute in them!! Girls are SO MUCH FUN!!!

So my title is Jacey's names for Claire and Jaclyn. :) I love when he says them. Melinda and I had our girls in matching outfits the other day, so we had to take some pictures! These cute little girls are so much fun and are getting so much more interactive all the time! They really love each other and smile and laugh at each other often! Every time they are beside each other they hold hands. We love that they are so close in age, it is going to be sooo much fun! It already is and they hardly even do anything. :) Jacey loves them both so much too and always wants to hug or kiss them. It's so fun having Michael and Melinda living back upstairs again, so that our kids can play often. And us adults too. Jacey knows they're up there and several times throughout the day I'll find him hanging off the doorknob that leads upstairs calling out "Buckal!!! Dia!! Can!!" Anyway, I finally had some photos to post so here they are!

Summer: Part III

2008-09-08T12:54:00.006-06:00

I blame my lack of blogging on Jeffrey. He has become too busy with work to photoshop pictures for me, and without good pictures, I am hesistant to blog. But I'll just post one portion of the rest of our summer. On August 12, my sister, Elizabeth had her baby, a little girl. She named her Laila June. The delivery went well, but there were some complications with the baby. Her breathing was wayyy too fast, and her skin was still blue. Not good signs. They took her to the NICU and put her on an IV and oxygen. There weren't sure what was wrong, they were thinking maybe an infection in her lungs. Anyway, Lizzie and Laila both received blessings, and Lizzie was very confident and calm after that. They kept Laila there for a few days, gave her some antibiotics, and whether or not an infection was the problem, she recovered completely and they were able to go home. Laila is SOOO cute, she weighed 8lbs something (nice aunt I am, I forget the details), but she is SOOO teeny and beautiful. She has so much hair, and it's all dark! I know that won't last, Lizzie and Levi are both blondes, but it's pretty cute right now! She's been a great baby so far for Elizabeth! And I just have to put this in because it's all I think about...but Lizzie looks SOOO good!! I saw her this past saturday, and I actually, and I do mean literally, forgot she had a baby, because she was SOO SKINNY!!!!! The butt! I'm happy for her, but I hate her for it! :) Anyway, I'm really happy for my sister and her little family!! And I'm also happy that Jaclyn has another girl cousin so close in age! She's lucky to have two!! It will be so fun to watch them all grow up!!

Since Laila was in the NICU, my sisters and I were able to go visit her at the hospital. That was the only advantage to her delayed stay. See her poor bruised hand from IV attempts? So sad..

Summer: Part II

2008-07-28T10:32:00.015-06:00

Well, it's been a fun week for our family. Heather and her children came up, which was great! Jacey was always excited to go over to Nana's and play with Nixon and Madi while they were here. But, if you ask Jeffrey, it's been a very chaotic, yet exhilarating past few days! He's been wanting to immerse himself more and more in photography and design and this week was great for him. He was able to shoot a couple weddings with Heather and take some photos for a medical software engineering company that my brother works for. Apparently the software allows doctors to show their patients advanced 3D CT scans directly from their iPhone or iPod without having to leave the privacy of their examination room. They loved what he did and told him that they have more projects for him to do in the near future! Anyway, life was beautiful for Jeffrey this week, so this post is dedicated to him for his hard work.

Memories...

2008-07-17T19:16:00.000-06:00

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew/know me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Summer: Part 1

2008-07-17T09:17:00.011-06:00

We've had a pretty eventful July so far. We started it off by driving down to Portland, Oregon to visit Jeffrey's sister, Heather and her family. We did the trip down all in one day and it nearly killed Jacey! Because of that, we stayed a few extra days at Heather's, so that we weren't shoving him back in the car in just 4 days. He wasn't really himself down there, which was sad, but we managed to have some fun anyway. Madison and Nixon are awesome playmates and kept him entertained! We had lots of fun at the spray park. I'm sure you've all seen pictures on Heather's blog. We have a bunch of pictures from our trip, but we forgot the discs we burned them onto. So when we get them back, I'll post a few. Besides seeing where the Wards have lived for the past 3 years and visiting with them, we went there so that Jeffrey could shoot a wedding with Heather. He forgot most of those pictures down there too, but here is one that he took that I think is absolutely beautiful of one of the bridesmaids.

