Today Jade put me to SHAME!!!!

Today Jadyn and I had dental cleanings. I hate them. Detest them. I have AWFUL teeth. I had like 5 crowns to do last time I went in and have only done 2 of them, so I knew it was going to be bad. I asked Jade on the way there if she was going to be brave and she laughed "Mom, it doesn't hurt!" We go in and they put us in two different rooms. Jade was all good with that. Hello.....she is only almost 4 and off she goes by herself to the chair. OK, I'm starting to freak. I tell the lady I don't want the silver scraper. She says "Welllllllll.......we didn't do the polishing last time and if we don't do that again and don't do the scraping there isn't much of a cleaning" and in the other room Jade is laughing at "Mr. Tickle" and is 1/2 way done. No lie, I end up having her numb the top back teeth on both sides. Jade comes in happy with her bag of surprises and I'm having an anxiety attack! :) They tell me she has a small cavity (in the back and the other back teeth are being watched. I let her brush and it sounds like I need to help a little in the back) and they have time to fix it now. I was thinking "oh great, she is going to freak out now." They say it's small and no shot needed. Wow....that made me nervous but she seemed fine with it. So off she goes to a new chair. They give her headphones to watch the t.v. on the ceiling and sunglasses (I guess so it's not so bright?) and she was FINE!!! Not a peep. She was just happy she got to choose two prizes. They give me a two page printout of the 7 crowns I need and I, who only had a cleaning, left the office with my mouth numb and Jade, who had a cavity filled, was shot free and happy as could be.

Halloween Fun: Carving Pumpkins

My sister was nice enough to invite us over to carve pumpkins with them this year. Of course Jade was excited about being able to see the boys. I just can't even explain how much she LOVES them. It's amazing. Meg had told me about a sight that we could go to to get pumpkin carving patterns. She said "I think I saw a Cinderella or Snow White for Jade." Perfect-right? So I show Jade the pictures and she wants to see all the patterns. I showed her everything and then she said "I saw it! I saw it! Corpse bride. Yeah, that's the one I want" I kept saying "Are you sure you don't want Nemo....Cinderella.....Snow White.....Shrek?" Nope, She finally said "Corpse Bride or Ninja Turtle. You can choose Mom." She was just going with the Halloween spirit I guess and chose a "Halloween" princess! She does love the movie. My nephew had a friend over who was wanting to carve a pumpkin and I was only to quick to offer up Jaxon's! He did a good job on the ninja turtle-especially because the pumpkin was a little small.

Jax had fun playing in the dirt (but did manage to get a bloody lip) and Jade had a great time following the boys around and jumping on the tramp. The weather was perfect and we had a really fun night! Thanks Meg..........

Jax's Ninja Turtle

Jadyn's awesome Corpse Bride!

The kids with their pumpkins

Cute Jax was soooo tired and fell asleep so fast! Poor little lip!

Halloween Fun: Parties

Jadyn has struck it big this year. She managed to have 4 Halloween parties in 5 days. We are definitely getting good use of her costume this year! She is Dorothy this year. Why? Well Jade saw the red glitter shoes at Target and HAD to have them. I told her the only way I would buy them was if she was going to be Dorothy for Halloween (This was in August). So she agreed and we bought the shoes and put them on the shelf for a few months. I will add that I was definitely NOT the only mom with the same thought. There have been lots of Dorothy's this year with the same red Target shoes

Halloween Party #1: Gymnastics

Jade's Teacher LOVES Halloween! LOVES it. The gym is do decorated it's crazy! He throws a Halloween party at the gym every year as well as another party at his home- and he invites all the gymnasts and parents. We went to the party at the gym and I had no idea what to expect. Jade had a great time. For the first 45 min it was pretty much open gym for everyone. Jade was in Heaven getting to just run around and play on everything. What excited her and amazed her the most was the fact that she got to jump in the "cheese" (Foam pit) as many times as she wanted.....and many times she did. There is a very strict "One jump only" rule during class, so this was fantastic for her! They had a costume contest. They all got a prize. They then played a few games and had cake, root beer and cotton candy. It was a fun night. We left Jax home. The night before I had taken him to her class and came home declaring it was his LAST time for a good while. He can't get down and run around, and keeping him sitting with me for 45 min is just-well- no fun.

