All Dressed Up

Emma came upstairs the other day all dressed in black. She'd put her tights and everything on herself. I thought she looked adorable and she was very eager to model for the camera.

Emma is such a gem. She's independent, she's funny (and she knows it). She marches to her own beat. She loves to be helpful and is insistent on doing things herself. She makes me laugh every single day!

Love you Little E!

Our Boy

At one-year-old, Jayten...
-has mastered walking and is trying to go even faster. I love watching him toddle around the house. I can hear his little patter, patter, patter on the floor down the hallway.
-is grunting and babbling and making all sorts of noises all the time. Mama and Dada are his only real words, but today he tried saying "Moo" when he saw the cows outside the window. It was more like a spitting/blowing sound, but he's trying.
-had RSV and recently spent time in the hospital, but seems to have recovered rather quickly. And despite being sick, has remained a very happy baby.
-smiles ALL the time. Love, love, love it! He can light up my day in so many ways. Although, he is starting to display opposition when things are taken away from him or he is removed from someplace he shouldn't be, he is happy most all of the time.
-has one molar that's popped through and is working on more.
-loves to laugh at his sisters.
-has started dancing when he hears music.
-weighed 21 lbs., 2 oz. and was 29 inches tall at his well-baby check-up (even though he is bigger than the girls were at this age, he's still only around the 25-50 percentiles).
-is definitely a momma's boy, but loves his daddy too. He knows when Josh is leaving to go outside and that's when he clings the most to him. I know he's going to be his cowboy sidekick before too long.
-had a great time with G'ma Jo and G'dad Brock when they visited and loves seeing them on the computer when we Skype.
-is still taking two naps a day, but I'm not sure how long that will last. I'm holding on to it as long as I can though.
-never meets a stranger and has smiles for everyone he sees.
-has the cutest dimples ever!
-loves throwing balls, and pushing trucks and tractors
-has started throwing things on the floor to hear them make noise. He's all boy!
-enjoys standing on our bed looking outside our window.
-eats about anything that's put in front of him.
-likes hats-not so much the wearing them, but carrying them around, flapping them in the air, putting them on, taking them off and chewing on the brims. When Josh comes inside and picks him up, J immediately reaches for his hat.
-can climb the stairs very well-actually has been doing that since before he was walking.
-loves bathtime. He hated bathtime for about the first couple months, but now he gets so excited when he hears the water running.
-still wakes at night some. I was much better at getting the girls to get back to sleep on their own.
-is such a joy and a delight. And even though I was a little sad to see his first birthday come and go so quickly, I am excited to see how our little boy will continue to grow and change this next year.

We love you Little J-man!

A little hospital stay

Even though he was sick he couldn't keep from smiling!





His little baby gown was so cute!





Yay, no more tubes!

Warning-long post coming up. Feel free to just browse and move on. I'm just trying to get this down for journaling purposes. When I found out we were indeed going to the hospital, I was a little disappointed and started a little "why us, why now?" silent pity party in my mind. It was my last day with my parents, plus I had a ton of work to get to the rest of the week. Being in the hospital with a sick baby was not my plan. Not to mention the cost of a hospital stay! But, after those initial, natural feelings passed, I felt very much at peace about things. I know deep down that nothing is too big or too small for God to have a hand in. And of course, if this was the best thing for Little J, then we wanted him to get better quickly. There was something else that came up in his well baby check that is a wait and see kind of thing. I was actually more concerned about it, but again, I started to pray that it would be fine. And I kept telling myself, as much as we love our son, God loves him even more and has a great plan for him.

After we were settled in our room and Mom and Dad had gone home with Emma, it was just Little J and I. Even though I had deadlines and other stresses in my life, it was as if my mind just emptied. I didn't think about any of that the rest of our stay. Spending all that time with my baby and getting him well was all I was thinking about. It was kind of nice. We played, we napped. I watched some Food Network and HGTV. I was going to try to read, but little J was active enough I had to watch him so he didn't fall off the bed. It was kind of like when he was born, I tried to sleep when he slept.

I'm still not sure of the "why" of everything, and I don't need to be. I just will be thankful for that time I had with my son, that it was not more serious than it was, and that he has recovered well from it. I am grateful too for a wonderful husband, family and friends who were praying for us and keeping things moving at home while we were away. During that time, I also said many prayers for those other families who stay in the hospital with sick babies all the time. It put our situation into perspective.

G'ma and G'dad

It was great having my parents here last week. Since we live so far apart it is just nice to have them around, enjoying coffee in the mornings together, reading books to the kids, helping me finish my little projects. The girls enjoyed helping Gma Jo make salads for J's birthday party, and all of us girls helped make the cupcakes. E and I did the dry ingredients while MJ and Mom did the wet. We were kind of laughing because I let the girls choose and of course I got the kid who picked the messier job. 3-year-old + flour = mess. :0)But, it was still fun and I think we actually contained it quite well this time. And I wouldn't trade cooking with my kids or seeing them cook with my mom for anything. And Little E loves to help with everything, so of course she was not afraid to use the screwdriver with Dad. (He was installing the baby locks on my cabinets.) Thanks Mom and Dad for making the trip out to see us, for all your help during the week with kids, cooking, cleaning, errands, etc. I'm so glad you could be here for J's first birthday. Love you both sooooooooooo much!

