Nasty!!

(I appologize in advance for this picture of my gross white legs!) The kids and I have gone boating with Leonard and Sandy several times this summer. We had a lot of fun, but unfortunately I did not always have my camera with me. The only picture I got out of these excursions was this...I haven't ever done any water sports, other than ski tubing. I was daring enough to try the air chair. I did okay, although I didn't try that many times, but I got out of the water for a few seconds a couple of times. The first time I tried, my seat belt wasn't fixed right, so I came completly out of the chair and hit my leg on the way. It hurt pretty bad but I kept at it. Anywho, long story short, my leg was massivly bruised! This picture was taken a week or so later. There was a lot of swelling and pain involved. I couldn't run for a while afterward. To this day, my leg still looks a little green/blue/purple and there is a visible divot in my calf that may be permanent. Hopefully that will go away with time, but I don't believe muscle rebuilds itself after the damage is done. It's not too bad, though. I would try the air chair again for sure!! :)

My Messy Munchkins

The fun has just begun with this little one! :)




Here are just a few examples of Andrews silly messy ways...

Peanut Butter is a real treat to him and he can get it out all by himself.

He found the Cinnamon&Sugar daddy left on the countertop... yum.
This one wasn't really that messy. Andrew unscrewed a brand new bottle of baby wash and dumped it ALL in the tub. He likes his bath bubbly and evidently I didn't put enough in for him to enjoy it.
As soon as I've cleaned one mess up, it seems Andrew has already made one or two other messes to be cleaned up. It's worse now that he has learned to open doors and cupboards and can climb up almost anywhere. He loves to pull dishes, blankets, and books off the shelves. He pulls all of his toys out of the closet and scatters them everywhere. Meal times are the most fun... he doesn't seem to care about his personal hygiene so much. When he is done eating there is food all over his face, body and the table & floor. Do 2 yr olds really have to be so messy? Not to mention all the messes that potty training entails!!! Sometimes I get real tired of cleaning up after everybody. Is this just a phase or will this be my life until my children are grown and gone? I would love some advice from all you mothers who have learned some good ways to teach your children to clean up after themselves... or keep from getting dirty :) and making messes in the first place. Is that at all possible?
Our little ones are so fun and give us too much joy even through all their craziness!

First...

Grant's first tooth broke through today!!! My little guy is growing up so fast. I just can't believe how the time is flying and it's showing. It's kind of funny, his bottom right front tooth has been showing for a long time, I thought for sure that would be his first. His bottom left front just decided to pop in. He is rolling all over the place. He pulls his knees underneath himself, then lunges forward... not quite crawling yet, but seems to be very close. He is full of smiles. He has a scream that can break glass, but thank goodness it's easy to keep him happy. :) We love our little 'Gant'. We have so much fun with him.

Long AND Boring...but good for me. :)

I thought it only right to get in at least one post this month. Sadly it's nothing too exciting becuase it is very last minute and I'm too lazy to download any pictures.
Last Thursday, I had the opportunitee - thanks to my old mission companion, Natalie Jones - to have the LASIK procedure done. Natalie works for Standard Optical in Holladay (SLC) UT. They were having a two day friends and family discount of slightly more than 50% off. Two eyes for less than the price of one. GREAT! I jumped at the chance. I have always dreamed of doing this, but thought I would have to wait forever. So, thank you Natalie for letting me in on this terrific deal. The doctors and assistants were wonderful. The procedure itself went so much smoother than I had imagined (maybe thanks to the little valium pill they gave me prior to) and only took about 10 minutes. The worst part was having my eyelids pried open (yep, that was pretty painful) and my eyeballs suctioned so they would stay in place (they were numb, however, so it was just more uncomfortable than anything else). I heard a few snaps crackles and pops, smelled burning flesh - sorry for the gorry details - and I was good to go. My eyes were blurry right after but improved immensely over just 5 hours. The first day they felt grainy and uncomfortable. After my first nights rest they just felt like a bad day of contact wearing. Now they just feel dry. I have antibiotic and steroid drops to put in 4 times a day for 7 days and moisturing drops for comfort whenever I need. The more I use those now, the less I'll have to use later - so the dr. told me. Hopefully I won't have a dry eye issue for the rest of my life. When I went to my day after checkup, I tested at 20/20 with both eyes open and the Dr. told me I would continue to improve over the next week. It's so strange to be able to see and not have to worry about glasses or contacts. I love it, and I definately recommend it for those of you thinking about doing it.
Sorry to those of you who have been begging for updated pictures of the kiddos. I'll try to be better and get on that right away.

A new empolyer...

