Splash Park Smilebox!

I discovered smilebox today, and didn't want to opt for the payment option. So hopefully this displays okay! We went to a splash park in Anthem today. I was very nervous about doing it by myself because the splash park is part of a huge mongo park, and the splash part is not gated in very well. Thus if one kid runs west and the other kid runs east, I am in trouble as I have to stay near Jordan in the dead center! But the kids did GREAT, to the point where I will probably make this a weekly outing! Pefect for hot days! Check out the smilebox below! Hopefully it works!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

We're Off to See the...

I'm not sure what they were off to see. But they sure looked like they wanted to go somewhere! In any case, what a fun way to spend the morning-toting your baby brother around in a toy wheelbarrow!

You'll notice Jordan keeps his hands in his mouth the entire time-I think I have been successful in the whole "teach your son to be a thumb (fist) sucker" ordeal! Yea Jordan!

Ready and Rarin' to go!

JD: Sheez louise, this kid is heavier than he looks!

Karianna: You just gotta use your muscles like me-and a winning smile never hurts!

Mesmerized!

Yesterday I took the kids to their first movie in a movie theater! In all actuality, Karianna has seen a few movies as an itty bitty baby, and lucky little Jordan was one of the first to see Indiana Jones, but I do not believe those count due to lack of memory. So yesterday was the official first movie. Not only that, but i was the first time I endeavered to take 3 very small kids to the movies by myself. If I were a betting woman, I would have betted on disaster. Actually, the kids did amazing! We saw Surf's Up-all about surfing penguins-at Harkins; they do kid movies during the summer that only cost a buck. Jordan only slept about 30 min of it, but was pretty content being in my arms otherwise. Karianna and JD just impressed me to all end by staying in their seats and being mesmerized by the hugeness of the screen. I don't really think they cared too much for the movie, it was all about the screen! Either way, they just did wonderful, and with all that being said and done, we now have plans to go see the next 2 kid movies!

This is cool!

Look what I made! I went to this website that Carly gave me to get a cooler background (and I think this one is it!) and found another website where I can "bling" out my pictures! How cool is that?!?! So when I find the time, you might be seeing some pretty sparkly pics on my blog from now on!!! Wahoo, the little things that make your day!

Personalized Glitter Graphics

What a Singer!

Do you remember when you were a kid in primary and there was always one kid who sang more exhuberantly than others? The one who sang as if he or she had no other cares in the world and who knew every single word, albeit at window-shattering volumes? I am subbing in primary this month as the primary chorister (which, by the way, is thee best calling ever!). It was during junior singing time today that I discovered that Karianna falls into that catagory! Every single song we sang, I could hear her voice above all others singing every single word perfectly! Now I have to make a distinction here. Some of these over-singers as I will call them can be the most obnoxious kids in the world, and it is very obvious they are singing like that to earn that title. But as I watched Karianna today, I was in between laughing and crying with joy. She was so intent singing her best. She listened to every review method I went through, sat so reverently, and watched me direct as she gave it her all. It was so non-obnoxious simply because it was so innocent and natural for her. I wanted to laugh because it was so wonderful to see her so happy and spirited in music-I feel the same way when I am singing! I wanted to cry because it touched my heart so much to see how grown up my little girl is. I"m so glad I get to be in primary for the next month! What a singer!

JD = fish!

Today we went swimming as a family, probably the first time this summer we have gone with just our family-all the kids included. Karianna has decided to stop using floaties and just sticks with a Little Mermaid inner tube. Jordan hacks about 5 minutes of pool time before he starts to fall asleep (or before one of the other kids needs me!). And we all know that JD just loves the water and tends to jump in before considering his own safety. Last time we went swimming it was JD's first time this summer and when we went to the big pool, I just figured on putting him in the baby floatie that I did last summer. Sure he's a ton bigger, but I really didn't think he was ready for floaties. Today I put the floaties on JD just to see if he would even be able to find his balance in the water with them on. I was shocked to see how amazing he did! He kept flopping on his back and on his belly but his head never went under! He very quickly figured out how to correct himself and shift his body weight until he was just sitting up right! I was so proud of him! He spent a good half hour jumping in the water to me and then swimming back to the steps all on his own! Kicking seemed to just come very natural, and he still has a way to go before he'll lay on his belly and kick, but already he just seems to latch right on to the idea of swimming on his own.

My kids grow up way too fast; I am not sure this is fair! I have to remember moments like this when my kids are frustrating me! This time in their lives is way too precious to waste it by being annoyed! I love my kids!

