The Wonderful Wild World of Jacob and Kat

Both Eyes Open

2011-07-14T18:01:00.008-04:00

Obvisouly I'm struggling with things to blog about but yes, Asher's eyes have FINALLY cleared up so no surgery nessesary. YAY! He is getting so big. I've started him on solids and so far he loves it. I'm hoping that means he's going to be an excelent eater because heaven knows I could use one of those.

The Past 6 Weeks

2011-06-27T18:41:00.036-04:00

The past 6 weeks have been a little crazy. First off Jacob graduated(and the crowd goes wild). His parents came out to see the event and help us move the next day. It was an exciting and emotional time. Afterward we took a three day venture across the country and are now hanging out with family and old friends. Our plan was to move to our new place mid July but now it looks as if we will be here till September.

During our three day travel we stopped for a day to hang out with Jacob's sister and her family. It was about half way through our journey so it was a perfect time to take a break from our travels and have some fun. We went to the zoo.

The gorillas are always the main attraction for us.

This is a picture of a mommy gorilla snuggling with her baby. (my face is hidden in this pic. Can you see it?) It is just my reflection in the glass.

Petting some goats.

Adorable little baby goats in a water dish.

I have no idea what this is or why I even put it here.

Random pic: I love that my kids love to wear hats.

A couple weeks ago we went to a dinosaur park with another one of Jacob's sisters. Jake was in heaven.

Another random pic: Jake loves this swing at my parents house and even if nobody is pushing him he will still sit in it forever. One day he sat in it so long that he fell asleep.

And of course there's our little Ash man. I feel bad that we don't have many pictures of him. It seems he was born at a chaotic time and I have yet to do a real photo session with him.(besides the cute pics my sister took when he was a few weeks old) Here he is almost 5 months old. He can now roll over front to back and back to front. He talks jibberish a lot and can grab things in his hands. He loves any attention he can get and is obssessed with the TV.(not that I make him watch it but if it is on then he will do anything in his power to stare at it) The tear ducted in his right eye finally cleared up but his left eye still struggles pretty badly. I really hope he doesn't have to have surgery on it. As you can see he doesn't open that eye all the way and it usually looks pretty sore. Other than that he is happy and healthy and adorable.

Still alive...

2011-06-26T01:58:00.002-04:00

I thought I'd just post real fast to let everyone know we're still alive. Right now, we're in the middle of a horrendous transition between Ohio and Arizona. Currently, we're living with Kat's mom and dad. Because of some unforeseen problems, we'll be living here until September, and hopefully no later.

Kat is doing well. She's not pregnant. She seems to be enjoying the time spent with family.

I'm doing well, too. I'm working on some writing projects and planning to publish my second book by the year's end.

Jake and Lily have a slight flu, but it's not slowing them down.

Asher is less grumpy and getting more mobile. He smiles a lot more than he used to and makes lots of noises.

Next week we'll be in Park City with my family, learning to scuba dive and just enjoying everyone's presence. We're all excited about that. I'll try to get Kat to do a proper update soon.

Ash Man's New Trick

2011-05-12T13:38:00.000-04:00

So apparently we've been getting complaints on how I haven't posted enough about our newest little addition. I just wanted to make it clear that it isn't because we love #3 any less or aren't as excited about his achievements seeing as we've seen it all twice before but rather that I've been getting ready to move my family across the country pretty much since he's been born and things have been a little crazy. We have been taking pictures and videos but I just haven't had the time to post about it. That being said I give you the one and only Ash man.

He is going to demonstrate his newest trick: The Roll(belly to back. We're still working on the other)

1st you lie on your belly and stare at the camera with a curious expression.
Then you lean slightly to one side.(it helps when your head is about 1/4 the size of your body)
Now that your head is on the ground you just have to get those hips turned.
TA DA!

Sometimes....

2011-05-04T21:16:00.002-04:00

I feel like I'm raising monkeys.

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Lily's Party

2011-05-02T20:22:00.006-04:00

Yesterday we celebrated Lily's 4th birthday with her friends. She doesn't actually turn 4 until the 9th but since we are packing up the house we decided to get it done early.

