Giveaway!

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In other news...

Tyler starts Preschool on Tuesday! I'm doing a rotating group with a few friends and we will do abc's, art projects and playtime! I think this will be a great way for him to learn social skills and will give me a nice break for a couple hours twice a week.

Jackson has two teeth now! He is an amazing sleeper, beating Tyler at sleeping through the night by about 4 months! YAY for that. He eats well, plays by himself and is crawling from room to room now. He is my little explorer.

A couple funny stories (that pretty much sums it up!) Tyler was taking a bath because that's his favorite thing to do right now. He'll stand at the tub yelling BATH! ME! BATH! ME! BATH! Until I just give up the, no it's 9 am you're not dirty yet argument and just let him in... Anyways so he's in the bath and I walk by to see him dumping cup fulls of water onto the carpeted floor. I yell at him a little and say, "Man, you are being such a bad boy, it's making me crazy!" and he yells back at me in the same voice and tone "yeah!"

Tyler, Jackson and I were in my room. I was in and out of the room and Tyler was following close behind me. Jackson of course was a little slower but also trying to make it from bedroom to living room. He got distracted at the door stop and started playing with it. It made a very loud "boing" sound and it totally freaked tyler out. "Oh no, dinosaur get me! Bite me! Oh no!"

It's really funny the words that come out of his mouth lately. He makes me laugh all day long. Even midst yell, I start cracking up sometimes at his reactions. I decided 2-year olds are the cause AND cure to needing anger management!

**Mom, this is for you... I know you asked to see Tyler but Jackson really wanted to show off his riding skills, so here it is:

6 Things I LOVE...

...about Jeff!

1. Everytime I tell him "I love you", he says, "I love you more."

2. He's always up for an adventure and makes sure we do the craziest thing possible. (see pic below for proof)

3. He works so hard for our family and comes home excited to see us.

4. He's so supportive of me and my dreams and desires (especially with kirstikoo)

5. He is the strongest person I've ever met. Physically and emotionally- he holds me together and picks me up when I need it!

6. We are a team. I love that about us. If he needs help, I help him and if I need help he helps me. Sometimes sacrificing what we want to do for the other person. I love that.

HAPPY 6 YEARS JEFFERS!

And of course 6 flashback pictures are required for this post:

Our first date: Hotsprings in Yellowstone. Take that for a first date. Nothing ordinary or boring with him! I think that's why it was my last first date!

Just being silly, sometime between October 2002 and February 2003...

Right after our engagement on my 19th birthday weekend. Notice I'm flashing my ring? Thinking about that night still makes me smile!

In Sacramento the summer before we were married. He was working in Sacto and I was working in So. Cal. I got to visit for a weekend and here we are at my Aunt & Uncle's house.

A year or two after we were married a group of friends went to Havasu Falls and backpacked about 10 miles each way. Here we are at the final destination. We are sitting on a ledge of lava rock thousands of feet above the falls. I told him to hold me tight and do not let me fall or else...

My OVERproductive Day

Last night, I lay in bed so proud of myself and the day I had.

We woke up at 8ish and got ready to take Tyler to camp at 9. From 10-12 as Jackson slept, I sewd away. From 12-12:30 I decided I better pay attention to my very messy kitchen. I cleaned that and then Tyler got home from messy-fun-camp (he's been going all week!). He took a bath to wash off the tatoos Jeff gave him during mutual. (I wish I took pictures, they were hillarious. Envolving all of his favorite things from a fire truck to a snake and of course mommy's face. I was impressed, and glad that I was smiling in the picture. Ok, good.)

Soooooo, getting back on subject, Tyler bathed and I got the sudden urge to clean the toilets. This does not happen very often, so I took the opportunity and started scrubbing away. Tyler started casually chanting the word "poopoo" which was the exact word I was thinking about as I scrubbed that toilet. So I didn't think anything of it. Until he said the dreaded "uh oh". And then I was awakened from my cleaning coma and said, "Oh, no" and saw two lovely pieces of poop floating in the bathtub. YES, too much information, I'm sorry. I tell you this because suddenly my urge to clean the toilets increased about 100 degrees and suddenly I had to clean every single surface of the house. I did the tubs next then the countertops and tile.....That took place from 12:30 to about 2 o'clock.

From 2-4 I put the boys down for a much needed nap and I slept for about 40 mins. When we woke up, we met the Lofgrens and Taylors at the pool! We swam until Tyler remembered that there is a park outside the gate and moved the party there. Then we walked home, made dinner, and went to bed.

It was a great day, I got so much accomplished and wasn't lazy at all. I planned to have the same type of productive day until...

...I woke up this morning and my back was broken. Ok, not technically broken, but it hurts to move or bend or sit or walk. That's what happens when I pack hours of cleaning AND sewing in the same day.

Oh well. Today I will have the opposite. An UNDERproductive day. With lots of cookiedough eating and blog browsing and thinking about getting stuff done. I have a movie rented for Jeff and I to watch tonight and I'm excited!

