The Lauret Family

Max at 9 months

2012-01-25T14:30:00.008-07:00

It's true! Another month has gone by and my baby Max is now 9 months old!

Here are the stats from his check-up:

Weight: 22.95 lbs- 82.93%
Length: 29.25 in- 80.02%
Head Circumference: 17.88 in- 52.52%

Maxwell is a little ball of energy and personality. He definitely thinks he is the king of this house.

He is one tough little dude. He spends a lot of time following Jaxon around and trying to take whatever he is playing with. Jaxon is actually really sweet with him and does a pretty good job of sharing. I wish I could say the same for Max...

On Sunday, during Sacrament Meeting, Jaxon tried to take a book that was next to Max- thinking he was done with it. Max looked at him and let out a scream like you wouldn't believe. Jaxon gave the book back.

My boys already love to wrestle.

Even though Max is smaller, he can still hold his own:

Max still loves his exersaucer:

And sometimes even jumps himself to sleep:

He plays with toys a lot more now. I love watching him discover how things work.

One of his new favorite things is opening drawers and cabinets.

One of my least favorite things about his current age is that he puts everything in his mouth. I mean everything! He honestly spends time searching the floor just to find things to eat. No matter how much I vacuum he still seems to find things. I have to do a mouth sweep on him about 40 times a day. If it's actual food he is usually pretty good about giving in and letting me take it. However, if it's something really delicious like a sticker or a rock he'll fight me for it. I'm pretty sure I'm going to lose a finger one of these days.

He also likes to carry his toys around in his mouth. It's kind of funny...

...but sometimes I have to wonder- is this normal?? LOL.

Ha ha! We love our little Max so much! I'll end my post with a little video of him clapping-- which he learned to do a few weeks ago. I love how he stops and looks at his hands like, "Wow! I did it!"

All the Babies!

2012-01-25T14:20:00.003-07:00

The weekend of the 15th my brother-in-law Jake and his wife Kelli came to visit and we got to meet my newest nephew Parker! He was born at the end of December and is such a little cutie! We had a great weekend spending time with all the family. (Bobbie, Lani, Lily, and Amara were able to come from Roosevelt, too!) That Saturday we had a dinner at Lauret's to celebrate Lani's upcoming birthday. That was the first time that we got to have all the babies born in 2011 together. There were 5 of us that had babies last year... and we have another sister who will be having a baby in February! It's crazy, but so fun. Here's a picture of all the babies together. (No one is looking at the camera... but sometimes you have to take what you can get!)

From right to left:
Maxwell- born in April. Maizie- born in May. Devon- born in July. Owen- born in August. Parker- born in December.

Can you imagine what Sunday dinners are going to be like when all these kids are 2? LOL!

Back to School

2012-01-25T14:08:00.002-07:00

The only good thing that has come from my husband's job change at Orange Soda is that he finally decided to go back to school and chase his dream. Micah has been working in marketing for the last 9 years. Even though he is good at it, he doesn't really love it. So Micah started classes at UVU this semester! His plan is to finish his business degree and also complete the culinary program. His goal is to open his own restaurant along with my brother-in-law Spencer. He is really excited about the culinary program. I am excited for him and glad that he will get to do something he enjoys. His goal is to be finished with school in 2 years. I am so proud of him... but it's going to be a crazy 2 years! Working 2 jobs and going to school full time? It's insane! But I know he can do it! Love you, honey! See you in 2014!

5 Years

2012-01-25T13:54:00.002-07:00

On January 5, Micah and I celebrated our 5th anniversary! Micah and I were so glad that we had some gift cards to use so we could go out and have some time together. Since it was a Thursday we were able to sneak out to lunch at Chick-fil-a while Jaxon was at school. Then that night my mom watched both kids while we went to Salt Lake and ate at Pat's BBQ. The food was really excellent and it happened to be open-mic night so we were able to enjoy some live music while we ate. It was a really fun night. I was so glad that we got to have a real date especially since I basically won't be seeing my husband for the next 2 years... ha ha. Happy anniversary to my sweetie! I am so happy to be married to you and I love you even more than I did 5 years ago!

Iron Chef Competition

2012-01-15T22:30:00.006-07:00

It has become a tradition of the Lauret's to have an iron chef competition on New Year's Day. (We actually did it on January 2nd this year... but that's neither here nor there.) It's a great tradition that combines two of the things that the Lauret's love... food and competing! This year was a blast as usual.

The secret ingredient: Mango.
The challenge: Create 3 appetizer dishes (served family style). Must have at least 1 savory and 1 sweet.

Team 1: Ashley, Micah, Jim, Kerry, and Jeff.

Team 1's creations:

Mango Cowboy Caviar

Ham/Mango/ Avocado sandwich

Mango/Apple Pie with Mango Custard

Team 2: Josh, Emily, Debby, Me, Spencer, April

Team 2's creations:

Mango/ Ham/ Avocado skewers with Raspberry dipping sauce

Mango Bruschetta

Mango-Carrot Cupcakes filled with Mango puree
Topped with cream cheese frosting & a ginger-sugared mango slice
(This was the dish that Debby and I created and I was totally impressed by how well it turned out! All the hours spent watching Cupcake Wars finally pays off! LOL.)

The judges: Mike, Andrea, and Alison.

The winners: Team 1!

Though, I think those of us on Team 2 really held our own. We were competing against Jim and Micah and they still only beat us by 3 points. :)

I was very impressed by all the food this year. Not only was everything edible (and no, it has not always been in the past- ha ha) it was all delicious! There were a couple dishes I would definitely like to recreate and eat again.

Most importantly, we all had a great time!

First Day of Primary

2012-01-15T22:05:00.004-07:00

January 1st was a Sunday so we didn't do any of our usual New Year's Day activities. However, there was something exciting about that day- it was Jaxon's first day of Primary! I can't believe he is already going to Primary! He is growing up so fast! I couldn't stop myself from peeking in the window during sharing time to see how he was doing. He looked so cute sitting in his little chair with all the other kids. Afterward I asked him what he thought of Primary. He said, "It's good, but they don't have any food." :)

I love this picture of Jaxon. He looks like a little man! He is totally obsessed with pockets right now. Whenever we are trying to get out the door he tells me- wait! Then he puts his hands in his pockets and says, "Okay, I'm ready." LOL. I love this kid!

New Year's Eve

2012-01-07T23:16:00.006-07:00

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do this year for New Year's Eve. We found out that Micah had to work (which was fine because he was able to have Christmas Eve & Christmas off-- which I preferred) but I definitely didn't want to go out by myself... with the kids... especially not until midnight! At first I thought maybe I would just stay home and go to bed early. However, I decided to ask my mom, dad, and David if they would be willing to come over and hang out with me- and they did! It was so much fun! I feel a little guilty because it was like they came to my house and threw a party for me! David brought delicious enchiladas for our dinner. My mom brought activities, games, and treats. And my dad played with my kids and kept them happy and entertained so I could play. Is my family amazing or what?

First we ate dinner- yum! Then we did an activity my mom brought... we were each given various candies and tape which we had to assemble into a sled with Santa and presents. Once our sleds were made we raced them down a "hill" to see whose was the fastest. It was really fun and Jaxon especially loved it.

Next we played one round of Qwirkle and then my parents helped me get the kids ready for bed. Once Jaxon was asleep we played Five Crowns. My dad decided he was tired and went home but my mom, David, and I decided to stay up. We played mancala on my mom's ipad and took turns trying to get Max to sleep. (He really didn't want to go to bed!) Micah got home about 11:30 and was able to play games with us and we were all able to watch the ball drop and ring in the new year! (I was glad that he got home in time to give me my new year's kiss!)

After that my mom and David went home. Max sensed the party was over and fell asleep about 5 minutes later. LOL.

Thanks to my family for making New Year's Eve so fun!

My dad really wanted me to share this video. My dad was holding Maxwell and Jaxon kept crashing into my dad's leg. Max thought it was hilarious and was giggling so hard! I had never heard him giggle like that before. He usually just does a little "ha! ha!" and then stops. BTW-I love how sweet my dad is with my kids. I am pretty sure if Jaxon was crashing into me I would have yelled at him to cut it out. But my dad's reaction was- "Get the camera!" He is such a great grandpa. :)

Christmas Eve & Christmas Day

2011-12-27T22:32:00.011-07:00

We had a really amazing Christmas this year. I would say it was one of the best ever.

Christmas Eve got off to a rocky start. Jaxon came bounding into our room around 7:45 a.m. yelling, "Mom! Dad! It's Christmas Eve! Time to open presents!" I'm not sure where the confusion came from... but he was very disappointed to learn that he needed to wait another whole day before he could open presents. At one point he even said, "Fine! If you don't want to- then I'll open them by myself!" LOL. Eventually we calmed him down by talking about all the other fun things we would be doing that day.

We spent the morning just hanging out- playing toys and watching t.v. Then Max and I ran to the grocery store to pick up a couple things. When we got back Micah and Jaxon were setting up Rock Band on the Xbox. Our family had so much fun playing rock band! I love that Jaxon is getting old enough to be able to do more things. It was so fun watching him play-- and Micah and I had fun playing, too! Jaxon loved being the singer, but didn't know any of the songs. Luckily, on the "beginner" setting all you have to do is make some kind of sound and you can still "win" the song. So Jaxon sang songs that he knew like Jingle Bells. It was so cute... but made it harder for Micah and I to stay on beat to the real song! Ha ha!

Max had fun getting to play with Jaxon's toys uninterrupted by their owner. :)

After lunch Micah and Max took a nap while Jax and I made cookies for Santa. Jaxon was very concerned about having cookies ready for him. When I asked him what kind of cookies we should make he said, "No chocolate chips! They make Santa's beard all messy and then the elves have to clean it." LOL. I have no idea where he got that from but it made me laugh so hard! We finally decided on sugar cookies. (According to Jaxon- Santa loves frosting. Strange that it is also Jaxon's favorite..... ) I didn't get any pictures of us making cookies, but here's the final product.

You can also tell the amount of fun we had by the amount of mess on the table... ;)

After cookie making we got cleaned up and went to Lauret's for Christmas Eve dinner. The Lauret's always have a fabulous dinner and this year was no different. We had prime rib, twice-baked potatoes, veggies, stuffed mushrooms, jell-o, rolls, and tom ka gai soup. For dessert we had Jim's delicate pear pie with creme anglaise. Yum! So good! I had a great time visiting with the family and eating our delicious meal.

(The kid's table. Jaxon, Lily, & Emmy. Not sure where Amara is? I forgot my camera but found this picture on Micah's phone.)

After dinner Jim read the nativity story while the kids acted it out. We wanted Jaxon to be Joseph because he was the oldest male grandchild... but he was completely insistent on being the baby Jesus. So Maxwell was Joseph, Amara was Mary, Jaxon was a very large baby Jesus, Lily was the angel, Devon was a shepherd, and Emersyn was all the wise men combined in one. It was so cute. I am sad that I forgot my camera! I didn't get any pictures that night. :(

After that the kids got to open one present from grandma & grandpa- new pajamas! Jaxon was so excited! I got pictures of my boys in their new jammies when we got home:

The first thing Jaxon said about his new jammies was, "Yay! They're coupled!" ...meaning that the "shirt" and "pants" were combined. He loves trains and anything in his world that is combined he refers to as being coupled. :)

After leaving Lauret's we drove around with the boys and looked at some awesome Christmas lights on people's houses. While delivering pizzas Micah had found some incredible houses that he wanted us to see. They were insane! We even got to see one that had a whole light show put to music. Man! I really wish I had brought my camera!

That night- after the kids were in bed and everything was ready for the next day- Micah and I got to talking about what a wonderful Christmas season it had been. We feel extremely blessed and grateful for all the generosity shown to our family this year. Between our amazing families, wonderful friends, and even a couple anonymous givers we received so much. I want to say thank you again to all who made our Christmas so special. Words cannot express how much it meant to me and Micah. Many tears of joy and relief were shed over the last few weeks. Thank you.

(You can't go to bed before you put out your stockings! I wanted to share a picture of our darling stockings that my mother-in-law Debby made! She even made a new one this year for Max!)

On Christmas morning we opened presents, of course!

I decided I wanted to start a Christmas morning breakfast tradition so I made cinnamon rolls on Saturday and we baked them Sunday morning. They turned out really yummy- thanks to a trusty Alton Brown recipe. (He is a genius!) However, I'm not sure they will be the new tradition. I think we need something less sweet- since we spent the majority of the day eating candy. LOL. Though I probably made the "too sweet" part worse by tripling the frosting recipe! Micah and I always thought that cinnamon rolls could never have too much cream cheese frosting. It turns out they can. ;)

I'm still looking for a new idea for next year...

After breakfast we got dressed and went to church. I have to say that I love having Christmas on Sunday. I wish that it were always on Sunday. Being able to go to church and really think about the Savior brought a special spirit to our day.

After church we went back to Lauret's to open gifts from Jim and Debby and exchange gifts with Micah's siblings. (Well, the ones that were there this year. :( We really missed those who couldn't make it!)

Max just wanted the bow. ;)

My cute niece Lily loved playing with Max!

April & Devon. So cute!

Next we went over to my parents house to celebrate with my family. It was a lot of fun! First we opened gifts-- because Jaxon couldn't wait! Then we had a delicious dinner of chicken croissants, raspberry-pretzel salad, veggies, etc. We spent the rest of the day playing with the kids, eating treats, and playing games. The guys had a lot of fun playing on the Wii-- even Jaxon got to play! We also played a new board game that we gave my parents called Qwirkle. It was a perfect way to spend the rest of our day!

Playing the Wii!

Quality grandpa time!

Finally, we decided we needed to go home and get the kids in bed. They were exhausted from such a fun day! I think they fell asleep before we turned off my parents street...

But apparently the nap in the car was enough to recharge their batteries! They wanted to play with their new toys when we got home...

What an amazing Christmas holiday! Thank you again to all our family and friends for making it wonderful and special. We love you all and hope you had a great holiday as well!

I was wrong...

2011-12-22T16:38:00.002-07:00

...sometimes my boys do look alike:

(Jaxon)

(Maxwell)

Washburn Family Christmas Party

2011-12-22T15:31:00.005-07:00

On Saturday night we had the first ever Washburn Family Christmas party. Growing up we always went to my Grandma Washburn's house on Christmas morning. All my aunts, uncles, and cousins from my mom's side would be there. The adults would visit while the kids ran around. And we always had a delicious breakfast of quiche, blueberry muffins, orange juice, and fruit salad. Last year was the first time this didn't happen and I was so sad! It just didn't feel like Christmas without it. However, now that my generation is grown and starting families of their own-- it's hard to get everyone together on the actual holiday. So, enter the new tradition of the Washburn Family Christmas party. This year we had it at my mom's church (more room for everyone!) and we were able to visit, let the kids play, and have our traditional meal. I had a good time and hope everyone else did, too! (Except that Micah had to work that night. :(

Somehow I got assigned the task of taking pictures... at which I did a horrible job! But here's the few that I got.

Allan, Charlie, & Haylee

David & Mom (Uncle John in the background)

Far side of table: Shaun, Don, Crystal, (& Crystal's sister)
Side closest to camera: Aunt Judith & Uncle Kevin

Uncle Hurk (Paul), Uncle John, Mom, & Maxwell

Peter, Gillian, and Aunt Steffanie

Aunt Judi, Grandma Washburn, Jeremy, Lindsay, and Jeremy's daughter.

My cousin Jim brought Nerf guns for the kids to play with. (Which they loved!)

Above are Jim's kids Jaycee & Taylor -- and my Dad with Jaxon.
Below is Jim's daughter... who's name I can't remember! (See this is why we need to get together more!)