This is the party group. They are all so fun. We are really going to miss these kids.

Lily and Jake having a bonding moment. I love this picture because of Lily's face. She is looking down at him with her proud big sister face.

This is right after she blew out the candles. Some of them were trick candles so they all helped.
And yes, I know what you are thinking. That this is probably with out a doubt the most awesome birthday cake you have ever seen.....at least it would have been if I had a clue what I was doing.
She wanted a surprise rainbow cake so that when you cut it open everyone would be surprised to see all the colors.
We are so glad that everyone was able to make it since it will probably be the last get together with all her friends before the move.

Easter Outfits

2011-04-25T20:14:00.004-04:00

So these are definitely not the official Easter portraits. We woke up way too late on Sunday so I didn't have time to do the kids hair like I wanted and to spend more time getting cute pictures. Some day if it ever stops raining I will take them outside to do it.

Here is Jake sporting his famous Dinosaur growl face.

And here he is again being extremely cooperative.
Lily was SO excited to finally get to wear her Easter outfit. This is her jumping for joy.
And this is her being her usual cutesy self. She is so proud of those new shoes.

New House

2011-04-09T11:30:00.003-04:00

Kat and I had our housing application accepted yesterday. We put in a request for a four bedroom home on the outer ring of the housing complex at Fort Defiance, because we wanted our backyard over looking the beautiful red buttes of the area, not someone else's backyard.

Well, we got our wish. This is a similar model of what our home will look like:

And here's an idea of the view:

Cool Nerd

2011-04-02T18:18:00.003-04:00

A fun pic of Jake:

And, of course, Lily just had to get in the shot:

Where do these kids get their good looks from?

Goldilocks....Lily's version

2011-03-31T14:19:00.008-04:00

Lily loves to tell the story of Goldilocks. I think she makes a great storyteller just like her dad. (Warning: Minor violence. Listeners discretion advised)

Here is a little clip of Jacob telling the kids the story at bedtime. I didn't turn on the light because I didn't want them to know I was there.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

"Best fort ever"

2011-03-27T20:36:00.007-04:00

Picture this: four dining chairs with a couple couch cushions placed in a circle and a large blanket thrown over the top. This was the fort I built for the kids yesterday and according to Lily it was the "Best fort ever."

I was pretty proud of myself for this fort so of course at the end of the day as we were getting ready for bed I told Jacob of my fort building skills and how I can make the best fort ever. I made it quite clear that I was probably the best and that nobody could top me.

Today Jacob stayed home from church with the kids because Jake and Lily still weren't quite over an illness. I went with Asher and the whole time I was getting ready Jacob kept acting like he was anxious to get me out of there. I could tell something was up but he kept telling me that it was nothing. As I was walking out the door I turned to him and said..."Well, I know somethings up and I'm not sure I like it." It turns out I was right.

I came home to the whole front room turned upside down into one big fort.(so much for being too sick for church) I have to admit that (aside from a few minor improvements I made) it was a pretty awesome fort and according to Lily it was "The best fort ever."

Here is Lily standing in the doorway.

This is the inside.
This is the "backyard"(where Lily is standing) and on the other side is the kitchen. It also had a place to take a shower.(Lily's addition)
Ok Jacob, you win. This is the best fort but let me just ask you this.... Did you pretend to be the big bad wolf like I did and chase the kids around and try to blow the fort down whenever they would hide inside? You might have had the best built fort but mine was probably more fun....at least that's what I'm going to keep telling myself.

ps. Just in case anyone was wondering: Yes the fort is still standing and yes we ate dinner in it.

Ticklish Teeth

2011-03-24T23:11:00.001-04:00

When the kids turn two we give them an electric toothbrush. This is Jakes first time using his. It's going to take some getting used to but he loves it.

http://curly-b-marie.blogspot.com/

All About Jake

2011-03-19T20:47:00.007-04:00

Jake turned the dreaded 2 on the 16th. It's weird to think that two years have gone by since he came in to our family and that I already have another one who is 6 weeks. It has been so fun to watch this kid change and grow over the last two years. He is quite a character.

