Things that make me laugh...

I know Jackson's getting into mischief when I hear the chairs being pushed out from the table, a little bit of grunting, followed by "Ta-da!" over and over.
Then I wonder what Mr. Jack has gotten into. Or I should say, what I have left on the table for him to attack. This time, it was a few paint brushes, which he kept tickling on his face and laughing.
Earlier today, we were playing with a bouncy-ball that was sending him into a giggling-frenzy.
His new favorite thing to do is turn the light on and off and look up and back at me with every switch of the light.
He says Hi (while waving) and Ball and No,no,no,no,no. As well as banana (nanana) and Thanks.

The other day, Tyler asked me where his dinosaur was. I asked him which of his many (many) dinosaurs he was talking about. And then he did this:

 and so of course, I thought he wanted this one:

 but I was wrong. Don't you see the resemblance? Two fingers, mouth open... but maybe all dinos look like that...

Yesterday we were playing outside and Tyler found a bug. I heard him smash it over and over and pretend-bug scream with each smash. And then he said in a sad, whiny voice "oh, he want his legs."

Earlier today, Tyler started telling our favorite sitter Stephanie a funny (and completely made up) story about a bug in our house. It contained lots of "last night"s and "bamorrow"s and "almost got me"s. It's funny to listen to him talk and use grown up words and expressions.

In other news, 2 MORE DAYS!! until my parents come! Wahoo! 

"Nauna and Gampa are coming and we gonna shoot Tigers ba'tuz that be fun, huh mommy?!"

Jackson's Walking!!

please please please turn your volume down. (I'm loud. We think it's genetic.) Or better yet, just mute your computer while you watch! :)

Friday Five

This has been a hard week, with both of my boys sick and running on very little sleep. Somehow the Lord always pours blessings upon us when we need them the most. Here are five beautiful things that happened this week:

1. My husband cleaned the kitchen. I walked in the house after an hour of errands; picked up the prescriptions and did some deliveries to see the kitchen was clean. I screamed! And then ran to give him a big hug. Tyler kept yelling: What happened?

2. I got to cuddle with Jackson a lot. Poor little guy has had an ear infection and bronchitis and feels miserable. He'd pick his head up to look at me and then slam his head down on my chest. Sometimes it would make me laugh and sometimes he'd hit me in the chin or face. That kid has a heavy head and strong neck! I'm getting off track... We cuddled a lot, it was nice.

3. Tyler "read" his first book to me. From start to finish! About 5 pages of 3 or 4 words each. And so I screamed again!! He was so proud of himself and I made him read it 3 more times. Once for daddy, once for the camera, and once just for fun.

4. My dear friend brought me dinner on the night I needed it the most. How did she know?!

5. In the midst of one of Jackson's crying episodes, Jeff gave him a beautiful blessing for comfort. He almost immediately calmed down and the boys played a game of monster while running around the house. I stepped into the other room to cry and say a silent prayer of thanks. I'm so thankful my husband honors the priesthood and that the Lord hears our prayers. I'm thankful for healthy kids who only get sick every once in awhile and its never life threatening or even all that serious. I'm grateful for all of my many blessings.

Potty Training

Lightning McQueen, Wall-e, Woody, Buzz, Nemo and the Incredibles have agreed to help me in this quest to go diaperless.

This morning, Tyler peed in the toilet right after he woke up and about 4 times after that! He wore underwear for about 4 hours, until he had 2 accidents back to back and I decided that was great for day 1. Tyler explored all the different ways there are to pee in the toilet (standing up, sitting down, sitting sideways, squatting down, on the toddler seat, not on the toddler seat...) and my poor toilet needs a really good scrub down. As well as the hall carpet and the carpet around the toilet (oh how I hate carpeted bathrooms, what the heck, who thought of that?!)