And I couldn't resist posting this picture. I told Heather to get some pictures at the wedding of Jeffrey at work, and she sent me this. Look at him go! :)

Here is a picture of a waterfall that is really close to where the Wards live. It was so nice and cool there. So breezy! Felt good. :) Plus it was really beautiful! We would have hung out there longer, but it was really busy that day.

Isn't this picture of the sky stunning? It doesn't really fit in any story I want to share, but I just thought it was too beautiful to pass up!!

After we returned from Oregon, which we split into two days for Jacey's sake (it made all the difference in the world), we had a Palmer Family Reunion! All of the Palmer siblings were able to make it, and lots of the kids and grandkids. Unfortunately not all of them. It was a lot of fun! We had picnics, played games, had bbqs, went canoeing, hiking. There were two evenings in particular that I enjoyed. The first was when we all sat around Blaine and Linda's asking Grandma Palmer questions about her childhood, her journey to Canada from Ireland and other aspects of her life. It was really great to get to know more about her and her story! The second was when we all went to the grave of Grandpa Palmer and stories and memories were shared about him. I'm glad I was able to know him and have a few of my own memories (sitting on his knee as Santa). I learned from that weekend what a great family I was able to marry into! Such great people with huge hearts and strong testimonies! Here are a plethera of pictures of the reunion. Mostly of Jacey...we can't help ourselves! :)

These pics were all taken at Two Jack Lake near Banff. It was absolutely beautiful there!!!

This is at the Pratts. Tyler and Jen were in town with Kaysia, who just turned 1. I don't know why we didn't take a picture of her. She's so cute! She's walking and moving all over the place. She was actually an early walker and is really strong! Jacey still falls down all the time. We call him our little drunk! Anyway, he LOVED the Pratts' trampoline! I've never seen one like this up close before. You know, the springless ones with the netting all the way around them, so no one gets hurt! We left him in there forever and he was so happy just running around with a bunch of bouncy balls! I want one!!!! Here's a moment he took to give me some love! He's the best kisser, he puckers his lips out so far, it's hilarious!

Looking forward to Part 2 of this summer, which will include my brother's wedding!! Until then...

FINALLY!!

2008-06-30T10:34:00.013-06:00

I have been waiting and waiting for Jeffrey to get his butt into gear and get a bunch of pictures together for me so I could blog! And finally he has. He has been super busy with other projects and hasn't had time to do the regular photography for me. Because of that, I have a million different things that I want to post, and of course now that I have the opportunity, I don't know what to say. Boo.

The most exciting thing for me this past month has been the rate at which Jacey is learning! He is so smart, I swear! :) (spoken like a true mom!) He knows so many letters, colors and shapes. He notices them everywhere and is always wanting me to tell him which is which. Then he runs around pointing at them and saying all the ones he knows. The best is when we sing the ABCs together. He sings along with me and tries to imitate all the sounds I'm making. He's pretty good at it. I never realized how proud of him I could be! What's funny to me is that he still hasn't learned numbers. He knows what they are and can tell numbers from letters....but he calls every number 2. :) Does he know that's my lucky number or something? I'm sure those will come along soon. He's also been saying so many more words and imitates words I tell him to try. Seriously, I'm so proud of him. I know that every child goes through this, and it's nothing new and exciting really, but it's my first time and I can't stop smiling about it!!!

Ooh, something random that happened today to Jacey, is that his thumb got dislocated. At least, I think that's what happened. I don't know how he did it, but Crystal noticed that his thumb looked funny. So when I checked it out, it was kind of red, and it was chubbier and shorter than the other one. As I was asking him if it hurt and was trying to move it around, I pushed down on the knuckle and pulled up on the top of the thumb and felt a POP as it went back into place. He didn't care one way or the other. He didn't say it hurt when I asked him and it seemed to be fine from then on. However, it has happened THREE more times today. I'm able to pop it back into place each time, but this last time was a little harder to do and he didn't like it at all!! I'm a little more concerned now!! Why is it doing that? Is something wrong??? Is he double jointed or something? Or is it not getting properly "put back" together? Should I not be "fixing" it each time?? Does any one know if there should be reason for concern?? Cause I'm concerned!! I hate going to the doctor for reasons that are not valid, so help me out if you can!!