Allan & Charlie again! :)

Jaxon & Taylor playing with cars.

Charlie wants to play, too!

My Dad & Maxwell

Some of the girls did a little show for us... they danced and sang Christmas songs. It was so cute! And some of those girls really have moves... lol! Jeremy's daughter Zoe was hilarious! I wish I had gotten a picture of her... or better yet a movie. Her dance was so funny! Anyway, I thought it was fun. It was reminiscent of the days when me and my cousin BreAnn used to do performances at our family get-togethers. LOL! (So glad no one ever video taped THAT! Ha!)

Merry Christmas to the Washburn family! I hope this tradition continues for many years to come!

Max at 8 months

2011-12-22T14:28:00.004-07:00

8 months! Where does the time go? I can't believe my baby is already 8 months old!

When I think about Max right now one word comes to mind: movement! That boy is all over the place! Now that he is crawling he is getting into EVERYTHING! His favorite things are cords and the DVD player. Oh, and also trying to take whatever toy Jaxon is playing with.

Within 2 days of learning to crawl he discovered that he could also pull himself up to a standing position. This has greatly increased the amount of things he can now access.

Jaxon: "Max is trying to take my cars!"
Me: "Let's put them up on the card table, then he won't be able to reach them."

Hmmm.... so much for that plan!

He has also discovered that if he holds onto something he can push it and walk across the room. I tried to get a video but he gets too distracted by the camera. He likes to push the truck in the picture below... but has also found some large buckets that work, too.

Today my friend Kim came over for a playdate with her kids. She has been out of town for a few weeks, so we haven't seen each other. The first thing she said when she walked in the door was, "Is that your baby?-- standing?!" I just told her, "Shhhh! He doesn't know he's a baby."

He is also currently fascinated by the stairs. So far he has only been able to get up 3 before someone grabbed him. I guess we need to invest in some gates. ;)

He still loves his exer-saucer... though sometimes he bounces so hard I swear he's going to break it!

Here are some other things I have noticed about Max this last month:

1) He frequently sticks his tongue out... especially when he is concentrating on something. I think it's cute. :)

2) I think he's going to have wavy/curly hair like his daddy. Right now he just has one curl on the top of his head that I am constantly trying to smooth down...

3) He is very intense and very determined to do what the "big kids" are doing. AND he has started throwing a fit when he can't or we won't let him. For example: last night he watched my nephew build a block tower and was determined to make one, too. He tried so hard to put one block on top of another but doesn't quite possess the coordination to do so. Hence, he proceeded to slam his arms on the floor and throw quite a tantrum. It's kind of funny now... we'll see how amusing it is when he's 3. Lol.

Well, Max, that's you at 8 months! I can't wait to see what the next month brings. Being your mommy is quite an adventure... and I love every minute of it!

Snow Fun

2011-12-22T14:16:00.003-07:00

So far this winter we have had basically no snow- which suits me just fine! However, Jaxon loves snow and was thrilled when he woke up last Tuesday to maybe 2 inches of it. He really wanted to go outside and shovel the driveway. LOL. He loves using his little shovel and moving all the snow. Then we also had a snowball fight and built a snowman. I was happy that he got to play in the snow for a bit... though I have to admit I was also happy when all the snow melted a few hours later. ;)

Sneaky snowball thrower!

Our cute little snowman. In case you're wondering... the thing on his head is a "hat" Jaxon made for him. ;)

Sprained Ankle & Staying Positive

2011-12-21T15:13:00.004-07:00

The last few months have been interesting for our family. Okay, I'll just say it, they've been kind of hard. It seems like we are wading through a never-ending stream of unfortunate events.

In October Micah found out that his company would be doing some "restructuring". Part of that restructuring included deleting Micah's entire department. He is now in a sales position which he doesn't particularly care for and he took quite a pay cut. Efforts to find another job have not panned out, so he is now also working part-time delivering pizza for Dominos. I am grateful that he was able to find something, but it's no fun having him gone a couple evenings each week. With money already being tight it makes things like replacing car tires and brakes, broken contacts, and medical bills even more fun. And speaking of medical bills... it seems like our family has had more than our fair share of flus, colds, etc., etc. recently.

Anyway, about 2 weeks ago I was talking to my friend and telling her about some of the things we had been dealing with lately and made the mistake of saying, "So when I fall and break my leg next week don't be surprised." I don't know why I jinxed myself like that! Just a few hours later I ended up spraining my ankle. The whole thing was semi-humiliating in addition to being painful. LOL. I was picking Jaxon up from preschool when he ran off to look at something. I was yelling for him to come back and wasn't watching where I was going. I made a step forward to a place where the sidewalk went down about 3 inches... which isn't much... but was enough for me to roll my ankle. Unfortunately, I was carrying Max at the time and was so worried about not hurting or dropping him that I somehow fell flat on my back. Plus, carrying the additional 22 lb. baby did not help when putting all my weight on the side of my ankle. So there I was-- lying on my back, holding my baby, thinking "what just happened?". For some reason the combination of the pain, shock, and irony of the whole situation made me start laughing. And I mean hysterically laughing. Luckily, only a minute or two went by before a nice lady saw me and asked if I needed help. (She may have meant mental help... but I took it as an offer for physical help.) She took Max and made sure he was okay. (Thankfully, he was.) I tried to stand up but couldn't bear putting any weight on my ankle. So she went inside to get some help and I just sat there helplessly thinking, "I just gave my baby to a stranger... and now she is leaving... was this a good idea?" Luckily, she was not a kidnapper and came back a minute later with some help... and by help I mean 5 legacy center employees. Why they felt they needed 5 people to help me I don't know. They all surrounded me (plus the nice lady) and attacked me with questions and "helped" me fill out an incident report. Then the whole crew helped me and my kids to my car-- which of course was across the entire parking lot. I assured them that I just needed to get home (aka away from the whole awful situation) and I would be fine. But then I got home and sat my driveway wondering how in the world I would get Max out of the car and into the house. Thankfully, I was able to call my next door neighbor and her cute daughter came over and helped me. Later that night my dear, sweet sister-in-law Missy took me to the Instacare while our hubbies stayed home with the kids. I was glad to hear that it wasn't broken but it still hurt a lot! I was on crutches for a couple days and then hobbled around for a week or so after that. But I am happy to announce that my ankle is doing tons better now! On Saturday I found myself darting up the stairs without even thinking about it. And it healed just in time!... just in time for Micah to get food poisoning that is... Ha!

The strange thing is that even though the last few months have been rough, they have also been very happy. I have felt more joy, less stress, and less worry than usual. I have seen miracles and felt the hand of the Lord in my life so much more. It's times like this that make me especially grateful for the gospel. I am glad that I can look at life with an eternal perspective.

I was reading "Way to Be!" by President Gordon B. Hinckley a few weeks ago and loved this thought that he shared:

"In my ninety-plus years, I have learned a secret. I have learned that when good men and women face challenges with optimism, things will always work out! Truly, things always work out! Despite how difficult circumstances may look at the moment, those who have faith and move forward with a happy spirit will find that things always work out."

Love it!

So that's the goal for now... just moving forward and staying positive!

Thanksgiving Weekend

2011-12-21T14:40:00.007-07:00

We had a small, relaxing Thanksgiving this year. Allan and his family were with the Ferguson's so it was just my little family plus my parents, David, Grandma Washburn, and Aunt Emily. Everyone came to our house, but my mom and Emily did most of the cooking and brought it with them. We had all the traditional Thanksgiving staples-- turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, rolls, and lots of pie! It was such a nice day. We ate dinner then watched Tangled (my grandma had never seen it!) , played games, visited, and ate some more! It was nice to have a relaxing day with my family.

Friday morning we set up our Christmas decorations. I really love our Christmas tree! This picture doesn't do it justice. It's so pretty at night when it's all lit up!

Jaxon was a great helper...

My mom gave us this darling Fisher Price nativity set. Max loves it! (As you can tell by the pics below.) I love that the kids can play with it and I don't have to worry about pieces getting broken. She actually gave Micah and I a different nativity when we were first married... but it just wasn't the same after Jaxon broke all the heads off. LOL.

Friday afternoon we went to my mom's for our annual gingerbread house making. This year my grandma had a surprise for Jaxon. She found a cake pan that made a little train and he got to frost and decorate it. He loved his train! He was so proud of his decorating job and still shows it to everyone who comes over. :)

Jaxon also helped me with my gingerbread house:

Here are David and Emily's houses: (I didn't get a picture of Haylee's before she left.)

My mom always does something so cute and original! Here's her creation this year:

On Saturday and Sunday we spent most of our time helping Jim and Debby with their gingerbread house for the Festival of Trees. They donate a house every year... this year's was a Tangled theme and was the highest selling house at the festival! I wish I had a better picture so you could see all the details. It was awesome! Way to go Laurets!!

Crawling!

2011-11-26T13:51:00.003-07:00

My baby Max is officially crawling! For the last few weeks he has been able to push up into crawling position, but didn't seem to be making any progress toward actually crawling. I thought it would be another month or so before he was really moving. Then on Thanksgiving he started taking a couple crawling steps. So then I thought maybe he would be crawling in a week or so.... however, the next day (yesterday) he started crawling all over the place! Today has been so hectic because our house is really not ready for this! Ha ha! Well, here's a video taken last night of my little sweetie crawling. What a cutie!

Meeting Santa

2011-11-26T00:15:00.005-07:00

My mom and I get together every Wednesday night to hang out. Last week she suggested that we take my boys to Riverwoods in Provo. (My dad & Aunt Emily came, too!) I hadn't been to the Riverwoods in ages! They have a lot of fun stuff for Christmas. All the trees were covered in lights and they have a bunch of fountains and fire pits that I had never seen before. They also had live music and Santa Claus!

Jaxon was so excited to meet Santa... until we actually got to the front of the line. Then he became totally shy and wouldn't even look at him. Oh well! He was still happy that he got to meet the "real" Santa and he got a candy cane. That's the best part anyway, right? He did at least sit on his lap for a picture... but no smiling!....

Maxwell didn't want to meet Santa either....

Jaxon's favorite part was probably checking out Blickenstaff's toy store. I didn't think we would ever pull him away from the Thomas train table!

My dad had fun at Blickenstaff's, too. He was really excited about this old-fashioned Shell gas pump and had me take a picture to send to his brother David...

Thanks for the fun night! Maybe next year the kids will actually want to meet Santa... lol!

Max at 7 months

2011-11-25T23:21:00.006-07:00

On the 18th of November Maxwell turned 7 months. Each month goes by so fast! I feel like I just wrote the post about him turning 6 months!

Maxwell is starting to get so much personality. He is such a happy baby, but is also very strong-willed and is good at getting what he wants! I didn't think it was possible for a baby to look smug, but Max can! Lately he has become such a mama's boy. At night, after family scriptures & prayers, I am usually the one to put Jaxon to bed. He likes to read a story or two and then snuggle and sing a couple songs. Micah used to be able to put Max to sleep during the time I was with Jaxon. Now Maxwell cries and screams and waits for me to get him. When I pick him up he immediately stops crying and gives Micah the most hilarious smug look I have ever seen. I wish I had a picture to share! I'll have to work on getting one.

Max is really strong and has an especially strong grip. He loves to pull hair and pinch people's faces. He will get a hold on your face that hurts so bad! I honestly have to warn people when they ask if they can hold him. LOL.

I also have to warn them about Maxwell's bite. It's a doozy! He has 7 teeth now and a few more on the way. Usually he only bites me, but I still like to warn people. He has taken up biting my shoulders- to the point that they are covered in bruises! I always pull him away and firmly pat his lips and tell him, "Don't bite!"... but it just makes him laugh. *sigh* ;)

Most babies by this age are starting to make sounds like ma ma, da da, ba ba, etc. Not Maxwell. All day long he makes a "hoo" sound. It's so cute and funny! His mouth makes a perfect tiny "o". Micah has started calling him our little owl. Here's a little video of him making his owl sound. (Sorry the video is kind of random... it was the best I could get. He is starting to get distracted by the camera... and, of course, Jaxon wanted to be in the movie, too!)

Back on the 18th- when I should have posted this- I would have said that Maxwell is still nowhere close to crawling. He could push up into the crawling position, but that was about as far as he got. However, stay tuned because today (the 25th), Maxwell learned to crawl! Video to come. :)

Well, that's a little about our sweetie at 7 months. I can't imagine life without him! Love you, Maxwell!

(Max fell asleep sitting up in the shopping cart. Poor baby! LOL!)

Jaxon at 3 1/2

2011-11-21T21:56:00.004-07:00

A couple weeks ago Jaxon and I went to Chuck-E-Cheese with my cousin BreAnn and her nephew Marshall. We had not been there since Jaxon's birthday and I was amazed at how much more capable he was. The games that he needed a lot of help with before he can now play alone. Before he wanted me to stay with him all the time, but this time he wanted to play by himself a little bit. He could decide what rides he wanted to do and could also get in and insert the token all by himself. I realized that it had been 6 months since his birthday. It amazes me how much he has grown and changed in the last 6 months!

(Marshall & Jaxon at Chuck-E-Cheese)

Jaxon is so independent. It is nice that he can do a lot of things for himself now, and can even be a helper for me sometimes. He especially likes to help with Max by playing with him or sharing toys with him. That part of his independence is great. However, he has also started wanting to do things on his own time schedule, though he doesn't really understand the concept of time yet. For example, he hates having to stop playing toys at a certain time. He wants to be able to play until he is ready to stop. But he doesn't understand that the rest of the world won't stop and wait for him. Preschool, playgroup, etc. will start whether we are there or not, and if we aren't on time then we miss out. It's still a concept we are working on. :)
I should also say that Jaxon is independent-- but only when he wants to be. He still has his times when he wants to be a baby and have mommy carry him around and do everything for him. (Though I'm sure this has a lot to do with the fact that we have another baby in the house now.)

Jaxon is loving preschool. I am glad that he enjoys going. Every time I pick him up he is so excited and tells me that he had fun, but I have a hard time getting details from him. I'll ask him what he learned and he'll tell me that he doesn't know. However, randomly he will tell me something that I know I didn't teach him-- like last week he told me all the months of the year-- so I know he is learning something! (Maybe it's just a boy thing. My husband is the same way! LOL.)
For the first few weeks of preschool I was a little bit worried about Jaxon's fine motor skills. He wouldn't hold his crayon correctly- he would still hold it in his fist. He also seemed to have trouble writing letters and would scribble instead of coloring pictures carefully. The teacher (and several other people) assured me that this was normal for his age (especially for boys) and that he was doing fine. However, I decided I should find some fun activities to help him hone those skills. BUT one day Jaxon had a homework assignment that had monster trucks on it, which he was really excited about. As we were doing this assignment I found that he actually can do all these things relatively well.... he just has to want to do it. (There's that independence thing again!) I have found that if I set a specific time to do homework he may or may not be willing to do it. Now I hang his assignments on the fridge and let him decide when he wants to do them. We have much more success this way. :) He is still working on writing his letters, but recognizes all the uppercase and lowercase letters- knows most of the sounds the letters make- and can spell a few short words. A few weeks ago I was letting him play with some letter stickers. I went to make Max a bottle and when I came back I found this on the couch:

Jaxon sees everything. I have never seen anyone who pays so much attention to detail. Last week we got a book from the library that was fairly long- about 25 pages. As most books do, this book had page numbers in the bottom corner of each page. Well, except for one page that I'm assuming they left off because of the illustration. After reading this book maybe twice he asked me why that one page had no number. I really never would have noticed. He is constantly pointing little things out to me that I am sure I never would have seen. He remembers so many things, too. After watching Little Einsteins for the first time he later recited to me the name, hair color, eye color, and skin color of the 4 main characters. There have been a few instances where I read him a book 2 or 3 times and he could later recite the entire book, without missing a single word.

