One Step At a Time

Planes, Trains and Cars.

2012-01-23T17:06:00.001-08:00

Jordan's parents were in St Martins (the lucky ducks!) during Oscar's birthday,

so we had a belated cake and presents at their house when they got back.

Jordan's mom is a MASTER at cakes (uhm... did you see my wedding cake? Or Mak's first birthday cake? A carousel!) and she recently got some mini cake pans in the shape of Disney's Cars characters! How awesome is that! It was after Mak and I got back from our trip and pre-big scary winter storm when we hopped over rather suddenly, so we told her not to worry about frosting them (she thought we were coming the next day) and I think they were SO CUTE! Just look how excited O is about them!

Makayla chose to eat the race car...

uhm yes I can't remember his name and I'm too lazy to look it up! Sorry!

Then Oscar opened his presents from Jordan's parents, it was Thomas the Train sets!

One of them is a little caboose with a button on top that plays a song. He LOVES it.

Like REALLY LOVES IT. He sleeps with it, and won't let anyone even touch it!

Very rare for a kid who worships his big sister and shares everything with her!

And THIS is how excited he was about the whole affair.

ie... really excited.

The boy loves his cake, ice cream and presents!

(a man after my own heart!)

I'm Dreaming!

2012-01-19T09:41:00.000-08:00

SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And we couldn't be more excited! Even Jordan has had 2 days off this week :-D

The kids are so excited that when they go outside, they just walk in circles to see their foot prints! No really, and it's adorabley cute and hysterical!

Makayla is excited about snowball fights, but I think she may have to wait another year before Oscar will join in. Now he just goes "No Mah-tay-ta, no!" every time he is beaned with snow.

Luckily Jordan came out and had a snowball fight with her.

(p.s. the first year I don't buy snow suits for the kids and just look at what happens!)

We even built a very dirty snow man. There wasn't very much snow at first, but since we built the snow man we've had so much snow that Jordan didn't have to go to work! Which is good, because I'm not sure we could make it up the road, even in the truck! Cold, frozen slush anyone? And no salt or snow plow to be found!

But we are fine with that! We are working our way through depleting our food supply, and cozying up on the couch for movie marathons and every time we glance outside, we smile!

Happy Snow days!

2 point O

2012-01-07T09:03:00.000-08:00

How did this.... grow into this....

People tell me this all the time

"Treasure what you have, it goes by too quick"

And that is FOR SURE the truth of it!

My baby is 2 years old? What?

Next thing you're going to tell me is Mak is going to turn 4 soon.... oh wait...

On Oscar's birthday we carried on the time honored tradition of having a party at Chuck E Cheese. Jordan's sister Nicole and her boyfriend got to come and it was a blast!

Everyone rode the horse in the big horse race...

The kids got to ride a roller coaster...

Oscar was more like "I have to do everything humanly possible here so I don't have time to actually sit through any one ride, just start one and move on to the next..."

So he ditched Makayla before the second hill climb.

And he really was into doing EVERYTHING there. I've never seen that kid so jazzed up!

He would run to the first ride, jump off, climb on the next, jump off... the only time he stopped for a moment was when Chuck came out to sing a song!

Makayla was actually big enough to play a lot of the games now.

It was really fun to see her actually tall enough and with good enough motor skills.

Oscar, just wanted to be in on everything. It was his birthday and he wasn't going to miss out!

We finally got him to come to the table when we offered him some presents.

He got a few new dress up stuff from Jordan and I, so he wouldn't have to just dig through Makayla's dresses and scarves so much. The Buzz Lightyear wings are my all time favorite Goodwill find! Seriously, Buzz Lightyear wings! And when you push the buttons, THEY TALK!

He also got a really cool Lego book and Oscar shirt from his Aunt Nicole.

When you ask him who's on the shirt he says "Me"

(cracks me up every time!)

He also had a few other presents from his other Uncles and Aunts that couldn't make it.

We are having another dinner with his Grandparents when they get back from their vacation.

(to the tropics... ahhh... sun and beaches!)

Chuck E Cheese himself came out to say hi!

Oscar was so intent on only talking "through his wings" so he kept showing Chuck the buttons instead of smiling for the camera. Oh well... successful birthday present!

Here are some things he's doing right now.

We are working on potty training him. (after I swore to never potty train before 2 1/2!) BUT we started because every time he uses his diaper, he comes to me and says "I pooped my pants" and then leads me to the bathroom and sits on the toilet (all self-led) So I thought, maybe I should help him out a bit. The thing is... even though he hates to have even the tiniest drop in his diapers... he could walk around all day in wet undies and not care! What is up with that?!?

After the first 2 days he has yet to actually go in the potty again, but he still wants to sit on the potty every time I change his diaper, so we are just taking it slow and letting him feel like a big boy until he finally goes in the toilet.

He is in the "why" stage BIG TIME. He also asks "What happened" a lot too. It sounds more like "Wha Hippo, Mama, wha hippo?"

He loves to follow Makayla around and wants to be just like her. They play dolls and dressup and trucks and dinosaurs together all the time. I love that Oscar and Makayla flow through all types of toys together!

He is THE BEST at cleaning up! I have to beg and plead Makayla to clean up, but when you tell Oscar it's time to clean up, he just goes to work! Pick up a toy, put it away, pick up a toy, put it away. Like a machine, till it's all done! I LOVE IT!

He tries to get himself dressed, and 90% of the time it's upside down. Not sure how, it just is.

He can climb in and out of his booster seat at the table all by himself. And if he likes what he's eating he'll hold the fork in one hand and dig in with his other hand. But he hates mashed potatoes. (which we feed him all the time because we think it's hilarious how he takes the first bite... like he forgot he hates them... then starts gagging on them... yes I know, we are bad parents! But it is so funny and cute!)

He LOVES bananas, like LOVES them! When I have a lot of shopping to do, I just buy a banana right at the beginning and give it to both kids, then go shopping and they are both happy as clams to eat their bananas till I'm done!

Oscar loves watching "Wonder Pets" and "Little Einsteins" and "Spiderman".

He falls asleep saying "wa-wa pets" wakes up asking for "li-li i-ti" and spends the rest of the day pretending to be "bi man" by waving his arms around and then "spraying" us with his web.

He was in trouble for kicking his sister during a play fight so I said "Oscar Gary Paxton!" and he said "no, I bi-man" then he sprayed me with his web and ran off... I was too stunned to pursue.

He gets into everything, climbs on everything, yells no, loves sharing food and toys with his sister and adults, but anytime a little kid is near him he gets VERY possessive. Even of his sister and especially of ME!

He loves his Daddy, unless he knows he's in trouble, then he prefers me (yes, I'm a softie!)

He loves football, baseball, any ball really.

I could go on and on and on about him because as I type I'm laughing about all the little stories that are popping into my head. He's talking a lot better now so we can understand him almost as much as Makayla. We love our little guy so much! I am so grateful he joined our family!

Happy Birthday Little O!

American Girls

2011-12-28T21:54:00.000-08:00

Jordan's Mom made reservations for us at the new American Girl's store in Seattle.

It was so much fun! The kids had a blast going around and looking at all of the dolls and accessories! I could seriously buy EVERYTHING in that store! So much fun!

They have a little cafe attached to the store, so you can have lunch or tea with your dolls!

They even have cute little high chairs for the dolls to sit in, along with small tea cups too!

Oscar took this picture. I love it!

Jordan's sister was there too with some of her American Girl dolls from when she was a kid!

Makayla made sure that all the dolls were eating too. She went around the table each time making sure each doll had a drink. Once when I was helping her, she said

"Mom you poured it into her nose! That's so silly"

After lunch we had dessert! Little baby fondue!

The kids thought it was so neat! They loved dipping things in chocolate!

A really BIG thank you SOOOOOOO much for taking us!

Home Again, Home Again

2011-12-28T21:23:00.000-08:00

Jiggity Jig!

Well here we are back in the land of Emerald green and Grey skies!

The kids are loving being so close to family again.

Here are some high lights of the things we've been up to. There are a few things that deserve their own post, so bear with me ;-)

Oscar. Cute as ever, even at 4 in the morning when we made him go Black Friday shopping with us. It's a good thing they have bananas at some of those stores! Only 3 melt downs, but lots of shopping and fun! It's been a tradition to go with Jordan's mom every year and I love it!

Jordan's mom also bought a ginger bread house to decorate with the kids.

She did the fancy piping and icing work, while the kids put on the candy

... or ate the candy some times ;-)

A neighborhood friend even stopped by to help a little

Finished product! They had so much fun making it! And even more fun eating it!

Now that I've uploaded all the pictures, I realize I didn't even edit them and both kids have red eyes in this picture! Oops!

But it's late and I've got a long way to go till I'm done, so red-eyed they remain!

Jordan's mom invited us to her Church for a family night. We had pizza and treats and watched Veggie Tales new Christmas movie The Little Drummer Boy (I love Veggie Tales!)

They kids each got balloons too. Here they are trying to blow them up.

I love this because I didn't even show them how, they just picked them up and started blowing!

After a little while I stepped in and helped them though ;-)

Happy kids!

There were a lot of kids there. It was so much fun!

They even had a few games to play too. This one is picking up m&m's with a straw by sucking in, and putting them in a little cup. I think Makayla was confused on the sucking in/blowing out part. I was definitely not going to touch her m&m's when the game was done! yuck! ha!

The kids LOVE being so close to their Grandma! She is so good at reading to them and coming up with fun crafts for them to do when we visit. One night when Jordan and I went to Portland for a friends birthday, she made cookies with them! Makayla still talks about it!

This might be one of my favorite pictures! I just love how excited Oscar is!

Love my book worm kids!

We went up to Seattle and visited Santa Butch, they WASU Cougar

Makayla even learned the Cougar's fight song to sing to him! It was pretty cute!

Then we stopped by and visited Jordan's grandparents for their birthdays.

(Their birthdays are only a day apart! How cute!)

We never let the kids ride in the mall strollers or big cars at the grocery store, but the kids found this abandoned one at the mall, ran over and climbed right in. It was too cute not to push them around for a little bit!

Oops... I put Thanksgiving pictures on the bottom. Sorry!

I love this picture of Jordan's Grandma (whom Makayla is named after -Maureen-) and his cousin Leslie with Oscar and Makayla. Mak almost didn't make the picture, but she has SUCH a big beautiful grin on her face! My kids love animals (from a distance)

Makayla had a Fancy Nancy Thanksgiving book with stickers in it, so she handed out stickers to everyone. They were all so sweet and even sported their stickers the rest of the evening!

I love this picture! Jordan's grandpa was getting sleepy, so Makayla came over and cuddled with him for a bit. So sweet!

We've had a lot of fun when their cousin Andrew comes to visit too.

Last time they colored on a giant box to make it into an airplane.

Then off they went!

They played with that box for over a month afterward too!

This is a picture of the kids Christmas outfits from Jordan's Mom.

I love the boys in their matching sweaters!

It took a LOT of coaxing and picture taking to get one that turned out!