Halloween Party #2: Ward Party

This was such a fun party. The party was at 11:30 so I wasn't sure how many people would be there, but they had a great turnout! There was a chili cook off with lots of other yummy food. They too had a costume contest and only had one prize for the kids. Who one? That would be my cute little Dorothy! She and I were both so excited about it! :) Afterwards they did some crafts and then we went home. It was really fun!

Jax hanging out in his stroller. He was REALLY enjoying the frosted cookie I had given him

Little Dorothy coloring her pumpkinScary DorothyMom helping Dorothy make her Ghost sucker!

Halloween Fun: Hee Haw Farms

This is the 2nd year Brandee and I have taken the kids to Hee Haw farm while Scott is dear hunting. It is such a cute little place and is only $5 for lots of activities! There was a little damper on the night when Jade's finger got pinched in a water lever thing"y" (yeah, not sure what it was). It started bleeding all over the place. The one lame thing about this place-no band aids and no concern for the 3 year old bleeding everywhere. Lame......She was really good about it though and was ready to go play again in just a few minutes. (Side note.....I looked at it today and the whole nail is detached from the skin.....sick..... I cut the nail down a ways today but couldn't bring myself to cut the whole thing off....ugh, sick) Anyway, the kids both had a fun time. Jax's favorite part was the Petting zoo and the corn box. Jade's was probably the slides and the corn box! I am going to post a video of Jax in the petting area. MY video ran out just before it got funny though. He was holding on to this goat when the goat decided to run away (That's where my camera stopped) Jax decided he should hold on to dear life. So this goat is dragging Jax and he finally had to let go. He was so upset. I think more about having to let go than being dragged in the dirt! I so wish I would have got in on camera. I was laughing so hard. It reminded me of the little kids that do Mutton Bustin! It was a really fun night though and the weather was fantastic! We have actually had a great "Fall" season!

Jade driving the tractorRoller SlideThe kids and meBrand and Jade on the animal trainHorsey RideJax wanting to pull the pigs tail. And yes, he crawled around in there. Gross.....In the corn box....and holding her hurt finger Jax loved being covered with corn! Jax eating his favorite new treat: Granola bars!


I love this video and as the goat turned around at the end he took off running!

Halloween Fun: Picking Pumpkins

We had a fun time picking our pumpkins. We always go to Maybe's pumpkin patch. We love the people there. They are some of the nicest people we know. Jade had a little meltdown at the beginning which led to me telling her she earned herself a trip back to the car to stay there while we let Jax pick a pumpkin. Crying ensued. Scott talked to her, she calmed down, and she was then able to come out and be nice. Whew! :) Jade loves getting to pick her pumpkin in the field and picked a big one! They have these great pumpkins that they grow that have hardly ANY inner guts. It makes it so nice when we go to carve!

This was the best pic I could get of the kids. The thing to take note of in this pic is the fact that Jax has shoes on. Honestly, it was the first time he wore shoes for longer than 5 min. It was pretty cold so I made him keep them on. I think he had them on for 2 hours. A miracle...truly. And he hasn't worn them since. But.....I did go buy him more this week because it is bound to get out of the 70's eventually-right? He is not going to love having to wear them a lot this winter. So, for the record, at 16 months he was worn shoes only once for longer than 5 min!

Jade out in the patch!
Jax loved the little pumpkins

Heading back in after the pumpkins were picked!

Random-Bush

OK, this is a odd random post, but I so love this bush (plant?)! I have two in my front yard and I had no idea they would bloom as they were just really pretty green bush's all summer. Then it bloomed and I was amazed. The cool thing is they are all fading to purple now before they die. Crazy but pretty cool! Again, totally random!