Total Slacker

...sorry I've been slacking on my blog lately. I've been busy! I haven't taken any pictures of the kiddos in awhile and they've been watching a lot of movies... I blame it on my sewing machine. It taunts me when I'm not using it. I swear I'm a little addicted. Oh well. There are worse things I could be addicted to. (That's my justification, and I'm stickin' to it!)

Ok, so to give my family and friends a bit of an update:

JACKSON is officially crawling!! Yup, he started about a week ago and is pretty close to becoming a pro. He is taking bottles during the day which has been a wonderful thing. And he's sleeping pretty well at night.

TYLER is either my little sweetheart or my little devil. (Those of you who have 2 1/2 year olds, I'm sure you understand. Those of you who don't probably think I'm either over-exagerating or a really mean mom.) But seriously, we're a little bi-polar over here. He still loves running around the house like a crazy person and is so nice to his little brother. Sometimes I get to sit and read (or sew, of course) while they sit together and play. It's been nice.

AND for those of you who are still reading (thank you-- Jeff would say there are two many words in this post!) I've added a picture of me and my big brother. It was Christmas '85 so I was a year and a half old. I've looked at this picture before, but just today I looked again and noticed that Tyler looks a lot like me!! I always say the boys look like Jeff, but imagine short hair, and I see Tyler... what do you think?

Our Fortune

The other day, Jeff brought home chinese food. It's always a happy day when there's orange chicken and rice involved. "wice" as Tyler says each time we drive by Panda Express.

A couple hours later, Tyler found the fortune cookie and we cracked it open. Here's our conversation:

"Oh, you want the cookie?"

"Me do"

"Ok, you open it."

"Paper," as he hands it to me.

"Your financial situation will soon improve." I read

"YAY!" tyler yelled excitedly!

I couldn't stop cracking up. I talk to my kids all day long; read them things, talk about what I'm doing or about to do and make jokes. Usually no one laughs at my jokes or replies to my constant jabbering. Now I am getting replies and having conversations with my 2 year old. I LOVE it! Tyler has been so fun to be around lately, he is really my little pal!

PROOF

For those of you who keep hearing how much my boys look like their dad, here's the proof:

Jeff: 10 months old

Jeff with momma Judy: 2 years old

Let's just hope the girl(s) look like me!

((Wait, I'm having more kids? Just kidding.))

My cute little disgusting messy boy

I forgot what it was like to have smashed carrots and peas all over the house after each meal! Now I remember giving Tyler a bath 3 times a day when he was about this age. We are at that point now with Jack Jack. Lucky for me he is a GREAT eater. Each meal consists of 1 container of food and 2 or 3 TBS of rice or oatmeal cereal. Plus he's doing juice bottles, but those usually end up on the front of his shirt for some reason...
Anyway, I've decided its easier to feed him naked. Here's why:

And then we just take a bath. He loves sitting up and splashing in 1 inch of water:

Man, I love this kid!

Not too much goin' on...

It's too hot outside to leave the house past 12. We do errands in the morning and then try to entertain ourselves all afternoon. Today I spent hours on the computer doing some designing for kirstikoo product packaging. At one point, Tyler was playing with water in the sink and those little capsules that turn into sponge animals. I was telling myself how worth it it was that I got a few packs from the Target dollar section, because it kept him busy for a long time. Even Jackson was content laying in the hallway between the bathroom and office lulled by the sound of running water. At one point, Tyler came into the office and said, "uh oh, wawie spilled." He says this anytime he gets a drop of water on his shirt, so I just said, "it's ok" without looking up from the computer. He repeats it about 20 times, getting louder and adding a mommy to the the beginning, middle and end of the sentence ("Mommy, uh oh! Mommy, wawie spilled, MOMMY!")
and then I started getting worried. I ran to the bathroom to find the water overflowing from the sink, over the counter and onto the floor (I have carpeted bathrooms.) I screamed! and tried to ask Tyler why he didn't tell me sooner when I remember I answered, uh huh or ok about a thousand times!
I cleaned it up and told myself it was break time! aka, time to stop ignoring the kids!
TYLER's new favorite movie right now is Jungle Book, not the animated kind, the one with real animals. He loves the monkey part with the snake and always pretends that the snake bites him during the movie. Silly boy!
JACKSON is rolling across the room and also scoots to whatever toy or object he wants. He does it catepillar style; he pulls up on his knees and then flops down on his tummy. It's pretty funny to watch!
Well, that's pretty much the update. Jeff's working 100 hour days again, so I don't get to see him very often, but oh well. The boys keep me busy and having fun!

This is where I should be, but am not!

Awwww, I feel relaxed just looking at it, the place I used to go yearly for a week of fun and relaxment (is that a word?). Anyway, my parents and sibling are there (without me!) right now and today was the first day that I would give anything to transport my body to Lake Powell. It's only noon and its been one of those days.

The only thing that keeps me from being super sad is that I know it would be super hard to be there with 2 kiddos. So I am at home reminding myself how nice it is to be keeping regular naptimes and sleeping in my own bed!

My Simple Testimony

Today during sacrament meeting at church, Tyler ran up to the stage and played a few keys on the piano before Jeff was able to grab him. (I know, I hid my face behind Jackson.) Jeff stayed up and bore a beautiful testimony of the gospel. I felt his strength and it strengthened me.

