Is it Summertime?

Is it summertime? My kids sure seem to think it is. It has been pretty warm here lately but these kids are from Arizona...come on right? We bought Jackson a pirate kiddy pool for his birthday so we blew it up this weekend and let the kids go wild. Elizabeth did not hesitate to jump in right away. She was slipping and sliding all over the place. Jackson was most hesitant. He slowly moved into the pool complaining that Liz kept splashing him. He didn't want to get wet, in the pool. Seriously. He changed his swim suit 3 times because it kept getting wet. Finally I think he just gave up and went for it. And man did they have fun. Jack chased Elizabeth around the pool and they would jump in as they came to the front and then Liz chased Jack. They spent an hour in the pool. Then we laid out in the sun and drank strawberry pina coladas. It was a wonderful day and a great way to get ready for summer.

Yo Ho Matey

4 year check up

We had Jackson's 4 year baby well check yesterday and all I can say is that shots are easier when they are babies.

Everything started out well. He took the eye test and passed with ease although Elizabeth was shouting out the answers next to him as well. He is now 41" tall and 36lbs. Perfectly normal. He is so shy around other adults, it was hard for him to answer the doctor's questions. Not because he doesn't know the answers just because he is so shy. Elizabeth however would not shut up. She was telling the doctor her life story, all about her likes and our pet guinea pigs. She also showed the doctor how she could jump, balance, and twirl. The girl has no fear and just likes to be noticed. Then came the shots. He freaked out. It was so sad. I never felt bad for my kids for getting shots because I knew it would only hurt a little bit and protect them from something worse. But now that Jackson can really tell me what it felt like, how bad it hurt, and his distrust for me like I betrayed him. It broke my heart. He cried for 15 min before I could finally talk him out of my lap, into the car, and bought him a milk shake. He has been limping around for the last two days poor baby, but I think he has forgiven me for the shots.

Jackson's 4th Birthday Celebration

Jackson turned 4 this week and we celebrated with a Superhero party. He has really been into imagination and Superheroes so this party was perfect for his current interests. His friend Ethan also had a birthday right by his so we made in a joint party.

We started out with Mr. Freeze capturing all our favorite superheroes and freezing them in ice. The kids had to save the Superheroes by spraying the ice with hot water from their squirt guns. The kids loved it. We told a story beforehand to get them excited and then they were so pumped to try and save the heroes.Next we painted Spiderman masks. I bought the masks at Joann's in the $1 section. What a cheap and easy craft! I love a craft that shows the kids creativity as well as being low cost.


Then we dinned on pizza and strawberry lemonade. Every Superhero's power food, lol.

Next we all became Superheroes ourselves by creating our very own capes. I cut the capes out of felt and added sticky Velcro circles for the closures. Then I cut out a variety of shapes from presto felt (it is felt that already has sticky backs). The kids assembled the capes themselves. Again creativity and the glory of being the Superhero they all dream of becoming.

SUPER LIZZY! Of course she had to have a pink one.

Once all the kids were in costume we finished the party games with a Superhero scavenger hunt. I made a key with all the Superhero characters then I placed their matching logos all over the house. The kids had to match up each logo to the Superhero on their sheet. It was really nice to see the kids helping each other find the logos they needed for their sheets.



We finished the party with a Spiderman cake and pinata and the kids took home all the candy in Superhero gift bags. It was a super party for my little super man.

I love this picture of Lizzy taking it to Spiderman with all her might!Jackson modeling his new Batman costume. He also got Captain America and Ironman costumes. He has worn them every day changing several times a day. Even to bed.

I made him wait until Brandon got home from work to open his presents. As soon as Dad walked in the door he was ripping the paper off the presents. I'm lucky I even got these two pictures. It is so funny how much kids change in just a year. Last year it was open a present and play with it forgetting about the others. This year open one and move onto the next as soon as possible. He loved everything he got and was asking when his birthday is again.