Jaxon has such a silly personality and he really, REALLY, wants to be funny. Unfortunately, we don't always understand his 3-year-old sense of humor. At least once a day Jaxon will say something random and if it gets no response he will say to me, "Okay, now you laugh when I say that." Whereupon he will repeat himself and I will laugh. (Micah and I spend a lot of time trying to make fake laughs sound real.) I worry that someday he is going to be the class clown... or will at least try to be. ;)

Well, that's my attempt at telling you about Jaxon at 3 1/2 years old. I wish I had the time and the eloquence to give you a better picture of this little guy. He is so sweet, silly, crazy, stubborn, energetic, and wonderful. We love you, Jaxon!

(BTW- I love, LOVE, this picture! He looks SO much like his daddy.)

(Ha ha! This picture is so Jaxon. Silly face + black eye. Yep, that's my Jaxon!)

More Pumpkin Carving

2011-11-21T21:49:00.003-07:00

I already blogged about our pumpkin carving this year... but yesterday I found these pictures on Micah's phone that I completely forgot had been taken. They are much cuter than the ones I previously posted... so I wanted to share!

This week has been a hard one...

2011-11-10T15:10:00.011-07:00

Over the weekend Jaxon seemed like he was getting a little bit sick. He had a light fever and a little sore throat, but nothing too serious. I still tried to keep him in for most of the weekend, but he seemed okay. We went to Sacrament Meeting on Sunday morning and Jaxon started coughing a little bit. I didn't want to send him to nursery so we went home and rested. However, by Monday morning he had a very wheezy, chesty cough so I took him to the pediatrician. As soon as the doctor heard him cough I could tell by the look on his face that it was bad. Turns out he has bronchiolitis- which is similar to bronchitis only deeper. :( The doctor gave him steroids to take twice a day for the next 30 days and a rescue inhaler to use when needed... in the hopes that he might actually start getting some oxygen. It's so sad to see your child be sick! It broke my heart to see a super active kid like Jaxon be so lethargic.

The appointment with the pediatrician was on Monday at 4 p.m. By the time we actually saw the doctor it was after 5. At this point Maxwell was completely fine. No warning signs that he was getting sick. Within an hour of leaving the doctor he started to cough- and by 11 p.m. he had a horrible barking cough and was gasping for air. Micah and I called my parents who kindly came over to stay with a sleeping Jaxon while we took Max to the ER. My dad and Micah also gave Max a blessing which made me feel much more calm about the situation. We had debated whether we should take Max to the hospital, an Instacare, or call our pediatrician; so I said a prayer and felt that we should take him to the AF Hospital. When we got there there was no one else in the waiting room which has never happened to me at an ER before! They brought us right back to start checking in but when the gal heard Max cough she had a nurse take him straight back to a room and let us fill out the paperwork later. The doctor and nurse on-call that night were so sweet and kind. Max was diagnosed with croup and also had a fever of just over 101. They gave him some steroids and Motrin and then had us do a cool mist breathing treatment for him. Which was basically holding a tube of mist close to his face to help clear his airways. They told us that we would probably need to do the treatment for about 30 minutes and then they would re-evaluate him and hopefully be able to send him home. No such luck. We ended up having to do the treatment for nearly 2 1/2 hours before they were willing to discharge him. They also sent us home with another dose of steroids to take later, which the nurse said they usually don't have to do. At this point it was about 4 a.m. We rushed home to relieve my poor parents and try to get some sleep ourselves.

The rest of the day Tuesday and Wednesday went about how you would imagine it would with 2 sick children and an exhausted mommy. Lots of fussing and crying from Jaxon. Maxwell would not sleep at all unless I would hold him while standing and bouncing... which is not easy to do long-term when your 6 month old weighs 21 pounds. Also, Max would make the saddest little moaning sound that would break your heart.

Wednesday night the kids were starting to feel a little bit better. I dared to hope for some sleep! But first, I was desperate to get my filthy house cleaned as we have our friend Joe coming to stay with us on Friday. Micah took care of the kids while I worked furiously. After the kids were in bed (hallelujah!) I decided to tackle cleaning the master bath and bedroom.

Our bathroom was seriously disgusting. It has not been cleaned in much longer than I am willing to admit here on my blog. Now that I have 2 kids I just don't have as much time to clean as I used to. Whenever I find myself with a spare minute I always end up working on the areas that people are actually going to see. I figure no one is going to go into our room so it has been very neglected lately. Micah went to the store last night and bought some new bathroom cleaner with bleach that I had never used before. It worked wonders on our shower so I used it to clean the bathtub as well. I actually ended up using it on almost the whole bathroom... the counter, the sink, the toilet... everything except the large mirror which I cleaned with Windex like I always do. I had no idea that Windex is made with ammonia... or that you should never mix bleach and ammonia... Altogether I was probably in the bathroom (which has no windows) for an hour and a half. I scrubbed that place from top to bottom. (And it looks amazing, by the way.) After cleaning, I took a shower and got into bed. It was about midnight by this time.

Around 1 a.m. I woke up with the most horrible pain in my stomach that I have ever felt. So of course I ran to our bathroom where I started vomiting uncontrollably and experiencing other digestive troubles. My head was spinning and everything kept going gray. I thought that I was going to pass out when I heard a voice practically yell at me and say, "Go downstairs and check the cleaning bottle for a remedy!" I was feeling so miserable that it took a lot of effort to get downstairs. When I found the bottle I couldn't find any useful information. I didn't think about this much until later when I realized that this voice probably saved my life. If I had stayed in that bathroom I know I would have passed out and Micah- who was already fast asleep- probably wouldn't have found me until morning. I'm sure that if the voice had just told me to go downstairs I probably would have ignored it since I felt too sick to move... but the thought of possibly finding relief was enough to make me do it. And, of course, just being in fresh air helped to clear my head, though my other symptoms persisted.

After spending what felt like an eternity in the downstairs bathroom I was able to crawl to the family room. Suddenly my hands started itching like crazy and I literally watched as hives and tiny blisters crawled up my arms and eventually spread across my entire body. At this point I decided that I really should wake Micah up. We called poison control and they told us we needed to go to the hospital. We weren't too thrilled about this since we were just there and since we have already spent a pretty penny on medical needs this week. However, clearly something needed to be done. We decided that Micah would give me a blessing before we made any other decisions.

It was amazing. In the blessing I was told that my body would get rid of the poison on it's own that all my symptoms would go away and I would be fine. He even blessed me that I would have the strength and energy to care for my sick sons today. Before the blessing was even over my abdominal pain went from I think I'm going to die! to just slightly uncomfortable. I went from lying on the floor in the fetal position to being able to sit up and walk around. I did have one more round of vomiting but when I had the thought "I thought I was going to be better now." I heard that same voice that spoke to me earlier say, "I'm sorry, I have to get all the poison out." After that I fell asleep. When I woke up only about 2 1/2 hours later I was completely fine. The rash and all my other symptoms were gone. I felt a little tired and slightly weak this morning, but I was able to care for my kids and as the day has progressed I have felt better and better.

Even though it has been a hard week, I find myself feeling so grateful today. I am grateful that I am watched over by a loving Heavenly Father. I am grateful that I can be guided- and sometimes even spoken to- by the Holy Ghost. I am grateful for the Priesthood and I am grateful for a righteous husband who is able to use that Priesthood to bless our family. Even when times are rough I know that I am so blessed.

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-05T15:09:00.008-06:00

We had such a fun Halloween this year! I've never been much of a fan of Halloween, but it is so much more fun when you have kids. Our Halloween lasted for several days, too, which I was happy about because Jaxon got to wear his costume 3 times. I was glad he got to wear it a lot because a) he loved it and b) my mom spent a lot of time on it!

The first Halloween event was Jaxon's preschool Halloween party. He got to wear his costume to school and he was so excited about it. His school did a really fun party with treats and some fun crafts.

Then on the Saturday before Halloween our ward had a trunk-or-treat. I wish I had taken pictures because it was lots of crazy fun. Everyone parked their cars around the park and the kids went from car to car to get candy. There were lots of fun costumes and decorated cars, too. They also had donuts and hot chocolate for everyone. Jaxon only got through about half the cars when he announced that he had plenty of candy and was ready to go home. LOL. It worked out well, though, because we had to leave early so Micah and I could help out at the Halloween Fun Run.

(Are my kids not THE CUTEST Captain Hook & Mr. Smee you have ever seen?!)

On Halloween April and I took our kids to the trunk-or-treat at the Ken Garff dealership. It was pretty cool. Jaxon was excited because there were 2 firetrucks and an ambulance there-- with firefighters handing out candy. There were also local businesses giving out candy, coupons, and certificates for things like free ice cream cones, french fries, etc. Jaxon got a ton of candy and, once again, wanted to bail before he got to the end! Luckily we got there right at the beginning and were able to get through the line pretty quickly. When we were leaving there was a ridiculously long line behind us. I'm so glad we didn't have to wait!

There was also trick-or-treating going on down main street in AF, but we decided to skip it and just head to the AF library where grandma Debby and grandpa Jim were handing out candy. Glen Ricks Photography was also there taking free pictures so I got one of me and the kids in our costumes:

And we also got one with all the grandkids that were there:

After all the trick-or-treating fun, we picked Micah up from work. The plan was that I would take the boys trick-or-treating in the neighborhood while Micah started making donuts for our Halloween party that night. However, Jaxon was totally bored of it since we had already done 2 trunk-or-treats so we skipped the neighborhood trick-or-treating. Jaxon did have a lot of fun passing out candy to the kids that came to our house, though. I was so excited that we got lots trick-or-treaters this year. I was not expecting that since we only got about 4 last year.

(Our Jake & the Neverland Pirates Family: Mandy -Izzy, Maxwell- Mr. Smee, Jaxon- Captain Hook, Micah- Jake)

The rest of the night was spent hosting a little family party at our house. For the last few years we have invited our families over for chili and homemade spudnuts. It's so fun for us to get to see everyone in their costumes-- plus eat yummy food, visit, and play games. However, my goal for next year is to have all the donuts made before the party starts... I hate that Micah and I missed the first half because we were still cooking! (And Missy, too!) We had lots of people join us this year: my mom and dad, Allan, Haylee, Charlie, David, Grandma Washburn, Aunt Emily, Jim, Debby, Joe, Missy, Malia, JJ, Maizie, April, Spencer, and Devon. (I only got a couple of pictures. :( Darn time-consuming donuts! ;)

Thanks to our families for a fun night! I hope you had a happy Halloween, too!

Carving Pumpkins

2011-11-05T14:56:00.002-06:00

Every year before Halloween we carve pumpkins with my family. This year we carved them on Saturday because Halloween was on Monday. It was a lot of fun visiting, carving, and eating a tasty lunch. Jaxon was actually old enough to participate a little bit- which was extra fun. He helped me carve my pumpkin and then made some "potato head" pumpkins with my mom. The only bad thing was that that particular Saturday turned out to be really busy for us. After carving pumpkins we had to rush home and get the kids dressed for our ward trunk-or-treat and then Micah and I were off to help out at the AF Halloween Fun Run. We were in such a rush that I didn't get any pictures of the family carving, or pictures of anyone else's pumpkins. In fact, I forgot my camera all together and ended up taking the pictures below on Halloween. But we sure had a fun time and I can't wait to do it again next year!

Micah's pumpkin. (It's an angry bird. Kind of hard to tell from this picture.)

My pumpkin.

Jaxon's pumpkin.

Max's pumpkin... made by Jaxon.

Max at 6 months

2011-11-03T21:58:00.005-06:00

Another month has gone by. Max is now 6 months old! Actually, he turned 6 months back on the 18th of October... but I think I am giving up on trying to post on the actual day. ;)

Here are the stats from his 6 month check-up with the pediatrician:

Height: 27.3 inches: 74.89%
Weight: 21.4 lbs: 95.11 %
Head Circumference: 17.3 inches: 48.57%

The nurse about died when she weighed Max. It was kind of funny. While he was on the scale he was being so cute and cooing and smiling at her. I think she was a bit distracted and didn't really pay attention to the number she was writing down. Then a few minutes later she looked down at her chart and said, "Oh my gosh! Is he really 21 pounds?!?" LOL. I was a little bit concerned when I saw that he had gone up to 95% for weight but was down to about 75% for height... but Uncle Mike says that he is doing just fine. He says that he is a perfectly healthy baby and he will probably drop in weight a bit once he starts crawling/ walking. I was actually a little relieved to see that his height is slowing down a bit. Maybe he will stay in the same size clothes for a few months. ;)

The only other thing we really discussed at this appointment was the fact that Max had stopped sleeping through the night. For about 3 weeks Max started getting up 2-4 times per night. (And once or twice was up for almost the entire night!) I thought that our luck had just run out and we would have to deal with it. However, Mike said that it is not normal for a baby to suddenly stop sleeping through the night and we needed to figure out what was going on. It took a few days of trial and error, but we have now had 4 successful nights. (Sleeping from at least 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.) Yahoo! Here's what we discovered. First, I don't think Max was eating enough during the day. Despite what you might guess- he really doesn't eat much. And during the day it's even harder to feed him because he is so distracted by whatever is going on around him. So we've been working on that. We're also starting to think that he has a sensitivity or allergy to rice cereal because we finally realized that the bad nights always corresponded to him eating rice cereal. Hopefully these discoveries will help us to continue to have good nights!

Some other things about Max at 6 months:

On the day he turned 6 months he cut his 3rd tooth, and number 4 followed a few days later.

He is chewing on everything and especially loves shoe laces for some reason.

Max is starting to push up into the crawling position, but still doesn't seem to have much interest in crawling. He can scoot or army crawl if he sees something he really wants... so I don't think he sees a purpose to crawling.

Standing and walking, on the other hand, he is much more interested in. He can't pull himself up yet, but he can stand for a long time if you put him next to a couch or chair. He thinks he is so grown up and is always trying to stand without holding onto anything. Of course he always falls, but he keeps trying! If only he would put that kind of effort into crawling. ;)

Max is not a fan of the cold weather and has started sleeping at night in this cute little Pooh Bear suit that my mom got him. He loves it!

And Max loves, loves, LOVES, his big brother Jaxon! He gets so upset when Jaxon is sad, and becomes hysterical if he thinks someone is trying to hurt him. One night I was pretending to be a lion and chase Jaxon because he wouldn't put his pajamas on. It was all in good fun- and Jaxon was loving it- but Max totally freaked out. He screamed a scream of terror that you would not imagine capable from one so young. It was completely heart breaking, but so sweet. We have to be really careful because Max will freak out sometimes if we are just chasing or tickling Jaxon. Jaxon loves his brother, too! They are so sweet and loving toward each other. It makes me so happy!

That pretty much sums up 6 months. I'm sure 7 months will be here before I know it!

Father & Son

2011-11-03T21:53:00.002-06:00

This is a picture of Micah when he was 3 years old. Isn't he so cute? When we had our family pictures taken a few weeks ago, Micah thought to get a picture of Jaxon in the same pose. Love it! I had to wait to share until I could post them both. :)

While it lasts...

2011-10-23T15:12:00.001-06:00

After a week or two of cold and rain, we've gotten some nice days back. I've been taking the kids to the park a lot so we can enjoy the warm weather while it's here. I'm sure winter will come before we know it!

Cool Dude

2011-10-23T15:10:00.000-06:00

I found this random picture of Max on Micah's phone. It looks like it was taken a couple months ago, but it was so cute I had to share!