Kids :-P

Merry Christmas!

On Our Way to the Littlest Big City

2011-12-28T21:07:00.000-08:00

I've already kind of done a lot of posts about Reno, so this will be quick and painless ;-)

I got to stop by and stay with my cousin and his family for a while when Jordan went to Reno.

It was so much fun! Their daughter is a month older than Makayla and they are BEST FRIENDS! I love it! And I am super sad that we don't live closer, because Mak STILL talks about how much she loves her cousin!

They "painted" everything with feathers and water.

I love their imaginations!

We went to a really fun Apple Orchard place and they kids got to run around like crazy in the dirt! Oscar was in heaven! And I'm pretty sure he ate his weight in dirt too...

We also got to go to a movement class. Makayla loved it. She danced and sang and dressed up. It was pretty much her kind of place :-)

My cousin and his wife are some of my favorite people too! When they heard about all of our clothes being stolen, she gathered up a bunch of clothes from her own kids closets and gave them to us! Then a few months later after we had left she mailed us some more clothes too!

They are the best people! And I just love their kids too!

After we left their house we went to Reno.

It was fun walking around downtown, the kids loved walking through the casinos and looking at all the shiny lights, but they were upset that they couldn't play any of the games :-P

So of course we ended up at Circus Circus a lot because they DO have a lot of carnival games for kids to play.

We were there for a Casino opening, but it was a non-gambling casino. Just about hanging out and rock climbing (the front of the building is a GIANT rock wall! that people were climbing!) It's a dog friendly hotel, and has different rooms with rock climbing, lots of food places and other things that weren't quite finished yet. It was fun walking around!

Since we were in Reno around Halloween, we went to the Disney store for dress up time. Every Halloween the Disney Store does something fun for kids in costumes.

This time it was a parade, with some games and prizes.

The kids costumes weren't done yet, so Makayla dressed up in her old Little Mermaid dress (that I bought in LA before Oscar was born!) and Oscar wore a little monster shirt that his Grandma Paxton had sent him. They were super cute in the parade, Makayla even held Oscar's hand so he wouldn't get lost! Love these kids!

Reno was my least favorite... so we're all done here.

Moving on and moving up!

California Dreamin'

2011-12-28T17:08:00.000-08:00

Goodbye San Antonio!

(I know, took me long enough right?)

I figured it was probably a good idea to get finished up with 2011 if we're almost at 2012!

Yikes!

On our drive from San Antonio to California we stopped in Roswell, New Mexico!

Which was AWE-SOME!

Considering we've been trying to work Area 51 into our drive across the country for years!

We only stopped for lunch so we didn't get to go explore the desert :-(

But it was pretty neat the way the people of Roswell have embraced their "Alien-ness"

Even the lamp posts have been abducted!

We stopped in Albuquerque to watch the Isotopes play

We sat in the grass and I liked sitting there the most! The kids got to move around a bit.

They even found a bug which had us all jumping a bit.

This is Makayla with Oscar's shoe trying to find and smash the bug.

Don't they just look tiny next to Jordan?

I love that.

Oscar was a little better about running the bases this time.

He was definitely prepared for it! During the whole game he kept saying "bases, run, bases, run" just waiting for us to tell him yes!

Thanks to the Isotopes and winning the game, we all got free hamburgers and fries!

Then it was back to the car again.

Lots and lots of driving!

But Makayla was teaching Oscar some of her songs... hilarious. Really.

We stopped in Fresno

(Dirty Fresno!)

And took a dip in the river for a while

Then I got to visit my Grandparents who live near the bay.

It was perfect timing because a bunch of my cousins and Aunts and Uncles were all planning a visit too, so it was kind of like a baby reunion... or party, just for me ;-)

The kids had a blast running around outside and learning to play croquet.

I just have to share this funny story about my cousins children.

They were teaching my kids how to hold the croquet mallots like guns to protect the Empire or the Universe or something, then when Oscar finally raised his "gun" my cousins son fell down pretending to be shot, then Oscar (not understanding, just laughing at his cousin's dramatics) swung the mallot towards his sister who fell down and in her last dying breath reached out to her brother and said

"... they were... deceptecons!"

I about died laughing!

My aunt took us to the beach. Which was AWESOME!

I love the ocean. I don't think I took enough advantage of it when I lived in Florida, or Baltimore, or LA. Seriously, if I could go back, I would spend every day there!

This is a picture of some surfers on the cliff (and in the water) they carried their boards out, tossed them off the edge, then dove in after them. Pretty cool! And I'm pretty sure I could not jump off that cliff!

I loved the short time we got to stay in California. We loved our hotel that we stayed at.

It had free "snack/happy hour" every monday-thursday as a way to get to know your neighbors you could go get snacks and drinks. But their snacks were more like dinner... and it was something different every night! So much fun!

We were also right next to a mall (that had a Disney store, so the kids played there a lot!) and an Asian market. Mak liked going there and seeing all the animals, duck, turtle, fish... a little odd... but it entertained her! I liked looking for unique things at the market.

Our hotel room also was a little living room and kitchen, with 2 bedrooms and bathrooms! So it was basically like living in a baby furbished apartment, except there was room service, free breakfast and 4 days a week, free dinner too! I LOVED IT!

There was a pool and hot tub that we took advantage of whenever Jordan came home from work. So there was a lot of night swimming. It was perfect, tired the kids right out before bed!

Here's Jordan giving Oscar some peanuts at the Oakland A's game.

We only made it to one baseball game because our time was cut short.

Ugh!

It was too bad too, because this was probably my favorite place that we lived this year! :-(

On the road again tomorrow!

A Visit From Grandma!

2011-12-18T11:01:00.000-08:00

Jordan's Mom got to come out and visit us while we lived in San Antonio.

It was SO MUCH FUN!

Seriously! I love it when she visits!

I already posted about the Crazy Bats of Austin

(well technically I posted about ALL of this, but now there's better pictures ;-) to go with them)

Here's some of our SeaWorld adventure with her.

Oscar LOVES the water... yeah, I don't think I've mentioned that yet right? ;-)

Riding the Carousel

That's them on the right near the top. They had a blast on that one!

(after the worker shut Oscar's fingers in the gate, oops!)

We went extra early to the Shamu show because I wanted to sit up front. Every time we went to SeaWorld there were tiny infants with us... so the splash zone was not a good place to sit. But this time I was SO excited to be up close with the action! We had FRONT ROW SEATS!

Mak may not look very happy in this shot, but that's because every time the whale swam by before the show, we'd yell at her to look at us and smile so we could get a picture... and she missed the whale coming by! It was hilarious and frustrating because we couldn't get a good picture! whew!

Sitting up front was SO worth it though!

Here's Mama and her baby doing a tandem jump!

And here comes the wave that everyone in the splash zone waits for!

This is just the beginning though... I'm fairly certain it lasted for-EVER!

Seriously, the water did NOT STOP COMING!

We were pretty much soaked, much to my delight :-)

But not Makayla's. She was a little upset by the whole thing.

Still, I couldn't stop laughing! Oscar had been sleeping through the show, but that part woke him up too! (Is it bad that I really love this picture of my daughter in distress?)

I think this show was awesome. It was my favorite time going!

We also played in the toddler pool section for a really long time. It was a blast!

We also played in our own pool while she visited.

Oscar LOVES jumping off the rocks!

Actually, both kids do! And it was fun to watch them, over and over again!

We went to downtown San Antonio and walked around. I wish I would have gotten more pictures! We went to the Alamo, the river walk, downtown, all over!

This is a restaurant/museum in downtown San Antonio.

This is one of my all time favorite pictures!

The kids sat and played with this little wind up bunny for a long time!

It was super cute!

We did so much and had so much fun!

Makayla got to share her room with Grandma and she loved it!

We are so thankful that she had the opportunity to come visit!

(and now we're even more thankful that we live so close to her!)

And that's San Antonio...

Next week we hit the road!

Baseball and Austin

2011-12-06T10:44:00.000-08:00

Still in Texas!

These next set of pictures are a little blurry because they are super zoomed in (apparently we don't have good zooming powers) but they make me laugh so here they are.

We went to a San Antonio Missions game and afterward the kids get to run the bases. Makayla LOVES this part of minor league bsseball, but this was going to be Oscar's first time running too, so we told Makayla she had to stay close to her brother (if your kid is too young to run the bases without you, they don't let them run the bases)

Uhm, Makayla... where is your brother? We told you to stay close!

Here comes Oscar, tripping down the baseline to first base...

Running his little heart out around second base...

There he goes toward home...

Wait... he got some dirt in his shoe...

And that's when they made an exception and let Jordan go back and get him. :-)

And that is the first time Oscar ran the bases.

I really love that little guy.

We went up to Austin for a weekend trip (and baseball...)

We got to walk around the city and go see the capitol building. It was a lot of fun.

And since it was still SUPER DUPER hot, we stopped to play in a fountain too.

Love these little toes! They are growing much too fast for my liking!

I love her laugh and enjoyment too. This could possibly be one of my favorite pictures!

Even Oscar got to tickle his toes in the fountain.

There were a lot of monuments around the capitol building, but the kids loved this one the most. They kept dancing around and hugging the statues. It was pretty funny.

The big seal of Texas

President Bush's painting of when he was the Governor of Texas

My awesomely amazing family :-D

I think the kids had more fun playing on the giant vents (did I mention Texas was HOT this summer?) than they did listening to the tour...

I know everyone says their kids are the best, but I am submitting that my kids are pretty darn awesome too. They make me laugh and giggle so much more than I ever did before!

And of course, there's no point in a road trip during the sumer time, if there's not baseball involved right? (according to Jordan anyway...)

Here's Mak running the bases again...

At this game they let some of the parents start the kids out, then meet them at home plate

Oscar got turned around at the pitcher's mound though so Jordan went out to get him again :-D

We sure do a lot of traveling! Don't worry, we're almost done with Texas...

I'll get caught up one of these days!

Sea World San Antonio

2011-12-01T15:14:00.000-08:00

Because it deserves it's own post :-)

I was lucky when we moved to San Antonio to have other wives! Hooray! I wasn't alone anymore! And better than that, some of them had kids too! Yahoo!

I'd only been there a couple of days when they graciously invited me to go to Sea World with them. The price of a one-day ticket and a season pass were only $10 different, so we opted for the season and are SO grateful we did! Because we went... a LOT!

There was a giant water park area that had lots of fun places for the kids to go and run and splash and play.

Did you ever see that movie up for the Oscar, the Whale Rider?

Well, it's got nothing on Oscar ;-)

Oscar is learning to dress himself. I guess it all started with wanted to be extra safe at the water park. Which by the way, he did to himself, I didn't do this to him.

We went on numerous occasions with different groups. I had a blast every time! It was fun not to feel rushed or hurried and just enjoy the park, then leave when we needed to!

The kids loved all of the Sesame Street themed things there were.

Especially meeting them face to face! Who knew Cookie Monster was so huge?