We went to Invermere, BC last weekend with the Palmers and hung out at their condo and pool. It was fun to go swimming. It was a really hot day and the water felt so good. It was not fun to be in a swimming suit at all, I ended up swimming with my cover up dress on. :) I know it probably looked retarded, but I was doing everybody a favor. :) Jacey loved the water and he spent several hours in the pool and sun. He had a really long nap that afternoon because of it. :) Gotta love that!! Our baby girls (meaning Jaclyn and M & M's Claire) were so good. They just chilled on the patio in little swings/bouncy chairs. They had matching bathing suits on...they were SOO adorable!!! It was so nice to enjoy the outdoors and sun, with the chance to cool off when it got unbearable! I wish we could have a pool at home...that would be heaven!

This weekend we hung out with Melinda, Michael, Jess and Ryan and played Rock Band. It's so fun!! The drums are impossible for me! I can do the EASY level okay, but MEDIUM is pushing it. Kudos (did I really just use that word??) to Melinda who must have been a drummer in another life, because she truly ROCKS at it!! The reason I'm mentioning Rock Band is because of the picture I'm going to post. This is what our babies were doing for part of the evening while we were playing....lying on the table. Nice hey? :) They are getting so big and will now actually look at each other. I've mentioned it before, but I am just so excited that we have girls so close in age! I can't wait for them to grow up and love each other!!! :)

After Jacey's bath on saturday, his hair was sticking up a little bit, so we gave him what we called "a Nixon hairdo". We couldn't believe how different it made him look!! So big and grownup. At least we thought so. As cute as he is with long hair, we got it cut again today. It gets so long in the back and around the ears. Then it starts looking just gross. It's not as curly as Nixon's, therefore it doesn't have the same cute effect. We went to Beaners again today, and Jacey was so good for the hairdresser. We've been lucky so far! This picture is of him right after his new haircut!

Today we were lucky enough to get outside before the big thunderstorm hit! Talk about a drastic change in weather! It was so unbearably hot for most of the day, then all of a sudden it was raining with thunder for hours! I usually like hot weather, but ever since I was pregnant with Jacey, I can only take a little at a time. Jacey on the other hand, could stay out for hours. Our backyard is small, but he has the time of his life running around out there!

Every time Jacey hears Jaclyn cry, he either lovingly shushes her or runs to sooth her. He doesn't like to see her sad. Any chance he has to hug her or kiss her, he'll take! I wish he would always feel this way about her, but I know how siblings work, so I can just cherish this while it lasts!

Speaking of Jaclyn, she is growing so much every day! I just broke out her 3 month sleepers yesterday! Hooray! I love moving up a step! She smiles SOO easily and is starting to laugh! Jeffrey got a really big one out of her the other day, and thought he got it on video, but unfortunately he didn't. I was putting Jacey to bed and missed it, but I know I'll get a big one from her soon! Here are just a few pictures of our little beauty!

2008-06-09T22:57:00.014-06:00

Before I get into this post, I just wanted to acknowledge that I know I change my header very often! Jeffrey makes them up for me, but then he gets sick of them pretty quickly and HAS to create a new one. So, I have to keep up with his mood!

A little warning too, this is kind of a random post! I basically just have a bunch of pictures and things that have been building up over the past week, that I've been saving until I had enough to post. So nothing really coincides with anything.