Cornbelly's

2011-10-20T22:32:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday we got to go to Cornbelly's with Joe, Missy, and their kids. Their dentist gave out free tickets and they were able to get some for us, too! It was CRAZY! There were a million people there and they had so many different things to see. We never even made it to the corn maze! But the kids had a blast. It was kind of scary at first because there were so many people. At some point during the night we lost each of the three older kids. However, once it got dark and cold the non-crazy parents took their kids home and we were actually able to enjoy ourselves for a while! LOL. The kids loved jumping on the huge pillow and in the various bounce houses. They also liked the hay ride and just running around and climbing on all the different toys. Jaxon even got to ride a mechanical bull. It was such a fun night. We always love spending time with the cousins! Thanks, guys! :)

Balloons

2011-10-20T22:19:00.000-06:00

Why do kids love balloons so much?

Last week Orange Soda celebrated their 5th birthday. Micah brought some balloons home for the kids. This was Max's first experience with a balloon and he was mesmerized. He loved it. For days all he wanted was his balloon.

Yes, it even went on a walk with him.

Gotta love the simple joys in life! :)

Our Garden

2011-10-20T21:50:00.000-06:00

I think our garden did quite well this year. I am very impressed by Micah and all his hard work! This is only our second year with a garden and we have been able to enjoy lots of vegetables! For weeks our counter has looked like this...

I love having fresh vegetables! They really do taste so much better. I think our biggest crop this year was zucchini. Which is very surprising... considering the fact that we didn't plant any zucchini! Yes, I'm serious, we did not plant any zucchini. And yet, somehow, a zucchini plant started growing amid our strawberries and for the last 3 or 4 months we have gotten a large zucchini every couple days. The reason we didn't plant zucchini originally is because Micah hates zucchini-- but I love it, so I've been glad to have it! I did find a really good (and pretty healthy) zucchini muffin recipe that Micah has been able to enjoy. :) In addition to zucchini we have had spaghetti squash, butternut squash, watermelon, tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, peas, and strawberries.

Last week for family home evening we had a harvest day. We picked all the final vegetables before the frost could get them. It sounded like a fun activity to Micah and I... but the kids didn't agree. Max cried the entire time, and we could only get Jaxon to join us outside by letting him play games on my phone. Oh well-- you win some, you lose some! :)

Micah had fun though. Isn't this a frightening picture? Yikes! LOL!

Anyway, I'm so proud of my hubby and can't wait to see how we do next year!

Camping at Zions

2011-10-20T15:10:00.000-06:00

Over Conference weekend our family went camping at Zions National Park. Our dear friends Max and Brityn are currently living in Henderson, NV while Max attends PA school-- which means we rarely get a chance to see them. When they suggested meeting up at Zions for a weekend camping trip we were so excited! Our friends the Cheneys and April and Spencer came as well. It was so fun to get at least part of our group together!

Micah took that Friday off work so we could get an early start. We met up with the Cheney's around 10 a.m. and headed out. The boys did quite well in the car. I was a little worried that Maxwell would cry the whole time, but he didn't! He slept for all but 30 minutes and was happy for the short time he was awake. We arrived at Watchman campground around 2:00 and started setting up camp. Within a few hours everyone had arrived and everything was set up.

Here's some pictures of Max, Jaxon, and Elise relaxing at our campsite:

That night Max & Brityn made us a delicious dutch oven dinner- chicken, potatoes, veggies, rolls, and stuffed mushrooms. Yum! After dinner we sat around the campfire visiting, eating smores, and watching the kids play with glowsticks. (BTW- Brityn brought Reese's Peanut Butter Cups to use on the smores instead of plain chocolate. Oh my goodness- it was so good! Why have we never thought of this before?)

(I stole these pictures from April's blog. Aren't they cool?)

The next morning the Cheney's made us a tasty pancake and sausage breakfast.

This is a picture of Jaxon "reading" to Madeline while waiting for breakfast. So cute! :)

Then we all took a hike to the Temple of Sinawava. It was a nice easy hike- we were even able to take strollers for the babies. Our plan was to let everyone do the easy hike and then after lunch the moms would stay with the kids while the dads hiked Angels Landing. However, despite the easiness of the hike, it still took us all day! We left the campsite around 9:30 and didn't get back until after 3 p.m.! First, we had to take a shuttle to the hiking trail. Though the trail was only about a mile it took us over an hour each way just trying to keep all the toddlers in tow! Jaxon is so funny on any kind of walk or hike. He has to stop and look at everything!- bugs, flowers, etc. At one point he saw some running water and made Micah and I stop and sing two rounds of "Give Said the Little Stream" before he would move on. LOL.

(The little stream. Ha ha!)

At the end of the hike there is a large pool and everyone had so much fun playing in the water we spent a long time there, too:

(Micah, Elise, Max, Jaxon, Brityn, Madeline, Kim, Craig, and Dalton)

(Spencer and Elise. I thought this picture of them just hanging out was so cute!)

(Elise and Jaxon)

(Dalton)

Max actually enjoyed the water-- even though it was freezing!

(April and baby Devon)

Max finally had enough fun. He pulled his hat over his eyes and went to sleep....

When we got back to camp we had a late lunch and let some of the kids nap. Since lunch was so late we decided to go on a walk before dinner. We walked down to a river near our camp and let the kids throw rocks. Since we had already cleaned up our wet kids once that day, the moms really didn't want to do so again. We were very clear with the kids that they needed to stay dry, but they could throw rocks. So, of course, the dads decided they needed to get in the water. LOL. They were doing flips and diving and doing all sorts of crazy things. ;) I didn't have my camera, but I'm hoping I can get some pictures from Kim or Brityn.

That night Micah and I made chili for dinner. The dinner turned out well, but Micah burned his hand while he was cooking. :( He was using the dutch oven over a fire and wanted to move the dutch oven. He used a glove that he thought was a welding glove... but it wasn't. The handle from the dutch oven burned right through the glove and gave him quite a burn. I felt so bad for him! Happily, after lots of cold running water and some Burn Free he started feeling a lot better. :) This picture was actually taken a couple days later at home...

After dinner we made more smores and visited for a while. Then everyone went to bed except me, Kim, Craig, and Max. We stayed up late and talked which was so fun. That was always my favorite thing to do when we used to go camping before we had kids. :)

Sunday morning was just packing up and going home. It was so sad! The weekend went too fast! I'm glad that we got to go, though. I love that we can go months without seeing Max and Brityn, but when we get together it's as if no time has passed. And I always love spending time with the Cheneys and the Whitmores!

Family Pictures

2011-10-09T00:34:00.001-06:00

I am addicted to ksl's free classifieds. Yeah, most of what is on there is junk... but every now and then you can find something great. For example, two weeks ago I was perusing the ads when I found one for a free family photo shoot. I followed up with the gal and found out that she is majoring in photography and needs more pictures for her portfolio. She was offering the shoot for free (with a disc of all the pictures) as long as we would agree to let her use the images in her portfolio. She was really nice and I think she did a pretty good job- and hey, the price was right!
The only bad thing was that we couldn't get the boys to smile much the morning of the shoot-- so out of character for my boys! But I think we still got some good pictures. :)

(This one is Micah's favorite. Love the Salt Lake Temple in the background!)

Matching Jammies

2011-10-09T00:14:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago, my mom bought some adorable matching pajamas for her 3 grandsons. The plan was to give them to the boys on a Sunday when we were all together and then get some pictures of the trio. Unfortunately, we grown-ups got caught up in a game of Five Crowns and didn't get the kids dressed until they were all tired and grumpy. Here are our attempts at getting some good pictures...

Well, they're still cute little guys... even if they're not all smiling! Live and learn, right?

The jammies came as a set of 2 so I put my boys in the other pair the next night and got a much better picture:

Success!

It's just too bad we're missing Charlie. :(

Tut Tut... It Looks Like Rain

2011-10-08T23:57:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago- when it was still warm- we had a rainy day and I let Jaxon play outside. I couldn't help but think of Christopher Robin as I watched him.

Oh, What A World

2011-10-08T23:33:00.000-06:00

Jaxon loves Oreos. He loves them. I would say he loves them more than any other food on the planet. He usually refers to them as "daddy cookies" because it's a treat he generally shares with Micah. They happen to be one of Micah's favorite treats as well.

I, on the other hand, am not a fan.

A couple weeks ago Jaxon was enjoying an Oreo and asked me if I would like one. I kept telling him no, but he persisted in offering one to me. Finally I told him that I just don't really like Oreos. He looked at me like I had just told him Santa Claus wasn't real. He couldn't even seem to comprehend what I was saying. He kept asking me why and saying, "But they're really good!!" I tried to explain to him that everyone has different tastes and pointed out some foods that I like that he doesn't care for... but he still seemed confused. I didn't realize how upset he was getting until suddenly he put his head in his hands and started sobbing. I felt so bad that I immediately wrapped my arms around him and told him I was sorry-- I was just teasing and I really do like Oreos. He was still upset that I would joke about something so important, but eventually he stopped crying. For the next few days he would randomly come up to me and say, "Mom, you like Oreos, right?" and I would confirm that yes, of course I like them.

I guess he's just not ready to accept the fact that he lives in a world where some people don't like Oreos. ;)

Max At 5 Months

2011-10-08T22:53:00.000-06:00

I planned to write this post on the actual day that Max turned 5 months... and here we are 3 weeks later! Ha ha! But I still wanted to share some new pictures of our little cutie and tell you all what he's been up to...

At 5 months Max is sitting up really well. He can't get into the sitting position by himself, but once he's there he can stay for a long time.

Though we had to stop using the bouncer chair because he did figure out how to sit up in that!

He is also rolling all over the place and has figured out that he can roll or scoot on his tummy to get to things he wants.

He has gotten to sample more solid foods and seems to like squash and zucchini the best. He also likes watermelon and oranges-- though technically he shouldn't be eating them yet. Shhhh... don't tell!

Actually, his very favorite thing is ice water. He loves it! He would drink ice water all day if I would let him. It's to the point that I can't even have a drink without him crying for me to share!

Max has started pulling this face a lot:

Micah and I think it's hilarious! I think it is especially funny to us because Jaxon never closed his mouth! He always looked like this:

Anyway, that's Max at 5 months. We just can't get enough of this little sweetie!

First Day of Preschool

2011-09-24T14:57:00.000-06:00

On September 6th Jaxon had his first day of preschool! He is attending preschool two days a week at the Lehi Legacy Center. He is loving it! I think he was a little nervous about it the first day. All morning he kept telling me that he felt sick, but he wasn't showing any symptoms of illness. After his first class he was back to his usual self. He told me that he had been scared to go at first, but then he had fun and wanted to go back. :)

The first day was so much harder for me than I expected. I worried about him so much! I worried about him being able to listen to the teacher and follow the rules. I worried about him fitting in and making friends. It really made me start to think about the future and whether or not I am doing enough to prepare him. His class is only 2 hours long, but after just 1 hour I had worried myself into a frenzy! I decided that I would go early to pick him up so that I could peek through the window and see how he was doing. As I was driving there I started to feel a little silly, but when I arrived I found 12 other moms there doing the same thing! It made me feel much better knowing that I was not the only one freaking out! LOL!

After that first day of class, Jaxon has been so excited every day that he has school. I am glad that he is enjoying it. I can't believe my baby is so grown up!

Labor Day

2011-09-23T14:33:00.001-06:00

On Labor Day we took our annual trip to the Hogle Zoo. Every year since Jaxon was born my mom, my brother David, and I have taken him to the zoo on Labor Day. This year was especially fun as several others joined us as well: Maxwell, of course, got to come for his first visit, plus Micah had the day off and was able to join us, also Allan, Haylee, Charlie, and my Aunt Emily. Lots of fun was had by all! We watched animals, rode the carousel, ate a picnic lunch, and finished with a ride on the train.

Max loved being outside, but definitely had no idea where we were. Ha ha! Jaxon is at the perfect age for the zoo and loved seeing the animals-- especially the birds and tigers. His only disappointment was that he really wanted to see a wolf, but they were always hiding from us. I loved getting to watch Micah spend time with our boys- he is such a cute daddy. And I know Micah loved having a day off work and being able to be with the family!

Here's some pictures from our fun day!

Happy baby!

Allan, Charles, Micah, and Jaxon

Allan & Charlie. I love Charlie's sweet little smiles!

Max and Charlie being apes...

Jaxon is trying to be as tall as a giraffe!

Awww... all my cute boys!

Jaxon wanted to give Max a ride- LOL!

This is what Max was doing for most of the zoo trip.

Ha ha! Love these next two pictures...

Riding the carousel...

Peek-a-boo!

Our family on the train.

I had to include a picture of Max with the stuffed tiger he got, because he loves it! We held up several different stuffed animals and he would always reach for this tiger. The whole way home he held it, cooed at it, and giggled. It was so adorable!

A Real Pirate

2011-09-10T21:55:00.000-06:00

It's only been a week since my last post, but I already have so much that I want to add to my blog. I decided to start with what happened to Jaxon today- even though it's out of order. It's funny that my last post was about Jaxon's love of pirates, because today and tomorrow Jaxon gets to be a real pirate. Well, at least that's what the doctor told him about the eye patch he "gets" to wear:

This morning our family was shopping at Costco when Jaxon accidentally poked himself in the eye. I'm not sure if he was trying to wipe something from his eye, or if the cart just jerked, or what- but he ended up poking his eye with his fingernail. When we got home from shopping his eye was still bothering him. When we looked at it we could easily see a large scratch across his eye. I really wasn't sure what to do so I called my pediatrician's after-hours clinic. They told me to get him down there ASAP! The nurse said that he would probably be more comfortable if we could get him to keep his eye shut and suggested we put a bandage or a patch on his eye. So we got him a pirate eye patch. But then he wouldn't let us put on his tennis shoes because, "Pirates don't wear tennis shoes!" and then he wanted to wear the Captain Hook jacket that my mom lent us for his Halloween costume. Here is a picture of him at the doctors office. LOL!

When the doctor came in she asked me what happened. I told her that Jaxon had poked himself in the eye with his fingernail. Then she said, "So you brought him in because he is still complaining about the pain?" and I replied, "Yes, plus you can see a big scratch across his eye." For a split second I could see on her face that she thought I was a crazy person. At this point I didn't understand why she would look at me like that. She started getting out some equipment and explained to us that she was going to put some drops in Jaxon's eye and then look at it with a special light to see if there was a corneal abrasion. I thought it was kind of silly that she would need to use a special light since the scratch was so easy to see... but I'm no doctor so I kept my thoughts to myself. Pretty soon it all made sense. As soon as she opened Jaxon's eye to apply the drops she said, "WHOA! Change of plans! I guess I don't need my light. There is obviously a corneal abrasion. Please wait here. I need to go call the optometrist who is on-call today." Apparently, you should not be able to see a corneal abrasion as easily as we could see Jaxon's. Hence she was thinking I was crazy- while I was thinking she was crazy for needing all that equipment!
Jaxon was given some medicine for his eye and then got his "real" pirate eye patch. I was told to go home and put him straight to bed for a long nap and make sure he gets lots of sleep tonight. We're supposed to check his eye in the morning and see if it looks like it's improving. If not, we will need to go see the optometrist tomorrow morning... so everyone pray that it looks better! If his eye looks like it is healing he will just need to wear the eye patch for one more day and have eye drops for a few days. Hopefully by this time next week his eye will be good as new!
Jaxon was so great for the doctor today! I was so proud of him. He held still and was really calm while the doctor checked his eye and applied the medicine. He has been really good about not rubbing his eye and leaving the eye patch alone. He is such a great little guy! I hope that his eye will be feeling a lot better tomorrow!

