Quarantine

The past few days Peyton and Jax have been sick. It's no fun and I feel soo bad for them. They seem to be getting semi-better though and hopefully by tomorrow they will be well enough to venture out. We usually like the days that we stay home and go nowhere, but the weather has been soo nice and here we are dreaming of things we could be doing if they weren't sick. Peyton's had a pretty high fever, but seems to be doing better and her energy is starting to return. Jax is warm, but hasn't had a very high fever yet. I'm hoping he doesn't get worse. His nose is constantly running. So far to keep us entertained we have colored, played blocks, painted our toes, watched videos, played with play dough, taken naps and watched numerous cartoons, some two or three times. (This is where I get to play on my blog) It's funny because the other day as our mini vacation to Tahoe was coming to an end I told Derek that I was ready to come home and be a mom again. Taking care of these sickies isn't exactly what I meant, but I definitely feel my motherly role coming into play. Be careful what you ask for I guess. We're even missing my mom's birthday dinner tonight. I thought "oh well, at least Derek will be home all day", but nope. He got called to work. I feel like this post has been pretty negative which doesn't match the rest of my blog at all. So, here's a few things we've been up to when we're not covered in germs....

These pictures were taken the morning we went to church to hear my brother Brad's homecoming talk. The kids were soo good and he gave a great talk. It's very fun to see my kids interact with him. Peyton says what little words she knows in Spanish to him which is pretty cool. Jax warmed up to him really quick too.

  Things like this happen at our house every day. They usually start from something small like me giving Jax a bath. I'm bathing my baby in the sink and before you know it my toddler's in too. Funny how something soo small can totally make her whole day. It really did! She loved it. All she did is sit there and get splashed by her brother, who by the way is a natural splasher, and she didn't want to get out for at least 30 minutes or so. It's moments like these that make me soo greatful to be a stay at home mom. I realize that if I worked now, like I did when Peyton was Jax's age, I would miss soo much. Instead of being able to play with them and do all these things that they want to do I'd be rushed to be somewhere I wouldn't want to be. I keep wondering when I'm going to run out of ways to explain on here how happy my kids make me and then I won't have anything more to write, but it just keeps coming so I'll just keep blogging untill I have to start repeating the things I've already said and hopefully by then you would've forgotten that I have already said them! :)

Did I mention...

Jax is almost crawling!?! He now knows how to scoot himself backwards, pull himself onto his hands and knees, and crawl sideways. Yeah, sideways. It's funny when he does that. It's like a side step, but even more awkward. Every day he gets better and better at holding himself up there and pretty soon he'll be all over! Help! :) Peyton is fully potty trained now! She's even wearing big girl panties to bed and hasn't had an accident yet! I'm soo soo proud of her! Derek and I are talking about taking the kids to Fort Bragg next month when he's scheduled for a week of vacation. I'm pretty excited to show Jax the ocean for the first time, even if he doesn't have a clue what it is. I can't wait to take them, but for now, it's back to reality being in Quarantine!

Uncle Brad's Home!!!

Brad came home from his mission on February 16th. It was a great day! He served in Mexico and had a good time, but you could tell he was excited to be home.

This picture was taken right before he left. Peyton was about five months old.

A lot has changed in two years.

This is the first time he's ever seen Jax... He came home to a nephew he had never met,

and a niece he'd never met! It was a pretty fun day! He seemed pretty overwhelmed, but who wouldn't after not seeing their family for two years! How exciting is it that my kids are now able to know their uncle? The only one missing is Uncle Kenny! He's on his mission in Utah and has about 10 months left.

Our Valentines...



Jax's first Valentines day! Audge took pictures of the kids so we could make a few cards for the family. They turned out soo good!



Peyton can be soo cheesy sometimes! I love it! Audge had to bribe her with "pink ice cream" so she would sit still and smile for us. Whenever we take pictures of her she always yells, "CHEESEBURGER!!!" She's silly!



Jax is getting soo big. He's such a funny guy! I actually taught him how to do "the what's up nod" today! He's a stud!



These kids are soo cute when they get together! You can tell Jax and Kinsley both just want to play soo bad!

Derek had to work valentines day. His shift started in the afternoon so when we woke up I had Peyton give him his cards. Then we got up and made heartshaped pancakes with sprinkles. That was a big hit with Peyton. After breakfast I was cleaning up the Kitchen and Derek called me into the hallway. I went and he just stood there looking at me like a wierdo so I went back to cleaning the kitchen. He then came into the living room and asked me if I was completely oblivious. On the counter was a box of flowers that I had just walked by twice. Man, I'm losing it! I was soo excited though! He hasn't sent me flowers since we got engaged! It was nice! I've never gotten tullips though so I was worried after following the directions my flowers were still droopy...

But the next day they were standing straight up! and they look soo pretty!

This was my gift from Derek! I picked it out and was soo excited to see it sitting on my front porch when we got home from grocery shopping today! My gift to Derek was the ultimate rock ballads of the 80's cd set. He kept watching the infomercial over and over so he could hear the fragments of songs he used to listen to on his parents record player. Are we that old?

These two are definately a handful sometimes, but I would never trade them in for anything... Their smiles and laughter fill my heart! I had 3 wonderful Valentines this year and I loved it!

Busy Busy!

Things have been pretty crazy in our neck of the woods lately! So here's an update of things that are happening with our family... Peyton and Jax are starting to play soo well together. They do get upset at times and don't like to share, but it's always shortlived. Jax is already six months old and I feel like I'm still trying to get used to having two kids!

Peyton Plus



Going on the potty equals...

Money for her piggy bank!

Peyton has been learning to use the potty. She would not go for stickers and she would not go for candy, but as soon as I bribed her with money she started going no problem. She even faked having to go a few times just so she could put more money in her bank! A few accidents have happened here and there, but I can now take her out in public without a diaper. So far no accidents while we're out of the house. I only put her in a diaper when she goes to bed and I plan on doing that untill I can get her to start waking up with dry diapers. I can't believe how fast she's picked up on this. It was definately time! She just recently learned all the colors of the rainbow in spanish and loves to go over them with me like I'm quizzing her. She's becoming a lot less shy which is good and bad. Good because she's more social, bad because she can say random things like "quit whinning!" to some little girl in the dr.'s office today and I can't control it. Once she says things like that all I can do is apologize to the annoyed mother...

Jax is definatley his own person. He is now 19lbs 6oz, 27in long and growing! The past few weeks he's hit a few milestones. His two front bottom teeth have popped up! He can now sit on his own, but still falls over when he reaches for something. He learned how to wave and clap his hands and he practices when he thinks no one's watching! He's such a sweetheart!

Both my kids are adjusting to not being the only grandbabies! Having a cousin is pretty exciting for them. Kinsley's getting big and we love getting together and spending time with her, but the fun hasn't even started yet!

Three cousins now! When will the fourth come along? Soon! Janeane is PREGNANT! I'm going to be an aunt AGAIN! She's not too far along yet, but she's due the begining of October! I can't help it! I smile everytime I think about how fun our family is right now! The only thing that freaks me out, and I don't know if I've said this in a previous post because I've thought about it a lot recently, but it's that my siblings and I are now the older generation. We're not just crazy kids anymore. We're the parents, aunts and uncles of some kids that are probably crazier than we were! Oh well, Here come's Another Piece Of Heaven!!!