Finally, an Update!

For those of you who have been anxiously waiting to hear what's been going on with our family, the time has finally arrived!  :)  Unfortunately, not a whole lot has been going on.  Josey has been busy coaching basketball, and the rest of us are just trying to make it through each day without mommy ripping her hair out by the end of the day.  Really, it's not that bad.  These kids say the funniest things all the time  (and the not-so-funny, such as Jordan learning the F-word and asking if the middle finger was a bad finger); I just wish I did a better job of writing down some of the things they say and do.

This sweet little (6-month-old!) angel still gets plenty of kisses every day.  Since I hadn't taken a picture of her in a month or so, I captured this one of her chewing on her sock.  Much better than the day I caught her chewing on one of Josey's dirty socks that he left lying around.  Seriously, gross! 

She rolls everywhere and loves chewing on everything.  She has also started eating some solids, which she seems to enjoy.  Feeding is my very least favorite of baby jobs, so I put this one off until 6 months.   

She has also already started to be annoyed by her headbands and bows, so she rips them off and chews on those too.  Bummer, because they are really cute.  Josey captured this picture of me fighting with her about this issue.  

And she got to have her first visit with Santa Claus.  Well, I wasn't actually going to have her sit on his lap, but I decided to try and get a picture.  Probably a bad idea.

For some reason, Jordan & Jarrett were not super-excited to see Santa Claus.  (Probably because I have threatened them with the naughty list too many times.)  But we talked them into it.  Bad idea, since all Christmas presents had already been purchased.  Out of nowhere, Jordan asked for a "Nerf axe."  I had no idea what this was, but we did a little searching at Walmart and found this huge foam axe that looks to be very dangerous in the hands of a 5-year-old, let alone a 3-year-old with an infant sister (because of course Jarrett will be jealous if Santa brings Jordan a Nerf axe and he gets the plain old pop gun that he asked for, so we got him the Nerf mace that was clearly labeled for ages 8 and up.)  Before actually visiting with Santa, all I could get out of them was that they wanted a pop gun.  Neither of them even know what a pop gun is, but after reading "The Grinch" a few too many times, that was all they asked for.  I'm interested to see what they'll think about their pop guns on Christmas morning.  Thank goodness for the internet, although I'm sure I will be regretting these purchases. 

And finally, thank you Santa for the green candy canes!

Happy Halloween!

We really struggled this year getting some cute pictures of our kids in their Halloween costumes, but we tried, and this is the best we got.  The boys wanted to be ninjas this year, which was a super easy costume.  Jarrett didn't like having the mask pulled up over his nose, even for pictures.  Jaycie didn't seem to mind her costume too much, though sometimes I didn't notice the cat face falling too far over her face and covering up her cuteness.  The boys got tons of candy from the "Trunk or Treat" at the church and around town.  I will be sure to "inspect" all of their candy before they eat it (and maybe pick out my favorites.) 



The boys with their other ninja buddy at the ward party.



I Love these (Beautiful) Kids!

I can't believe it's been 4 months since this sweet little girl came into our family.  Time flies by way too fast.  The other night I was reading an article in a magazine about dealing with teenagers and was discussing it with Josey.  He had to remind me that I didn't need to worry about that for another 10 years, but still...I wish I could just freeze time for at least a couple of years and keep my kids small and sweet and innocent.  I admit that I worry way too much about them becoming teenagers.  Jaycie had her 4-month checkup this week.  The shots went a little better than last time, though she by far has taken it way worse than Jordan or Jarrett.  She weighs 11 lbs. 13 oz., which puts her between the 5th and 10th percentile and she is somewhere between the 10th and 25th percentile for height, which means we will probably have a short one like me, as Josey feared.  She is talking a lot more and is full of smiles.  She gets plenty of kisses from everyone, and her brothers adore her.  Of course, she hasn't been able to start bugging them too much yet.   

Jordan seems to love kindergarten, and Jarrett likes preschool.  I think he is a little lost without his brother, and he needs to get over some shyness and start playing with the other kids, but hopefully he'll warm up to them soon.  Josey has been busy with school, and is excited/nervous for basketball season to start.  I'm not really looking forward to having my husband gone so much, but such is the life of the wife of a coach.  We've had absolutely beautiful October weather here and I can hardly remember the last windy day.  Yes, I know it will end soon, but for now we will enjoy it as much as we can.