A Pirate's Life For Me

2011-09-04T22:36:00.000-06:00

Jaxon's newest obsession is pirates. This is the first interest ever that is starting to rival his passion for cars and trains.
Since the day after his 3rd birthday he has starting planning his next birthday party. The theme has always been either cars or trains. That is, until last week when he announced that he wanted a pirate birthday party. (Now, I realize that this will change many more times before his birthday actually arrives...in 8 more months... I was just surprised that he would ever consider anything other than cars or trains!)
This new obsession is definitely due to the fact that we recently got t.v. back and Disney has a new show called Jake and the Never Land Pirates:

I find this new interest to be quite entertaining because Jaxon has started using a lot of pirate jargon. On Friday night several of our cul-de-sac neighbors were outside hanging out and watching the kids ride bikes. Suddenly the sky was filled with clouds and the wind picked up. Jaxon looked up, hopped off his bike and yelled, "Oh no, everyone! Thar's a storm a-brewin'!" All of us were cracking up.

Jaxon has decided that he wants to be Captain Hook for Halloween. He informed me that he would like Maxwell to be his Mr. Smee. Ha ha! I actually think these costumes are going to be adorable. However, Jaxon also has plans for Micah and I. He told Micah that he needs to be Jake. (Pictured above) Upon hearing this, I assumed that he would also pick a character from the show for me to be, so I asked him if I get to be Izzy:

To this Jaxon replied: "No, mom! You're the crocodile!"

So Much For Trying To Plan Ahead

2011-09-04T22:15:00.000-06:00

Before Maxwell was born, I went through all of Jaxon's baby clothes and organized them. This took a lot of work because as Jaxon grew out of clothes I just randomly stuffed them into whatever box/bin/bag that I could find and threw them into the shed. It took a couple days to find everything, kill all the spiders (never using containers that aren't airtight again!), wash the clothes, then organize them by size. Because of all this work- and not wanting to enter the spider lair again any time soon- I decided to keep all the clothes up to 9 months in the house. I figured this would give me at least 6 months before I would have to get the larger ones. Well, so much for that plan! Max is now wearing 9-12 month clothes. (The outfit above is a 12 month!) Friday I was forced to get out the larger clothes and box up all the smaller ones. I will say that it was easier this time since they were already organized by size and in spider-proof containers. :) However, this time I am bringing in everything up to 24 months. Here's hoping that will last us a while!

So Grown Up

2011-08-28T23:19:00.001-06:00

Lately, I have been noticing how grown up Jaxon is. Maybe it's because I now have a little guy to compare him to, or maybe it's because for the first time I had to shop for him in the boys department instead of toddlers. At any rate, I am so amazed by how big and smart and competent he is. I love him so much and I love watching him grow up.

These are some pictures that I took this morning before church. I especially love the "cool dude" pose. Doesn't he just look like a little man?

Wisdom Teeth

2011-08-28T22:46:00.000-06:00

Well, Micah finally got his wisdom teeth removed this week. His appointment ended up changing from Wednesday to Thursday, which was probably a blessing since things didn't go as well as he had planned. Not to worry, there were no complications... just the "simple" procedure of having 4 giant, cavity riddled teeth ripped out of his mouth. ;)

He really thought that he would be able to go back to work after his appointment. Luckily, he has a great boss (who probably knew better- ha ha) that let him have off the rest of Thursday- and Friday, too. Micah is one of those lucky people who is rarely sick or injured. I think he just had no idea what he was up against with this procedure. I don't think he knew how much pain it would cause and how much the medicines they prescribed would affect him. This was his first time ever taking a strong pain killer. He was so tired and loopy the first time he took it. It was really weird for me to see him that way. The craziest thing to me is that this is the first time Micah recalls ever feeling nauseous! That is just insane. In fact, the dentist prescribed an anti-nausea medication for him and originally we decided not to fill it. Then on Friday morning when he was all full of pain pills, steroids, and antibiotics he started feeling sick and we had the following conversation:

Micah: My stomach is feeling weird... kind of like it's churning.
Me: Should I go fill your anti-nausea prescription?
Micah: Oh, is that what this feeling is?

Umm... hello... yes!!! Just go ahead and times that by 4 and have it every single day for 9 months. That's what I call pregnancy. (I'm not at all bitter.)

Luckily, he is feeling quite a bit better now. I'm hoping that he will be able to have a good week and be able to recover quickly. I have to say that I have the most amazing husband ever. Even though he has been feeling yucky this weekend he has still been helpful and sweet to me and the kids. He has spent a lot of time with them this weekend- which, I must admit, seems crazy to me! There have been a couple times when I had to go somewhere and he insisted on me leaving one of the kids home with him. I, of course, planned to keep them with me so that he could relax- but he really wanted to be with them. He insisted on taking advantage of the extra time he had at home, which I think is incredible. I want you all to know that I think my husband is the best and I am so lucky to have him! I hope you feel better soon, sweetie! Love you!

PS- I was going to post a picture of Micah's teeth (which he kept!) but then I decided it was too gross. I hope all of your eyes are grateful. lol.

4 Month Check-Up

2011-08-28T21:50:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday Max had his four month check up. In the words of Uncle Mike (our pediatrician): "That's one big freakin' four month old!" Here are his current stats:

Weight: 17.68 lbs: 91.16%
Height: 26.75 inches: 94.73%
Head Circumference: 16.63 inches: 46.52%

We're still trying to do lots of tummy time... but no other concerns for this appointment. Yahoo! That's what we like to hear! :)

(By the way... should a 4-month-old be riding in a cart like this? lol.)

We did learn one new thing at this appointment, however. They have once again changed the guidelines for when and what you can feed your baby. Now at 4 months they can start having cereals as well as some fruits and veggies. You'd never believe it from his size, but Max really doesn't eat much. With Jaxon we couldn't wait until the day he could eat rice cereal because he really needed the extra sustenance. I don't know that Max necessarily "needs" it yet, but I'm really excited to let him try some new foods because he is so curious about it. He is so interested in what we eat and is always trying to grab food out of my hands. So far we have only given him applesauce (homemade- unsweetened)...

... and I am not sure how much he liked it...

...but he seemed so happy to be able to join the family in eating at the table!

Jack Jack look-alike?

2011-08-22T23:09:00.000-06:00

Recently I have had several people tell me that they think Max looks like baby Jack Jack from The Incredibles. I haven't seen the movie in a while, so I decided to pull up a picture online. I think it must be something about the shape of Max's face and his ears. LOL. I love my cute little guy!

Dentist

2011-08-22T22:23:00.000-06:00

(Jaxon showing off his pearly whites!)

Last week we took Jaxon to the dentist for the first time. He did such a great job! Micah and I both had appointments as well, and I happened to get called back first, so Micah was with Jaxon for his actual appointment. However, 3 different hygienists came in to tell me how good he was being and how cute he was. He let the hygienist do the full cleaning and let the dentist do the exam. Apparently he was also smiling and winking at all the girls that worked there! (Oh my! What am I going to do with this kid when he is a teenager?) Anyway, I was really proud of him for being so good. I am also happy that we found a dentist we like. Jaxon seemed to actually enjoy the appointment and was really excited about his new toothbrush, toothpaste, etc. from the dentist. Unfortunately, they found 3 cavities... so we'll see how much he still likes the dentist in a couple weeks. :(

In other dental news... Micah is getting his wisdom teeth out on Wednesday! When he was younger his dentist told him that he didn't need to have them removed because there was plenty of room in his mouth and they were coming in straight. I have to say that I have never heard of a dentist recommending to keep wisdom teeth! I always heard that it was best to remove them regardless because they are usually weaker and harder to keep clean. Well, all of Micah's wisdom teeth now have cavities and one is even cracked. He has been in a lot of pain for the last few weeks, so I am glad that he is finally getting them out. I hope all goes well on Wednesday. Micah thinks he is going to walk out of the office and head back to work. LOL. We'll see how that plan works for him! I'll keep you all posted. ;)

Day Camping

2011-08-08T15:43:00.000-06:00

This last weekend we were invited to go camping with my cousin BreAnn and her family. Unfortunately, Micah already had plans for Saturday and couldn't go with us. I debated a few options (like going over-night with both boys by myself- yikes!) but ended up just taking Jaxon for the day. I'm really glad that I got to spend an afternoon with only Jaxon. It was fun to talk to him and give him all the attention he wanted. We went to McDonald's for lunch (his choice) then met up with BreAnn and Aunt Judi around 12:30 and followed them to the campsite. It was such a fun, lazy afternoon. We just talked and played-- and I let Jax spend the day deciding what we would do. He especially loved the hammocks that Bre brought, and playing in the little stream near our campsite.
That night my mom, David, Max, Grandma Washburn, and Aunt Emily joined us for dinner. The food was amazing! My Aunt Judi made Au Jus sandwiches (a family fave), BBQ pork chops, potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, and apple pudding cake. BreAnn brought all the fixing for s'mores. Plus, I brought fresh fruit and chocolate chip cookies, and my mom brought a tasty spinach salad. It was so fun to sit around the fire and eat and talk. We stayed until the boys were exhausted (translation- Max was screaming), then headed back home. It was such a fun day! Maybe next time I'll brave staying over-night.

...maybe! :)

BreAnn relaxing in the hammock.

Does Jax look like he's having fun?

Max loved it, too!

Uncle David and Jaxon- just being silly.

Jeremy (Lindsay's boyfriend), Lindsay, and BreAnn visiting by the fire.

Aunt Emily & Grandma trying to keep warm while they visit!

Bre holding baby Max.

Max at 3 1/2 months

2011-08-08T15:06:00.000-06:00

Max is 3 1/2 months old now. It's crazy how time flies! He is growing and changing so much!

Max is now awake for a good portion of the day. On an average day he will wake up around 7-7:30 a.m. He generally takes 2 half hour naps in the morning and a 3-4 hour nap in the afternoon. Sometimes he'll take another little 30 minute nap in the evening, then he goes to bed for good between 9:30 and 10 p.m. Now and then he will sleep all the way from 9:30- 7 a.m.-- but many nights takes a bottle between 5-6 and then goes back to bed. I think he is an amazing sleeper for how young he is! It seems like we got up with Jaxon twice a night until he was a year old! I am so spoiled by this little guy. Plus, he and Jaxon both take a long nap in the afternoon so on most days I have a couple hours to myself! :)

Max almost always holds his hands the way you see them in the picture below. I'm not sure why- but he has done this since birth.

Well, actually, in the last few weeks he has started doing a lot of this with his hands:

I can't decide how I feel about this. It's nice that he doesn't want his binkie anymore, because he couldn't keep it in by himself. I always had to hold it in for him- which got really tiring. However, I hate that now his fingers are always wet and yucky. Oh well, I suppose there are pros and cons either way. ;)

I think the main reason for the sudden finger chewing is due to teething. Max already has 2 teeth and looks to have more on the way! I took the picture below on Friday when he only had one tooth, but a second one broke through on Saturday.

Max is so alert and loves to watch people- especially Jaxon. He is very happy and it's easy to get a smile from him. I have even gotten a few giggles in the last 2 weeks, but those are harder to come by. The only times I have gotten him to laugh were by making silly noises-- but the same noise will not work more than once. I will having him cracking up, but when I try to do the same thing later he just looks at me like, "C'mon mom. I'm so over that now." Ha ha. He likes to make noises, too. Especially if someone is talking to him. Of course, he talks to Jaxon the most. He really loves his older brother already! Luckily, Jaxon is the same way with Max. Today Jax spent 30 minutes just talking about how cute Max is. :)

Max is starting to grab for toys now and can get them to his mouth about 70% of the time. He can still roll from tummy to back and can almost roll from back to tummy. He loves to stand up all the time- not just sit up- he has to be standing! He also loves jumping and has so much fun in the jumper toy that Joe and Missy are letting us borrow.

(I love this picture! He looks so sweet.)

(Ha ha! Love the face in this one!)

I had to include the next picture because it blows me away how big Max is getting! Doesn't he look like he could just stand up and walk away?

(BTW- This is a picture of Jaxon holding Max and their new cousin Devon. Jaxon really wanted to hold both babies!)

Believe it or not, Max was the exact same height and weight as Devon when he was born! Such a change in just 3 1/2 months! I can't wait to hear Max's new stats at his next check up in 2 weeks. I'll post more about our sweet little boy then!

The Monster

2011-07-29T23:04:00.000-06:00

As most kids do, Jaxon sometimes gets scared at night. He'll see something scary on a show or in a book and then get nervous when he is alone in his room at night. At least once a week we have to check his room for tigers, giants, bats, etc.

Two nights ago, after putting Jaxon to bed, I heard him calling my name. I went upstairs and he told me that there was a monster in his room. Here's how the conversation went:

Jaxon: There's a monster in my room.
Me: It's okay, sweetie. There's no monster in your room.
Jaxon: Yes there is.
Me: Sweetheart, monsters aren't real. There's no monster in your room. It's okay.
Jaxon: Yes! There is a monster in my room! He's right there! HE HAS GLARING EYES AND SHARP TEETH! (Points across the room.)

Oh...

Sorry Sully. Maybe he'll like you when he's older.

Pioneer Day

2011-07-29T22:43:00.000-06:00

This year we had a fun, low-key Pioneer Day. Micah and my brother Allan both had to work, but Haylee and I took our boys and met up with my parents and David for a little picnic in the park. Micah's company had a party a few weeks ago at an awesome park in Alpine. It was so much fun that Jaxon has not stopped talking about it. The park is huge and has 4 different playgrounds with really unique toys. Plus they have a splash pad and a couple different pavilions with tables and lots of shade. I really wanted to take our family to this park and we had a great time eating lunch and playing. (Once I actually remembered how to get there- LOL.) I didn't do a great job of getting pictures on the toys because I couldn't play with Jax and take them at the same time, but here are the few I took...

This is the splash pad. Jaxon loved it, though I'm hoping it will stay warm long enough that we can go back once the older kids are in school. ;)

Charles & Grandpa having fun!

I guess grandpa had too much fun... he needed a little rest with Max.

Yummy cookies!

I had to throw in both of these pictures of Charlie, because they're so darn cute!

Happy Pioneer Day!

Holiday Weekend in Roosevelt

2011-07-06T17:17:00.000-06:00

This last weekend Micah and I took the kids to Roosevelt to see Lani, Steve, Lily, Amara, Roberta, Tom, and Geoff. Joe, Missy, their kids, Jake, and Kelli were there, too. It was so fun to spend the long holiday weekend with everyone! We all stayed at Lani's house so it was fun and crazy!

We got up there Friday night around 7:00. Mom and Lani had a tasty dinner waiting for us when we arrived. We all ate and visited and then got settled in for the night.

Saturday morning we got up early and drove to Dinosaur National Monument in Vernal. We did a short little hike where you get to see real dinosaur fossils in the rocks. It was pretty cool and I think the kids had a good time. I'm not sure how well they understood, though. We showed JJ some fossils and the rest of the hike he would point to any rock and yell, "Dinosaur bones!" Ha ha! Luckily, the hike was short because it was so hot that morning!

Daddy & Max- ready to hit the trail!

What are you guys doing to me?

Micah, Max, Lily, and Malia.

Maizie rockin' the gangsta look.

I love this picture of the kids surrounding Micah and Jake. :)

Jake impressing us with his rock climbing skills.

I love Amara's hiking outfit- especially the cowboy boots!

Jaxon wanted to hike all by himself. Sometimes he is so stubbornly independent. I wonder where he gets that from...

Uncle Jake! (Kelli stayed at Lani's because she wasn't feeling well... she's expecting a baby due in December!)

Taking a rest.

Silly face!

Cousins! Amara, Lily, Jaxon, Malia, and JJ.

This is the vertebrae of some kind of dinosaur... the guide told us what kind, but I wasn't paying close attention. ;) Still cool, though!