Must be all those cookies and milk :-)

Oscar was a little hesitant with a few of the characters.

And we were able to go with Makayla's friend a lot too. They had so much fun together!

We will definitely miss having a theme park in our back yard!

What can I say? I've been so spoiled in my life!

The Lone Star State.

2011-11-30T00:29:00.000-08:00

Now let's jump on down to the Lone Star State!

We moved to San Antonio sometime late May, early June (hey, if YOU don't keep track, why should I?) We went from the early beginnings of summer and starting to feel warm,

to the HOTTEST summer EVER! Texas had the longest consecutive triple digit weather that had been recorded for years! And let me tell you, IT WAS HOT!

So we spent a lot of time doing this...

Jumping into pools that is. And Oscar was a PRO at it!

He loves to jump into the water, be it 2 feet or 20 feet, he doesn't care.

Which is why I had to fish him out of the pool a couple times. YIKES!

You can read all about Junteenth HERE at this post.

We were also lucky enough to be able to go to Corpus Christi.

Unlike this picture suggests, Jordan was happy to go...

This is his, "really you're taking more pictures, put the camera away" face.

...I see it often...

While we were there we tried frog legs.

Jordan put it best, "chews like chicken, tastes like fish"

We walked the beach.

Played in a giant warship from WWII, the USS Lexington.

It is tied to the dock that was right next to our hotel, and has been retired and turned into a museum, but a very cool, very LARGE museum. It was an air-carrier after all!

The spot on the ship that has the Japanese flag is where a Japanese Kamikaze plane hit it!

The pool at our hotel, because sometimes it's nicer to swim in non-salty water, while looking out at the beach and waves. Truly. It was seriously the best weekend! We had so much fun!

We even hit up the Corpus Christi Hooks game, because it just wouldn't be a family vacation without a little baseball right? That's their mascot, the Hook, in the background too.

The San Antonio Children's museum was cool enough to go once, but too expensive to go more than that. I'm glad we went once though! They even had a giant plane that the kids could climb inside and play in. It is between that and the giant table of blocks, that was Makayla's favorite part.

This picture still cracks me up. You step on the foot pedals and the stick hits a drum or a cymbal or something like that. Makayla would step on it, then run away as fast as possible, like it was going to drop the entire percussion department on her head! It was so funny!

We went to the Alamo, which is literally downtown San Antonio.

And yes, the only picture I can find of it, is this bench. But to be fair, you can't take pictures INSIDE the Alamo, and this bench IS pretty neat...

ok fine, moving on...

There's a river that runs through San Antonio, and all along it they've built sidewalks, bridges, restaurants, cafe's, shops... very pretty and serene, except for all the people walking around (there are a LOT of people that go there! Huge tourist attraction!)

Still the River Walk is a must-see of San Antonio.

We spent a lot of time by the pool. A few times we got together with the other wives and had giant smorgeshboard lunches. We brought watermelon one time, and I had to laugh when Makayla was so excited about the watermelon that she had to eat it, but didn't want to leave her friends in the pool to do it. She really had a lot of fun with all the people we met in San Antonio, and she still talks about going to visit them again!

This is her, lounging with her best friend from the summer Tessa.

I was so excited that there were going to be other kids there, and even more so when it turns out the kids were MY kids age, and the mom was someone I liked to hang out with too!

SCORE!

Chuck E Cheese. Perfect for a hot summer day. And entertaining all 3 of the kids.

A happy surprise, an old friend of ours moved down to Houston about the same time we moved to San Antonio. We drove out to meet in the middle... which just so happened to be the middle of nowhere Texas. Kind of awkward.... But the next time we saw them we drove to Houston for a baseball game (go figure) and had dinner at their place afterwards! It was such a blast, I get a kick out of seeing her and her kids. I am so grateful for all of the random times I have been able to see her! We met the year her first son was born, than she happened to drive through St George last winter (thank goodness she was posting the cities she had driven through on face book, by the time she said "Vegas" I was like... wait, are you coming here? So thankfully they had time to stop and say hi!) And now in Texas after both of our second babies had been born!

She is such a fun friend! Thank you blogging world, so I can keep up with her!

Oh yeah, and Oscar learned to swim. :-)

Yes it's with a life jacket, but he can dive in (without scaring Mommy!) and swim around like a little pro. I wouldn't be surprised if he can swim without his life jacket before Makayla!

(p.s. i highly recommend the puddle jumpers verses any other vest, it puts them in the correct position for swimming so they are forced to do more than just bob and doggie paddle. we will be replacing mak's with a puddle jumper the next time we are near a pool/swimming area!)

Backtrack to West Virginia

2011-11-28T11:29:00.000-08:00

Hooray for pictures!

So, I know you have already had these posts, mostly. I will try to be brief, just so I can get better pictures up and reminisce a little :-)

We moved to West Virginia in April of this year and lived in a hotel. Which was actually much better than I had hoped! The staff LOVED our kids and were super nice, even letting them play ball in the hallways. And not ever having to make breakfast, was pretty awesome!

We visited the Easter Bunny at the mall. Look how cute and little and chubby O looks!

We went to baseball games and the kids met their hero Aang. Makayla LOVED watching The Last Airbender. She even drew arrows on herself when we weren't looking and said she was an Airbender. That kid cracks me up.

Easter was a lot of fun too. After the kids jumped on Daddy to wake him up, they got to open their Easter baskets with all sorts of goodies. (Thank you Jordan's Mom who always sends the kids awesome things for each holiday!)

Jordan took Makayla fishing. Now she's hooked and asks to go fishing with Daddy all the time.

And we went to the CIRCUS! After years of bugging Jordan to go, we finally went! Hooray! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Circus!

(sidenote: due to the amount of moves we made, and the direction of our moves, we actually could have watched the same Circus 5 times this year. Ca-Razy!)

We had lots of cotton candy. Which makes me super happy :-) And it was Mak's first time eating cotton candy, pretty sure it makes HER super happy too ;-)

Oscar slept through the first half of the Circus, so we got to really focus on Makayla's excitement for every new act. The first part was mostly tumbling, high wire and things like that so she was in heaven!

After all that excitement (and cotton candy) Makayla slept through the second half of the Circus, and we got to focus on Oscar's excitement for everything. THe second half was the animals and motorcycles, so HE was in heaven then.

It was pretty much perfect!

We lived next to a couple really fun restaurants, a fun Mexican one, where the owner always came out and gave Makayla chocolate milk, a Texas roadhouse one (fore-shadowing) and our favorite was a restaurant in downtown Charleston, WV. Everything was locally made, including the cheese, beer, bread, EVERYTHING. And they had the BEST food. Their menus changed often, due to what was in season. It was great.

There are lots of waterfalls in West Virginia, so you can literally just go driving, park by the side of the road and hike up to a waterfall. Gorgeous!

It was getting warmer by then, so the kids loved playing in the water. Both of my kids are definitely water babies!

We moved to Huntington, West Virginia at the end of May. It was definitely warm enough to want to go swimming then! So we did, a lot! Makayla became a pro at swimming with her life jacket on! She was fearless!

Oscar wanted to be fearless, he hated being put in his floatie, so we had to sit on the steps with him and stop him from just jumping in!

Huntington is where Marshall University is at, so we went downtown and ate at the restaurant that is in the movie (which coincidentally we hadn't seen yet, but since living there we have now watched.) We also got to go to an Indoor Arena Football game with the kids. It was pretty cool.

And that is West Virginia (and only 2 moves in 2 months)

So stay tuned for where we are headed to next!

And the excitement builds...

2011-11-23T16:18:00.000-08:00

I know, I've been the world's worst blogger. Poor picture quality, short posts, very sporadic. I even closed up my "crafting" blog and haven't updated the Mak&O shop in FOR-EV-ER!

BUT....

I am excited to report that I have a FULL FLEDGED COMPUTER again! I am so excited! I've been updating, downloading, writing and typing ALL MORNING! And now that THAT is all settled... kind of (i have a LOT of work ahead of me!) you get to eat the fruits of my labor, via lots and lots of pictures, updates and posts!

HOORAY!

I know, really, you are so excited, you just can't contain yourself.

Brace yourself kiddos, the fun starts soon!

Love, Naomi :-)

School Dance

2011-11-10T09:16:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how fast my baby girl is growing up! Already invited to a school dance!

Ok, she was invited by her Grandma Paxton who teaches at that elementary school :-)

It was a total blast though! There was a cake walk, which we didn't win! Boo! Some dancing, which I didn't get pictures of, because it was much more hysterical in real life than a picture or movie could ever portray. Seriously, who would have thought Oscar knew how to get down so well? He was totally raising the roof!

There were a lot of games, ring toss, bean bag throws, so much going on!
Seriously happy to be back again! So much fun to be had here! :-)

Oops, Halloween!

2011-11-03T12:10:00.000-07:00

Can you believe I didn't take any pictures on Halloween?!? Well, except these two! Oops!

Oscar is in love with the Little Einsteins... Like IN LOVE, in love with them. He even dreams about them. I know this because in the middle of the night we'll hear him call out "Little Einsteins... Little Einsteins!" Then, back to silence. So cute and so bizarre!
So of course for Halloween oscar had to be Leo, and Makayla wanted to be June, because she's the dancer (and Mak is BEGGING for dance class again!) She even had a little black wig and everything.
I don't want to sound like a bragging parent or anything, but the girl still looks cute brunette too ;-)

We had a blast visiting some family friends, then trick or treating up a couple streets near Jordan's parents house. Oscar was a little more on the ball for saying "trick or treat" than Makayla was, but she was better at saying thank you, so it was an even tradeoff.
The kids were done WAY before I was, but it was cold, so we headed back to their Grandparents house (that we trick or treated about 4 times!) For some jack o'lantern pizza from Papa Johns.
Yum-o!

Best part...
Lots and lots and LOTS of candy! That so far I have been really good about not finishing the whole bag in one week ;-)

Happy Halloween!
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The Paxton Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-26T23:40:00.000-07:00

We aren't able to go to a pumpkin patch this year and pick out pumpkins to carve into jack o'lanterns.

BUM-MER!

So we decided to make create some fun jack o'lanterns of our own! With a little glue and some construction paper the kids had a blast putting together our pumpkin patch!

We each were able to make one and even though it wasn't the same, we ended with hot cocoa and some halloween movies, so we'll survive ;-)
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Making the Rounds

2011-10-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

Don't you hate it when sickness comes to your house? It's been making the rounds here, Jordan started it (really rare for him to even get sick! So you know it's bad!) than when he was finally better Makayla was in bed with fevers next! Just when we thought it was safe again though, Little O decided he needed some extra TLC. So we've been doing lots of cartoon watching, lots of sleeping while holding Mr Moose and lots and lots and lots of cuddling with Mama!

Hope your family is healthy as the seasons change!
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Paint

2011-10-18T22:32:00.000-07:00

I think I forgot to tell you how much fun we had with our cousins in Placerville! Seriously, we went to a couple apple orchards, played on lots of playgrounds, did arts and crafts, dress up and dance/move class, library story time and learned how to make some yummy vegetarian dishes!