Side note....Mean Dad

I came home early from church on Sunday. I was upstairs when I heard Jadyn come in the door and she was crying. I thought for sure she must have gotten in trouble for something because that is usually the only time she cries. I go downstairs.
Mom: "Jade, what's wrong?"
Scott: Laughing
Jade: "You sold buddy?"
Scott: Laughing
Mom: Realizing what is going on gives Scott a mean look, picks up crying Jade from the stairs "Jade, Buddy is upstairs asleep. I brought him home because he was very tired and needed to sleep. He is upstairs in his bed"
Jade: Sniff, sniff "He is?"
Mom: "Scott, that is totally inappropriate"
Scott: Laughing "I'm sorry Jade. I was just teasing. You know we wouldn't sell you or Buddy!"
Mom: "Seriously honey, not nice"
Scott: "I know, but she asked where Jax was I told her we sold him for a swing set!" Still snickering to himself "At least she likes him enough to want him over a swing set."
Mom: "True, and Jade that is very nice of you to love buddy so much, but Scott....that was not very nice"

Man, that poor girl. Her dad loves to tease her!

Halloween Fun: Gardner Village

Gardner Village:

We are fans of Gardner Village at my house. We love to walk around in the Spring and Summer to feed the ducks and of course....get a chocolate treat. We love Fall for the witches and of course.....the chocolate treat. And we love winter for the Elves and yes.......the chocolate treats! We were lucky enough to pick the perfect night to go see the witches-not too busy, really nice fall weather, and the kids were happy to be outside! We had such a good time. Too bad Scott had to miss out because of baseball! (Thank for going with us Brand)

My cute loving kids. Jade really does love buddy!

I will admit that this is house most of our pictures turned out. She was not in the mood

My cute Jax wondering "what in the world this thing is I am sitting by?"

Good imitation!

I love this pic!

Halloween Fun: Crafts and Movies

Ok, so we have been doing lots of fun things for Halloween. I was going to put them all in one post at the end of the month, but realize now there are WAY too many. So the next few posts will sum up our Oct Halloween fun!

First up: We celebrated Roy's retirement from Delta. I think he was there for 42 years! Lucky for us, he still gets buddy passes! Congrats Roy! Scott wasn't able to make it so it was just the kids and me. It was ok while Jax stayed in his chair, but after I got him out he decided the only place he wanted to go was the kitchen. Every. Single. Time. I set him on the ground he would go right back to that dang door!

The kids being silly!

Jax eating his spaghetti and making a MESS! But he was being good so I was totally ok with it

Jadyn and Weston being crazy

Next: We bought the new released "The nightmare before Christmas" and we watched it together while Jade and I sported our new (bought on clearance from the Disney store) Jack Skeleton attire. -Don't mind the annoying piece of Jade's hair in her face-

Then: We had a few of Jade's favorite people at our house and made Halloween candy necklaces and chocolate suckers. Jade was in HEAVEN having all 3 boys over to play

Crazy Hair

Jade is not a fan of getting her hair done. She knows she has to do it every day, but doesn't love it. She REALLY doesn't like pulling up the back (pig tails, pony tails) but doesn't have a choice on Dance and Gymnastics day. She knows we have to on those days. What she does love is seeing her crazy hair at the end of the day when we take her elastics out!

The tent

One of Jade's FAVORITE things to do, is to have Scott set up the tent in the family room. She LOVES it. This past weekend not only was she so excited about Scott setting up the tent, but she also felt like it was Christmas because I brought in the bag of her many stuffed animals that we had stored at my mom's house for the past 7 months. She had to set up all of her stuffed animals in the tent. There were way too many, but she was a very happy little girl!

Jade's artwork

I was gone the other night and Scott was left in charge. I started noticing her artwork on our doors. I asked Scott about it (Jade was asleep) and I think he was somehow oblivious to what she did. I realized she used her glue stick to put these up. I told her the next morning that I loved her colorings, but next time we should use glue.

It's not like we don't hang her artwork. Our fridge is covered with it.