A lot has happened

So, a lot has happened since my last post. My folks arrived on the 2nd and were able to stay for a week. It was great having them here. We had a few little projects around the house, but mainly just spent time together. They helped take care of the kids a couple mornings so I could get some work finished, which was great for all. It helped me out, plus they and the kids had some good one-on-one time together. Mom and I tried to sneak in some time here and there with just the two of us, as well. Dad was wonderful at the few little "Daddy-do" projects. He's so good to me even though he was feeling under the weather during their trip. Mom and I had planned some shopping on Friday, but had to change plans as Emma had a really rough night Thursday and after a visit to the doctor, it was determined she had an ear infection. She's doing much better now. We celebrated Little J's first birthday on Saturday (separate post to follow). It was lots of fun and he seemed to enjoy the attention. He was also baptized that evening at Mass, which made for a very special day. Sunday afternoon we went up to M&C's for a fun Superbowl party with family and friends.

Jayten had his well baby check on Monday morning and that's when the week got interesting. Everything was looking good at his check-up, he'd had a runny nose, but still seemed his happy self. Weight, height were good, ears were clear, but when the doctor listened to his chest, she said he was wheezing. She also said RSV was going around and really bad this year. I think I had a look of shock on my face. She wanted to test him and sure enough, it came back positive! He had a breathing treatment in the room, then we waited to see what his O2 levels were. They were not staying up where they needed to so she said he would need to be admitted to the hospital. Thankfully Mom and Dad were still here and were able to take care of E and MJ the rest of the day, getting them to/from school and ballet. I was sad that we didn't get to spend their last day together, but appreciated the time we had had. We got settled into his room around noon and they put him on a 1/2 liter of O2. I think even the doctor was surprised too because he was so happy; he handled everything extremely well. He smiled at everyone who came in the room like he always does. I have so many thoughts about this I want to journal separately and will hopefully get to that soon. He had a chest x-ray and everything was clear. RSV is really hard on babies and it can lead to pneumonia and other problems. His blood tests didn't show anything else either. We must have caught this at the very beginning and I am truly thankful for that appointment that morning. Besides showing signs of a little cold-no fever, no cough, etc., J was good. I am afraid we might not have taken him in before he had gotten really bad, just because he was handling it all so well. We ended up staying until Wednesday morning. They slowly weaned him down to no oxygen and he continued to receive nebulizer treatments every four hours during his stay. It's nice to be back home and I am truly grateful that I am not a parent who has children with chronic illnesses or diseases. I know they face much worse then we did. He'll have home treatments for the next few weeks and will have limited exposure to people. What could have been very scary turned out okay and we're so glad our little guy is back home and doing well. We had wonderful family and friends who helped out with the girls this week too and Josh was a trooper as he held down the home front.

I'm trying to get back into the routine as I have several deadlines right now. Yet, spending time with my kiddos has been top of my mind lately. Josh left for a sale today and will be back late Saturday. I'm trying to think of a fun Valentine surprise for my wonderful man. It will probably revolve around food because I love to cook and he loves to eat! Ha! We'll see. And I'm sure we'll be baking more Valentine cookies too-the girls love that. Just in time for Lent. I'll have to get all my goodie eating in now before I give up sweets for the next 40 days!

Lots of photos to sort through and will post soon!

One year ago today...

we were becoming the proud parents of a wonderful little boy. Happy Birthday Little J! I really cannot believe how fast the time has passed. I was just looking through old blog posts the other day and reminiscing. Aaaahhh......In case you'd like to remember what happened one year ago day, check Here and here and here.

That was then....

This is now....

We love you more than ever sweet boy. You and your sisters are truly the light in our lives. Thank you for bringing us such joy!

This week

My parents arrived today and will be here for a week. So excited! E and J and I went to pick them up at the airport. MJ didn't want to miss school so she sent the sign she made with E to give to them. It was really cute. We even made it in time to see them exit the terminal so we could run into their arms. We ran a few errands in the city then came home in time to pick MJ up at school. The teachers walk them out to the awaiting cars, so my dad got out to meet them, and she saw him she yelled Granddad and ran up to hug him. I love that even though we live far away, my girls (and J will too) have gotten to know my parents really well and look forward to our visits as much as I do. We ordered Idaho Pizza Company, which is our tradition, when they come to town. Yum! Really, it is truly the best pizza in the world. Mom and I went into town to pick it up. I'm looking forward to some one-on-one time with her this week. After dinner, it was time for bath, books and bed. The girls love that G'ma and G'dad get to be part of the routine for a change.