I seriously love these cousins! The oldest child was the only baby at my wedding and now 5 years later he's in 1st grade, with 2 younger siblings! They really do grow up so fast! Makayla has a cousin (2nd cousin, but who's counting!) that's only 1 month older than her, and there's a little boy 6 months younger than Oscar! So everyone had a friend their size :-)

We thought we'd stay for a couple days but ended up staying over a week! It was such a blast! Thank you so much Sims family!
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Working out at the Duck Park

2011-10-13T17:59:00.000-07:00

We found a cute little park near us where you can go feed the ducks and geese (also one really large swan!) It also had a cute little workout area that the kids had a blast on! Although it turns out I cannot do a pull-up :-P

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So...where are you now?

2011-10-07T19:50:00.001-07:00

I get asked that question almost on a daily basis. Truly.
I think our life style might borderline on the ridiculous. But right now it's our life! So we are enjoying it :-)

We are in Reno right now, loving Circus Circus and all the kid carnival games for a quarter, as well as the free circus act every quarter til!

Lots of parks to go to, weather is MUCH cooler than Texas was (no triple digits, yeah!) And still not too cold to go out in tshirt and jeans! Beautiful! Plus some snow creeping in on the mountains!

On a side note, do NOT ask when we are leaving, or where we will be heading. I've decided to just tell it as it happens.

Love,
The Paxtons

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Let a Sleeping Child Lie...

2011-10-05T13:28:00.000-07:00

Or... If they fall asleep when they're not supposed to... (Say no nap and 3 hours before bedtime!) Try to wake them up (unsuccessfully) by pretending they are a marionette puppet!

Sorry the pictures are blurry, but we were just laughing too hard!

By the way, he did NOT wake up and ended up taking a 3 hour nap, waking up just in time for bedtime... Which was also unsuccessful :-P

And yet provided SO MUCH amusement to us ;-)

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FIVE

2011-10-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

We've had a wild and interesting life! Sometimes a little hectic and crazy, but 5 years later we are still making each other laugh, still making each other grit our teeth, still the best traveling companions and most importantly, still in love!

Happy Anniversary to my best friend!

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New Discovery

2011-09-19T12:12:00.000-07:00

To think it took Mak 3 1/2 years to discover the joys of the "kitchen pot drum band"

Or maybe in reality, it just took Oscar a year and a half ;-)

So sorry neighbors!
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At the Park

2011-09-15T12:15:00.000-07:00

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OCD much?

2011-09-10T18:06:00.000-07:00

I think Makayla takes after me. She lines everything up by type, by size, by color...
It warms my heart :-)

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Visit from Grandma Paxton!

2011-08-17T09:49:00.000-07:00

Jordan's Mom flew down for a visit and it was FUN! We went to Seaworld ALL day! And got totally soaked by Shamu! (Pictures to come... When I get my computer fixed :-( Promise!) It was a BLAST! Then we did a little shopping, we went to the Alamo, walked the San Antonio Riverwalk, read stories, went to the pool and enjoyed everything with Grandma! Can't wait to see her again in a month! Wahoo!
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Crazy Bats of Austin!

2011-08-12T22:08:00.000-07:00

So apparently every night at sundown in Austin Texas, the world's largest population of Urban Mexican Freetailed Bats, comes flying out from underneath a bridge near downtown! Cool, let's go see it! Especially since Jordan's Mom came flying into Austin to visit us and arrived only a couple hours before the bats were set to fly! (At dusk)
So we went to the park on the river to check it out! At dusk a few bats started flying out and we thought "wow, that's a lot of bats!" Then we walked closer to get a better view... And it started "raining" as in I got pooped on... A LOT! Jordan and Makayla laughed, Jordan's Mom helped get it off me and then the bats really hit the fan! Seriously! It was like a 10 minute ordeal of bats just flying out! Did I mention there's like 1.5 MILLION bats living under this bridge? No? Well it IS the world's largest urban population of bats!

Conclusion; if you are in Austin Texas before sundown, go to Congress Bridge and check out the bats! But DON'T under any circumstances, stand UNDER the bats as they come pouring out, or you will need a shower!

<3 Naomi
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Austin, TX

2011-08-09T17:27:00.000-07:00

The Tacoma Rainiers (a triple A baseball team affiliated with Seattle Mariners... In case you didn't know!) Was playing in Austin, TX this last weekend, so of course we went to go show our support! It was great! We drove up saturday night, got a hotel and spent sunday morning exploring the capitol building of Texas.
Then the kids got to play in a bouncy house at the game. At first they were hugging the edges, but after we told them it was like a big bed, they really got into it and were jumping, falling and laughing hysterically! We almost had to send Jordan in to get Oscar out!
The row behind us won free ice cream bars during the game, but one family was so sweet and gave us 2 extra ones that they had! The kids loved that, because even though it was a night game, it was still in the 100's temperature-wise! Yikes!
It was fun to see a lot of Washington fans there too! A lot were Army people that had been stationed at Fort Lewis and were now at Fort Hood, so we got to talk to people about home and I think it made Jordan a little homesick!
It was fun to just relax for the weekend away from the norm. Makayla was SO SURE that we were moving to Austin instead of just on a vacation, so when we left monday morning and got back to our Apt, she was a little confused and kept asking why we weren't living in the hotel anymore! Haha, poor girl!

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Beat the Heat

2011-07-31T06:28:00.000-07:00

We got to go to Seaworld again! Too fun! I'm so thankful they have a "pay one day get in all season" pass! And also thankful that some other wives splurged for parking passes ;-)
It has been SO hot in San Antonio! Every time I think, oh I've lived through a couple Florida summers, no big deal... And then I realize every year, in every new place has it's own weather challenges no matter WHAT you are used to! But we have a good pool, great air conditioning and Seaworld just around the corner, so I'm sure we'll survive ;-)

Makayla decided she was brave and climbed into these high mesh tubes. Yikes for me! I'm glad she doesn't have my fear of heights because I'm not sure I could have climbed up there to rescue her if she got stuck!

Love these kids! And their personalities!
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Sunday's With Willie's

2011-07-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

It's become our sunday evening tradition to hop over the apt fence and walk over to Willie's (a cute little restaurant with a sandbox for the kids!) We all split a Apple Sizzler, ice cream on top of a hot apple pie, YUM-O! And just sit and talk while the kids go crazy in the sandbox. It's rapidly becoming my favorite part of the week! Not only do I not have to entertain or feed the kids during dinner (as evidenced by Oz trying to eat ice cream with his hands) I get to sit back and talk with my husband! AND the kids totally wear themselves out, so by the time we walk home they are ready for baths and bed! (Have to get all the sand off!)
What a perfect sunday afternoon!
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All Week At Chick Fil-A

2011-07-09T20:50:00.000-07:00

So this week, ALL week, the Chick Fil-A near us had fun free stuff going on! Hooray for free!
Everyday between 2 and 5 pm there was a different free entree and THEN on Friday if you dressed like a cow FREE MEAL! What? Yes sir!
So we did and it was DE-LISH-US (yes, I know that's not how you spell it, but I was emphasizing!)
The kids were adorable! Oscar even practiced his "mooing" skills.

Now we are slightly Fill-A'd out though, so we'll have to find some other indoor play area for a while ;-)
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Happy Junteenth!

2011-07-06T08:09:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot to mention the Junteenth parade the kids and I went to! It was definitely a unique experience! Junteenth is African American Freedom day, but only celebrated in about 30 states. Fortunately it's celebrated here in Texas! There were a lot of "people pulling their boats" but there were also a couple floats. The Silver Spurs (NBA) Dancers were there, and so was the Silver Spurs Fox! They also had a lot of people ride by in their cars, and some horse groups too! The kids even got some candy :-) Which in my opinion, always makes a parade ;-)
The thing that really made this Junteenth was the family across the road that would yell out what was coming next like an preacher/auctioneer! It was great! He'd also throw out a couple "Happy Juuuuuunteenth!" Or "African American FreeeeeeeeeDOM!" 'S here and there too to spice it up (told you it was part preacher!)
All in all, it was a fun morning :-)
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San Antonio Kids Museum

2011-07-06T07:52:00.000-07:00

We went to the San Antonio Children's Museum last week. And although I thought it was a little high priced... (It's the same price as Seattles, and they had 6 BUILDINGS to play in!) It was still a lot of fun! Oscar's favorite part was the airplane :-) And Makayla actually loved the building blocks. I'm pretty sure we spent over an hour there while she built the entire town out of blocks!

Near the end we found a cow that you could try milking, but I think it was already put away for the day... Because no milk was coming out.

I love the giant needley-thing-a-ma-jig wall! You know what I'm talking about right? Put your face in one side, see it in 3-D on the other? No? Ok, some day I'll have to learn the name for that :-)

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A Year and a Half

2011-07-03T08:58:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe that Oscar is 18 months already! Truly! Sometimes I do a little comparison between Mak at 18 months and Oz at 18 months. Like the fact that Makayla at this age had moved 8 times. Oscar has moved 9 times. When Mak was a year and a half we were living in LA, sweating out the heat, playing at the beach or DisneyLand every week! Now we are in Texas, sweating out the heat, playing at the pool or Sea World every week!
Oscar is amazing at figuring things out. If you start getting ready to leave the house (get your purse, put your shoes on...) He'll run to the closet and grab his shoes, then go around and grab shoes for everyone (so helpful!) Oscar LOVES airplanes! He hears them coming and starts pointing to the sky "ah-puh, ah-puh" and when we went to the kids museum the gian airplane you could climb in was by far his favorite place!
Oscar shares everything he has! All you have to do is ask and he gives it to you! Food, toys, (something he shouldn't have...) Whatever it is he shares, BUT you have to ask, if you just take it he's VERY upset!
Jordan always brings home random things he finds on the ground at work for the kids. Most of the time it's change and he holds it out for the kids. If Makayla gets there first she takes all she can fit in her hands, but if Oscar gets there first, he only takes one for each hand (never too greedy that one!)
They fight like siblings but they also love like brother and sister and best friend. Oscar follows Makayla around and copies her, or does what she asks, or puts on a show with her. I love watching them!
Oscar is also getting into his "terrible 2" stage. A little early? Yeah, I think so too! :-P But suddenly he screams! And it is a little overwhelming for me. When my kids act up at the store, someone nice always turns to talk to them and say "why are you so sad?" that usually quiets them down quickly BUT lately... Oscar just looks at them and yells! So instead of getting a cute conversation and feeling like they are helping a bedraggled mom (ie; me) they get screamed at by a toddler. It's a little embarrassing, and frustrating and more than a little annoying! But apparently he's a screamer! We are definitely working on that!
I feel like even as a baby, Oscar looked like Oscar. Maybe that's another reason it's so unbelievable that's he's getting so close to toddler! Mak looked so different as a baby, than she does now. But looking over a few pictures of Oscar at 6 months old, he looks exactly the same! (Minus a little hair...)
He is my little cuddler as always. And I love my little man! I love putting him in tie's and polo's and dressing him up. Who would have thought?

