Weekend Wedding

Devin's cousin Aaron got married this weekend.  We didn't get any picture of the bride and groom, but here are the boys at the reception.

First Jaxon wanted to touch the water, then he wanted to lick it.  He eventually got his whole face wet!

 Henry eating the yummy food!

Devin was so much fun to watch on the dance floor.  I had a flash back to high school!  (But this time Devin kept his shirt on!)  A black lady even came up and told me he had "moves."  Too bad I'm such a bad dancer that I can't be seen on the dance floor with him.  He has never said that, of course, but I know I'm terrible!  We did get a slow dance in and that was sweet.  It would have been nice to get a little closer, but my belly prevented that this time.  While we were dancing I just felt so thankful I am married to Devin.  He is so amazing and truly my best friend.  We are so blessed to be together not just on Earth, but all through eternity!

Tired

I'm too tired to really think straight.  We had a busy weekend, which I want to document, but I still need to recover.

It's hard to get a good night's sleep with Jeni getting up to go to the bathroom every 10 minutes, sometimes 5.  Really, I'm not exaggerating.  Devin and I timed the intervals.  Seriously, how can anyone need to go to the bathroom that often?!  She can't really be going to the bathroom.  She just goes in there, turns the light on, and closes the door (loudly) then goes back in her room.  Devin has come to the conclusion that Jeni doesn't really sleep.  She just lays in bed and gets bored so she gets up a lot.  Maybe.  He's probably right because this morning when I came out of my bedroom to wait for the daycare kids to arrive (at 6 am), I went to close her door and she was just sitting up on the bed in the dark.  It freaked me out.  I don't know what goes on with her at night.  I don't know but I wish she would just sleep so I could sleep!!!

Since I'm getting towards the end of my pregnancy (hallelujah!) I am feeling more tired again.  I was tired at the beginning, had a good stretch in the middle, and now realize the good stretch is dwindling down.  On Friday night, I went to bed at 11 pm and woke up at 9 am.  That's 10 hours of sleep.  Then Saturday night, I was exhausted by 9 pm!  After getting that much sleep the night before, I thought I'd be able to stay up a little later.  Having to wake up at 5:30 during the week really wears me out!  I feel like I never get caught up on the sleep I need.  I can't wait to exercise again.  I know that will help with my energy level.

Maybe there will come a day in my life when I don't have to take care of anyone besides my own kids.  No daycare kids, and no Jeni.  That would be so nice.  Devin and I are working on it, but change is rarely immediate.  It takes time.  Unlucky for me, I'm not very patient!  I want things to be different now.  But, I'm learning to wait.  Some days aren't so bad, but I am not really happy doing it.  I don't think my kids are always happy about it either.  They do like playing with other kids, but all day every day is a little too much for them and me.  Like I said, we're working on a change.

I don't know if it is because of the pregnancy, but my ability to deal with everything has not been up to the usual standard.  One specific thing is that I have no tolerance for whining.  With 6 kids and Jeni around, there tends to be a lot of whining I have to listen to.  Lets just say I'm thrilled when each weekend rolls around.  It means I get a (short) break and it's one week closer to the baby coming.

Despite the hard times, I am very blessed.  When I am having a hard day, I know it helps to focus on the blessings I have been given.  It also helps to serve others.  My goals:  be more grateful, serve more.  Oh, and get more sleep!

Is This Normal?

Jaxon has been having some serious fits lately.  He's 4 and he throws more fits than Henry who is 2.

When he gets mad, Jaxon says things like, "I don't want to live with you," "I don't love you," "You're lying," "You don't love me," "That's not fair," "You're not my mommy," and on and on with all kinds of stuff.  I don't know where he gets this stuff because Devin and I certainly never have said anything like the previous quotes to each other ever.  He doesn't even understand what he's saying half the time.  It's like we raising a teenager in a miniature body.

I know he doesn't mean the things he says and I don't take them personally, but when he has these drawn out fits it wears on me.  I get past the point of knowing what to do about it.  It's like there's no reasoning with him because he just argues back with some of the lines quoted above.  These fits are hard to manage!  His fits don't happen very often, it's just that when they do, they seem to go on and on.  And of course, if he is hungry or tired they are worse.

I just don't know if this is normal.  My Oma (grandma) said I didn't say thing like that or act crazy-out-of-control-mad when I was little.  I know Devin banged his head on the floor when he was younger, but I don't think that continued much past age 2.  I wonder if Jaxon is more difficult than most kids his age or are we just lousy parents?

Where did this sweet boy go?

2 is Better than 1

Henry came out of his room like this the other day.  

I think it's really going to be a hard few days when we decide to get rid of the binki.  I think the day is going to be soon.  The fact that he likes his binki didn't really bother me before, but recently it has been driving me crazy.  It might be the pregnancy, but when he wakes me up in the night to find his binki because he threw it out of his crib, that makes me cranky.  

So, mamas, any tips for getting rid of the binki?

It's funny because Jaxon seemed so grown up when Henry was born.  And though Henry will be older when Oliver is born than Jaxon was when Henry was born, Henry still seems like such a baby!

Curly

Henry's hair is always so curly after bath time.  But by morning, it's flattened into kind of wavy instead.  Isn't he the cutest?! 