All the kids have colds right now. Not very fun. They have drippy noses and coughs. Hopefully it won't last long, but kind of inconvenient. However, I am quite thankful, they are normally quite healthy. We'll take the sniffles over something more serious.

Josh and I worked on cattle sale stuff tonight after everyone else went to bed. It's that time of year again.

Here are a couple shots from the girls practicing their ballet dance before their performance at the game.

Some more catch up

I just wanted to catch up on some things from the last few days. Last Thursday was a great day. When I took Emma to school I stayed for about an hour and helped put together a page in the students' "I am Special" books. These books consist of photos and papers they've done throughout the year, kind of like their scrapbook. While I was in the other room and didn't actually work with E, I still could peek through the door and see/hear her interact with the other kids and teachers. She is very independent at school too. In fact, she didn't even notice me there, just went about her playing. She's the only girl in the class, but all the kids are friends. She played by herself a lot, but she does that at home. She listened so well to her teacher and loved the singing, etc. at circle time. It was a neat experience. I'm excited to go back and continue helping with the books too.

When I came home, MJ had set up a tea party in the living room, so I played that with her for awhile. Later that afternoon, when MJ was in school, and Emma was home we played restaurant and Ariel Go Fish. We made it through the whole game too! Sometimes E gets distracted or doesn't want to follow the rules, but she did well this time and we got to work on numbers while we played too.

Later that night, the girls had a dance performance at a basketball game and afterwards we went to their school for Bingo for Books. They both played and each got a Bingo, so they brought home some new books.

I felt great about Thursday, had some much needed quality time with the kiddos and didn't worry about all the stuff that needed done. It was wonderful!

I got a late start Friday morning, so it seemed I was getting nothing done. But, at one point, Emma came in all dressed in her ballet costume and wanted some music on so she could dance. I just couldn't resist my little girl in her tutu, so I stopped and took some time to watch her and also grabbed some photos too.

Saturday I spent part of the day at the Wine and Chocolate event. All the benefits go to Love, INC., which is an awesome organization bringing together churches and communities to provide goods, resources and care where needed. It truly is the "hands and feet" of Christ. I spoke with one of the directors of the local chapter (It's a national organization) and we had a great conversation. First, her husband works for a local feedlot and they receive the magazine I publish. And second, her son is really interested in photography. I also met another local photographer I've had e-mail correspondence with, but we'd never talked. She has a little girl about J's age. We hit it off really well and are planning to meet for coffee soon. One of my photo goals this year was to reach out to other photogs in the area. Last week I'd met another one for lunch and had a great visit. I saw some old friends and met some new ones. The event was to promote my photography and Longaberger. The crowd that came through was a whole different group of people than I have met at other events so that was nice. And the chocolate was great!

Sunday after church, we went to Nampa to see family and hang out. We had an impromptu dinner with J&S and the kids got to see their Nana.

We are excited to see my parents as they arrive tomorrow. So, so much to do today to get ready! The girls have a friend over right now and J's napping, so I need to get busy. I do have photos and a video to post soon.

"I'm not a bad girl!" & Family Meeting

Last week, Emma got in trouble for tackling her brother. Every now and then, she just takes the little guy down. Or she tries to hold him and falls over backwards, so he's on top of her kicking and flailing about. I have been warning her one day he might retaliate. Anyway, the other day I heard a "thunk" and then a wail. She had pushed him over and was sitting on him again!! I told her she could not do that to her brother and the next time would mean time out in her room. A few minutes later it happened again. So, I swiftly removed her from the situation and we headed downstairs for time out. On the way down she looked at me and said, "I'm not a bad girl, Mom." Wow! It kind of hit me. And I realized I needed to explain again that no she wasn't a bad girl, but she was displaying "bad behavior" that wasn't acceptable. I reassured her over and over that we love her no matter what she does, but that we do not like some of her behaviors. Sometimes when she gets in trouble she says, "But, I'm a girl." As if girls don't get in trouble or something. I usually have to chuckle at that one. But the situation was a gentle reminder that I need to separate good/bad behaviors with the great little person I'm trying to raise. I want our kids to know that they will always be loved and it is not tied to what they do/don't do. Of course, it is always more fun when children behave, but we love them through the icky times too.

It's the same way with our heavenly father. He loves me no matter what-even when I am not being the person he's created me to be-loving, kind, patient....etc. It's not about "being good", but about accepting our Savior and living for him.

And fortunately, Little J is tough and doesn't really get hurt. And Emma and I both had some gentle reminders about love and forgiveness.

Family meeting-this was MJ's idea. She told me the other night she wants to have a family meeting. A time for us to sit down together as a family and talk about our week, what we'll be during, what we've done, how things are going, etc. Wow! I think it's great and I love that she's the one who's initiating it. I'll have to report back and let you know how it goes.