Since We've Been Back...

We're trying to recouperate from having too much fun!

Jackson loves his new Exersaucer from Kid-to-Kid

I've taken the boys swimming 3 times this week and Tyler loves it!

I'll try to take some pictures this week.

I've been trying to "dig out" as my mom always says, unpacking, organizing, getting caught up. I'm a few days behind on life right now.

Pictures to come: Jackson's 5 month (today!!) and swimming pics

Sacramento Trip

This past weekend, the boys and I went to Sacto for a great family get together. My grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and it was so nice to be there to congratulate them and see all my mom's family.

Sis Katie, Aunt Denise, Great-Grandma Mimi, Mom, Me

Jeff had to stay home and work, so I flew with the boys alone. It was super hard-- my first words when I saw Jeff at the airport were "never again!" Luckily our next trip is for Katie's wedding in June and Jeff flies with me on the way there and my gma Lanie is flying with me back! So, never again do I have to do fly alone with a toddler and a baby!

THE AIRPLANE RIDE:

It would be physically impossible for me to carry 2 suitcases, 2 carseats, 2 children, 1 stroller and 4 carry-on items alone. So luckily Jeff helps me check in my items. Now I'm down to the stroller, 2 children and 4 carry-on items, still difficult. I get through security with other passengers and security people yelling at me to take off everyone's shoes, remove the DVD player from the bag, throw away the water, remove all liquid/gels from my diaper bag, hold the baby, hold the child... such a stressful event that leaves me with some serious sweat stains and red spots all over my face. As I breath through my anxiety attack, I tell myself the hard part is over so I board the 3 hour flight. I've already blotted the experience from my mind, so I cannot tell you any details. All I can tell you is I've always had a fear of flying and get motion sickness. Most flights I pray that the plane will not crash and we will land safely without me having to use a barf bag. This time I was seriously ok with the plane crashing. Just kill me now! HA. Just kidding. Luckily I made friends with a really nice family who helped me out when I needed to take Tyler to the bathroom or change Jackson. They just so happened to be on the same flight back too! Coincidence? I think not! Prayers are answered!

SACRAMENTO: 

The only thing that got me through those 5 hours of torture (slight exaggeration:)) was knowing I'd get to see my entire family on my mom's side. It's been a few months since I've seen my family and a few years since I've seen the extended family.

We had tons of fun on Saturday as the Boucher family gathered together. My mom rented a bounce house and I'm pretty sure it was my mom/dad who had the most fun in it! I love that they can just be kids sometimes!!

I love this picture of my mom and her sister. I remember as kids, we'd accidently call Denise "Mom" all the time. Now Lily calls Denise "Nauna" (especially from the back!). They just happened to match perfectly, which adds to the look-a-like problem, although if you ask them, all that really looks the same is their HAIR!!

I love this picture of my super cool bro and his little Isaac. It was so fun to be all together!

Mom and her aunt Karen. I have many great memories of Karen, each time I'd visit Sacto growing up, she'd always have fun things planned for us!

Gpa Boucher with Lily and the tall giraffe from Africa. Tyler looked at it and said, "MOO!"

Gma Boucher with my Jackson. Happy 50th Anniversary Grandma and Grandpa! We love you!!

We played all day and then that evening was the 50th Anniversary celebration, which I took NO pictures at! I'd feel bad, except that Tyler was super hyper after 2 days of no naps so I spent my time either chasing him around or taking a breather while someone else took a turn. After each shift change, I'd hear, "Man, I'm worn out, he has so much energy!" It was really nice to have so much help! (Thanks Dad!)

Our trip was so much fun. It was great to see everyone and we look forward to the next time I get to see my family! June 19, Here I come!!

Tyler Funnies

Tyler's been really funny lately, as he's beginning to understand how things work a little more, and talking a lot...

-As I was draining his bath water, he was putting his toys away in a mesh bag suctioned to the wall. I put Jackson's bath seat above the toy bag on a towel bar on the wall. Water dripped down onto Tyler's head. He said, "Oh no, it's naining!"

-When Tyler wasn't feeling well last week, I was rocking him and singing Primary Songs. I was singing "Jesus wants me for a sunBEAM" with the beam high pitch and I jumped up a little with him in my lap. He smiled at me so big and in the same high pitch voice said, "BEEP!" Everytime I sang "sunbeam," he'd say beep! Just like he does when a car honks or siren goes off.