I've been dying for the rain to stop so that we can go outside and play, but it keeps coming down. Not tons or really heavy rain or anything. Just enough to keep it wet all the time. This past week was my first week "alone" at home. It's been really good. I like having more time to myself and I actually feel more energized and motivated to play, clean and do stuff around the house. I miss Jeffrey a ton, and I especially miss him when I'm in the middle of nursing Jaclyn and Jacey decides to have a meltdown, but it's good to have our space and for him to be back at work. He loves being back and today got a new office and was having fun reorganizing and marking his territory. :)

This past weekend, the Miamaids from our ward had a big sleepover upstairs with Crystal. She's their advisor and they kindly invited me up to play and we had so much fun!! Played lots of Guitar Hero and Hannah Montana on the Wii. :) We ate lots of junk and played Mafia until the wee hours of the morning. Crystal and I went to bed at 3am, the girls stayed up till 5:30 talking. Oh to be young again! :) I was actually sad to go downstairs to bed with Jeffrey and leave all the fun! But not too sad. Who wouldn't rather snuggle with a handsome man? :) It worked out perfectly that I was invited to the sleepover, because Jeffrey went to the Stehmeiers to play Lord of the Ring Risk with Mark, Josh and my brother, Jonathan. I would have hated that if I didn't have something planned of my own. Risk is the longest game in the world and I would have been bored out of my mind to be home alone. So like I said, it worked out perfectly.

Jacey has become quite the chatterbox lately. Besides his limited vocabulary that people can actually understand, all of it is complete jibberish. But he definitely knows what it means! The cutest thing is when he calls Jeffrey at work. He has full out conversations with him. He starts off with "Hi", and then falls into jibberish for about 5 minutes, throwing in "ball" and "uh-oh" here or there, pausing to listen to Jeffrey every once in a while. He usually cries when we have to hang up. He's gotten really used to having Jeffrey home over the past 2 months and he is always looking for him at our house during the day, calling out "Dada?". He even carried one of Jeffrey's shirts around one afternoon and would NOT let me take it from him. It's cute, but so sad. So the phone calls are heaven for him!!
Well, that's all the exciting news I can think of. I hope you enjoyed all the very random pictures! Oh, and by the way, all the pictures with the very long dandelions are actually in our backyard. :( We have the most white trash backyard we've ever seen. But we got a lawnmower and that is this week's project!

2008-06-03T22:11:00.004-06:00

Our baby boy started nursery this week!!! He's technically not 18 months old until next week, but they let him go early!! Which is so nice, because Jeffrey teaches sunday school and it's chaos trying to feed Jacey lunch and nurse Jaclyn at the same time! Anyway, Jacey just walked into the nursery and straight to the little kitchenette and didn't look back. We left without him noticing and he wasn't bothered by it. I peeked back in on him a little while later and my heart was bursting with pride when I saw him sitting up with all the other kids, eating his snack and drinking from a sippy cup!! He was SOO cute!! And so happy and independant! It made me totally get choked up! I can't believe he's old enough to go to nursery!!! We always knew he would love it and would have no problems going. He LOVES kids! He is always walking up to kids and trying to engage their attention. At the store, at church, at the doctor's office, anywhere! And he loves toys. I mean, obviously all kids do, but Jacey thinks toys are more important than worrying about where his parents are! So nursery has the perfect combination of things for him! We are so proud of him and love him so much and are excited for him to be able to make more friends and thrive from this new experience!! :)

2008-05-31T12:24:00.012-06:00

So can you tell this is me?? :) I'd just like to say that I did not pose for this picture. Whenever I get on the computer, Jeffrey thinks it's fun to take pictures of me. And I have no say in the matter. Anyway, when he took this one, he saw potential and created this! Wouldn't it be a great ad? I think he should start selling his work to these companies!! Below is a fun wintery ad of our wedding rings. He's so good! Oh by the way, obviously I don't smoke, the smoke was just added for effect! :)

Happy Birthday to Brett and Jonathan! We haven't had cake for my brother, Jonathan yet, but this was Brett's party. Yummy chinese food and a DELICIOUS chocolate/score cake after!! Thank you for being born!