Anyway, I am very grateful for my many Disney friends who allowed us to make this experience more enjoyable and I really apologize Mr. Incredible that Tyler peed on your face. He felt bad too. I watched him do it and he really didn't mean to. He was trying to get to the toilet and then sadly said, "Oh no, I go pee pee on increbible!"

oh, p.s. If any of you have ever potty trained a boy, I'd love some tips. I really don't know what I'm doing!!

Cleaning, Grooming, and Catching up

I've closed my etsy shop for a few days and I feel brand new. I didn't realize how much I worked until I stopped working. I still have a few orders to catch up on and honestly dreaded getting another sale. I promised myself that when it got to that point, I'd take a break.

So, I'm taking a little break. A break to renew myself, pay my bills, organize my house, give the boys haircuts, take them to the park, clean the kitchen and just plain pay more attention to my family!

The boys' room. I love it! Especially when it is clean. There's not a lot of room for playing, but all the essentials fit in there. They have really enjoyed falling to sleep together. I remember that being one of my favorite types of memories with my sister. I always loved sharing a room with her!

Here's Tyler's letter R rabbit ears. They must have talked about frogs too, because he hopped around the house with his rabbit ears saying "ribbit, I'm a rabbit, Ribbit, ribbit!" It was so funny! He has had a ton of fun this week at Luke's. On the way home he said, "Mom, I want to do that again." I asked him what he wanted to do again and he said "That. Preschool." :) Thanks Hillary!

Jackson has really funny hair. It is perfectly straight on top, and in the back it is fuzzy and sticks straight out. It has a really thick course texture too-- I call it Katie hair! (Good thing she's a girl and she gets to have it long and pretty!)

So, I decided to trim the back to see if that would calm it down. I think it looks much better.

It was so funny as I was trying to take a picture of the back of him, he just kept turning and turning as I did. But he was looking straight up at me, so he kept falling over. I was laughing so hard, I couldn't even take a good picture!!

I cut Tyler's hair this morning too, so I'll take one when I do the boys hair today for our Target trip today!

My Jack Jack

My little Jackson... Oh how I love him. At a little over a year old, he is very good at:

• Saying mama and dadda. "mamamamam, dadadadadada"... you get the picture. He also says a very funny tchtch sound that I think means Tyler.
• Giving kisses on demand. Whenever I say "Gimme a kiss!" he'll usually move his face closer to me, so I can nibble his cheek, but sometimes he actually opens his mouth and goes in for a big one!
• Clearing his high chair tray in .5 seconds-- he is a great eater. His favorites are fruits, veggies (finger food, not baby food), apple sauce, turkey, cheese and of course, cookies. He loves 'Nilla Wafers.
• Snuggling his face right into my neck. I love it! He is the best cuddler.
• Laughing. It doesn't happen very often, but when he laughs, he lets it all out. It almost sounds like a cry its so powerful. The other day, Tyler was banging a metal straw on another piece of metal and it made a really funny sound. Jackson sat there and cracked up so hard I was almost in tears watching, it was so hilarious.
• Opening and closing doors. He has a love/hate relationship with doors. Sometimes he shuts himself in a room and screams until I find him. When I open the door for him to get out, he just instantly closes it again- trapping himself yet again.
• He can fit anything in his mouth- ping pong balls, little people toys, a whole oreo. This guy has a large mouth!

I love my little Jackson-- I think back to the day he was born very often. It was so traumatic and scary, everything went wrong that could go wrong. My body hurt for months, reminding me of the horrible way he was brought into the world. I actually suffered from post traumatic stress for a few months. But, slowly over time, as I think about how blessed we are that he is in our family, those stressful feelings are transferring to peaceful thoughts. I'm so glad his life was spared and that I get to have my little Jack Jack. I just wouldn't be the same person without him. I'm grateful for the atonement that has brought me to this point, and the love of my Heavenly Father who has allowed me to find peace and beauty from such a scary situation. Jackson is our miracle and we are so blessed that he is a part of our family.

p.s. Took him to the dr today, he weighs 23 lbs, 2 oz!