-Tyler wanted to go outside and play but I told him he had to put his shoes on first. He kept kicking his feet and was not cooperating. I said, "Tyler, if you want to go outside, you have to put your shoes on. Do you want to go outside, or not?" He said, "not!"

cutest bum ever!

Quite a week!

Well, it's been one of those weeks that leaves you so exhausted its hard to sleep. Monday consisted of sewing and trying to get the house ready for a boutique party I've had planned to hostess at my house. I invited some friends who sell items like scentsy, pampered chef, stampin' up, lia sophia, drom designs handmade jewelry, and I displayed marykay and my kirstikoo items. Tuesday, we set up and had the first session in the evening. We had it again on Wednesday during the day and then had some time to rest a little until our Thursday night session. It was so fun to see everyone's little shops set up and I enjoyed all our company. (If you didn't make it this time, we'll probably be doing it quarterly, so look for an invite again the end of the summer!)

Later that day, Tyler started acting a little weird. He'd have little melt downs all day and was really fussy but also hyper. That night, he got a really high fever and cried all night. The only thing I could do was rock him to sleep, put him back in bed and then crash in my bed for a few minutes until one of the boys needed me. It was so exhausting. Right when I'd fall asleep, Jackson would need to eat or Tyler would cry and I'd go running for his room, find him soaking in his sweat, and try to calm him down. It was very obvious to me my little boy was sick. I took him into the dr. first thing the next morning. Doc said he had a really bad middle ear infection, and looked at me like- why didn't you bring him in sooner? I swear, he just started getting sick the night before, it just hit hard. They had to give him an antibiotic shot right there to start working on the infection. 

Luckily, he's doing better now and even got to go to the fathers and sons outing for a few hours with Jeff. They chased lightning bugs and played frisbee, threw ice in the fire and hung out, guy style. Tyler came back filthy and with his eyes half closed, he was so tired!!

Now I'm looking forward to a relaxing and recouperating day tomorrow. I love Sundays. A day where I get to see Jeff all day long and may even get to take a much needed nap!

Tyler Kent- 2 Yr Check up

Tyler loved going to the doctor today. Most of it anyway. He LOVED the nurse and got shy and smiley every time she walked in the room. He enjoyed the doctor checking his ears and tummy. He didn't really like the shots though. We've been behind on immunizations and haven't had insurance for him since he was 1 so this was a big feat today. To catch up, he needed 5 shots! When he got the first one, he looked pretty ticked off, but didn't cry. When he got the second one, he said, "Ow, boo-boo!" When he got the third one, he cried and when he got the fourth and fifth, he screamed. I hated watching but I still thought it was kinda cute the way he reacted. He's just like me (in so many aspects of life!) I can handle most things once or twice, but when the same thing happens 5 times, I've had it!

Anyways, here's my big boy looking cute:

TYLER's FAVORITE THINGS:

Nemo- he is on a huge Nemo kick right now. I think he watches the movie 3 times a day and talks about what part is coming up. I always hear, "no, nemo, no", "tuttles, mom" or "wow, whale!"

Sandbox- everytime he comes in the house I have to ask him if he's bringing the sandbox in with him in his shoes. I remember my mom asking us that after school every day and it always made us laugh!

Doing Puzzles- He'll take each piece and say, "no, no, no," until he finds the right spot. Then he says, "yay!"

Naming Colors- he's doing pretty good and loves to pick a new favorite color every day.

Any kind of 'man- mailman, trashman, policeman... and he just met superman the other day. Tyler watched the entire movie on Jeff's lap the other night and kept saying "Oh wow!" or "Yay, man!"

Tyler is 28 lbs (40%) and 37 inches tall (90%) at exactly 26 months old

4 Months Old

Jackson is 4 months old now! I can't believe it... has it really been that long already?

He did great at his check up, weighing in at a whopping 16 lbs, 9 oz! and 26 inches long (79/76%) and now fitting 9 month clothing!

He once again took his shots like a champ and hardly cried at all. We have a brave one here.

We decided to take advantage of BabiesRus' sale last month and got a high chair (Thanks Lanie & Papa for the $- its been sitting in our savings account waiting for the exciting day!) I mixed up a bowl of rice cereal, expecting Jackson to spit most of it out like many 4 monthers do. (But had to celebrate the big day, of course!) He surprised us by swallowing every bite and I even made a second batch for the hungry little monster! It was so fun and I'm looking forward to the days where he'll take baby food daily!