So my poor mom. She fell off a horse. Again. :( It's so sad!! This horse is not the horse she fell off. This is Mauritius. :) The horse she fell off is Misty. She has only been in the process of being broken in for a couple months now. But my mom got on her anyway. She loves horses so much that she will do things other people might be scared to do. Unfortunately, my mom is a "delicate flower" as my dad calls her. And when the horse bolted for whatever reason, my mom couldn't hold on. My dad thought he watched her die as she flipped off and landed in a bush. She was so white and immobile when she landed. He said she looked like a ragdoll. When he heard her moaning he realized that she was alive, but he thought for sure she would be a quadriplegic or something. She was rushed to the hospital from Cardston to Calgary in an ambulance. Strapped tightly to a board. My poor mom. They knew she had broken ribs and her shoulder blade, and they thought her diaphram ruptured, but they weren't sure about her neck and spine, so they sent her to Calgary like that, so they could take the best care of her. Also so that they could do the surgery necessary to fix the diaphram if they had to. Turns out she broke 8 ribs, snapped off a piece of her shoulder blade (which is still floating around in her body somewhere) and punctured a lung. Now the first time she fell off a horse, she broke 4 ribs and punctured a lung. And that was on the other side of her body. Now she's broken both sides!! My poor mom. She is in the hospital right now until her lung is stable. There is nothing they can do about her shoulder blade or her ribs. So it will be a long, painful process to recovery. And the saddest thing of all for my mom is that she knows she can't ride horses anymore!!! It is her absolute passion and she has to give it up! At least if she ever attempts to ride again, it has to be on an absolutely trained horse!!! Of many years!! Cause none of us would let her do it otherwise!! It's so scary when accidents like this happen. It totally is a reality check. Things happen so quickly and you never know the outcome. She could have been killed or injured way worse than she was. She is so blessed!! I love her and I'm so sad that she's going through all of this, but so happy she is okay!!!

2008-05-29T16:52:00.010-06:00

We've been able to capture some of Jaclyn's smiles on camera lately, which is so fun, because she's got the cutest little grin! It's so completely different from Jacey's. His smile is side to side, Jaclyn's is up and down. Jeffrey and I have the same difference. Anyway, here are a couple of Jaclyn's smiles and one of Jacey's around the same age that she is now.

Whenever I lay Jaclyn down to change her, she twists her head back to watch TV.

Here's a picture of Jaclyn's cousin, Claire. I haven't put any pictures of her on my blog yet and that needed to be remedied. She is absolutely beautiful!! I love this picture of her! She is such a sweet baby! So interactive and smiley! I can't wait till Jaclyn and her become aware of each other and start to play!

2008-05-27T01:25:00.019-06:00

I just had to post this picture tonight. I haven't had any new ones of Jaclyn recently and I loved this one of her. She is so loved by her big brother!

2008-05-23T15:53:00.009-06:00

The other night we had dinner upstairs with the Lees and boy was it a blast!! Her girls are soo much fun to watch with Jacey. They can make him laugh so hard! The only time I ever hear him laugh like that is when Jeffrey's playing with him. And of course, we took a bunch of pictures. Not of him laughing unfortunately, we got that on video. :)