Jaxon is touching part of the femur bone to another dinosaur. Again... not paying close attention to what kind. I guess I was more worried about one of the little kids falling off the edge of the mountain!

The kids had so much fun being together!

Baby Max- all tuckered out.

Joe had the great idea to buy pinwheels for all the kids at the gift shop. The kids loved them and it kept them entertained for most of the day. Although Jaxon kept trying to use his as a pizza cutter... ;)

Joe with Maizie, Jake, Steve, and Micah with Max.

Daddy is so strong! He can carry both boys at the same time while hiking. Phew- what a workout!

After the hike we had a picnic lunch at a little historical site near Dinosaur National Monument. It's a cabin that was built in the 1900's by Josie Morris. She lived there all alone in the middle of nowhere! She had quite an interesting life-- including some interaction with Butch Cassidy. It was fun to walk through her cabin and read a little about her life. There were lots of trees around so we were able to sit in the shade while we ate and let the kids run around.

We don't need a picnic lunch... just a binkie, please! (And no, this is no trick of the camera. Max really is twice the size of Maizie!)

After lunch we went back to Lani's and got cleaned up and let the kids nap. After naps and dinner we all went to see Cars 2. Jaxon has been looking forward to seeing this movie for a long time. He has watched the trailers over and over to the point that he has them memorized! Week after week he has asked if he could see it and we had to tell him that it wasn't out yet. So, needless to say, he was really excited about going to the movie. This was his first time in a theater, too. He was almost as excited about the candy, popcorn, and root beer as he was about the movie! It sounds like he had a great time watching the movie... though from what I hear it wasn't the best. Luckily, he is so young that he didn't understand most of it and was just excited to see all the characters that he loves. I won't spoil it for anyone that wants to see it... but let's just say that we won't be adding it to our home collection. Unfortunately, I missed seeing the movie because we tried to go with Max- right during his fussy time. I should have known better! That's okay, though. Max and I had an interesting time hanging out in the lobby and walking up and down the street in front of the theater. lol.

Someone made this Mater replica and had it sitting in front of the theater. Jaxon was so excited to take a picture with Mater!

All the cousins with Mater!

Jaxon- so excited- waiting for the movie to start!

Sunday morning we went to Lani's church then spent the afternoon watching movies while the kids napped. We had steak, chicken, and veggie kebabs for dinner that were amazing. Then we let the kids break the pinata that we brought. (We bought it for Jaxon's birthday party, but it didn't actually break when we used it. We thought it would be fun to use it again since none of the cousins were able to be at the party.) We figured the kids would get enough treats over the holiday weekend so we filled the pinata with glow sticks and little toys. They had a fun time trying to break it... though while they were taking turns it started raining and we had to run to the garage for cover! Since it was cold and windy outside we turned on some music and let the kids have a dance party and play with the glow sticks. Though I think that Joe and Micah were having more fun than the kids!

Rainbow in Lani's backyard after the rain storm.

Monday was, of course, the 4th of July. We got up early and Micah made delicious French Toast and Missy made Magleby's syrup to top it off. Yum! Then we drove to Neola to attend their annual July 4th parade... only to find that they had held it on Saturday! So disappointing! We went back to Lani's to figure out something new to do and ended up watching some old home videos of Micah and his siblings when they were little. They were so cute and hilarious! Then we went to a park to let the kids run around and play. We also had a little family baseball game. It was really fun and perfect weather! When we were done at the park we went out for ice cream. Nothing like a cold shake after running around in the sun!

Awww... my sweet boys all dressed up for the 4th of July!

Max's first 4th of July!

Lots of pictures of the kids playing on the toys at the park...

Family baseball game!...

Mmmm... yummy shakes!

That night we had one last amazing dinner and then it was time to head home. It was so sad to go home after such a fun weekend. Thank you to Lani and family for letting us come stay! It was so much fun! We can't wait to see you again soon!

Lehi Parade & Date Night

2011-07-06T16:08:00.000-06:00

Saturday, June 25, was the Lehi city parade. We got up early and went with Joe, Missy, and their kids. It was really fun! It's a lot smaller than the Orem parade which was kind of nice. We were able to get a good spot in a shady area- even though we only got there about 30 minutes before it started. The dad's walked down to this awesome bakery on main street and bought donuts for everyone- while Missy and I watched the kids. The kids loved the parade-- especially the huge amount of candy that was thrown! We seriously had a mound on our blanket. We finally had to take it all away because we were afraid all the kids would be sick! We had a great time, though!

Daddy & Jaxon eating donuts.

That night Jim and Debby came to my house and watched Jaxon, Malia, and JJ while we went on a double date with Joe and Missy. It was fun to get a little dressed up and go out on a real date! We usually just stay in, even on the nights that we have a baby sitter, but we both had gift cards to Tokyo Steakhouse so we used them that night. The sushi was yummy and it was fun to have a conversation with adults! We're so grateful to Jim and Debby for making it happen!

Micah and I in the car on our way to Tokyo!

Race Track

2011-07-06T16:00:00.001-06:00

To the untrained eye, this would appear to be a picture of the back of a couch. However, as you can clearly see in the picture below, it is actually a race track. So please don't try setting your t.v. remote, phone, or game controller here. And definitely don't drape your jacket across it. Oh, and the end table is actually the city of Radiator Springs- so don't try to use that either. :)

Jaxon's 3 Year Checkup

2011-06-28T16:36:00.001-06:00

Last week Jaxon went to the doctor for a checkup, too. He is doing great! Here are his stats:

Weight: 35.49 lbs.- 82.03 percentile
Height: 39.75 inches- 90.94 percentile

Jaxon had not been to the doctor for a year so he was a little scared at first, but he was really good when the doctor did his exam. The appointment made me realize how grown up he is getting. This was the first time that the nurses and doctor talked directly to Jaxon and not through me. It was so strange to realize that he is becoming his own little person and he's not just my baby anymore. The doctor was very impressed at how well Jaxon could talk, and also that he is already riding a two-wheeler! In my completely biased opinion I think he is a pretty amazing kid, too! Here's a little more about Jaxon at 3 years old...

First of all, I asked Jaxon a couple of questions about himself. These are the answers he gave me:

1) What is your favorite color? Red

2) What is your favorite food? Fruit snacks

3) What is your favorite show? Jungle Book

4) What is your favorite toy? My big Ramone and my big Mater.

5) What is your favorite animal? Peacock

6) What is your favorite treat? Cookies

7) What is your favorite book? Curious George and the Dump Truck

8) Where is your favorite place to go? The library

9) What is your favorite thing to do with mommy? Play toys

10) What is your favorite thing to do with daddy? Go to work with him.

11) What do you want to be when you grow up? A daddy! And I will go to work for a long time and when you come to visit me I will shoot you with the gun!
(This answer probably needs some explanation... Micah has a nerf gun at work and when Jaxon goes there to visit him he gets to shoot it. I am pretty sure that he thinks daddy spends all day at work playing and eating Oreos... which is only partially true. Ha ha.)

Here are some other facts about Jaxon...

Some of his other favorite foods are hot dogs, Captain Crunch, turkey sandwiches, yogurt, strawberries, bananas, and Oreos. (Though he calls them "Daddy cookies", because they are Micah's favorite, too.)

He can spend hours playing with his toy cars and trains. It's fun to hear the little stories he comes up with as he plays with them. He has such an active imagination! He also has a really good memory and likes to reenact scenes from movies. (i.e. Disney Cars and Thomas the Train movies.) He also likes being outside and especially riding his bike or going to the park.

Jaxon loves playing with words-- rhyming, opposites, and just making up his own. He thinks it is so hilarious to change words from what he knows they should be. For example, we were singing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star the other day and he would sing: "Twinkle, twinkle, little car how I wonder what you far." And then he would completely bust up laughing. Another day we were driving to church and he asked me the name of the song we were listening to. I told him it was called Forward with Faith. The rest of the way to church he yelled, "Backward with Faith" and giggled. It's funny to listen to him- mostly because he thinks it's so funny. I love watching him crack up at himself.
I'm impressed that he understands the concept of rhyming... though it can be awkward at times. For example, one of the days that I was in the hospital with Max, Micah and Jaxon went to the cafeteria to get some lunch. Jaxon had picked a word and was coming up with words that rhyme with it. This particular word happens to rhyme with a very bad word. Of course he didn't know what he was saying, but he decided to yell this word, over and over, at the top of his lungs across the whole cafeteria. Micah was mortified. LOL.

Jaxon is also very interested in letters. He knows all the uppercase letters and now knows most of the lowercase, too. He can spell his name and a couple other short words. (We're still working on writing, though.) He is also starting to learn the sounds that the letters make. For some reason he always wants to know what the first letter of a word is. All day long he will ask me questions such as, "What letter does Thomas start with?" Then he tries to come up with other words that start with that letter. He's still very hit and miss, but getting better at it.

For the last month or so he has spent a lot of time pretending to be a dog. Jaxon thinks that he loves dogs. He has his stuffed dog that he sleeps with every night and he always talks about how we should get a dog. (In fact, one day at the grocery store he kept trying to get me to buy dog food. When I mentioned that we don't actually have a dog he just said, "Yet...!!!") But whenever we actually come into contact with a real dog he totally freaks out. He screams, cries, and begs for me to hold him. I am really not sure why he thinks he would want to own one. I, for one, have never had the desire to own a dog and I must say that having a pretend one has not been great either. Our Jaxon dog licks, bites, barks too loud, and has occasionally chewed up the furniture. And no, I am not joking. Most of the time Jaxon will respond to his name; however, at least once a day he will inform me that he is "baby dog" and not Jaxon and will not do what I ask unless I call him baby dog. I am so glad that he has such a great imagination... but I am hoping this phase will pass quickly! ;)

Jaxon is such a smart, sweet, and silly little guy. We love him so much! I am glad that I get to be home with him every day. I love watching him grow and learn and can't wait to see how much he will progress over the next year!

When I started writing this post I realized that I didn't have any current photos of Jaxon that weren't already posted. We had to pick Micah up from work that day, so while we were waiting in the car I asked Jaxon if I could take a picture of him. Have you ever read the comic Calvin and Hobbs? Well, there is one where Calvin's parents are trying to take a picture of him for their Christmas cards. He smiles so nicely, then just before his dad snaps the picture he pulls a face. Why am I sharing this, you ask? I don't know... something about me trying to take Jaxon's picture just brought it to mind...

And finally... success! (After I threatened him with time-out.)

Max's 2 Month Checkup

2011-06-26T16:16:00.001-06:00

Last week Max went to the doctor for his 2 month checkup. The doctor says that he is doing well. His chest is already starting to look a lot better. We'll keep giving him lots of tummy time and hopefully we won't have to do any other treatments for it. Other than that he is a very healthy boy! Here are his new stats:

Weight: 13.98 lbs.- 92.11 percentile

Height: 24.25 inches- 89.5 percentile

Head Circumference: 15.5 inches- 33.92 percentile

He is such a big boy! In fact, last week I packed up all the newborn and 0-3 month clothes. I can't believe how fast he grew out of them! I think Max was only a newborn for about a week. In addition to his size; he's just so alert and wants to be part of whatever is going on around him. He loves to stand up on my lap so he can look around and see what's happening. I swear when he watches Jaxon playing he has this look in his eye like he wants to be playing, too!

He is still sleeping really well. For the last week or so he has gone to bed every night by 10:00 and has slept until at least 5:00-- and sometimes later. On Monday I finally had to wake him up at 7:15 so that I could feed him before taking Micah to work!

Max still doesn't cry too much, but has started having a fussy time in the evenings from about 7-9. He fusses and cries and pretty much will only let Micah or I hold him. Supposedly this is normal and he will grow out of it around 3-4 months. I hope that is true! Other than his fussy time he is such a happy and content little guy! He has started smiling a lot and will always smile at me when we make eye contact. He is especially happy in the morning when I first get him out of bed. He smiles and coos and is so excited to be awake. I always say hi to him when I first get him up and he makes noises like he is trying to say hi back and it's so cute! The last couple days he has started to do a little laugh. He laughs at Jaxon when Jaxon is talking to him, and he laughs when I tickle him- he is very ticklish on his back and neck!

Max loves to be outside. The first time I really took him outside was when he was about 3 weeks old. Micah and Jaxon were outside and the weather was nice so I sat on the porch to feed him. He was so funny when we first got outside. His eyes got huge and he kept turning his head every direction like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He is so happy when we are outside. During fussy time he will always calm down if I walk around with him outside and he loves to go for rides in the stroller during the day.

Well, that's Max at 2 months! I can't believe how fast time flies. I can't wait to see what he will do next. He is such a sweet little guy and we are so happy to have him in our family!

Boys Camping Trip

2011-06-25T17:02:00.000-06:00

Last weekend Micah took Jaxon camping with some of his buddies from work. It sounds like they had a lot of fun! Jaxon has not been able to stop talking about it! All winter he asked when he could go camping again. He would talk about roasting hot dots and marshmallows, sleeping in a tent, fishing- all the standard camping activites- and it sounds like he got to do them all!

I am so glad that Micah and Jaxon got to have some father-son time. It happened to fall on the perfect weekend because I came down with the flu. :( My amazing and wonderful parents came and took Max so I got to rest and recuperate in an empty house. Even though being sick is no fun, it was pretty great to get to lie around and watch chick flicks by myself! Let's be honest... some alone time is every mother's dream!

Long Weekend

2011-06-23T15:54:00.000-06:00

I was going to start this post by saying that the weekend of Max's blessing was crazy and busy- which it was- but it seems that a lot of my posts have started this way recently. Maybe it's time for me to accept that crazy and busy is just my life! :)
At any rate, it really was a crazy weekend. We threw a baby shower for April on Friday night; on Saturday I went to a baby shower for my friend Lisa, helped get the house ready for the blessing, and helped at Summerfest; and Sunday, of course, was the blessing and the big lunch with all our friends and family! It was a lot of fun though, and one of the best parts was having our family from Roosevelt here. Whenever they're here it's like a mini vacation for us because there's so much going on and we get a break from our usual routine. We were able to extend the fun into the next week since Roberta, Lani, Lily, and Amara were able to stay until Tuesday. It was so great spending time with them. Roberta stayed at our house and we loved having her here. I could tell how much she enjoyed seeing Jaxon and Max- since she doesn't get a lot of opportunities to be with them. She even insisted on helping to feed Max early in the morning... which was so nice for Micah and me.
On Monday morning we went to April's house and let the kids play while we looked at all the fun baby stuff she has gotten from her showers. Then we went to Del Taco for lunch and let the kids run around on the play place. After lunch some of the kids napped and the rest of us watched Tangled. It is one of my favorite movies, and my mother-in-law had never seen it! Well, actually, I didn't watch the whole movie because I fell asleep... which was another great part about having family around. They took care of Max while I got a little nap! :)
When Micah, Joe, and Spencer got off work we had FHE together. First, we went to El Pollo Loco for dinner. The food wasn't that great, but we had some gift cards from helping with Summerfest, so at least we got a good deal. And the best part was being together anyway! After dinner we went to my house and made cupcakes and Lily and Amara recited a scripture they had memorized: 1 Nephi 3:7. (That's about all the lesson you can get with 5 young kids and 2 babies!)
On Tuesday morning we went to Missy's house to play, then we went to the farm at Thanksgiving Point. The kids really enjoyed seeing and feeding the animals. I actually remembered my camera for once, so I got some pictures of the kids taking pony rides...