SuperNanny and our ODD sleeping habits

Man, I am such a mean mom! Jade was watching Supernanny with me the other night. When the part came on where Supernanny works on the night time routine I said to Jade "Maybe we should have Supernanny come here and have her teach you to go to sleep!" She laughed and said no. I said "I don't know, I think it would be a good idea and then you can learn to sleep in your own bed" I thought we were joking till I looked at her and she had tears in her eyes! I started laughing and said "Are you crying?" And with the quivering lip she said "No" and then buried her head in her pillow and did the silent cry! I was so confused. I told her I was joking and that Supernanny didn't need to come to our house. She then started in on the "I don't want her to take me. I wouldn't see you. I don't want her to come" It was actually really sad and I felt awful because she was honestly so sad about it. I reassured her I was teasing, but that Supernanny does not take kids, she just comes to their house to help them. None the less, she won't be coming to our house and time soon.

Jade on her bed in our room

So, why did I mention her in the first place? Until Jade was 2.5 she was on a very strict bedtime routine. She was in bed by 8:00 and never cried. What happened? Moved her to a big bed/took her binkie away, was pregnant and very tired so when I would lay by her to distract her from the binkie issue, I'd fall asleep. Then we had Jax and I was overwhelmed and lazy and got away from her bedtime routine. That is what happened. So how does bedtime go now? My sweet Jax is usually in bed at 7:30 with no crying. If he isn't completely ready for bed he will chat with himself for a little bit and then goes to sleep. And Jade? Well.....she usually will watch a show and fall asleep there. So on the couch, my bed, the floor, whatever. It's funny because it is so not me to not be strict with this, but the craziest thing is I don't mind. She is usually asleep by 10:00 or 10:30 and sleeps until about 8:00 or 8:30 so she is still getting 10 hours of sleep. She takes a rest everyday and if she is extra tired she will fall asleep. So not only will she fall asleep odd places, but I then usually take her up to my bed and we go to sleep. Where is Scott in all this? The poor guy usually falls asleep on the floor while doing his school stuff. And.....two nights in the past week I actually got my cute Jax out of his crib when I went to bed and brought him in to my bed with Jade and myself. He is ok to sleep there until about 6:00 when for some reason he will wake up and realize where he was. He laughs and will crawl around the bed for 5 min touching my nose and eyes, play with Jade's feet. He thinks it's hilarious. I say 5 min because it takes me about that long to figure out what is going on and then put him back in his bed.
So there you have it. We probably do need Supernanny. For now, it works for us. When Jade has to get up early for school things will have to change, but for now we have a little girls bedroom who is rarely used. Maybe after I actually decorate it in a few months it will be more inviting for the little girl to sleep in? Time will tell.

Jax usually gets a morning bottle after he gets up in the morning and a bottle after we put him to bed. A few weeks ago we could not find ANY bottles. We couldn't find them anywhere. He always throws them out of the crib (The kid has an arm like you wouldn't believe) but they weren't in his room. Scott finally went up to look again for them and found FIVE of them stuck between the wall and the crib. We couldn't see them because of the bumper. You can see two in the picture below. He now only puts them there. When he finishes the bottle he shoves it back there. At least we know where to look now!

He also goes to bed with about 5 binkies. He will usually chuck all 5 out within a minute of us going out of the room. If he wants them back he will do his whiny cry. I give him a minute to make sure he is tired and then go back in, gather the masses, and lay him down. Crazy kid!

We missed Trick or Treating.

It snowed today. What did Jade have to say about that?
Jade: Mom! Mom! Mom! It's snowing!!!!
Mom: It is? Wow, you are right!
A few minutes later with as much drama as possible
Jade: Mom! WE MISSED TRICK OR TREATING????
(Knowing she is assuming that because it is already snowing it must be long past October)
Mom: Gosh, I guess so!
Jade: (With her mad face) NUTS!!!!

So there ya go. We can have snow in October. All the kids will think we missed Trick or Treating!

He may just walk after all!

So last weekend Jax finally started standing by himself for a millisecond or two. We were ecstatic! He is finally taking about 3 or 4 steps when you make him walk. He then falls and starts crawling. He doesn't love when you make him walk though and usually yells about it. But.....we are getting there. This is HUGE progress!