The next morning, Cari, Crystal and I got together with our kids and had a playdate. We haven't gotten the three of us together for a long time. Especially with our kids. They played well together and we girls certainly had fun! We watched an old home video that Cari and I made for Crystal's birthday when she was at Ricks back in the day. Man, we are so dumb!! We thought we were so funny, but we just embarrassed ourselves. It was fun to watch anyway. :) I've been so happy the last couple of days, because Jacey has finally gotten back into his normal routine. Actually, a new and improved routine!! Since he was sick he wouldn't go to bed by himself, and if he woke up in the night, he needed us to console him. I never mind doing that, especially if he's sick, because it's no fun to be sick alone. But it's so hard to get him to go to sleep by himself after he's well again. But he's back to normal now, and this time he doesn't wake up at 7am. He sleeps stll 8:30!!!!! Almost 12 whole hours!!! It is amazing how much of a difference that makes in our day! I LOVE it!! Since Jaclyn's been born, Jacey has shown no signs of jealousy or resentment towards her. Until this past week. He doesn't resent her, I'm so glad about that. Actually, he doesn't even really show jealousy, he just makes sure he gets as much "mommy-time" as she does. I think he sees that I see to her every need, feeding, changing, rocking etc. and now he won't take a bottle or be put in bed, unless I do it. He's never cared whether Jeffrey or I did that for him, but now he only wants me. Which melts my heart, but it's not the most convenient thing. And sometimes I don't think it's necessarily me, but my hair. It's the only thing that can calm him down if he's upset, or help him get sleepy, or get him through a whole bottle without getting bored. He constantly plays with it. And he likes it soo much better straight, than curly. Which is too bad for him, cause I rarely have time to do it. I LOVE that he loves my hair though. It's a good thing I like long hair, because I probably won't ever cut it too short for him to hold.Jaclyn has been sick for so long now. I don't even know what to call it. She just has a really stuffy nose. Constantly. I give her saline drops all day long, but it's only a temporary solution. I feel so bad for her when I hear her trying to breath. I hope it is just a really long side effect of her cold and not anything to do with her lung problem. I hate that I'm paranoid about that. Every problem or sickness that she'll come across will constantly have me worrying about her lungs! We're going to the doctor on Monday. Hopefully he can ease my mind about it all.

Most of you probably know that Jeffrey has been able to take some time off work to be at home with me to deal with postpardum junk and help out with both kidlings. It's been WONDERFUL to have him here and I know it's been too good to be true. Next week is his last week with me and June 2, he'll start working again. I'm nervous and excited to move on and try to handle things alone. I'm hoping that it will help me start losing weight. :) Having to run around and do everything for both kids. I don't know if I'll ever be able to lose weight, I CAN'T say no to food. It's the dumbest thing. I look in the mirror and I hate what I see. But when I see a bag of chips, or candy or whatever it may be (even healthy stuff) I can't resist. What will it take to be motivated enough to actually do something about it? *SIGH* :) I'm so impressed with all the moms out there that do it. What is your secret??

2008-05-17T12:52:00.008-06:00

We've had lots of fun this past week with the NICE weather we've been having! Jacey loves being outside and can't get enough of it. We've had outings to parks and we've even gone to the zoo twice this week. We decided to invest in some annual passes this year. So far it's been worth our money. :) We went on Tuesday by ourselves, then again on Thursday with Michael, Melinda and Claire. Claire was an angel and slept the ENTIRE time we were there. Jaclyn cried for about half the time and ate for the other half. Well, she did sleep a little bit. Jacey had fun, he doesn't really get that excited about the animals yet, but like I said, he just likes being outdoors. We got him one of those "leashes" for kids. It's soo cute and he LOVES it. He thinks he's in charge, and we don't have to chase after him as much. It's a win/win situation. The second outing to the zoo was more eventful animal-wise. They were more active and playful. I love this picture that Jeffrey got of the bear. It is soo cute. Looks just like how a little boy would play in the water. We're not doing anything special for the long weekend this year. There are some things that are happening in town that are keeping us here, but with the weather so nice, there's really no point in leaving. If only we had a pool....

The zoo is exhausting!

Our family hanging out at Michael & Melinda's after an afternoon at the park.

Snuggling with mom & dad.

Enjoying a few skits from SNL. I don't look very amused, but believe me, I AM!!

2008-05-08T00:50:00.012-06:00

Poor Jacey is sick....again! And I think he's making Jaclyn sick. Which could be scary! We're supposed to watch carefully to see how she reacts to any illness to determine if the cysts are still in her lung. She's only stuffy so far, so we'll see what happens as the cold progresses. It's hard to keep Jacey away from her though, he loves little Jack-Jack! That's how Jacey says her name! Love it!

Hard at work blogging!

2008-05-06T01:03:00.004-06:00

I don't have time to write much, but here are a few pics that we've taken over the past couple of days.

