Cub Scout Day Camp

For the last three days, JD has had his first experience with Cub Scouts in the form of Day Camp!  As expected, he absolutely loved it and he will tell you his favorite part was learning to shoot beebee guns, and bows and arrows.  That's my boy, through and through! Altough I sunscreened him up the first day, he still got a nasty burn on his calves, which was super sad, but thankfully it was gone within a few days-he had one day of super scaly skin that was just falling off, otherwise it was okay.  JD earned 5 belt loops, which he will get next month at his first pack meeting, and I am so happy he had a good time!  He was gone from 1-10:30 every day--probably the longest he has been away!  I am glad he has enthusiastic leaders and some good kids in his pack.  While I am admittedly nervous about diving into the Cub Scout world, I am excited for JD to have some amazing experiences as a result.

Thinking of James

I have no reason for posting about James other than I was thinking about him today and wanted to post some cute pics of him.  James is heading to PCH for his second heart surgery in less than a week (June 2nd).  We are so grateful it is more of a minor surgery and we expect great results, most importantly time before an ineviteable valve replacement.  Still, any surgery is scary and hearing about the risk factors does nothing to calm a mother's heart.  Anyhow, we are already praying for James and basking in his beautiful smiles, unquenchable energy, and loving hugs.  

Cars are his favorite toys right now, by far!

 He just can't get enough of Jackson!

Memorial Day

With Jared having today off from work, we were able to spend most of this Memorial Day together as a family.  I feel like this so rarely happens anymore, and was grateful to take advantage of it, especially after a somewhat stressful (for no particular reason) Saturday/Sunday.  We had a lazy morning together before getting some cleaning and grocery shopping done.  But the afternoon/evening was full of swimming, and barbecuing hamburgers, peppers, and corn on the cob, and swimming, and ice cream cones, and swimming...we spent a good chunk of time in the pool, if you couldn't tell!  It was chilly, but no one seemed to care, and the kids were surprisingly engaged with playing together...nicely!  James hacked the water longer than I expected, and Sara asked me if she could do swimming lessons first-and then started jumping in with no help at all, which is a big step for her.  She still has a ways to go before she is independent, but I love the change in her attitude-the first few times, it was a crying fest trying to help her swim.  I think we are past that now, thank heavens!  Karianna, JD, and Jordan continue to amaze me with ther diving, flipping, swimming abilities, and Karianna spent quite a long time giving JD and Jordan rides on her back.  Jackson actually went in the pool with me for the first time today!  He whimpered some but once he got used to the water, he seemed to really relax.  I don't anticipate him going in the pool a ton this summer becuase it will be difficult for me to tend to him with two other non-swimmers, but he may very while like it the few times he does get to go in!

Overall, it was a lovely day together, and we even took a few minutes to talk about the holiday and what it means, since the kids had no idea it was even a holiday.  We don't have many servicemen in our family who have passed away in battle/combat to remember, but it is still important to me that they know about the holiday and what it represents.

12 Years in the Books!

Jared and I celebrated our wedding anniversary on May 18th--twelve years together and still going strong!  Wouldn't expect anything less!  We actually didn't really celebrate on the 18th, we waited until this weekend, as we had arranged for a "staycation" at the Inn at Eagle Mountain in Fountain Hills. Robert and Rachel were kind enough to stay with the kids overnight (except for Jacks), and we were so grateful they were willing to do so.  We got a hotel room for a steal of a deal at 80 bucks for the night--it was complete with a huge jetted tub, fireplace, two room suite, upgraded TVs, and amazing views of the golf course, the hills, and the valley below.  We went out to dinner and then headed to the fountain for an outdoor concert (that we were unaware of until we got there).  We also got to see the fountain light up at night, which I thought was just awesome-and I"ve never seen it before at night.  We had a lazy morning before checking out and hitting crackerbarrel for lunch before heading home midday (best biscuits ever, by the way).  It was such a relaxing 24 hours, we really enjoyed getting away for a bit to celebrate our anniversary!

 Rolling around in front of the fireplace.

 So, our room ended up being a Western themed suite.  Horshoes, cowboy hats, lassos, cowboys everywhere in the decor--including a decorative saddle.  Couldn't resist taking a pic of course!