Bad day.....good day

The day started out rough. Jax was up all night and let's just say I had to change his diaper several time throughout the night. He woke up cranky, I woke up cranky. He has this yell. It's like a loud grunt. If you've hear it you know if can wear you down quickly. I heard it all morning. I told him I was going to ship him away at the post office. Cute Jade was just like "Mom, I think he just wants to get out of his high chair" "Mom, I think he just wants some food" "Mom, I think he's just having a bad day" Poor girl felt bad mom was getting flustered with him. Then she spilled her drink on my white carpet just as we were walking out the door to dance. Ugh...(that's what I say when I get irritated. UUUGGGGHHHHH. Scott says it's the most annoying sound he knows. What is funny-well not really, is that Jax makes the same sound a lot. I have been saying lately that he probably thinks it's the way to communicate since I make the sound to him a lot) Anyway, I then tell Jade I am going to ship both her and Jax to the post office. That sent her into hysterics. "No mom, I will never see you again. I will cry. I will be so sad. No mom, don't ship me away. I will fall on the floor. You won't really ship me. You are kidding right?" I get the mess cleaned up and get the kids in the car and say "Jade, of course I won't really ship you......maybe just Jax!" :) I then told her I loved her, wouldn't ship either of them, would be so sad without them and that it was just a long morning. We then decided we should take a big breath and then we would have a better day. She went to dance and then we had to come home and get ready for some pictures. Another frustrating hour as bud was in to everything and not wanting to stay in his highchair. Hmmm...ship them at the post office? Kidding. We made it through pictures. We got home. Jax went to sleep and Jade to rest time. Whew......

It's amazing what a little sleep (rest time for Jade) can do for kids-and mom! Jax woke up happy. We went on a short walk to the park. Both kids had fun on the swings. We ate and then headed over to Gardner Village. It was nice to be outside and both kids were so good all night. It was a great end to a day that started off rough.

And by the way........ I would never ship my kids off to the post office. I have realized that part of where my frustration with Jax comes when we are home most of the day. He still isn't old enough that he likes to play with "toys". He likes to just empty the toy buckets, pull off all the DVD's from the shelf, go upstairs and get in to things up there, play with the printer, etc. No matter how clean my house is, if I let him just play around, it is going to be a giant mess when he is done-which means I then have to clean it up. He also has this really LOUD yell when he doesn't get what he wants. If he does it when Jade is taking something from him or when she is trying to get him to not do something he isn't supposed to do it-he yells the loudest. Almost like he KNOWS it will get Jade in trouble. I have had to start really noticing why he is yelling so that I don't get mad at Jade for something that isn't her fault. And....I need to get him to stop throwing his yelling fits. It's just frustrating. Ok, that said, I realize I need to calm down. That's what I learned from conference right? It's just hard for me sometimes. I like things to be clean and Jax likes to make messes (and I assure you Jade adds to her mess. She is so good to play and such. She just plays with things....and then more things....and then more things without putting the first 2 things away) But.....I need to calm down. I need to just love on Jax and let him play. Ugh (there is that sounds again) sometimes at the end of the day you just realize you could have done so much more that day to have patience and love for your kids. Tomorrow I will do/be better. I would be so lost without them. They are my life..... I love them both to pieces

Jadyn talk

Sorry for those who read this who get tired of my constant writing of things Jade says. But....this is my blog and my jornal so....you'll just have to endure.

Consulations:
The garbage seeking, treasure hunting girl continues. Everywhere she goes she finds lots of things. When you ask her what it's for she says "My consulation" The sticker that comes on new clothes that she found on the ground? Her consulation. The 1/2 broken little toy she found on the street? Her consulation. The 10 bungee cords we used to tie stuff down to take to the dump? Her consulation. Consulation? Oh-she means creation, but I have stopped correcting her. Her imagination is hilarious and if she wants to make "consulations" it's alright with me! :)

I want to be Normal:
Sometimes I have conversations with Jade that leave me wondering "Hmm....should I be offended by that?" :)
Jade: Mom, I want to be normal
Mom: What do you mean?
Jade: When I grow up I want to be normal, I don't want to be a mama.
Mom: You don't want to have a baby and be a mommy?
Jade: No, I just want to be normal. Is that ok?
Mom: Sure, but I think you should get married and be a mom so I can be a grandma
Jade: No, I'll still be your baby girl, but I just want to be normal.