I've been thinking about what I know and why I love the church I belong to...

I know that God is my Heavenly Father, that He loves me and wants me to be happy. I love that I can pray to Him whenever and wherever I need to and that my prayers are always answered. Whether it be through a feeling of peace or an obvious miracle.

I know that Jesus Christ is His Son, my Redeemer and my Savior. He suffered through the atonement and a painful death so that I can enjoy the atonement, and happiness even though I am imperfect. His death and resurrection bare testimony to me that I will one day be resurrected and can live through eternity with my family.

I'm so grateful for the promise of eternal families.

I'm grateful for the scriptures which lead me and give me confidence daily that I can do what I need to do and am given strength because of reading them.

I know that modern day prophets are called of God and that they are able to give us revelation; messages that our Heavenly Father wants us to hear; words that can uplift us.

I'm thankful for the sabbath, a day like today where I'm able to worship the Lord and thank Him for all my blessings and find a new strength at the end of the day and feel refreshed.

I know that as I am obedient and do the small and simple things I am asked to do, I am blessed. That the blessings I receive far exceed the work I do, the effort I put into my life. I cannot do it alone and I don't have to. I am always blessed when I think of Him first.

Some days, I feel like angels lead me to where I am supposed to be. That they carry me through the day and above the stress to find the big picture of life. That I am here to find joy and to give joy. To love others and to feel loved. To receive help at the hard times and to serve others when I can. I love the gospel. I love the feelings I get when I do the right thing and daily recommit myself to righteousness.

Shark, bite!

Ever since the aquarium visit, Tyler has been obsessed with sharks. We left his stuffed animal at the JcPennys photo place, and I went back to go get it this morning. After we got home from the long drive plus traffic and errands, this was our conversation:

Me: say thank you to mommy for getting your shark back

Tyler: thank you mommy

Me: for?...

Tyler: five!

I was cracking up, and he was so proud of himself! That was thank you enough!

Target dollar section just happened to have shark plates and cups. Coincidence? I think not!!

Bye-bye Nanie

Lanie went home yesterday morning and it was a sad day. We had a blast together and I'm going to miss her until I see her again. Tyler has talked about her all day and said things like:

"N0, Nanie do." When I would wash his hands. I guess this was on her job list for the past few days.

"Nanie Bye-bye." Sadly a few times throughout the day.

and as we were getting ready for bed, I grabbed the super cute frog book she got him from the aquarium. It has googly eyes that pop out and a funny lyrical story. As I started reading, he said,

"yay, Nanie book!"

I love that my kids got to spend some time with the grandma that I grew up with just down the street. It was wonderful to catch up on life with her and for her to see what my life is like now. I love you Lanie!!

6 Months!

How is that possible?

Well its almost half way through the year already, how weird is that? Here is my little baby at 6 months old. It confused me a little on February 28th when to celebrate his 2 months, since he was born on the 31st. The last day of the month or the 3rd day of March? I never thought about that before he was born.

Anyway...

On July 1 (pretty much June 31st!) We took him to get his 6 month photos. I don't have them yet, or I'd show you how cute they turned out. Here's one I took of my little Jack Jack yesterday.

His shirt says "turtley cool" which I think is turtley adorable!

Jackson is 17 lbs, 13 oz at 6 months.

Dallas World Aquarium

On Tuesday, we set out to see all things aquatic at the Dallas World Aquarium. It was pretty cool...

We started (and ended) with the sharks (cuz they were so cool!)

Tyler kept yelling "nine" and "booboo" when he'd see this one. (nine=knife). It looks just like the hedge trimmer Jeff has in our garage that we tell him he will get booboos if he touches it! Ouch.

This little birdie was hungry, so we gave him one of Jackson's dissolvable corn puffs. He thanked us by posing for a picture. Thanks "burpie."

The waterfall by the penguins and lizards, another one of our favorite areas.

You can't see it very well, but there is a crocodile behind us. This was just a few minutes after they scared Tyler and a bunch of kids almost to tears!!

...So there were two crocodiles sun bathing right next to the glass. Their bodies were half in the water, half out so we could see them very well. All of a sudden, one crocodile freaked out and suddenly whipped his head around which scared the other one and they both flipped around and splashed water higher than the kids' heads. They all screamed and I saw Tyler run in place for a few seconds before he knew what to do. Then he grabbed my legs and said, "aligada bite!" They were only inches away when that happened and right at eye level, so I don't blame them all for screaming! It was really funny. I kept hearing random people talk about it for the rest of the day.

I think the chameleon was my favorite. His colors were beautiful! It reminded me of the chameleon at the beginning of the Curious George movie when George plays ring around the rosie with animals and the lizard keeps changing colors so often that he goes dizzy and falls over! This guy had every color on him. It was cool!

Jackson looking up at the turtles and manatees.

All of us after visiting the gift shop. Tyler picked a shark and has been obsessed with it ever since!

We had so much fun. I miss Lanie already. Come back soon!!