On a sentimental note, I am so grateful for Jared.  He will never know how essential he is in my life and in my heart.  I would not be who I am, nor have any hope of reaching my potential, without him.  I feel every day a significant depth of gratitude to the Lord for blessing me with the very person who is my perfect match in every way possible.  We have been through some difficult things this year that have tested our committment and love for each other in many ways.  While never easy, it IS perfectly easy to love this man and to endure all things with him.  12 years have flown by, and I am absolutely looking forward to 12 more times infinity.  Love you always.

First and Last: Comparisons!

Happy last day of school!  See ya later preschool, kindergarten, 2nd grade and 4th grade!  

2014 Awards Ceremony

Karianna was invited to the 4th-6th grade awards assembly this year, having been selected for an award (we didn't know beforehand).  She was one of 9 fourth graders who received a scholastic award because she had straight A's the entire year.  We were surprised when she also won a writing award for 4th grade!  Awesome job Karianna, such amazing achievements for you this year!

He's a Mover!

See that heart/bullseye shaped toy in the picture below?  That's where he started.  I left the room for about 10 minutes to get some laundry folded/switched, and this is what I found when I came back?

 He's got this backwards scoot down, which means he is getting strong enough to push on his arms to move!  Super cute, but I am not completely ready to baby-proof the house....

Jackson: 6 months

Happy Half Birthday Jackson!  You sure are handsome!

 Jackson is officially 6 months old!  That means I no longer have to set my alarm for every 2-3 hours at night to make sure he is still breathing because I am that scared of SIDS!  Woohoo!!!  I can't believe 6 months has already passed!  Of course, we all love Jackson to pieces and love watching him grow and develop.  A few updates from this month, which I will try to intersperse through the pictures....

•  Jackson loves to play with his toes and occasionally get them into his mouth.  This is a fun baby trick I always wait to see!
• Jackson is 16 pounds 8 ounces (25%) and 29 inches long (95%).  His head is somewhere in the 60%, I forgot the measurement exactly.  He is a string bean, and definitely seems like he needs more than milk. He tried carrots a few weeks ago with a very comical (read: grossed out) reaction!  He liked eating grits though, so perhaps he will be my oatmeal baby.  We will commence with sweet potatoes this week and see if that goes any better. I'm in no rush to get him onto baby food, he just seems like he wants it!

•  Jackson is working on sitting completely unsupported right now.  He does great if his hands are on the floor in front of him, and he will occasionaly straighten up his body and hold it for a few moments-not independent yet, and he will absolutely throw himself backwards into the floor if there isn't a foot or a hand behind him to stop the head cracking.  He always seems really pleased with himself when he is sitting!

•  Jackson also loves to scoot around on the floor.  He can move himself in a 360 on his belly and will push himself up onto his hands and scoot himself backwards--he frequently pushes himself mostly under the couch.  He likes playing with very nonconventional things on the floor, especially individual bags of chips.  

•  Jackson still loves his swing and that's his go-to place to sleep.  He sleeps from about 8:30pm until 6am, only sometimes needing a 10/11 feeding.  He might wake up in the middle of the night fussing, but absolutely doesn't need to eat anymore, and I rarely even go to rebinky him-he will just slip back to sleep.  This is normaly the time period when I will transition babies to their own room, but I am not convinced how to best do that with the roomate situation...it will likely be Karianna and Jackson moving in together, and Sara and James moving in together.  Thats a lot of moving around though, so I will have to start making those arrangements over summer in between surgery, summer activities, potty training, etc.

•  Jackson loves toys of all sorts right now, he loves clasping his hands together with his fingers interlaced, and he loves standing on anything and everything.  He will stand at the ottoman if propped up, though he dances his feet around so much, it doesnt last long. He loves playing in his exersaucer outside, and spends at least an hour out there everyday with the kids playing all around him.  He loves sucking on anything and everything, and babbles a ton-mostly ma, ba, and wa.  He is a very content baby-only sad when he needs something.  He is definitely still a mommy's boy though-sometimes I'm the thing that he wants!  He spit up maybe 3 times this month, and only poops once a week-though that one poop is ridiculously gross.  

•  Jackson still is unsure about baths-he seems to like them at first but very quickly needs to be done.  He doesn't mind strangers and will shoot smiles at pretty much anyone-although, if he sees me in the vicinity, he wants me.  He gets to hang out with other moms in primary all the time, and does pretty good with that while I am leading music.  

•  Karianna is still a "best babysitter" for Jackson-he loves her so much.  He rarely falls alseep on people any more, but just the other day, he fell asleep in Karianna's lap in the picture below--he only woke up because of the flash.  It was pretty adorable!