Pinedale Half Marathon

Before this sweet blue-eyed beauty was born, I set a goal for myself.  The original goal was to run the Pinedale 10K, but as it got closer to race day, I decided I could probably do the half-marathon, so I signed up for it, and I ran it.  I finished in 1:45 and something seconds, which is a few minutes slower than my best time, but not too bad for someone with a 3 1/2 month old baby (too bad that can't always be my excuse).  It was a gorgeous day and Josey and the kids came along to support me.  Unfortunately they missed the only part of the race they got to see me (the finish line) because Jarrett just had to go to the bathroom right at that moment.  So I didn't even have anyone to cheer for me, but that's okay.  I know many people can't understand, but I love running, and I love races.  I'm so thankful that Josey and my kids support me in what makes me happy.  

I think Jordan is my future runner.  This boy cannot stop moving.

My biggest fans! (Okay, my only fans.)

I Have a Kindergartner!

I can hardly believe it, but today I sent Jordan off to his first day of school.  Here we have all-day kindergarten, which makes it even harder for me.  Still, I didn't even cry.  I guess it makes it a little easier that he was very eager to go.  I told him I was going to take him at least on his first day, but he just told me, "No, I'll ride the bus."  He was out the door and on the bus before I even knew it was coming.  It came about 3 minutes early, and I know he didn't even know where the bus stop was because I hadn't shown him yet.  After brushing my teeth, I went out to find him and show him where the bus stop was, and I saw the bus driving by with him already on it.  Then I did go to the school to help him find his class and make sure everything was taken care of, and he acted like he already knew everything.  I hope he loves kindergarten.

We'll miss having Jordan around during the day, but it will be fun to spend a little more time with Jarrett and Jaycie.  Jarrett will start preschool next week, and I think he's excited, but I think he's just a little more timid than Jordan.  I took Jaycie for her first real run in the jogging stroller this morning.  It was a beautiful day, and both she and Jarrett slept.  I think I'll get used to this 'having a kid in school' thing quickly.  

Pretty Girl

I just couldn't resist posting this sweet picture of my beautiful baby girl.  We are so in love with her!

Power Yoga

It's been time for an update for awhile, but I'm still waiting for all the pictures from our trip to Montana, so hopefully I'll get to that sometime.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share a couple other things we've been up to. This morning Jordan asked me if he could watch a show while I was still in bed. I said sure. When I came out into the living room a few minutes later, this is what I found:

Jordan had found an exercise show called "Power Yoga" and was determined to do all the moves. Jarrett, on the other hand, was not one bit happy about Jordan's choice of a show and was laying on the couch pouting.

(We put the Wii away at the beginning of the summer because Jordan was obsessed with it. He has missed his regular dose of Wii Fit and also loves doing P90X videos to make up for it.) He is a funny kid, but at least I'm teaching him the good habit of exercise, right? I've also got a video somewhere of him running on my treadmill. Jarrett, so far, has not taken up the exercising habit.

Josey has been busy for the past 2 or 3 weeks putting in a fireplace and sandbox in our backyard. He has some big ideas for the rest of our yard, but for now it is kind of half-finished because he is tired and our funds are tight. But we're happy with what he's done so far. Yesterday the boys played in the sandbox all afternoon with their friends and it was a very peaceful afternoon for me. Thanks for all your hard work Josey.

Jaycie is growing way too fast.  At 8 weeks, she weighed 9 lbs 3 oz.  She started smiling about 3 weeks ago, but is not much of a smiler. This is the best shot I've got of a half-smile.  And since it has taken me ALL DAY to figure out how to get my pictures on here (and I still can't figure out how to rotate Jaycie's picture so I'm going to give up...something is really messed up with my Blogger account or computer) she has a new trick:  rolling over!  At 9 1/2 weeks, she is my earliest roller, but she did it 3 times today so I'm sure it's not a fluke.  She is a very good sleeper, usually sleeping 9-11 hours at a stretch at night, and then napping most of the morning. This has given me a much-needed energy boost and I'm starting to love running again. For awhile, I dreaded it every day because my legs felt so dead, but I kept doing it because I just knew eventually it would start feeling good again.

We're just trying to enjoy the last couple weeks of summer now. Luckily school doesn't start here this year until after Labor Day. Jordan will be starting kindergarten, which makes me sad. Times flies by way too fast.