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My Little Girl

2011-07-02T09:35:00.000-07:00

I know I just did an update on both kids, but can I just take a second and tell you how much I love my daughter? And how fast that second goes by as she is growing up before my eyes! I remember carrying her to bed after she fell asleep in my arms, so tiny and fragile! Now when I move her from my bed (where she always falls asleep, and then somehow even though I move her, always wakes up...) to her bed, she drapes over my arms, tall and thin and growing. Her hair, that I used to pray would grow long enough for those ridiculous pigtails that stuck straight up, no reaches down to the small of her back. And she tells me not to cut it, because it's magical, like Rapunzel's and she wants it to reach the door.
She is my daughter, through and through. One harsh word (even if it's stop beating your brother) sends her to tears. If you are crying though, she will come over, give you a hug and tell you that "it's ok, you don't have to cry, I'm here and I'll hold you" She begs everyday to go to SeaWorld, or Disney World. She is fiercely protective of her little brother and knocked a kid over at the park after he had pushed Oscar down. (I know, not the right message... But still very cute!) She teaches him how to "be her puppy" and also how to get dressed, how to climb up stairs and how to play pretend and put on shows.
She loves to pick out her own clothes, from the store, to what's in her drawers, if she doesn't like she will just say "uhm, no thanks. How about THIS one, it's so cute!"
She adores babies and keeps asking for a baby sister, but in the meantime has lots of babies to "take care" of in the form of her dolls and toys. If she finds a rock, or piece of trash, it is automatically given a name, a blanket and a place to sleep.
She tells me she misses dancing and that she just needs to dance, her "bones need to dance".
I love her more than I could ever say.
And I am so grateful she still loves to cuddle with me and that she wants me to play with her, hold her, read her stories and just hang out. Everyone she meets is "her favorite friend" but there are only 4 people in the world that she says "I love you, I love you, I LOVE YOU TO PIECES" to. And I'm one of them and that has made all the difference in my life.
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Oops; An Update!

2011-06-24T19:21:00.000-07:00

Have I not been updating? Sorry! We've been crazy busy and still no computer :-(
But here are some important (at least to me!) Things I don't want to forget!

Oscar
Says Daddy, like "Da-Doo" not sure why, but he does!
He thinks "uh" is a word to start sentences with. Like "uh, bah-do" for "I'd like a bottle please!" Or "uh, bah" for "give me a ball please" Or his favorite "uh, da bu" for... We have no idea!
Oscar can climb up ANYthing! Seriously, shelves in the closet, beds, the kitchen counter... We even caught him scaling the window sill to his bed! And he can now climb out of his pack and play :-P
He still loves to cuddle and I am so grateful for his hugs!
Oh, and his favorite song is "Dynamite" by Taio Cruiz. If he's fussy in the car (and he hates riding in the car!) We just turn that song on and he's happy just dancing to it. I think I may need a cd of it on a loop!
He roars like a monster and will chase you down if you run! And he loves doing the "elbow drop" on unsuspecting victims laying down!
If he's falling asleep in my arms he'll get comfortable, then crawl up with his eyes closed and give me a kiss, then curl back up, then come give me another kiss, smile and curl back up. All with his eyes closed, he'll do this till I forcibly stop him, then he'll fall asleep :-)

Makayla
Makes up songs and dances all day long! I LOVE IT! Sometimes they are sung to the tunes of songs she knows (like the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything") but most of the time they are about whatever she's doing at the time.
She told me once that she missed her dance class and that her "bones just NEEDED to dance!"
Her hair is getting really long and she told her Daddy that is was "all the way to my bum crack!" And she wants to grow it out like Rapunzel all the way to the door!
She has trained Oscar to be a puppy and he even does tricks! She also "feeds and waters" him with bowls of cereal on the floor.
We go to petsmart on saturdays to play with the puppies and kittens and Mak said "let's bring a kitten home and just not tell Daddy"
We were discussing body parts and told her about her intestines, she thought we said kittens. So now she has 2 kittens in her belly named "hot tea" and "hot cocoa" (no idea why she named them that!) And sometimes they get "squirmy" and make her feel sick, and other times she just has to pet them.
She loves getting her finger and toenails painted and would switch colors everyday if I let her! But she HATES having her hair done! She loves the color purple and pink and sparkley. But she also is a fan of every other color of the rainbow too ;-)
Whenever she's sad she'll say that she misses her Grandpa. She always asks for smoothies when we go places, but she calls them "moo-dies" and gets mad when we repeat that. She is getting more excited about longer books. Her favorite movies have Barbie in them and she says amazing bedtime prayers! She always thanks God for everything that happened that day. Right down to the people we saw! She even names them all by name! She also adds in every family member that she can remember, until we help her with the rest.

I love both of my kids so very much! I am amazed at them every day and their capacity for love and forgiveness! They make me want to become a better mother, and a better person.
Every day Oscar gives me hugs and kisses. And EVERY day Makayla says "Mom, I love you, you are a great Mom!"
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My Heroes

2011-06-11T16:15:00.000-07:00

We played at Chuck E Cheese a few days ago. It was a much needed family night! Just pizza, games and some crazy wicked guitar playing :-)
Seriously, my kids are DRAWN to the guitar hero guitars! Every time we're in a game store, or a place that has them... Maybe it's because they look like grown up versions of kid guitars? Who knows!
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A Free Day

2011-05-29T06:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was an exciting day for us, we got to use the CAR! It's the little things, you know?

Well we decided to head for downtown and see what there was to see. We found a really neat little "mall" downtown that reminded me of that place in Atlanta we took the kids trick or treating, And there was even a little event going on in this mall/park too! So we pulled over to see what it was.

There is a children's theatre here putting on "Wonka" and they were doing a promotion, in the way of free ice cream, cookies and treats! Yes please! So while Oscar slept in the stroller (poor guy, he misses a lot during his naps!) Makayla got to enjoy free ice cream and coloring!

Can you tell she's posing for this picture? She said "Ok, how's this Mama?" Yes, I take a LOT of pictures, and make her pose for most of them ;-) Then she always asks to look at it afterward and lets me know if it's good or not! She really cracks me up!

During the promotion, they also had a giveaway, we entered Makayla and she won 2 free tickets to see the show next weekend! I am SOOOO excited, Jordan even said we could go! And if any of you know Jordan and his aversion to theatre, that is HUGE! (I know, how the heck did I ever marry someone who doesn't like theatre? Bizarre!) So I will have to let you all know how it goes next weekend! I'm assuming since they had a 3 year old enter the contest, they let little kids come watch the play? I'm calling them tomorrow to see :-)

2011-05-23T18:45:00.000-07:00

Just because the look on Oscar's face makes me laugh every time I see it.
Hope your monday was a happy one :-)
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Here puppy, puppy!

2011-05-16T15:32:00.000-07:00

So lately Makayla has been asking for a puppy. A LOT! Maybe it's because I take the kids to petsmart on the weekend when it's puppy adoption day :-)
It all worked itself out though because Oscar decided he liked BEING a puppy!
So now everyday I have to feed my new puppy and take him for walks and sometimes Makayla decided to join us as "Sparkles, the purple kitty" (that's what she decided she was! All her!)
I love my kids and their amazing imaginations!
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3 Big Blessings

2011-05-08T16:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!
I am sitting on a swing watching my kid run around throwing footballs, bouncy balls and little white baseballs. It is amazing to me to think that these 2 little people are mine. And that they are growing and changing and becoming more and more independent of me. Makayla even puts on her own shoes and picks out her own clothes now! And she does not always appreciate my input on what I want her to wear ;-) Oscar is running and teasing his big sister and getting quite a big pinion of himself when all the girls he meets so far, fawn all over him!
I've wanted to be a Mom my whole life! Even during those melodramatic high school years that I proclaimed I would never get married, I always thought I would still adopt and be a mother.
But no one ever told me how hard it is. How from the second I saw that little + sign appear, I felt different, more grown up, or suddenly could not stop gushing about the life inside of me. And that never went away. The sudden "mama bear" fierceness I had against anyone who threatened my little family. The way I cry over the silliest of things, like Disney cartoons. The way I gave up my old life style, my old stretch-mark free skin, my old weight. Every one said "sleep now!" But they forgot to say "you'll never sleep soundly again" The way I made more room in my heart, like I never thought I could, for another little blessing. No one told me that I would love like this. Or that I COULD love like this. They also forgot to mention how horrible I could feel after yelling at them. Or how low I would be when my daughter said "Mom, you make me sad when you yell". Where was the person before I had kids saying "be careful you can NEVER take it back, this is it!". Every decision is made with them in mind. Even when they are gone, they are still in my mind. I should have known how hard it would be...
But I had a great role model. And she made it look easy. 7 kids, moving around the country, and still she smiled and sang hymns. She still tucked us in every night and woke us up every morning with a smile. She never yelled or grumbled when I woke her up after a nightmare, or made her rub my back so I could fall asleep. She never rolled her eyes when I asked for help with homework, or made a huge mess. She never yelled back, when I yelled at her. She loved so fully and deeply and unconditional that I never knew how hard it was to be a Mom. She made it look easy.
So for my beautiful role-model, and for the 2 beautiful reasons that I AM a Mom, Happy Mother's Day!
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Visiting out Good Friend Chuck

2011-05-06T15:24:00.000-07:00

After almost a week of being stuck inside (ok, only 3 days, but that's a LOT for us outside-y types!) we decided we were going to go out in style! So off we headed to the local Chuck E Cheese!

We ran into Chuck E Cheese himself too! Oscar noticed him first from across the room and started pointing and making noise as he slowly walked toward him. I didn't realize what he wanted at first until Mak ran up to the Chuckster screaming "Chuckey!" and gave him a big ol' rat sized hug! Oscar wouldn't hug him, but he was also smiling the whole time!

We also ate a lot of pizza. :-) I know it's not the best pizza, but after being sick and starving it was AWESOME!

I splurged and got the kids souvenier mugs, which they are still carrying everywhere. Whether or not there's anything in them :-)

Makayla was so happy to be out, she was dancing! We played and played and played for about 5 hours. Yes, it was that awesome. And then the coolest staff EVER at a Chuck E Cheese (no really, I have never been at a Chuck E Cheese where the ENTIRE staff was HAPPY and helpful and actually acted like they liked their job! We will DEFinitely be going back!) gave my kids extra prizes from the prize counter! Sersiously? Yes. I love Chuck E Cheese!

Oh and in OTHER awesome-ly amazing news....

Presenting HAILEY! My new niece! Isn't she a-DOR-able!!!!!

Can you guess who's baby she is? I'll give you a hint, there's only one family in my family that has babies with THIS much hair (:-P) That's right, John and Heather welcomed their second adorable little girl this month on monday! Wish I was in Idaho so I could hug and hold her to pieces! LOVE her already!