•  Just a funny note:  Jared is convinced Jackson only takes 15 minute naps and nothing longer.  In reality, Jackson takes 3 good naps every day, somewhere in between 1 1/2 to 2 hours apiece.  Jared has been victim to some cat naps for whatever reason and now just assumes that's Jackson's go-to move.  Its not, but its funny to me all the same! Jackson is still really good at falling asleep wherever we are when he needs it.  I love that he does NOT have to have a quiet, dark room to sleep. That's not realistic in our home, and its not how I "sleep train" babies anyway.  Nighttimes are different, but I am glad he can fall asleep when and where he needs to during the day.

 And that' the 6 month update!  Love to Jackson and the happiness/joy he brings to our lives!

Karianna for Treasurer!

 Karianna has spent the last week campaigning for student council.  We found out today that she didn't win for the pool of 12 students who were running.  I was so proud of her reaction though-she didn't get down, rather we spent  lot of time chatting about how many neat things she learned/got to do throughout the process!  She came up with her own slogan/theme, which centered around her rainbow loom bracelets as her treasures-she started calling herself "The Rainbow Girl", she wore her bracelets, necklaces, rings, hair accessories, etc every campaign day, and she passed out over 120 bracelets that she had made.  She complete a student/teacher petition, designed and made 2 posters, wrote her own speech, and delivered it on BBS, live!  I really only helped her very minimally, and like the Science Fair, I was so proud of how much work she put into this project-and it was all her, she came home one day and said she wanted to run.  It is really hard to win as a 4th grader, which we expected.  But again--the whole experience was so worthwhile, and I am so proud of Karianna and the hard work she puts into everything she does.  Congratulations Nana!

Her spech day outfit--very fitting!

Merry Christmas!

We finally purchased our Christmas bench that my mom paid for!  Woohoo!  We went to IKEA for the first time and while this bench is a bit longer than our table, it is perfect for all the kids to sit on, which is what I wanted in a very small kitchen.  Eventually we will replace the chairs and probably get a 2nd bench, but while staying in this house, we'll just make the table work as is.

By the by, I LOVE IKEA.  I can't believe I have never been there, and the prices are much more reasonable than I thought.

Mother's Day Spa Day

 Karianna and the achievement day girls went all out for Mother's Day this year!  They "trained" on how to do manicures, pedicures, calf massage, and facials and then proceeded to provde mothers with all of the above.  It was super relaxing-my favorite part was the salt foot bath and the homemade sugar hand scrub that seriously made my skin so soft!  It was a lovely day, and I really enjoyed hanging out with Karianna-it was so sweet of her and all the girls honestly.  Just a fantastic mother's day gift from my very amazing daughter!

 This is such an awesome picture of me, I know.

Jordan's Mother's Day Program

This was such a cute day, and such a prime reason that I will always request Jordan's teacher, Ms. Davis, for kindergarten!  Look at that face in the front row!

Jordan has had such a great year in kindergarten-he continues to just love school, and although he gets out of sorts at home, he is so well-behaved at school, and I am so proud of him for that!

Today though was meant for Moms!  Jordan's class prepared an elaborate Mother's Day singing celebration, and it was just so fun.  He made me and Grandma Erickson beautiful necklaces made out of beads...

And then they sang about 12 songs that they have been singing throughout the year-some with hand puppets, others with books, and each with a narrator.  Jordan got to introduce a song, and he did a great job speaking clearly!

This was probably my favorite part-James really wanted to go up and sit rightin front of the book!

Here's Jordan reading his sign to introduce his song, "I can Spell Hippopatomous!"

For some reason, Jordan kept squinting and blinking his eyes, and I can only assume he was suffering from allergies of some sort.

At the end of the presentation, Jordan served me and Grandma Erickson cookies and juice, and we got to hang out together in the classroom, where they also gave us some flowers they made and a lovely poster.  It was such a sweet presentation, and an awesome culmination of the year.

Both Logan and Jordan-they did great being in kindergarten together and became even closer buddies!

As a conclusion to an awesome afternoon, here's my favorite bulletin board (and if you know me, you know I love good bulletin boards!).  It is titled, "If Mothers were flowers, I'd pick my mom!"  The kids drew portraits of their moms for this bulletin board.  Can you fine me?

Here I am!  I told Jordan it looked like I had a sharp instrument of some sort through my head! It is an awesome rendering, and I sure do love my little kindergartener-best Mother's Day present ever!