Jaxon

Malia

Lily

Amara

After the farm and lunch it was time to say goodbye and let Roberta, Lani, Lily, and Amara go back to Roosevelt. We were all sad to see them go! Before they left we promised to go see them over the 4th of July weekend. A few hours later when Jaxon woke up from his nap he said, "Okay, I'm ready to go to Roosevelt!" Ha ha! Good thing the 4th is coming up soon! Tuesday night was so sad after they left. Our house felt so quiet. It's funny that it was so hard because they only live a couple hours away. I have no idea how people handle having close family living in another state! I don't think I could do it!
Thanks to all the Roosevelt clan for coming to visit! We're excited to see you again next weekend!

Max's Blessing Day

2011-06-18T14:23:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday was Max's blessing day. Everything went perfectly. We were actually up, dressed, and ready to go to church on time for a change! (That may be because we had Roberta, Tom, Geoff, my parents, and David here helping.... but we were ready nonetheless!) Micah gave Max a beautiful blessing and Max didn't make a peep the whole time.

After Sacrament meeting we came back to our house and had an amazing lunch. Micah's pulled pork and brisket were a hit and all our family and friends brought delicious side dishes and desserts.

It really was a perfect day. It was great to be surrounded by so many of our family and friends. We are so grateful for all of you! Thank you for coming and being part of Max's special day. There was such a special spirit there and I know it was because of all of you. Thank you! We love you!

Summerfest

2011-06-18T14:00:00.000-06:00

If you have ever lived in Orem then you know exactly what I mean when I say Summerfest. If you haven't, then I will explain: Summerfest is a festival that Orem does every year; complete with a parade, fireworks, and a carnival with rides, food, and sales booths. I am pretty sure I have gone to Summerfest every year of my entire life. I cannot think of a year when I have missed it. I look forward to going every year.
For the last couple years we have gone to the parade with my parents. We always sit by my Aunt Robin and her family and then go to Robin's house to watch the fireworks. (You can see them perfectly from her front yard! The adults sit and talk while the kids run around. It's so fun!) This year was a little different because Micah's dad was in charge of the parade! He and Debby (Micah's step-mom) are very involved in the community and volunteered to run the parade for this and the next 2 years! They needed lots of volunteers so we got to help with the parade. I have to say that it was really cool to help out and get to see all the "behind the scenes" stuff. I got to help check in the volunteers (Orem High student council members) and get them organized to carry banners in front of the floats that won awards. I also got to ride around with the Orem City Council as they selected who would win the awards. Plus, Cascade golf course donated golf carts for us volunteers to use- which is always good fun. :) (The only bad part was that the high school kids kept calling me ma'am. :( LOL.)
My parents kindly took Jax and Max to the parade so that they could watch and Micah and I could actually be helpful volunteers. We got there early to help get things set up. Once the parade started we went and found our family and watched most of the parade. After the parade we helped return some of the golf carts to Cascade- which was actually quite terrifying! Micah and Spencer drove one cart while I followed them in my mom's truck. It was dark and I was so scared that someone would run them over! But luckily we made it there just fine. Afterward we went to my Aunt Robin's to watch the fireworks as usual. We were so tired and starving after helping-- but it was a lot of fun. The parade was a huge success. It was very well organized and I think it was one of the easiest volunteer jobs we have done. Plus, I think it was one of the best parades Orem has had. Way to go, Jim!! I'm pretty excited to help out again next year. :) Unfortunately, we were so busy that we didn't get any pictures. I'll try to do better next year.

Free Fishing Day

2011-06-18T13:36:00.000-06:00

Saturday, June 4th, was free fishing day in Utah! Normally you have to buy a license if you want to fish-- but one day a year you can fish without one. My brother-in-law Spencer loves to fish and got a bunch of the family together to go-- us, April, Lani, Steve, Lily, Amara, Jake, and Kelli. We went to the Manila Creek Park pond in Pleasant Grove. It's a new park and- unbeknownst to us- that day was their grand opening. Some people from the city were there serving a free lunch of hot dogs, chips, and drinks. It was so fun! We all sat by the pond and fished or talked while the kids played in the water. The weather was perfect. Jaxon had such a great time. It was a combination of all the things he loves-- cousins, sunshine, water, hot dogs... :) As we were eating lunch he said to me, "This is the perfect, perfect day!" So true!

The fam just relaxing by the water.

Jaxon & Amara loved splashing in the water.

Daddy & Jake helping Jaxon learn to fish.

Auntie April spending time with my boys. :)

Enjoying our yummy lunch!

Bird Feeder

2011-06-18T13:03:00.000-06:00

Jaxon loves birds. I don't know why, but he has always been fascinated by them. This spring we found some bird eggs that had been laid in our backyard. They are not even in a tree, they are just somewhat hidden in the bark on the edge of our yard. The crazy/ brave bird that decided to lay them there is always in our yard trying to guard them. Jaxon spends at least part of every day chasing the poor thing. Anyway, my mom thought it would be fun to let Jaxon make some bird feeders to hang in the yard. She came over one evening with pine cones, bird seeds, and peanut butter and helped him make some. Jaxon had a lot of fun making them with her-- though he spent most of the time eating the peanut butter instead of spreading it on the pine cones. LOL.

The bird feeders were a hit! We have had tons of birds out in our yard eating from them. I love seeing Jaxon so excited as he watches them. (And then he chases them away... ha ha.)

My mom always has such great ideas for things to do with Jaxon. Every time she comes up with something like this I say to myself- "Duh! Why didn't I think of that?" For that (and many other reasons) I'm so glad we have her around! :)

My Birthday

2011-06-18T12:55:00.000-06:00

On May 31st I celebrated my 28th birthday. It was such a perfect day! First of all, Max slept from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.! My dad came over for the day and we took the boys to the park in the morning. The weather was perfect and we had such a good time. Both boys napped all afternoon so I got a chance to relax! Micah and Jaxon surprised me with cards and a present when Micah got home from work. Then after dinner Lani, Steve, Lily, Amara, April, and Spencer came over and brought my favorite cupcakes from Dipidees and played games. It was a wonderful day! Thanks to all my wonderful family and friends for making it so special! :)

Memorial Weekend

2011-06-18T12:35:00.000-06:00

We had a crazy and fun Memorial weekend this year. Each day was filled with family and tons of food. Saturday we had a BBQ at our house with all the Lauret's. Sunday was a big birthday dinner at Micah's dad's house to celebrate Micah, Spencer, Lily, and my birthdays. Then on Monday we had all of my family over for another BBQ. I love spending time with family and we had a blast. I just wish I had remembered to take pictures!

One other fun thing that happened is that we bought Jaxon his first big boy bike! The trike he had been riding broke and he really wanted a bike with "pedals in the middle" just like his cousin Malia's. He had only ridden Malia's bike once or twice so I thought it would take a while for him to get the hang of it. Boy was I wrong! He was riding it perfectly in the store as we were heading to the check-out! He is so fast on that thing! Micah and I are going to have to get bikes for us just so we can keep up with him. I think he could probably ride it just fine without the training wheels, but I think they actually slow him down a bit so we are going to leave them on as long as possible. ;) We found him a helmet and a bell with Lightning McQueen on them so he was really excited. Doesn't he look so grown up?

Day Out with Thomas

2011-06-07T15:36:00.000-06:00

On Friday, May 27, our family went to Day Out with Thomas. I had no idea that Thomas the train had been around for so long- about 65 years! At some point someone decided to make a real Thomas train and they travel all over the country to let kids meet and ride on the "real" Thomas. Thomas was at the Heber Valley Railroad over Memorial Weekend so we decided to take Jaxon. He loves Thomas and the whole Sodor crew right now. As we expected, Jaxon had the time of his life! Your ticket got you a 25 minute ride with Thomas and there were lots of other activities as well. They had miniature golf, a hay bale maze, people making balloon animals, music shows, and a magician. There were also tents set up where you could watch Thomas shows, read Thomas books, color with Thomas pictures and stamps, get temporary tatoos, and play with all the different Thomas toys and railway sets. There was even a place to meet Sir Topham Hatt!

We got up early Friday morning and drove up to Heber. We arrived around 10:00 a.m. so that we would have time to explore before our 12:00 train ride. We let Jaxon lead the way and decide what activities we would participate in. After our train ride we decided to leave and get some lunch. We picked up some hot dogs, sandwiches, chips, and cookies and had a picnic at a nearby park. We ate lunch and played, then headed back to meet Sir Topham Hatt and play some more. We ended up being there until almost 4:00 p.m.!

Mommy & Jaxon on the train...

Daddy & Max on the train...

Loving the train ride!

Max had fun too!

... when he wasn't sleeping...

Jaxon showing off his James tattoo...

Jaxon asked me to take his picture with the flag of Diesel 10 and then he did this pose... LOL!

One with the whole family...

Meeting Sir Topham Hatt!

Oh good... they make swords as well as animals... ;)

Jaxon loved running through the hay bale maze...

Daddy & Jaxon with Percy, Thomas, and Rosie...

More poses with Thomas...

Jaxon had so much fun! He even told me that it was "the best day ever!" I am glad that we got to have such a fun day as a family and I loved seeing Jaxon so excited! He is still talking about it and telling everyone that he got to meet the real Thomas!

This is what happens...

2011-06-03T14:41:00.000-06:00

This is what happens when your baby is forced to have lots of tummy time...

Max has learned to roll over! He did it for the first time on the day he turned 3 weeks old. I put him on his tummy and went in the kitchen to make a bottle. When I came back he was on his back. I was so confused at first because I thought for sure I had left him on his tummy. Well, later that day he rolled 4 more times right in front of me. I was kind of hoping it was going to be a temporary thing... but here we are almost 4 weeks later and he is still doing it. It makes me a little bit sad to see him growing up so fast!

Not too much else has been going on around here, but here are some fun random pictures from the last few weeks...

Awww... sleepy baby.

This hat and sweater were a gift from Grandma Blad. So adorable! The only good thing about the cold weather we have been having is that he got to wear them.
Though as I was snapping pictures and ooh-ing and aah-ing over Max, Jaxon walked over and disdainfully commented that he looked like a snowman. LOL.

Silly boy.

Love this picture! Max looks so tiny next to daddy's hands.

Max all ready for his first time going to church.

I guess 3 hours of church takes a lot out of them!

Ha ha! Love the face he is making. ;)

He looks so big here!

I guess it's time to find the Bumbo!

Micah has been spending a lot of time fixing up our yard and Jaxon loves to be his helper! They planted a new tree to replace one that died last year, and have also spent lots of evenings pulling weeds, planting the garden, etc. They are such hard workers!

Well, that's all that I've got for the last couple weeks. Hopefully I will be able to post about Memorial Weekend and my birthday later today. :)

3 Year Old & Newborn Pictures

2011-05-11T16:26:00.000-06:00

The day after we got home from the hospital with Max my amazing sister-in-law April came over and took some pictures of the boys for me. I wanted to have some cute newborn pictures of Max and some 3 year old pictures of Jaxon. Both boys were absolutely wretched for the entire photo shoot and yet she still managed to get great shots! She is seriously incredible. Thank you, April! We love you! Here are my favorites for you all to enjoy...

These are some "outtakes" of Jaxon that I still love because they totally capture his personality...

Max's 2 Week Check-up

2011-05-06T17:24:00.000-06:00

On Monday Max turned 2 weeks old! I can't believe how fast it has gone. We took him to see Uncle Mike for his first check-up. Here are his stats:

Weight: 9 lbs. 7 oz. - 69th percentile
Length: 22 inches- 90th percentile
Head circumference: 14.25 inches- 31st percentile

I can't believe how fast they grow! Mike says that babies generally lose some weight after birth, but they like them to be back up to their birth weight by the two-week appointment. Well, Max is up 1 lb and 2 oz from his birth weight already! He is definitely a Lauret baby!

Mike says that Max is doing really well and is a healthy baby. Though we have had a couple concerns, and actually took him to the after-hours clinic the Friday before his appointment. On Thursday and Friday he didn't really want to eat and kept having these scary choking spells. We also noticed that his chest was really caved in and we were worried that he was in respiratory distress. After talking to the after-hours doctor, and Uncle Mike, we found out that he is actually having two different issues.

It seems that the reason he didn't want to eat and was choking was from acid-reflux. It seems he was having a bad reaction to the sensitive formula we had been giving him! When Jaxon was born he had a hard time digesting the regular Similac formula and would get really gassy and fussy so we switched him to the sensitive and his problems went away. I figured that with this baby we would just start with the sensitive. We gave him regular Similac at the hospital, but then started using the sensitive when we got home. We have since put him back on the regular and now all his acid-reflux symptoms are gone! Isn't it funny how two kids can be so different? But we are happy that we were able to get that issue resolved!

It seems that his sunken chest is a completely separate issue. Mike says that the cartilage in his chest is not as hard as it is supposed to be and is starting to sink in. The cartilage should harden over time but until then we are supposed to strengthen his chest muscles as much as possible so they will pull the sternum into the correct place. We are supposed to have him on his stomach every possible second of the day. When he is awake or when he is being held he is supposed to be on his tummy. So far he has not been thrilled with the constant tummy-time, but he is starting to get used to it. I asked Mike to tell me what the worst-case scenario with this would be. He said that if his chest sinks too much it could start pushing on the heart and could put strain on it or push it out of place. In that case they would wait until he was older (around 12-14) then they would do a surgery where they would break all his ribs and then reattach his sternum in the correct place. Yikes! I think being annoyed at tummy-time is much preferred to surgery! Hopefully, we will be able to keep it under control and it won't get that bad.

Other than these two issues, Max is a healthy and happy baby. He is still so sweet and has such a calm disposition. He almost never cries. He can sleep through anything and almost seems to sleep better when there is chaos going on around him. Last week there was a day when Jaxon, JJ, and Malia were running around the house screaming at the top of their lungs and Max slept right through it. He has been such an easy baby! Hopefully he will stay this way. We are so happy to have him in our family! When I was pregnant I swore up and down that I would NEVER do it again... but Max is such a good little guy that I am already willing to admit that he may not be our last child.

Jaxon is still enjoying having a baby brother. He loves Max and is so cute with him. He even shares his special toys and blankets with Max- that he normally won't let anyone else touch. When I was getting us ready to go to Max's doctor appointment, I put Max in his car seat and went to get the diaper bag. Max was fussing a little and I heard Jaxon say to him, "Shhh. It's okay baby Max. Don't be sad! Here! Here is someone for you to snuggle with." And when I came back I found this...

So that sums up Max at two weeks. We have enjoyed him so much! We're feeling a tiny bit sleep deprived, but otherwise we are all doing well! I hope life with two boys is always this easy!

Beautiful Day

2011-05-06T17:20:00.001-06:00

Last week we finally had a couple of days with nice weather! On Wednesday night we all got to play outside after daddy got home from work. I just wanted to share these cute pictures of Jaxon playing in the yard. Doesn't he look so happy? He loves to be outside!

Micah's Birthday

2011-05-06T17:13:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday was Micah's 28th birthday! Yes, all of my boys have April birthdays. It's just going to be a crazy party month at our house, I guess! This year Micah was feeling a little partied-out what with all the craziness we have had going on. So we celebrated a quiet relaxing birthday with him.

That morning we let him sleep in, then once everyone was awake and dressed we went over to Dippidee's to get a birthday treat. We were just going to each pick a treat, but when we got there everything looked so amazing that we decided to get a bunch of treats and taste them all! The cupcakes were so good! Jaxon really liked the raspberry lemonade cupcake, Micah's favorite was the chocolate- toffee, and I loved the white chocolate caramel one. Yum! If you have never been to Dippidee's you should really try it!

After Dippidee's we came home and put the boys down for naps and Micah and I relaxed. Then Micah's brother Jake and his wife Kelly came over to visit and hang out. In the evening Micah went and partied with a bunch of his friends. They watched the MMA fights, had a BBQ, and they even made a special birthday cake for him.

Happy birthday, sweetie! We love you and hope you enjoyed your special day!