Double Dose of Karianna Quirks

Quirk #1: Last night Karianna was finishing up her milk and out of the kindness of my heart, I decided to spice it up a little bit. So I took her cup, added a secret ingredient, and started mixing. Only a few mixes in did Karianna start to cry! Huge tears! Jared and I looked at each other pretty confused, as we had no idea why she was crying! She finally blurted out something along the lines of "I don't want that in my milk!" I think she thought I was adding in some of my "medicine" ie Miralax, and that was just unacceptable (and really, it is!). We finally explained what we had added, and it sure cheered her up pretty quick? What do you think we added? Scroll down to find out!

Quirk #2: This just proves that little girls learn so much from their dads when eating cookies.

Training a thumb sucker!

I think that's what I am doing-training a thumb sucker! Right now it is more like a fist sucker, but you get the idea. Jordan has hit a stage where he is waking up more frequently at night, not necessarily because he is hungry, just because he's in the middle of a REM cycle or something. But when he wakes up, if his binky is not in his mouth, he cries....which means I have to get out of bed, insert his binky and then try to find the nice comfortable position I was in before sleep was disturbed-it never happens :) I decided this morning, after a less than wonderful night of non-sleep, that Jordan needs to start relying on his binky less-or figure out an alternative form of sucking. So he has now been in his afternoon nap for an hour and has spent the whole thing, more or less crying. We are playing the 5 minute game, which worked wonderfully with Karianna, here's how to play: You lay your child down with a song, a few pats, and his binky, and then go. When he starts crying (and he will), you let him cry for 5 minutes before going back in and without picking him up, comforting him and such until he settles down. Then you leave again. And the cycle starts gain (and it will). The point for Jordan is to figure out how to either keep his binky in or calm himself down without it. Fun game right? Not recommended for adults though.

I just went to check on Jordan after a five minute interval and didn't hear any crying, so I thought woohoo, we have a winner! When I peeked into his room, he had one fist shoved into his mouth and was frantically sucking on it, as he hadn't figured out how to just get one thumb in. HIs eyes were wide open. I couldn't help but giggle, he looked so cute! I snuck out before he saw me and I have yet to hear from him! So maybe this will help our night time excursions to Jordan's closet-nursery! Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion!

An ever growing family!

Here's some extra pictures from last weekend when most of the family was together. I realized I didn't get any pictures from Samantha's baby blessing, so if anyone wants to send me some via email, that'd be great! I'm labelling the pictures with how JD says everyone's names-sorry in advance for some of you who have fairly silly sounding names!

This is "Ro-bah-becca" holding Jordan. I am not sure how JD came up with that one!

"Maka-tee" or Makayla playing a mean drum!

Nana and "Dizzie". Hmm...we'll need to work on his L's.

"Jadee" and "Kainin" or Jarom and Kaitlynn eating their cake. In order to get them both to look at the same time, I made my voice very deep and yelled, "OH NO!!!" hee hee.

Sorry Kristen, but "kissy" doesn't look too happy to have to wrangle all the little ones just to snap a grad picture!! Can you imagine how the Contempo staff is going to feel when the Ericksons come in for family pictures in July?!?!

Congratulations to Kristen for graduating despite a poopy scenario (we couldn't go because of the rain-only people with tickets got to go!!!)

"Beebees!" says JD of this picture! From left to right, baby Amber, baby Jordan, and baby Logan! We are just missing baby Samantha and then we would have this baby picture complete!

"Kissy" maxin and relaxin with her cool lap desk! Doesn't her hair look great straight?

Amber is officially a mover and a shaker-"Zoozie" tempting her with a camara, as anything with buttons is too tempting to pass up!

Here's baby "Ama", aka Amber looking as bright eyed as ever!

Here's "Gama-ah" holding baby Jordan. I am not sure why JD calls her Gama-ah! This is a recent development!

Kaitlynn, for all intensive purposes, loves Jordan....I guess I should just say babies in general, right Becca? She'll be a great mommy!

Tribute to JD-The Birthday Boy!

June 1st marked JD's second birthday! My little boy is 2 years old! Where in the world did the time go? Before Jordan was born, I always told Jared that JD would always be my little baby. If anyone has ever read "I'll Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch, this is the exact way I feel about JD; I usually sing my version of the book's refrain to JD when putting him to bed-"I'll love you forever I'll love you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be". I still feel that way, but wow, he is just growing up so fast and I sure do love this little guy for his happy smile, his calming spirit, and his boundless energy! Here's just a couple of pics about JD-then scroll down to see the birthday extravaganza (its like, 4 posts, so prepare your hearts and minds!).