J Turns 4!

We celebrated Jaxon's birthday this weekend.  First Granny, Gramps, and Oma came over for dinner.  Jaxon requested some ridiculous meal of beans with tortillas folded up like diapers...gross.  I guess that's what a four-year old little boy mind thinks is funny.  We didn't make that.  

Jaxon was really excited about his presents.

A fun chalk-making project

 Mix

 Shake

 Pour into molds

 Wait for it to dry

Then, on Saturday (Jaxon's actual birthday) Mommy took the boys to Krazy Sub for dinner.  Some firemen came in and started talking to Jaxon and Henry.  We told them it was his birthday and they offered to show him their fire truck!  It was so nice!  He got to go inside and look at all their gear.  They even let him sit in the driver seat!  He loved it!

Henry got in for a second, but said he was scared and wanted out.

On Sunday, Nana, Papa, Reina, Elisha, and Josh came over to celebrate.  Jaxon wanted banana cake so that's what Devin made.  He originally wanted coconut because that's what Curious George had, but we didn't have the ingredients for it so Devin was able to convince him to go for banana cake instead.  

Aunt Reina got JJ a cool superhero play dough kit.  I just realized I didn't get a pic, but Aunt Elisha and Uncle Josh got Jax a glow in the dark Toy Story shirt--an immediate favorite item of clothing!

And the forever anticipated Iron Man suit!

Henry got a little outfit too and loved it.

Mommy and Daddy got Iron Man action figures for the boys.

So happy!

Little Henry likes to be just like Jaxon.

Mommy and Jaxon on his special day!

We sure do love Jaxon.  He made me a mommy and I am grateful for that everyday.  When one of the daycare kids says or does something that isn't very nice, Jaxon always stands up to them.  Every once in a while it does get to be too much because sometimes he makes the kids cry with how upfront he is about it, but I am glad he isn't afraid to stand up to his friends when they do something he knows isn't right.  I hope this continues through his youth.  He will always give me love and wants me to sing "I Have a Family Here on Earth" to him every night after stories and prayers and then he likes to sing it back to me.  He is such a sweetie!

Oh, and he knows the alphabet in sign language.  

Max 2.0

Jaxon got an upgrade to his Max outfit--whiskers.  He loves it.

The zip-up pajamas are getting too small so we ordered new ones for his birthday.  Oh, and when Granny asked what he wanted for his birthday, Jaxon said, "Well, Nana is getting me an Iron Man costume.  She is gonna to surprise me."  After a laugh about how Jaxon had everything pre-arranged, Granny asked him what else he wanted.  He said he wanted a rainbow.  Why?  I don't know...

PS...I just found out that Olive Garden has recipes posted on its site!  What?  Amazing!

Under the Weather

Henry had a fever and actually threw up a few times yesterday.  It was so sad.  He just wasn't his happy self.  He kept asking to "go sleepy night-nights" and would lay down for a few minutes, then want to get up, but it was obvious he didn't feel well.  My parents stopped by for a little while and Henry fell asleep with "Gwamps" on the couch.  It was so sweet.

I don't know what happened, but Henry woke up today fever-free and totally back to his usual self!  Hallelujah!

Job

For family night yesterday we read the story of Job.  When Devin showed Jaxon the picture of Job with boils, Jaxon pointed to me and said, "He has owies like you, mommy."  "What?" Devin asked, concerned.  "You know.  Like those on your face.  What are they called?"  "Pimples" I told him.  My skin goes a little crazy with the hormones at the beginning of my pregnancies, but by about half way, it clears up.  Currently, I only have one blemish.  I'm not very excited that my sweet little son thinks I am covered in boil-like owies, but, I had to laugh!

Kids say the darndest things!

Oh, and I'm going to make these Halloween decorations with the boys.  I think they will love them!  But, here is a cuter picture of them.

I have been in the mood for doing projects so I'm going to make one of these car seat tents and one of these car seat covers for the new baby.

Painting Pumpkins

Henry was curios about the abnormality on this peach.  You can probably guess what he called it.

 A Sunday afternoon painting project:  making Halloween decorations.

Henry used about every color on his pumpkin.

UT Fruit

After receiving our shipments of Utah apples and peaches, we had a lot of canning to do.  We canned 10 pints and 25 quarts of applesauce and 35 quarts of peaches!  It was a lot of work, but luckily Devin was off work and could help and we had my mom, dad, mother-in-law to help us too.  It feels so much better to have our shelves replenished.

Oops...It's Okay

Yesterday Jaxon didn't make it to the bathroom in time.  He was dancing all around but not getting his shorts off so he peed on the floor.  Before I could say anything, he growled and said in an upset voice, "I'm so mad at myself!"  Then his demeanor changed and he said, "It's okay.  I can repent."  I didn't prompt him at all.  It was so funny to see him so upset at himself for making a mistake and then the calm come over him when he realized he could repent and try not to let it happen again.

I didn't know he had such a grasp on repentance.  He made it sound so simple.  I guess it really is simple.  I'm thankful for the little lessons he teaches me everyday.  He has such a sweet, tender spirit and I just love him so much!