Jackson is our little pal and we love him so much. He has given me 4 nights in a row of 7-8 hours of straight sleeping! Wow has that made a difference in my life, mood, attitude, energy level. Thanks buddy!

The boys say hi!

Here are two cute/funny pictures I took today when I said, "Say hi to grandma!"

Tomorrow is Jackson's 4 month appt, so I'll do a post for him in the next few days.

Milk Bubbles

Jeff taught Tyler to blow bubbles today and he had a blast!

 look how cute he looks in his $2.18 Target shirt and nice khaki overalls. So handsome! He kept grabbing Jackson's matching pair of overalls from the closet and he'd hold it up to his body and say, "mine? no, Baby's" It was so funny!

naked boy with a hose, anyone?

nothing better than that. we are LOVE-ing the hot weather. So nice!

Cutie Patooties

Jackson wanted to watch me get ready for church yesterday so I stuck him in my towel basket. He loved it! Then Tyler came along and of course had to join him! I couldn't help myself-- I just had to take pictures (even though we were going to be late-why do they always look so cute on Sunday mornings?)

It's official!

Well, we have lived here for a year now and our insurance has required us to get TX licenses and license plates. After getting repairs on BOTH cars to enable them to pass a state inspection, we headed to the county & DMV offices. I made sure we had all necessary paperwork and documents and it was still an ordeal. Then we realized Jeff's license just expired (last week!!) so he had to do the written and driving test (better him than me- I get so nervous for things like that!) I totally make fun of Jeff for not being able to get his license that day. Then I get up to the counter and fail the eye exam!! OH NO! The lady tells me she cannot pass me if I fail the test... Jeff's in the line behind me cracking up! She asked me how long it'd been since my last exam and I'm thinking close to 10 years! But wouldn't I notice that my eyes were so bad? I couldn't read ANY letters on the right side! Luckily she tells me to try again, but seriously, everything was blurry...Ok, so I try again and I must not have had my forehead pressed hard enough on the thingy, cuz I could see it just fine!! What a relief!

Anyway, just a funny story about what a hassle it is to get all this stuff done and then at the end of the day I had to give up my beautiful California license for this texas one... I lovED my picture. Oh well...

look who's a big boy!

Grandmas and Grandpas: Enjoy!!

I vividly remember when Tyler started rolling over. Today I set Jackson down on his tummy and less than 2 seconds later he was on his back!! I screamed and tried it again. He rolled over about 17 times as I tried to capture a video short enough to send! Yay for Jackson.

caution: this picture just might brake your heart

It's been a hard day with lots of little melt-downs in the world of a 2 year old. I'm trying to figure out how to best deal with them: leave him alone (and ignore the screaming), try to convince him the frozen apple juice will be ready in just a minute (so please stop screaming), or let him have whatever he wants cuz it's not that big of a deal (cuz I can't stand the screaming)... But I'll figure it out. That being said, Tyler is still my adorable little guy and I love him to death! 

He loves doing errands with me until naptime and we've been having good conversations during our car ride. I always tell him our daily agend and today he repeated me with 3-4 word sentences like:

doya dore one toy: we are going to the dollar store and you can pick one toy!

wow! wirewuck wow!: wow Tyler, look at that firetruck! 

maymee bapa eas bubby: the mailman is going to bring us a package from grandma and grandpa's easter bunny!

Happy Easter!

I just had to catch a family photo before we headed off for church- the boys in their matching Easter outfits (thanks Aneta!). All looking at the camera, but not all smiling...

All smiling, but not all looking at the camera...

All smiling, but not quite all of us. Wow family pictures are getting harder and harder with each kid...

After church we had friends and the missionaries over for dinner and a little hunt:

I think at this exact moment he is saying, "two eggs!"

Eating popcorn!

I filled all of Tyler's eggs with healthy snacks like popcorn and goldfish and raisins and marshmellows. (yes I am that kind of mom). Yet somehow by the time the day was over he'd had tons of chocolate. (I think he noticed everyone else's baskets had the good stuff!)

fun saturday

This little guy does not need a binky. And its a good thing cuz I'm sure if he liked one, Tyler would always take it from him. Jackson actually HATES the binky and will NOT take one. Instead, he sucks on his finger or fist and has been doing that since the day he was born! So different than his brother who STILL loves "dinky".
Thanks Lanie & Papa for our Easter Bunny! Tyler was so happy that the maymee (mailman) brought him a big giant card!! SO fun!