This is the smile I just love and adore!!!

Hanging out with JD makes me feel so relaxed and calm-he's always been that way!

Jared got this smile out of him-count on dad to make him laugh! And finally...

Catching JD doing his favorite past time-laying on the ground, doesn't matter where and playing with either dinosaurs or cars. Today its all the dinosaurs he got from birthday gifts-he can do this for hours on end!

The Birthday 'Do!

Okay all, check out the picture: What's missing??????

The JD Chronicles: Combo Birthday Party!

With JD's birthday on June 1st and cousin Elizabeth's birthday on June 6th, we thought it best to do a combo birthday party! Part one of the celebration took place at the Mantanona's home where we did presents and cake. Turning 2 sure is super cool, but it certainly has its setbacks-like being a tad bit grumpy when we want you to be happy for pictures! But it all turned around once we got the presents out of the wrapping-check it out!

The birthday kids! Elizabeth is turning 3 and JD is turning 2! Happy birthday to you both!
We started off on the wrong foot-and an empty stomach, and with a recent owie...what else could I do but smile and expect to open the gifts by myself? Luckily a few of JD's favorite things turned this party right around....

Like a couple of dinosaurs.....

And a good old ball (the spikey kind too-thanks Mom!)

And of course, a lions and tigers book! Talk about cool stuff!

JD literally spent the rest of the party sneaking peeks at his new book-here he is with the rest of the loot!

JD loves cousin "Kainin", which in reality is Kaitlynn (except I might have spelled her name wrong again-sorry Becca!!! Tell me and I'll fix it!).

The final verdict? This birthday party ROCKED!

I've been so patient! Bring on the cake!

Ready to dig in (except I think JD is a little disappointed the candle flames had to go-he sure was mesmerized by them!)

The JD Chronicles: Swimming Party!

Part two of JD's and Elizabeth's extended family birthday celebration happened at out community pool, which is cool because it has a kiddie pool for all the children who like to splash and jump around with no thoughts for their safety (ie, JD and a few of his cousins!). Last summer JD didn't seem terribly interested in getting wet! Maybe it is something about being 2 because JD was ready to dive in as soon as we got there! I am glad he had such a fun time, especially with all his cousins-thanks to everyone who came, it was so fun to hang out with all the family, especially for such a special occasion! Here come the pics....

The ever popular water boat! JD just loved riding on this thing! He would have preferred to do it parent-less but that might not have ended so well!

Karianna jumping into the little pool, which definitely required floaties and a noodle! I love the action in this shot!

Baby Jordan taking his first REAL swim in a non-backyard pool! He loved it! Or just didn't seem to mind one way or another....either way, he wasn't crying like last time!

Karianna and cousin Makayla hanging out in their high fashion floaties!

A good portion of the visiting family members: Aunt Kristen on the boat with Uncle Robert alongside; Uncle Stephen on the far side of the pool catching the water bomb (a family favorite); Aunt Rebecca, and I think cousins "Lizzie" and "Kainin" as the monkey in the middle! And Uncle Mark is closest to the camara with cousin Makayla.

JD getting ready to hop out and leap in again...he got some scratches on his back from jumping around so much!

Jordan in his very stylish swimming trunks! Yea for swimming parties!

The JD Chronicles: Birthday in Phoenix

Monday was the final day for celebrating JD's birthday and thus concludes the longest birthday celebration in our family! I am happy to say it was also the happiest part of his birthday festivities as he had a full tummy and we had lower expectations! We figured less structure and posed pictures equals a happier birthday boy-we finally got it right! Happy Birthday to JD, my little guy who is not so little anymore as a grown up 2 year old!

Decorations of choice were balloons, balloons, balloons! And of course with balloons comes a lot of bopping-check out JD's hair!

I have tons of present pictures, so I went with the best gift-this little wagon dealie is full of dinosaurs and zoo animals! Love at first sight for JD!

Making a whole cake would have ended up with half of it in the garbage-my kids are not cake eaters. So a couple of cupcakes sufficed! JD doesn't seem to mind at all!

I was pretty proud of him for actually blowing the candle out! When we asked him to take a bite, he leaned forward like this, formed his lips into an O shape and just sucked on the icing.....not sure why, it was pretty cute though! Happy Birthday JD!

The most excited Lautenschlager of the day? This little guy, who seemed tickled at the thought of his first sugar high!