Easter Weekend

2011-05-01T16:10:00.000-06:00

Last week was just plain crazy! After the birth of little Max, and Jaxon's birthday party, it was Easter weekend! On Saturday the Lauret's held their annual Easter egg hunt. I know what most of you are thinking... It's just and Easter egg hunt, I would skip it and stay home with my 5 day old baby. Well, the reason you think that is because you have never been to a Lauret Easter Egg hunt. The egg hunt is no small thing at the Lauret house.

First, they have a hunt for the grandkids. This year only Jaxon, JJ, and Malia were there, but it was really fun. They are old enough now to actually understand what they are supposed to do. It was fun watching them run around to collect eggs. Usually it's only the adult hunt that gets intense- but I guess the boys are true Lauret's and really got into it this year. There was a little incident where both Jaxon and JJ spied an egg at the same time. They both ran for it and Jaxon happened to get there first. I think at that moment all the parents knew what was about to happen, but it was too late for us to do anything about it. Jaxon picked up the egg, and JJ punched him right in the face. I know I shouldn't laugh, but it really was rather hilarious. (Don't worry- Jaxon was fine.) Those boys sure do keep me and Missy busy! LOL. The kids all got lots of candy, plus fun prizes that Grandma Debby picked out for them. Jaxon got cars, bubbles, sand toys, bath tub paint, stickers, and more that I can't even remember! He loved it!

Waiting for the hunt to begin!

This is what Max did during the hunt...

Don't worry, Max. You'll get to participate next year!

(I had to include this picture of Uncle Spencer holding Max because it's so cute! Good practice for his little boy who is coming soon!)

After the kid hunt, there is a hunt for the grown-up kids, i.e. Micah's siblings and spouses. As I mentioned earlier, it is a pretty intense ordeal. You see, this is no ordinary Easter egg hunt with candy- filled eggs. These eggs are filled with money and little numbers that correspond to prizes... which are usually gift cards. So you can see why we get a little more excited about it. Each person is only allowed to gather a certain number of eggs, but it is still a race because we all want the eggs that give you a prize. Usually everyone runs around and ignores the eggs that obviously contain quarters in lieu of the light eggs that must have a number in them. This year I had to be more restrained- you know- since I had only been out of the hospital for 3 days- but I still went out and tried to gather eggs... that is until I found a huge snake in the tall grass! That was it for me. So Micah gave me all his eggs and then stayed out and hunted for more. We still made out like bandits- even with my 'handicap'. We ended up with $18, and gift cards to Tokyo restaurant, Dipidees Bakery, and Chick-Fil-A. After the egg hunt we had a yummy lunch and spent some time relaxing and visiting. Thanks Jim and Debby! As always, it was so much fun!

That night I went with my mom to a baby shower for my cousin Amy. My Aunt Emily offered to watch Max so Micah was able to stay home with Jaxon and color Easter Eggs. It looks like they had a lot of fun! You'll have to excuse Jaxon's attire- but I love these pictures because he is holding a spoon, yet putting his whole hand in the dye instead!

Sunday was another busy, busy day! In addition to being Easter Sunday, it was Micah's cousin Luke's missionary homecoming! Luke's mom is married to Micah's uncle David who happens to live right next door to Micah's dad. It worked out great because Max and I were able to hide out at Lauret's while everyone went to church to hear Luke speak. (Max's pediatrician doesn't want Max out in big groups of people for at least 8 weeks because of all the recent whooping cough and measles outbreaks we have been having in Utah. Not to mention the crummy cold weather!) I was sad that I missed his talk, but I was still able to go to the house afterward and say hi to all the family. (Ashley (Micah's sister) and Asta (the Lauret's foreign exchange student) kindly offered to watch Max while I went over to say hello.)

After the welcome home we headed over to my parent's house to have some holiday fun with them. My mom made such a yummy Easter dinner!- Ham, turkey, funeral potatoes, pink salad, rolls, and lots of tasty treats! It was nice to relax with them, eat dinner, and play with the kids. I didn't do a good job of taking pictures, but here's one of Max with his Easter gift from my parents- a cute bib and stuffed animal that say, "My first Easter". They got Jaxon a cute play-doh set that makes the 3 little pigs and all their houses- that we have already used 3 times in the last week. (He loves to play with play-dough!) And of course they sent us home with tons of our favorite Easter candy!

(I love the look on Max's face!- What area you doing to me?)

(And I had to throw in this picture because it's just funny!)

It was such a fun, exciting, and crazy weekend! I am so grateful for all the time we get to spend with our wonderful families. Thanks, everyone! We love you!

Jaxon Turns 3!

2011-05-01T15:16:00.001-06:00

On Friday, April 22, Jaxon turned 3 years old! (Yes, his birthday is just 4 days after Max's. We didn't plan that out very well!) Jaxon has been counting down to his birthday for about 3 months now. At least a couple times a week he would remind me that his birthday was coming up and exactly what he needed to have for his birthday. He had a very specific picture in his head of what his birthday should be like because of all the tv shows he watches. I swear that every show on Disney or PBS has an episode about a birthday and the parties are always identical. They have balloons and party hats, they have a pinata, a cake with candles to blow out, and of course presents. So that's what Jaxon wanted and he would remind me of it continually. Luckily, this was a pretty simple request and I was even able to get most of it together before Max was born.

We really wanted to have the party on his actual birthday... since he had been counting down to it and knew that it was on Friday. However, it turned out to be kind of a crazy weekend for a birthday party. In addition to the fact that I had only been home from the hospital for 1 full day, and had a newborn to take care of, it was also Easter weekend and BYU graduation. Many of our family members ended up having other obligations, but I think we were still able to make it a great day for Jax.

The night before, Micah decorated the family room and kitchen with streamers and balloons. We put his present and his Thomas pinata out on the table so he would see them when he first woke up. He was so excited when he came downstairs the next morning. At first, he was a little bit confused. He just looked around at the decorations and said, "What's this?" When we told him it was his birthday he started jumping up and down and yelled, "I'm 3 now!" It was so cute.

The good thing about the fact that we had just had a baby, is that Micah was off work for the week so we were able to have a whole day of birthday fun. First, Jaxon got to open his present from mommy and daddy. (He is collecting all the Thomas trains for his wooden railway set so we got him James.)

Then, unfortunately, I had to take Max over to the hospital to have his bilirubin levels checked. (Don't worry- it came back fine!) While I was gone Micah took Jaxon over to the park and they got to chase the ducks- which was quite exciting for him.

When I got home my mom came over and watched Max while Micah and I took Jaxon to Chuck-E-Cheese for lunch. In retrospect, it would have been fun to do this when the cousins could have come along for the fun. However, I think it was fun for Jaxon to have an afternoon with mommy and daddy all to himself. Especially, since we had just spent 3 days away at the hospital. I really enjoyed being with him and being able to focus my attention on him. We ate pepperoni pizza and rootbeer (his favorites) and then we let him ride all the rides and play games. Micah helped him with some games, too, so that he could get a bunch of tickets for prizes at the end... which is one of the best parts about going to Chuck-E-Cheese. I don't know why it's so exciting to get a bunch of plastic junk from behind that counter- but it is!

After Chuck-E-Cheese we put Jaxon down for a nap and my mom helped us get set up for the birthday party. We decided to just invite family, since we didn't want to expose Max to too many people. I think Jaxon had a lot of fun! He got to open presents, blow out the candles on his cake, wear a birthday hat, and break a pinata- just like he had been dreaming about. It was so much fun. Thank you to all our family who came and for all the wonderful gifts you brought for Jaxon. He has been in heaven for the last week playing with all his new toys. We have such a great family!

(My mom made this darling Thomas the train cake for Jaxon. He loved it and I really appreciated her putting it together for him. It was nice to have one less thing to worry about. I think Jaxon's favorite part was picking off all the candy decorations!)

(Sadly, I didn't get pictures of all our guests, but here's a few...)

(Daddy got a little silly with the birthday hats...)

(So, of course, Jaxon had to try, too!)

So that was the big day. I can't believe that my little Jaxon is already 3 years old! Happy birthday, sweetie! I hope your day was everything you dreamed it would be!

He's Here!

2011-04-20T15:31:00.000-06:00

Hooray! Our sweet little baby boy is here at last! We are so excited to introduce you all to baby Max!

Maxwell King Kaponokekoa Lauret

April 18, 2011
8 lbs. 5 oz.
20.5" long

Here's Max's story:

On Monday morning I was scheduled to be induced (again). The hospital called around 5 a.m. and asked us to be there at 6:00. I was a little worried that somehow things might not work out again, but luckily I was wrong! By 7:00 I was checked in and hooked up to all my IV's and the Pitosin. I was hoping this delivery would only take a few hours, but by noon I still had not made any progress. I was having regular contractions, but they just weren't doing anything. They decided to break my water to see if that would speed things up, but then my doctor was called to do an emergency c-section at another hospital. He asked to have me wait because he didn't want me to deliver while he was gone. It ended up being about 3 hours before he was back. Luckily, I had received my epidural so Micah and I were able to watch tv and talk and try to relax. It was hard because I was so anxious for the whole thing to be over! Finally around 3 p.m. they broke my water and then my body finally decided to cooperate. I guess that I had so much fluid that the baby wasn't able to press on my cervix so I wasn't dilating. At the time they broke my water I was about 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. By 4:30 I was a 6, at 5:30 I was an 8, and then just 30 minutes later at 6 p.m. I was fully dilated and effaced and ready to go. At that point Max's heart rate started dropping a lot. It was crazy because in minutes my room was filled with doctors, and nurses and I was ready to push. It took only 10 minutes and about 4 pushes and Max was here! Everything went really well. He was posterior at first, but they were able to flip him. Once he was out his heart rate returned to normal and he is a perfect, healthy little boy!

I am so happy that he is finally here and I have to say that I feel so good! I am so excited to not be pregnant anymore! It's only been 2 days but I already feel like my recovery is going better than it did with Jaxon. I really feel so great that I think my biggest challenge is going to be to make sure to relax and not try to do too much!

Max is such a good baby so far. He barely cries at all and when he does it's just a tiny little squeak. As long as he is fed and has a dry diaper he is perfectly content to sleep all day- no matter where he is or what is going on around him. He seems to have a very calm and content disposition. We're hoping that he stays that way and we have an easy transition into being the parents to two little boys!

Jaxon loves his baby brother! He was able to be the first one to meet and hold him. My parents brought him to the hospital and waited in the waiting room until he was born. When Jaxon came into the room he was so excited to see Max and immediately held him and started giving him kisses. He has been so cute and gentle (mostly... ;) ) with him so far. He loves to touch his little hands and feet, hold him, and give him kisses. Today he even got to help give him a bottle. My parents were so great and helped take care of Jaxon while we were in the hospital. They brought him in to see us every day, but took him home for naps and bedtime. We are so grateful for their help! And I know Jaxon had a blast spending the last few days with them.

We just got home from the hospital about an hour ago and are so excited for our first night at home! We'll keep you all updated on how things go! Everyone pray that we get to have some sleep tonight! And thank you to all our family and friends who visited us and sent us their well wishes! We are so grateful to have such a huge support group. We know that this new little baby will be well loved!

Yep, Still Pregnant

2011-04-17T16:33:00.001-06:00

Well, here we are. It's April 17th and I am still pregnant! Things didn't work out quite as I had hoped since my last pregnancy update post. At that point, Dr. Drewes had decided that my due date was April 24 and had agreed to induce me on April 17. It seemed like a great plan, but had one fatal flaw. Since that last appointment I have not been able to actually see Dr. Drewes!

The clinic that I go to is staffed by several doctors. Between them they staff 2 clinics and 2 different hospitals. After my appointment with Dr. Drewes I called to schedule my next appointment, and he was not available. I scheduled with another doctor figuring that I still had a few weeks and if I didn't like what he said I would insist on seeing Dr. Drewes from then on. However, it seemed that the next doctor was on board with being induced on the 17th and even said they could probably bump it up to the 16th. The next few appointments were the same way. I always had to schedule with a different doctor, but they always seemed to know about the scheduled induction.

On Monday, April 11, I went in for my last office appointment. When the nurse took me back she told me that my due date had been changed to the 16th. Apparently all the doctors at the clinic get together every Tuesday morning for a meeting to review any issues. I have been told about 30 times that they were going to review my file during one of these meetings and decide once and for all on a due date for me. Basically, every appointment of mine went something like this: the doctor would question my due date, come up with his own opinion and insert that in my file, then he would tell me that they would discuss it at the next Tuesday meeting. Then at my next appointment I would find out that they didn't discuss it yet-- but would at the next meeting... then the next meeting... then the next meeting... You get what I am trying to say. So from what the nurse told me I gathered that I finally made it into the conversation at one of their meetings. When the doctor came in he was on the same page as the nurse. He said that my due date was the 16th and since it was already the 11th I was 39 weeks and could be induced. He asked if I had any preference on an induction date and I let him know that I would be willing to have the baby right that minute if he would go for it. (And he thought I was joking!) He called the hospital and was able to get me scheduled for an induction on Wednesday, April 13. (They hospital was too booked for Tuesday, or he would have scheduled it sooner.)

I was SO excited when I left the doctor's office! Just 2 more days and the baby would be here! Tuesday night everything was ready to go. We dropped Jaxon and all his stuff off to my parents- just in case I got called in really early on Wednesday. My mom and Micah had arranged to have the next few days off of work. Micah and I had our bags packed and ready to go. Wednesday morning the hospital called and asked us to come in at 9 a.m. When we got there we filled out all our paperwork and then were taken to a room. I changed into a robe, climbed in bed, and then a nurse walked in with a strange look and asked the words that I have started to dread to hear, "When is your due date?" I told her that my due date had changed a few times, but that my understanding was that it was currently April 16. She said that was good and she would be back soon. About 15 minutes went by and then she came back to tell me that all my paperwork showed my due date was April 24. She hooked me up to some monitors so they could see how the baby was doing and then went to make some calls. Micah and I ended up waiting about 45 minutes while the nurse and the doctor-on-call reviewed my file, my ultrasounds, and made calls to the clinic. Finally they came back and informed me that my correct due date was the 24th. Since Wednesday was the 13th, I was only 38 weeks and 3 days pregnant... and not eligible for induction. The doctor insisted that he was at the meeting where my due date was discussed and was positive that they all agreed on the 24th. They rescheduled my induction for Monday, April 18th and sent me home.

Micah and I were so frustrated and disappointed! Don't get me wrong. I understand that the doctors need to do what they feel is best for the baby, and I want that too. I just wish that my doctors could make up their minds!! I was so mad that we went through all the preparation, just to be sent home. Poor Jaxon was so confused when we showed up at my parent's house. We had explained to him that Max was ready to be born and that he would be coming to the hospital to meet him and see Micah and I. When I walked in the first thing he said to me was, "You need to go to the hospital!" I told him that Max had decided he wasn't ready to come out yet and would be staying in my tummy a few more days. He looked down at my belly, pointed his little finger and said, "Max! You have one minute!!" Ha ha! Too bad it didn't work. ;)

It's hard to say who was more upset that day- me or Micah. We were just so excited to meet our new little boy! Micah decided to stay home from work that day anyway (it was already noon) and we went to Carl's Jr. and drowned our sorrows in french fries and shakes while Jaxon played at the play place. The rest of the day was spent fielding calls from our family, friends, and neighbors who thought we were having a baby.

The last few days have been kind of slow. We didn't have anything planned because we thought we would be in the hospital! Luckily, we got to spend some time with Roberta, Lani, Lily, and Amara (plus all the gang that lives here, too) and that was a lot of fun. Hopefully, all will go well tomorrow and this time we will actually get to come home from the hospital with a baby! Everyone keep your fingers crossed!