2008-05-05T00:17:00.005-06:00

Tonight on the way home from dinner at my parents house, Jacey fell asleep in the van. He had a really short nap during sacrament meeting today and didn't go down for a nap later (I hate sundays for that!!). So he was really tired. It was around 7:30 when we came home, so I wanted him to wake up for a bit so he'd take a bottle and go to bed later. He's a really early riser as it is, and if he goes to bed earlier than 8pm, he's up at around 6am. Anyway, I tried waking him up when we got home and he wouldn't, so I laid him on the floor hoping that it would be uncomfortable and he'd wake up. I guess I forgot that tired kids will sleep anywhere! He ended up waking up when I changed his diaper and put his jammies on, but we were able to get these CUTE pictures of him before I did that!! I can't believe how much I love this boy!!

We were digging through old photos and found this one of us at my parents "mountain home" when we were dating. Between the sexy coat and braces, I'm not sure what he saw in me! :)

2008-04-28T20:15:00.009-06:00

Spring is Here!!

Well, it's here for now. I know it's probably going to snow again, but today definitely felt like spring! Even the ladybugs thought so! Look how twitterpated they are! :) This was Jeffrey's lucky find today! We were on our way out to the park, and found these right in our own backyard! :)

This was not a posed picture. Jacey was having his bottle next to Jaclyn, who was also having her bottle and he started playing footsies with her! How cute is that??

My little lady after her bath, in her towel made by Aunt Heather!

2008-04-22T20:02:00.003-06:00

I forgot to add this to my post yesterday. Jacey always climbs up on Jaclyn's bassinet and tries to soothe her when she's crying. I hate it when he does, cause I'm nervous he'll tip the whole thing over, but it sure is cute at the same time!!! This picture is really cute when unsensored, but it's for our eyes only, as my blog is not blocked from strangers!

2008-04-21T21:28:00.004-06:00

Hello all! Well, Jaclyn gets more beautiful everyday! She smiles all the time, probably just gas, or remembering better times :) Feeding her is getting a little better. At least now I don't cry through it each time. I can't wait till things settle into a happy routine. She is a really good sleeper though, so I can't complain. I don't know what I'm going to do when Jeffrey goes back to work. For example, today Jacey woke up early from his nap, so while Jeffrey snuggled him back to sleep, I finished feeding Jaclyn and she fell asleep too. And while it was fun to have a little family nap together on the couch, I don't know how I'm going to remedy that situation if it occurs while I'm alone! Poor Jacey will either have to forego the nap, or Jaclyn will be hungry a little while longer! I can't imagine having any more kids, my hands are full now and I haven't even done it alone yet!! How do all you moms do it?? Anyway, here are some more pictures of our little family!

And for Allison, here is what I was tagged to do:

1. Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages).
2. Turn to page 123.
3. Find the 5th sentence
4. Post the 5th sentence on your blog
5. Tag 5 people

The closest book to me was Jeffrey's old sunday school lesson manual, The Presidents of the Church.

"The scriptures speak concerning the power of our thoughts."

I tag whoever wants to do it! :)

2008-04-17T22:52:00.000-06:00

He thought it was great fun to throw these little rocks into the grass!

My little wizard!

Jaclyn's precious little hand.

I've realized lately that having Jaclyn in our family has actually made me love Jacey more. I appreciate him so much and I just can't seem to get enough of him. I miss being able to devote all my time to him. But that's life, and Jaclyn is wonderful and obviously I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm glad Jeffrey's been able to take so much time off work and help out at home this past little while, especially for Jacey's sake. He takes him outside to play and go for walks. And Jacey LOVES the outdoors. Once he's out there, it's WAR to bring him back in. He fights and cries and screams. It's quite lovely! But it's soo fun to watch him play and just be the little boy that he is! He's growing up so fast I can't believe it!

2008-04-15T21:14:00.000-06:00

We have so many new photos of Jaclyn, but it's hard to make the time to go through them and post new ones, so here is one for now! She is so sweet and snuggly. We're working on getting her to eat better and longer, but she's a good baby. Not as easy as Jacey was, but I don't think many are...he was just a little miracle. And he continues to be. He loves Jaclyn so much and can't get enough of her! Him being so good, makes it easier to have a newborn in the house.