Pigtails!

Since it has been so long since I've updated this blog, I'll just share a few random thoughts, and then I'll try to be a little more diligent about taking pictures and updating.

Jaycie's hair is finally long enough to do something with, so I decided to try my hand at giving my little girl her first real hairdo.  Pretty cute, if you ask me.  I'm really nervous about fixing a little girl's hair, so I better start early at getting some practice.  She is almost 9 months old now.  Still doing the army crawl, which she's been doing since 6 1/2 months.  She spent a couple months rocking back and forth on her hands and knees, but has since seemed to abandon that desire to really crawl.  I get comments that she's really fast at the army crawl.  She loves to pull herself up to standing on chairs, stools, the couch, etc.  She likes eating solid foods and feeding herself, but still no teeth.  She loves playing catch with a ball.  She is a very happy and sweet baby and we love having her in our family.

Josey finished his first year as the head girl's basketball coach.  I think he had a good season for his first year, and it will be interesting to see what he decides to do in the future.  Personally, I think he's sometimes a little hard on himself.  I just tell him he's doing a good job, but unfortunately, I know nothing about basketball, so I doubt he puts much stock into what I say.  But I see how hard he works and how much effort he puts into everything he does, and I do think he does a great job.  I did have to stand up for him once when some guy was bad-mouthing the coach in the stands, and I was happy I chose to do that.  It's not always easy being married to a coach.  It's been nice having him home after school this past week, and that will last another week until track season starts.

Another thing we're excited about is that we started remodeling our basement.  Now we will have a nicer living room and another livable bedroom down there.  I'm very excited for the end result, and I'm glad we decided to hire somebody to do the work!   

It does not look like spring is almost here.  It usually doesn't get here until June anyway, which is really depressing, so I will not think about that.  Instead I will think about how excited I am that we get to take a little spring break trip to St. George, where Josey can do some golfing and hopefully I will be able to fit in a couple of outdoor runs.  

And one random story about my sweet boys.  When we were in Riverton for the regional basketball tournament we were staying in a hotel, and Josey and I were both in the bathroom getting ready.  Unbeknownst to us, Jordan put Jaycie on one of the beds and told Jarrett to watch her while he did something else.  Well, she fell head first off the bed.  In his own defense, Jarrett said he was "watching" her.  He watched her crawl right off the edge of the bed.  :)  I can say she is probably going to be a pretty tough little girl.

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!