So, as I said long ago, and as most of you probably already know... Jake is now under new management. He is his own boss now! Mwaha ha ha ha! :) He sells bullets online to those who like to reload their own. No powder, no casings, just the tips. His website is http://www.rmrbullets.com if you are interested in seeing a little of what he does(AND if you are into buying bullets yourself or if you know anyone who is, pass it along. :)).
I am truly amazed at how good he is at what he does. Not that I should be - he is, after all, incredibly awesome at everything he pursues. I am just so impressed at how well he handles this private business of his, considering he has never done anything like it before. He has done stucco for himself before, but this just seems so much more involved. He has excellent customer service skills. He is great at researching everything about the supplies he sells, so he is more than qualified to sell them. If his customers have any questions, he has a satisfying answer everytime. His customers have sent excellent feedback. Everyone states they recieve their purchases faster than from any other company. Several people have told him that they would rather buy their bullets from him than the well known company they were purchasing from before. He works very hard and is GREAT at it!
He got his buddy, Todd, in on it, too. Todd builds websites so he is the reason there is a website at all and why it looks SO good. He also helps alot with the financial aspect of the business. He assists in packaging the bullets which helps Jake quite a bit. Jake would have me help with that part, but I have our kids to look after. Thanks to Leonard, they have a place to keep their bullets and package them so they are not all over my living room. YEA!! Thank you Todd and Leonard!
This is an all around good thing for us. He works in the mornings now, so we get to have him with us at night. SO GOOD FOR FAMILY LIFE. Granted, he still has to answer emails, texts, phone calls, and research prices and other info in the evenings. It is very worth it to us. Jake loves doing it because it is one of his passions. The hours are not as long and we love having daddy at home.
We will see how it goes this year. If it doesn't work out for some reason, law school here we come. It is going wonderfully for now.

No accidents - Day 1

Andrew was SO good today! He did not have any accidents in his pants or elsewhere, for that matter. He woke up from his nap without a drop in his diaper - I hope that's a good sign. I even took him to Grandmas house with underwear on and he made it there and back without any problems. I love it! I hope this is the beggining of a great potty trained life for our little man! GO ANDREW!!

Call me freakishly WEIRD...

Yesterday I was thinking how good I have it. I love my precious boys so much. I was thinking how great it would be if I only had boys... at least, that is what I was thinking yesterday BEFORE I went to Tania's ward enrichment night with my mom and Tania. The original plan was to eat dinner then make cute cards (thank you, congrats, get better, welcome baby, etc.). Then I saw it. One of the tables was set up for making those cute little baby girl head bands I am seeing everywhere that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE!! They are so adorable.... I could not help myself. I bought one of each color and had the hardest time picking out the flowers to go with them because there were so many cute options. I ended up taking the card project home with me because I spent so much time putting head bands together. What is WRONG with me?? I don't have any girls and who knows if or when I will have any. I was out of control! I guess I do want girls after all. Aren't they just too precious! I can't wait to have one of my girls wear one. :) I can switch the flowers to a differnt color band if I want. Andrew was very curious as I was admiring them...
I showed him what they were for. I told him they were for little girls, but he was sad when I took it away from him. Jake didn't like that I even tried it on him. So funny! I tried it on Grant too but it looked too girly... I couldn't take a picture.

Family Pictures!!

Here they are...
Our scanner isn't the highest quality so they aren't so great, but it's better than nothing. Our family pic and the one of just Jake and me are actually in color, but all the dark color bled together so I made them black and white. Next time we'll go with a photographer who will let us have a cd or negatives!

Before April is over...

I had better post our Easter happenings before the month is through.
Easter just keeps getting better and better for me. It's a good time for me to reflect upon all our Savior has done for me... When I say me, I mean us - all of us. I had the chance to go to our Stake Easter program, A Walk With Christ, April 11th. My sister in law, Tania is in the same stake as I am, so we went together. We started at the scene of the birth of Christ which is always a touching thing for me to think about, especially now that I am a mother myself. I couldn't imagine such lowly circumstances while bringing such a precious miracle into the world. All that aside though, what a happy time! We continued on from room to room... Jesus teaching as a child, different miracles he performed, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Judgment, the Crucifiction, the Resurrection, the Reflections of Christ DVD -which I love. It was beautiful and very touching. At times it felt real. The people wore clothes that made them look like they were from Jesus' time. Some of them had their parts memorized and spoke like they really had been face to face with Jesus - as a friend or enemy. The last room was about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon - restoring the Gospel of Christ to the Earth again. I am grateful for this time of year to REALLY think about what our Savior, Jesus Christ did for me. Now, that I have children it means so much more, because I love them so much. I know that Jesus lived and died for them too, and suffered so much so that we could become like Heavenly Father and live with him and eachother forever. It means so much to me. It's indescribably wonderful!

Easter: part 2

Our Easter festivities lasted about a week, I think. I don't think Andrew really cared, though - he's only two, after all. It was fun for him. Saturday he dyed eggs with Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Leonard and had a luncheon at Great Grandma and Grandpa Terry's. Sunday we had Easter baskets then went to the park with Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Leonard after church to eat and have an egg hunt with all the cousins. Due to Andrews nap we missed the hunt but he was lucky enough to get the last egg. :) A few days later he dyed eggs and had an egg hunt with Grandma Jean. The day after that we dyed eggs at home and had our own little egg hunt. Andrew just loved it all and is still begging to color eggs all the time.

Andrew got an Aqua Doodle and a Book of Mormon picture book along with all his candy.
Grant got a rattle... he loves it.



Coloring eggs was a hit! Luckily we only managed to spill once and stain just our fingers. Easy clean up.

Grant just sat in his bouncer and squealed and talked the whole time. Good boy.


Andrew had a blast finding the eggs he colored, candy eggs, and eggs with rubber bugs in them. Bugs are his new favorite thing. Grant tried to hide from the bright sunshine behind my shoulder all the while.