Happy Easter

I know it is late, we have just been really busy this week and I couldn't keep up with the blog. But on the up side...there are a lot of posts coming your way. Anyways, we celebrated Easter at our house this year and invited a couple families from our ward over to celebrate. It was kind of a weird year having fast Sunday on Easter since the previous week was General Conference. I missed all the talks about the Lord and the Easter music. But we still had a great time celebrating the Lord. We started out the week on Monday with a lesson on the last days of Jesus' life, and making resurrection rolls. The kids loved the story and learning about the Lord's life. Jackson was so concerned with Jesus dying on the cross and how much it hurt him. It was really sweet.

Then on Saturday we dyed eggs. It is so nice having the kids that are a little older for the dyeing process. Elizabeth made a huge mess but Jackson did well. I was too busy cleaning up to take any pictures.

On Sunday I hid their Easter baskets for them to find in the morning. I was laying in my bed half asleep when I heard the "crinkle crinkle" of candy and I knew one of them was up. It was Elizabeth and she had already eaten one piece and had unwrapped the big bunny. I came out and she looked up with a big smile squealing. "Look mom, Easter STUFF!" It was so cute to see her so excited about the basket and all the little presents she received. I know some people are against kids believing in fictional characters but to me there is no greater joy than kids believing in something bigger than themselves.This is how I found her in the morning.

searching for Jackson's basket

found the basket behind the TV

Enjoying the spoils of Easter basket heaven.

Finally we finished the week off with a great meal and an egg hunt on Sunday. Brandon hid about 50 eggs for the 4 kids so they all found plenty of goodies. Jackson was very excited about the egg hunt asking me every morning that week if it was Easter yet? By the time the egg hunt happened he was locked in on finding as many eggs as he could. At the end he came up to me and said, "mom I found the most eggs." I replied, "Yes but let's be modest about finding the eggs and cheer the other kids on." He then proceeded to check with the other kids to make sure they all found a reasonable amount of eggs and if they didn't he gave them a few of his own. It was so cute. I am so proud of how responsible and considerate he has become.

What a good looking group of kids!

Now Entering 2nd Trimester

I MADE IT! The first is always the toughest right? Maybe not but I can tell you this first trimester has been the hardest of my 3 pregnancies. I don't know if I am just getting older but I have been more sick, more tired, more prone to yucky smells, and more hungry this time that the previous 2 combined. It probably doesn't help that I have two little children to run around after as well. But I made it into the 2nd trimester and excited to get to it.
Here are some of my feelings about these first few months:
-tired, more tired than ever before which leads to very little motivation to do anything including cooking, cleaning, or crafting.
-hungry. I am always hungry and my weight gain can show for it. Most of the books and doctors suggest only gaining about 1-4lbs in your first 3 months but I have added 6lbs to my body which leads me to my next issue
-expanding waistline not expanding belly. I know most women feel that at first they just look like they have put on some extra weight. I hold my baby weight in a tire like stance all the way around my middle where some women have basketball baby bellies. On the plus side expansion all around = little to no stretch marks.
-Are you in there baby? I have never felt more stress about the baby's well being than this pregnancy. If ignorance is bliss I wish I went back to being ignorant. The more I hear about miscarriage, malformations, and genetic defects the more worried I become. I have 2 healthy and happy babies what are the odds of having another one? So far everything seems to be perfectly healthy and right on schedule so let's just keep praying for the best.
-the heartbeat. No matter how many babies or how many times you hear it my emotions rush over me and it is a magical moment.
-the ultrasounds. I have had two (because I went to two different doctors) and the baby is a baby. He/she is jumping around in my tummy growing legs, arms, fingers, and toes. One of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.
-emotions and hormones. It seems that everything makes me cry these days. A commercial and thought or a story all of which have the opportunity to bring tears to my eyes.

Pregnancy and motherhood is a trying act of complete selflessness. I am working on that part but in the mean time I am enjoying the lives around me and the fact that I have been so blessed to enjoy the happiness that parenting can bring to enrich our lives.