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Back

2011-05-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

After 24 hours of soaring fevers, no food (or bottles! *gasp*) and one very VERY sick, listless, pathetic little baby, I can happily report he's back. No doctor needed (we waffled back and forth on THAT quite a bit) Just woke up to being a very hungry, still oh so cuddly, charmingly funny little boy again.
Welcome back Os, we missed you.
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CIRCUS!

2011-05-01T16:49:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, we went to Ringling Brothers Barnaum and Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth! And I loved every second of it! I have been bugging Jordan for YEARS (7 to be precise!) to go to the circus and I finally told him I was going with or without him. So he came :-) and it was FAB-U-LOUS! Oscar slept through the first half while Mak and I stuffed ourselves with cotton candy. Then Mak passed out in a candy coma while Oscar, Jordan and I enjoyed some chili cheese fries and Cola! (Great day to break the diet!) It was pretty much amazing and I took tons of pictures!
BUT... They are trapped on the camera until we can get a new computer :-( so it will be like Christmas/reliving the Circus all over when I repost about it :-) Hooray!
Have a great weekend!
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A little Easter Love

2011-04-25T08:15:00.000-07:00

Here is Makayla yelling at me because she wants to go see the Easter Bunny and show him the eggs she found, but I want her to stand still and smile for a picture :-)

Here is Oscar with a caterpillar on his toe. He kept losing where it was and then would find it. Awesomeness. Since Mak is scared of caterpillars for some crazy reason. So when Oscar learned this, he chased her around with the caterpillar on his sleeve. Ah, siblings!

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Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T09:06:00.000-07:00

Hope yours is full of chocolate-y goodness and lots of hope! We are hiding from the rain, playing with bubbles and enjoying being together as a family. What wonderful blessings we have!
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The Last Airbender

2011-04-11T08:38:00.000-07:00

We went to a baseball game on sunday (hooray for the summertime!) And Makayla got to meet a hero of hers, Aang, the last airbender!
We became hooked on Avatar; The Last Airbender cartoon series thanks to a friend and the wonderful world of netflix instant viewing! (If you haven't watched it yet, you should! a-MAZ-ing cartoon!)
Makayla got into markers and pens one day and I came into her room to find that she had drawn "arrows" on her arms and forehead so she could be an air-bender too.
Another time she stomped around the house saying she was "earth-bending"! Most of the time she just twirls and waves her hands making wind noises though.
True to Makayla form though, she was totally shy when she first met Aang and could barely shake his hand! After standing around for a while though she started to get more and more excited until she finally showed him her air-bending skills! It was so cute!
Even Oscar got into the action and started high-fiving people and going "whoosh" when he did ;-)
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St Louis and the Zoo... again?

2011-04-05T06:55:00.000-07:00

Have I told you before how cool the St Louis Zoo is?

No?

Are you sure?

What about here and here

Ha, I knew you'd remember, because we LOVED that zoo!

So since we would be driving right through St Louis...

We thought we'd take a day (or half a day) and see the Zoo again!

(I mean it IS free after all!)

So we stopped the night before just west of St Louis and ate at Pizza Hut,

Then drove about 20 miles to a hotel.

Why is this important you ask?

Well it's important because the next morning when we were leaving the hotel

Makayla (and I) realized we didn't have her duck.

Yes, THE duck!

So after practically emptying the truck and hotel room,

we called Pizza Hut and THEY HAD THE DUCK :-)

HOORAY!

Except for the back tracking... that part was a little annoying.

I swear, that duck will be my undoing!

On to the zoo!

Makayla got to "pet" a cheetah.

Well it was just it's fur, which makes me wonder,

why does the zoo have it's fur coat laying around?

It was a little chilly

(MUCH nicer than the 100+ weather we encountered last year at the Zoo!)

But there were still quite a few animals out.

Including the Elephants!

Love those giant crazy creatures!

Here's the giant bug statue outside of the Insectarium.

And we were lucky enough to be able to meet up with an old friend!

Mrs. P and her ADORABLE little girl!

We were there last year when she was born, so it was so great to see how much she had grown!

And can you imagine how excited I was that She dug up the monster hat I gave her?

Love that lady!

In case you want to get to know her too, here's Mrs P's

Awesomely, amazing, spiritually uplifting, crafting, thrifting and hopeful blog

Bursting At the Seams

The kids couldn't get enough of Baby P!

Makayla remembered her from last year (she had even named a doll after her)

And was so mad when they left, because she thought Baby P was going to be her sister now!

Poor Makayla!

Here's the P family and Oscar looking at the penguins

And inside the penguin house, distracting the "guard"

so we could pet the little guys.

I mean, they are RIGHT THERE! Who wouldn't want to pet them?

And one last picture that makes me smile.

And for all your Pinnacle employees,

don't you think this should be the new "baby folder"

:-)

Your Life. Secure.

Drive, sleep, eat, repeat.

2011-04-01T20:47:00.000-07:00

Here we go driving across the country again,

but this time the first day was SO tiring!

Maybe it was because Jordan thought we should leave at 4am

After a night of the kids not letting us sleep,

Or maybe it was just the way the cards fell,

But we were SO TIRED!

So we took an afternoon break for Jordan to sleep.

In case you didn't know, that is UNHEARD of for Jordan to stop!

Flashback to 7 (and then again 9) months pregnant driving across the country

(Florida to Washington, then back... see ACROSS the country!)

And I could NOT get him to stop and let me pee, let alone sleep or eat!

(p.s. he DID stop in the middle of nowhere Kansas, let me pee by the side of the road at an exit where there was NOTHING once :-P If that counts)

So the fact that he stopped to sleep was AWESOME!

Mak and I took a walk through a field and found this awesome rundown

ie fallen down

barn and took some pictures!

I forgot how much I miss the mountains since moving away from Teton Valley!

The view was breath-taking!

Of course, Makayla had to bring her duck.

It hasn't left her side for very long since she was born.

Then we walked around the town and found this little side street.

SO adorable!

Too bad I can't talk Jordan into moving here :-)

After Jordan's nap we drove to Denver so that one of Jordan's reps

(driving our car for us so I didn't have to! Thank you!)

could visit his sister for a bit.

So while he visited her, we visited an old friend...

Mr Chuck E Cheese.

The kids had a BLAST of course.

I'm pretty sure this was our best/easiest trip across the country thus far

(minus being so tired at the beginning)

We have never stopped so often! It was AWESOME!

We spent the night on the east side of Denver,

and the next morning headed to St Louis!

More pictures of THAT part still to come!

Happy Driving :-)

On the Road

2011-03-27T16:13:00.000-07:00

The set up: we stopped early in the morning (aka still night) for Jordan to sleep a little. The kids both woke up and we played in the truck quietly so Daddy could sleep. Later on that day Makayla woke up after a nap and Jordan was awake and driving. Mak said "oh no Daddy's sleeping!" I said, "no daddy's awake he's driving" Mak, "oh good! Oscar's sleeping." Oscar made a noise, and I said "No, he's awake too, we're all awake" Mak "oh, ok that's good"

Driving through a mountain pass, the really windy kind where straight ahead is a mountain, then you turn. Mak: "AHHH! Daddy we're going to crash! Turn up, turn up!"

Mak: "Daddy, can I drive now? I'm a really good driver! I never crash!"

The kids have been cute on the drive so far. And are so excited about all of the snow around us now. Every time we let them out they run straight to puddles and piles of snow. What's cute for them, is cold for us!

Makayal was making monster faces for us to take pictures of, and when I turned my phone camera to Oscar and said, make a face! He winked! What a little flirt!
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The Desert is Sand

2011-03-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

My friend E recently took the kids and I on one last play date before we left St George.

She took us up to visit some sand dunes and some GOR-GE-OUS red cliffs.

It totally made me want to be a rock climber!

Or a hiker, or...

well heck, any type of outdoorsman, that I am not! :-P

But either way it was a blast!

Although we DID learn that next time:

Bring sand toys to sand dunes.

If we are going to picnic, use the tables, not the sand.

Some little girls don't like sand, but all little boys love it.

Wear flip flops not socks and shoes

And most importantly, it IS sand, and it WILL get every where :-)

Here is her son, making the long treck across the desert...

Just kidding, I was totally going to crop it so you could see him better,

but I am SO in love with the picture as-is

So I left him all alone walking amidst all that sand :-)

Oscar loved the sand.

LOVED it.

We had races in the sand.

Don't you just adore the rocks in the background?

See, now YOU want to be a rock climber too!

It was such a beautiful day,

super sunny, but nice and cool

with only a slight breeze toward the end

so we didn't get too much sand in our faces,

(from the wind, kids throwing it is another story...)

We dug up some loose sand and built a sand castle/mound

And Oscar rolled and swam in the sand.

Then he ate it.

Just put his face right in it and started chowing down!

I was horrible about getting a picture of Little Miss O!

But then I also forgot to make a random stranger take a picture of all of us together too.

pooey!

Makayla went back and forth on whether or not she wanted to be dirty

But whatever brought her closer to getting her castle,

she was ALL for :-)

Poor little girl DID get some stickers in her feet though

And when we got home later that night she told her Daddy ALL about them!

Numerous times!

Mr. D decided to hunt for treasure.

It was awesome.

And next time we go I am TOTALLY drawing this kid a treasure map and burying SOMEthing

for him to find, because every kid deserves to dig for treasure and find it.

Little Miss T was not a big fan of the sand.

She started the day by running to the edge of it,

dipped her toes in and would not budge another inch until she was held by her mommy.

Good thing we had her wubby to sit her on!

She was not a fan of the dirty :-)

And Oscar...

Well I told you he loved it didn't I?

Thank you E, you TOTALLY made me see the good side of the desert!

And I will definitely be going back to the sand dunes this fall!

AND making sure that Oscar gets a sand box!

It's that time of year again!

2011-03-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

The older Makayla gets the more helpful/less helpful she becomes :-)

For example, after I had packed all of the kids clothes for the move

(minus what they would be wearing the last week and the drive)

In perfect piles of age and weather appropriate top to bottom-ness

She "helped" me REpack them into a new box in which SHE folded them and sorted them.

I couldn't yell at her though (even though I wanted to scream)

She was SO proud of helping Mommy!

So I just hugged her, said thank you

And send her off to do something less damaging to my OCD packing

(it should be noted, the ocd only lasts through the first stages of packing,

by the end it's an unholy mess!)

One thing I have learned in all of my moving though,

is that if you involve you children in the move, they can be more excited

and less... whatever about the move.

It still is a challenge, and they can become little pills during and after a move for some time

But it DOES help a little :-)

One of the things I let my kids do, is decorate their toy box for the summer.

That way when we pack it up, they know what it's for,

And when we unload it into our new residence,

They know exactly what's in it!

They were pretty proud to help too.

I had to add this picture, because even though Mak is turned around

I just LOVE Oscar's wink!

He practices it all the time with the ladies!

(yes, he is his father's son!)