This coming from a girl who is constantly mothering all of her babies. Maybe she just senses when you become a mom you loose your sanity some days and feel not normal! :) She's so funny.

Joy in the Journey

Conference weekend. I look forward to Conference weekend. I love hanging out with family and listening to uplifting talks. Sometimes, things don't always work out the way we imagine. Scott got up early to dig a trench away from our window well due to the flooded window well we had last night. (that he also missed Priesthood session for. He tried to go. He was dressed and walking out the door and decided he'd better check the window well real quick-seeing we just got new carpet a week ago. I am so glad he did. He bailed out water in his suit for a minute and thought it was ok. He drove to his dad's and they decided it would be best to go back home and take care of the window. That was good because that was when it started in on our carpet) I made a yummy breakfast the kids didn't love. Then there was conference. Jax was so grumpy. Crying, wanting to get in to everything. Jade was complaining that she didn't like conference, it was boring-and Scott and I were hearing none of conference and were wondering what we were looking so forward to. So- 1/2 way through I take the kids upstairs to change the scenery. I turn the t.v. on up there as Pres Monson starts talking. As I sit folding the laundry, my kids driving me batty, I hear him begin talking about enjoying the journey of life. That there will be a day when we miss the dirty house and loads of laundry. We will miss the little kids. I felt bad for being so frustrated with the kids all morning. This is part of life. A part that I really do need to enjoy the journey. I know I will miss having little kids when they are grown. Time goes by too quickly. It goes right along with my last post. Slowing down, and now-enjoying the journey. Don't get me wrong. When the afternoon conference ended Jadyn said "Whew, it's over" I almost had to agree with her sentiment. I will look forward to listening to the talks this next week while I work. None the less, the Lord understands that those of us with little kids are never going to hear every word of these conference talks. Still, I enjoyed what I heard. It always pushes me to want to do better. There were a few other talks that I heard and really enjoyed. (One in particular talked about how we aren't asked to make the exact sacrifices of the pioneer, but there are things we need to do: walk across the street to visit the neighbor, serve others, be examples.

"Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now...doing all that we can to provide pleasant memories for the future. If you're still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled, will disappear all too soon, and that you will, to your surprise, miss them profoundly."
*President Thomas S. Monson*

**Side note: I think this quote is going to be a favorite by so many mom's. I have already seen it blogged about by a few moms. I think it will help as appreciate motherhood more-just like this quote did from last conference

"Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction.
Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: “The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less”(Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11)."
(Taken from Elder Ballard's April 2008 conference talk)

Seriously? Seriously.

I've been slacking in blogging, my life right now is crazy busy. Days seem to just continue as one. My mind seems to be gone half the time. But....seriously, I need to break this bad habit of mine.
What bad habit? This one:

You may be wondering why my house keys in the door is a bad habit-right? Check with my mom.....I think she has found them in my door at least 3 times when she has come over. When I loose my keys (and yes, it happens daily) I check the outside lock first. NUMEROUS times Scott has come home from school only to see them in the door from me picking the kids up from daycare, opening the deadbolt, shutting the door, all the while forgetting about the keys. But.....the kicker was when Scott got home from school today and said:

"So.....your keys? I found them in the door when I was leaving for school this morning. You left them in the door ALL. NIGHT. LONG!!!!" Seriously?

So, I was watching Oprah yesterday about a mom who left her baby in the car all day long forgetting to take her to daycare. It was awful and I do not judge that mom for her mistake. Mom's brains get on overload. We are doing, doing, doing, going, going, going, all day. Her message to everyone was this: SLOW DOWN. Be in the moment. Realize what you are doing and slow down. Life gets just too crazy and we all do things at times that we wouldn't normally do when we get stressed and stretched too thin. I thought it was a great message. I got that. But in Oprah terms (and I hate to say this because I really am not a fan of Oprah) I had my "Ah Ha" moment today when Scott informed me where my keys were all night. I have always laughed about it and what not (let's admit, Scott has never found it funny), but seriously......having my house and car keys sitting in my dead bolt for the world to see is a very scary thought.

I'm working on it. Unlock the door, take the keys out, open the door. Hopefully today was the last day he finds my keys in the door.

And I will work on slowing down.....