Enjoying the Sun

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

We're Alive!!

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

Do they not look ecstatic to be outside???

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

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

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

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

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

Jacey's little sidekick

There is nothing more adorable than a sleeping baby!

What's Your Mirror Face? :)

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Christmas Time!!!

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

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

Picture Update For Kandice

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

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

getting ready for family prayer

look at their height difference!

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

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