In the middle of Lent

2011-03-22T15:18:00.000-07:00

I have been talking lately with multiple friends about Lent
and the meaning of it and why we do it.
I know I post (tried) to post about it last year,
but this year I just want to explain a little about it
So I can learn about it too!

Wikepedia says:
"Lent in the Christian tradition, is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter.
The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer - through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and
self-denial - for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus,
which recalls the events linked to the Passion of Christ and culminates in Easter,
the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ"

About.com says:
"Lent is the Christian season of preparation before Easter.
Lent is a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting,
repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline> the purpose is to set aside time for
reflection on Jesus Christ - his suffering and his sacrifice, his life, death, burial and resurrection.
The Bible does not mention the custom of Lent, however, the practice of repentance and mourning in ashes
is found in 2 Samuel 13:19; Esther 4:1; Job 2:8; Daniel 9:3; and Matthew 11:21."

When I first started Lent I thought it was just giving up something you really liked,
or trying to kick a bad habit. And while Lent is used for that purpose by many,
I think the best habit to start during Lent is prayer and scripture reading.

This year in my family we each chose a personal Lent and a family Lent.
My personal Lent, is more of a bad habit/good habit type.
But our family Lent is about making sure we say prayers and read scriptures as a family.
On that train, I bought a new Bible.
It's called the
Illustrated Family Bible Stories
And can I tell you, how amazing this book is?
Really. It's not just a "kids Bible" with the pictures and stories.
It also has Historical and Biblical facts and pictures in the margins!
It is AMAZING!
And not only does it have the "usual" Bible stories with Noah and Jonah
But it also has things like "Gideon Becomes a Warrior" Judges 6-7
and "divided land" 1 Kings 12-13 with old maps and new maps!
It is made by the same company that makes all of the
"Illustrated" books, like
An Illustrated Guide to the Human Body
For kids and such.
I keep thinking to post pictures,
but I'm too lazy, so just imagine how cool it is
:-)

Anyway, now that I shamelessly promoted a book
I'm not even willing to post pictures of...
I'll leave you with one last Lent thought

I answer that fasting is only one branch of a large and momentous duty, the subdual of ourselves to Christ. We must surrender to him all we have, all we are. We must keep nothing back. We must present to him as captive prisoners with whom he may do what he will, our soul and body, our reason, our judgment, our affections, our imagination, our tastes, our appetite. The great thing is tosubdue ourselves; but as to the particular form in which the great precept of self-conquest and self-surrender is to be expressed, that depends on the person himself, and on the time or place. What is good for one age or person, is not good for another.
John Henry Newman
Surrender To God
excerpt from the First Sunday of Lent Sermon

update:
Here is a picture and a link to find the book on Amazon,
because it really IS worth looking into :-)
Amazon

360 Degrees of Love

2011-03-21T20:01:00.000-07:00

Jordan taught Makayla how to play Xbox yesterday,

And it was seriously too cute.

Oscar didn't want to be left out either.

This picture is one of my new absolute favorites.

Then Oscar lost interest in staring at the screen,

but Mak was enthralled.

Then, because she kept dying, she thought her batteries were dead.

I am so thankful to have a husband who is willing to sit with his 3 year old daughter

and patiently teach her how to throttle bad guys with an A-B punch.

:-)

When Mommy's away...

2011-03-18T23:19:00.000-07:00

This is how Jordan puts Oscar to sleep when I'm not home.
Poor little guy was all stressed out and tired. :-( Still so cute though!
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Rainbow Birthday

2011-03-15T17:48:00.000-07:00

This was the first year that Makayla got to have an actual "friend" birthday party!

I was SOOOO excited!

Then I became annoyed when all of the cute little blogs out there

were throwing over the top amazingly themed (right down to cups, candy, decorations)

birthday parties that I could never even HOPE to match!

Especially since Jordan kept saying... "she's only 3, who are you trying to impress?"

duh, EVERYONE!

DISCLAIMER:

These are not in order of how the party actually went...

But they are all cute pictures none-the-less

:-)

I wish I had family around ALL the time!

Nieces and nephews are like little bitty slave laborers!

One's that you don't have to discipline, OR train!

My sister and I made Evalyn and Makayla separate all the candy into different containers.

The goal:

Separate, but DO NOT EAT!

We were successful.... but only for the first 2 minutes.

Before the actual party,

I painted Makayla's and Evalyn's toes in rainbow colors.

Then Makayla proceeded to paint her own toes... and feet... and shirt :-P

I know, doesn't she look super happy knowing she's about to open presents?

I love present time!

Even more than presents, I love food!

And thanks again to Krystal, the food was so colorful!

And there was a TON of it!

Seriously, Krystal and I made about 20 pb&j sandwiches and cut them into stars!

But since only half that showed up, and not everyone ate them...

We are still picnicking in the park with star sandwiches :-)

Makayla kept asking for a "starlite cake"

You know, Rainbow Brite's horse? She LOVES horses right now!

But if I've learned anything from my "Oscar's first birthday cake fiasco"

It's that I can't decorate cakes to save my life.

Maybe I wouldn't be so hard on myself if I hadn't taken cake 4-h as a child,

or if my sister didn't get paid to decorate cakes now

or if my mother in law weren't the CAKE QUEEN OF THE UNIVERSE!

(seriously, you should SEE the things she makes!)

None-the-less (that's twice in one post!)

I decided to let the kids decorate their own rainbow cupcakes.

That way, when people said "oh interesting"

I could say a 3 year old made it :-)

P.S.

BEST IDEA EVER!

It was SO much fun! The kids had a BLAST!

And I had a blast, and I'm pretty sure all the adults had a blast too!

Here's my favorites...

Ok, really, these were made by the adults,

because we couldn't get a picture of the kids cupcakes

because as soon as they were decorated...

they were eaten!

So I probably COULD have broken the bank and gone crazy with every little detail of the party... but in reality she IS only 3, and I have many, MANY more birthdays to plan!

Have a colorful day!

Happy Birthday Baby

2011-03-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

I waited my whole life to become a mother.

Just as a warning, this is going to be a very VERY long post.

Also, semi graphic, if you aren't into birth stories

I won't be offended (or even know) if you don't read this.

Just thought I'd warn you.

So bear with me while I recount the story of Makayla's birth.

Because I have never written it down before.

And as she turns 3 I am feeling nostalgic.

When Jordan and I decided to have a baby,

it only took once.

I knew almost immediately that I was pregnant.

I'm one of those paranoid people that takes pregnancy tests at LEAST once a month.

So when we decided to have a baby, I actually didn't WANT to take a test.

Before every negative I got was a good thing.

Now, I didn't ever want to see that negative sign again.

But that night I had a dream.

There was a baby crying on the couch, I just sat and let it cry until it said

"why aren't you holding me? i'm your child"

Shocked I picked the baby up and we talked all night.

I don't remember anything we talked about after that

except that it was all about the future.

I called my Mom the next day and was telling her about it

when I caved and decided to take a test anyway.

It was positive.

I was still on the phone with my Mom when Jordan came home.

I forgot that the test was still on the counter in the bathroom.

So that's how HE found out.

Happy us!

A week later I had severe SEVERE pains.

After spending all night doubled over in pain,

Jordan decided to take me to the ER.

So that's how our families found out.

Luckily after a million tests

(And Jordan and I found out we both faint at the sight of blood)

We found out I was only about 2 weeks along,

but the baby (as far as they could tell) was alive and still safe in my belly.

I was due in March, and somewhere in the beginning february

I started having lots and LOTS of braxton hicks.

Everyday starting at 1pm getting harder and closer together

Until about 3am when I would fall asleep and wake up with them over.

UGH!

My nurses didn't believe me, until the hooked me up to a machine

said "wow, it DOES look like you are going into labor... but you're not!"

I wasn't dilated at ALL! Not even a TEENY TINY BIT!

Then on March 13th there were NO braxton hicks.

I went to bed that night, blissfully happy and in no pain.

Then I woke up at 3:30 to go to the bathroom.

Jordan was still awake watching October Sky.

My water broke at 3:45 am.

(here's a graphic part)

I was on the toilet.

After weeks of complaining that I wouldn't know if my water broke

because knowing my luck, I'd be on the toilet or in the shower...

It broke on the toilet.

I remember the time exactly,

because Jordan asked if I could wait until his movie was over.

Silly men.

I did wait.

Silly me.

I don't know if you have ever ridden in a car with Jordan,

let's just say he thinks the speed LIMIT is the very slowest a person should go.

But for some reason on the way to the hospital he drove the speed limit!

We had been told that the hospital wouldn't let you eat,

so we decided to stop at McDonalds for a breakfast sandwich.

I LOVE their breakfast sandwiches, but we never wake up in time to eat them!

(not to mention they are NOT very healthy!)

Jordan was chatting up the drive through lady

telling her all about how I was in labor and such

And I remember thinking

"really? right now? let's go, where's the panicky husband from the movies?"

Finally we made it to the hospital and as we were pulling in sight of it

Carrie Underwood's "American Girl"

came on the radio.

Jordan asked if it was fate...

We made it to the hospital and had to wait and wait and wait in the lobby.

Yes my water had broken, I had already filled out the preadmission paperwork weeks ago.

And yes, they still made me wait. And asked me silly questions like

"do you feel safe going home"

with Jordan standing right behind me.

They didn't believe my water had really broken

(here's another graphic part)

They drew some blood and told me to go pee in a cup because I wasn't dilated AT ALL!

STILL! She said even being generous, she couldn't say I was at a 1!

So I went and filled the cup.

It was all amniotic fluid,

The nurses apologized and got the ball rolling a little faster

Seeing as I really WAS in labor.

I cried when they put the IV in.

I hate needles, and Jordan had to leave the room

(see earlier about fainting with blood/needles)

I finally got to my room at about 6.

Jordan hadn't been to sleep yet, so I told him to try and get some rest.

I couldn't sleep I was too excited. And bored.

So I just sat there.

I know what you're thinking,

Aren't most people in a lot of pain at this point?

Not me.

I know. Weird.

They gave me some pitocin, hooked up some monitors, and gave me a popsicle.

Then oxygen.

A nurse came in about every 15 minutes to check on me.

I realized after I had Oscar that this is actually weird

Especially for a busy hospital like Winnie Palmer.

They kept having me roll over and move.

I didn't know then that an alarm kept going off because the babies heart rate kept dropping.

It was starting to hurt a little now, and I was finally starting to dilate

So the doctors suggested an epidural to calm things.

Jordan had to leave again.

I sat holding the nurse on the edge of the bed and I couldn't stop shaking.

Getting an epidural is scary.

The only think motivating me to keep going with it

Was the lady in the next room in labor

Screaming her head off.

I got the epidural, Jordan came back and we watched The Price is Right.

More nurses, more rolling, more oxygen.

More of Jordan sleeping and me being bored

because this time I couldn't move.

My legs were SO heavy! I kept begging Jordan to move them for me.

The nurses asked if we had any names picked out.

We didn't know what we were having yet.

We had known a boy name right off the bat,

but we were STILL arguing about girl names.

But when the nurse asked, I said

Makayla Maureen.

Jordan said

Really? Ok!

Then around 2pm the nurse said I was FINALLY at a 10!

I know, not really finally, considering it was only 10 hours after my water broke.

But I went from a 4 to a 10 in the last 3 hours, after being nothing at the beginning.

Then just as the nurses were starting to prepare for labor

The doctor came in and asked me to sign something "just in case"

I needed a c-section.

We hadn't even thought about a c-section before.

No one had said anything.

But my mother in law had 3 c-sections, so I feel lucky to at least know something about it.

I signed the paper,

and as soon as I finished the doctor hit a big red button

Yelled something into the intercomm

and our room was flooded with nurses and doctors

Pulling wires, moving things, all rushing about.

I looked at Jordan and his face was white.

It's the first and only time I've ever seen him scared.

Sad, mad, upset, happy, worried etc... I'd seen all those.

Scared white? Never.

So I panicked too.

We were rushed out of the room to an elevator.

When the doors shut everything went silent, just elevator music.

Then the doors opened again and we were rushed to an operating room.

They stopped Jordan at the door to put on his scrubs.

They took me in and moved me to the operating table.

They started poking my belly asking me if I could feel it.

In my panic I kept yelling that I could feel it and not to cut me open!

They didn't listen though, luckily, although I could "feel it" it didn't actually hurt.

I was just scared.

Then I saw Jordan's face after what seemed an eternity.

I didn't even know they were already pulling the baby out.

Jordan and the doctors kept telling me to breathe but I couldn't.

Then I heard a baby cry.

And all the air rushed out of me.

"it's a girl"

I couldn't even see Jordan anymore.

I remember a little pink blur they held close to my chest for me

(my arms were strapped down)

And then everything went dark.

I woke up again about 3 hours later in a LOT of pain.

ALL of the medication had worn off.

And I don't know if YOU'VE ever had your stomach cut open.

But it hurts.

I tried to get someone's attention to let them know I was awake and in pain

But I couldn't talk, I could barely even move!

Finally a kind nurse walked by, filled my iv tube with blessed medicine.

And the world went dark again.

2 hours later Jordan woke me up. I was still in recovery,

but this time he brought Makayla with him.

My beautiful baby girl.

I still couldn't talk. I just held her and cried.

She changed my life from the second I dreamed of her.

She can always make me smile.

There is not enough words or love in this entire world to explain to you how much I love her.

Maybe, if you're a parent too, you can understand that.

She amazes me.

And she loves me.

She makes me want to be better in every way.

And I can't believe that she is already 3!

Makayla shares a birthday with her Uncle Sam, my youngest brother.

They are 14 years apart. This year was the first year they got to hang out for their birthday!

It was great! She loves telling people her Uncle Sam has a birthday too!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

I love you more than you will ever know!

Thanks for sticking with me till the end.

I know it was long.

And in case you are as nostalgic as I am...

Her first birthday

Her second birthday

An Adventure at Petsmart

2011-03-09T18:15:00.000-08:00

Somedays it just rains and we are stuck indoors BORED and stepping all over each other's nerves! And believe me a 2 year old emotional/dramatic girl has LOTS of NERVES!
The problem is there aren't many indoor things here to do. There's fast food playgrounds, but then the kids want food. There's the quarter machine rides at the mall, but they are all more like dollar machines these days (when did THAT happen?)
So what do we do?
We go to petsmart and look at the birds and fish.
No really, it's one of our favorite things to do!
No money invloved because we don't have a pet, so I'm not tempted to buy anything, and the kids are thoroughly entertained by the animals and too young to know that if we bought them we could actually take them home ;-)
Not to mention I get MY pet fix, without having to clean up after one too! Win-win!
So next time you're bored, or it's raining, don't pine around at home, take your kids on an outing to the local pet store! ;-)

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Zion

2011-03-02T08:14:00.000-08:00

We've lived in St George for a whole winter now, and have YET to go to Zion National Park

Even though EVERYONE and their dog (yes, even their dog) told us we needed to go.

So what better excuse than a friend visiting?

YEAH!

It was 60 degrees in St George. Lovely t shirt weather!

And COLD, SNOWY FREEZING in the park!

Can you believe it?

Here's Jordan throwing a giant snowball at me.

There it is, up in the right hand corner of the screen.

But lets face it, snow on the mountains = GOR-geous!

Here we are about to embark upon one of the many hiking trails at Zion.

Love this picture!

Love this girl!

Seriously, we had so much fun my face hurts from laughing!

The hike was pretty much, mountain on one side...

Cliff of death on the other!

So we carried the kids pretty much the entire time.

And now I have tennis elbow.

Yes, because my arm was constantly bent holding Oscar,

and stressed because I'm kind of clumsy.

So we found a cave to let the kids "climb" too

and give my poor tennis elbow a rest.

The view, the entire time was

BREATHTAKING!

AWE INSPIRING!

A-MAZ-ING!

Love this little guy!

I felt bad because all he wanted to do was run and play!

Until he actually tried running in the snow..

then he just wanted to be held and cuddled.

Here's Derek and his OH SO CUTE new g-friend Sharla.

She is DEFinitely a keeper! ;-)

We drove through a VERY cool tunnel too!

This is the view from the tunnel.

Us all packed in the truck inside the tunnel.

And that little hole in the side of the cliff...

is where the tunnel "window" is,

Where we were! How cool is that!

We only saw deer in the forest,

But they let us get pretty close to take a picture.

It was seriously a fun day!

Love hanging out with my family like that!

Going on a Trip

2011-02-24T08:29:00.000-08:00

Recently Jordan had to take a trip to California

And when Makayla found out he was leaving she jumped up,

grabbed her backpack, packed it up and went over to the door ready to go.

This is me, telling her to pose so I can get a picture before she goes.

Yes, I know, I make her watch too much America's Next Top Model.

;-)

And this is her adorable sad face, when Jordan told her that she couldn't come with him.

I know, sad, but adorable.

Poor girl was a little heart broken.

But now that Daddy's back, she's doing much better!

Dixie Bowl

2011-02-15T20:10:00.000-08:00

We got to go bowling this last weekend,

and may I just say, as much as I stink at bowling

it is ALWAYS a blast!

Seriously, I would put a lane in my house if I could!

We put Oscar in his pj's hoping he would go to sleep...

He's been doing so good!

But unlike Mak, he doesn't seem to be an "everywhere" sleeper.

Oh well, Jordan gave him a corn dog and he was good to go!

We thought Mak was a little young,

but she wanted to play so bad,

Jordan got one of the "kid" balls

And she LOVED it!

Especially with Daddy helping her out.

I love this picture!

We went with Jordan's reps as a "good week" incentive.

It was so much fun getting to know them all better

and just having a "no stress" (ie, no cooking!) night!

Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T08:00:00.000-08:00

A little love...

Goes a long way...

Happy Valentines Day

From the Paxton Family

Naptime

2011-02-08T15:14:00.000-08:00

Makayla told me yesterday that she needed to put Oscar to sleep.

So I did what any other Mother would do in that situation.

Hide behind the corner and take pictures.

She turned on his "Scout" for him that has lullaby music,

gave him a blanket, a bottle and laid him down.

All the while saying

"Shshshsh little Oscar, time for sleep"

Then I got caught taking pictures and kicked out of the room .

I know I say it a lot.

But I really love these kids.

A new kind of mess

2011-02-06T12:13:00.000-08:00

I've always known kids were messy.

There are 6 kids in my family.

And Makayla can make QUITE the mess when she wants to.

But with Oscar it seems like I am CONSTANTLY following him around

and picking up the lastest drawer/box/jar/thing that he has emptied.

He is a one-baby emptying machine!

Ex: A box of sandwich bags.

Previously new and unopened

Has now become this...

At least HE looks happy, you should see my face :-(

A box of Cheerios...

Qtips, snacks, pajama drawer,

you name it, he has emptied it.

I've decided to start taking pictures

Because then I can kind of see the "cute" in it

And be less annoyed by the "mess" it is.

I fear this will be the first of many posts

following the boy's destructive habits.

*UPDATE*

Since I posted this,

he's dumped out an entire box of kix

emptied all of my cupboards of pots and pans,

AND

dumped out all my makeup :-P

I know what you're thinking, but all the doors are closed,

he gets help from his "partner in crime"

aka

Makayla

A Little Elf...

2011-02-05T09:00:00.000-08:00

A Little Elf... or should I say Goblin...

Found all the cupcakes I had made to give out for Valentines.

She was so excited (ie hopped up on sugar)

That she kept twirling and twirling and twirling and....

And laughing. Lots and lots of laughing.

From both guilty parties.

A little less sugar next time please.

Sick :-(

2011-02-03T14:32:00.000-08:00

We've been sick over here.

But I think a lot of people are feeling that way.

So here's to hoping all this sickness

is getting better and we will all be healthy soon!

Because sick kids, are sad.

Update on Oscar

2011-02-01T09:46:00.000-08:00

I realized I haven't done very many Oscar posts lately.

So here's my little man.

Ok, so you can't see him very well, just his sister,

But really, that's who he is following about 80% of the time.

And she's the one who helped him into the cupboard anyway!

He can climb stairs now really well,

and is even learning how to go down them,

or standing at the top and yelling for me to help him

He LOVES baths! He is a total water baby (like his big sis!)

And would spend all day in there if I let him!

He Loves to fill and empty things too.

He has an old baby shampoo bottle that he loves to fill...

(especially all the bubbles it makes!)

Then he pours it out and LAUGHS!

The other day, Mak found a bag of Candy Hearts in my purse

and threw them EVERYwhere! No really, EV-E-RY-WHERE!

Oscar was pretty excited about the whole thing.

When you say "smile" and hold up a camera,

he totally winks at you.

What a FLIRT!

I just ADORE my little guy!

He gives hugs and kisses now and I LOVE them!

He is SUCH a tease!

When you tell him to stop doing something,

(like throwing things out of your grocery cart while shopping)

He winks at you, then holds it out over the edge and says

"uh-oh, UH-oh!"

Until you grab it out of his hands, then he LAUGHS and does it again!

When he is done eating, he'll start throwing food on the floor

Then point to it and say

"uh-oh, trouble!"

He still loves blowing raspberries,

but now if he finds bare skin anywhere,

he'll tickle you and say

"tck tck tck"

We let him pick out a toy at Target the other day

and he picked out a football.

Now he carries it around and says

"football, go"

Then he'll throw it and point at where it landed for you to go get it.

Can we say quarterback?

Hmmm.... we thought we were raising a kicker ;-)

If you say "Oscar Monster!"

He'll start growling and chase you around.

Whenever I'm on the computer (like now)

He pulls out Mak's little laptop

And sets it up next to me and types away.

He is still a cuddler,

and even though I am EXHAUSTED and CRANKY

because he still wants to sleep with me half way through the night

When he wakes up and sleepily climbs onto my chest

then puts his little hands around my neck to hug me

and falls back asleep,

there is no better feeling in the world.