(All pictures were taken the night of his birthday. Please excuse the old man combover. He had just taken a bath.)
Jake loves his big sister. He likes to do whatever she is doing. I wish he liked to eat whatever she is eating but that's a whole different story.
This kid is the biggest sweetheart.(most of the time) He can be plenty silly at times but is usually more quiet and reserved. He loves to sit in his room for long periods of time and just read. He is very sensitive and shy and is a total momma's boy.(except that is slowly changing:(
I love his eye lashes. They are even longer than Lily's.
My favorite things about Jake:

He always says "Thank You"

He loves to snuggle with me still

He has the sweetest little voice, especially when saying his prayers

He doesn't know his colors but he could tell you the name of just about any dinosaur

He loves to read

He is so good with his little brother and always says "Baby Asher so cute"

He has the best dinosaur roar (his whole face gets involved)

He has big clumsy feet and whenever he falls he says "oops I missed"

He is great at sharing

His favorite....

color: Pink

Food: Pediasure (we're still working on that one)

movie: Dinosaur aka "Aladar"

book: anything dinosaur related

We sure love this guy and are so grateful he is in our family.

Psion Beta

2011-03-13T10:01:00.002-04:00

Hey friends, we're making a big push to get the word out about Psion Beta. The book only costs 99 cents on Kindle/Nook! If you could take a few minutes out of your day to do one of a couple things:

1. Put up a blog post about the book.

2. Comment about it in on Facebook/twitter.

3. Send it as a gift to a friend who you think might want it.

4. Go to slickdeals.net (if you have an account) and leave a comment/thumbs up here:

http://slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=1263947&t=2745507

Thanks for all your help and support!

Same Outfit, Different Boy

2011-03-12T00:19:00.001-05:00

I was going to do one of those who is who posts but then I realized these boys don't look anything alike at all. Even if they did, Lily being in the picture gives it away. She still has to be involved in every picture I take.

I don't know why but it's weird to think these two are brothers. The're not only different in the way they look but their personalities are so different at this age. Jake was so calm and content all the time. I could put him down and almost forget he was there because he wouldn't make a peep. Ash however won't even let me think about putting him down. If I just switch arms or make a movement that seems like I might be putting him down he gets that big sad face and his chin starts to quiver. It breaks my heart.

Asher: Such a sweet little face he has. I love his intent eyes, chubby little cheeks and little nose. He really is a sweetheart despite his fussiness.

Jake: Oh how I miss this serious little face. It's hard to see my kids grow up but I must say I love his serious little face now too. I love that he was born with blond/red hair and blueish eyes. He also had a big nose which was adorable.

Asher
Jake: Oh and I can't forget his darling little dimple that he still has.

Big Sister Lily

2011-03-06T20:25:00.007-05:00

This picture was taken when we found out we were pregnant with Jake. She may not look like she really cares about being a big sister here but she sure cares now.

Yesterday the boys had their 4 week and 2 year checkups. Jake gets pretty nervous when going to see the Dr. He started crying when they asked him to step on the scale, and trying to make him stand against the wall to measure his height was tricky. (He usually starts crying the minute we walk in to the office so we're making progress) By the time the Dr. came in the room he was hiding under the table. Lily assured him he would be fine and he eventually came out. He wouldn't let the Dr. touch him with the stethoscope so Lily had him use it on her to show Jake how easy and not scary it was. Then it was time to lie on the table to be examined. He began to cry but Lily jumped up on a step stool and held his hand. She kept leaning in close to him saying "It's ok Jake I'm right here. You're going to be fine." Then she would kiss him on the forehead. She continued to do this throughout the remainder of the examination and the Dr. kept looking at me smiling because it was so cute. What made it even cuter was that Jake was actually consoled by her efforts. (Just so I have it on record somewhere, Asher weighed 9lbs. 12oz. and Jake was 27lbs.)

This picture was taken tonight as they were goofing off on our bed. Also things that happened tonight: Lily gave Jake a hug and kiss for no reason and Jake said "Thanks Lily hug n kiss." After we tucked them in bed I could hear Lily talking. As I got closer to the room I could hear that she was telling Jake the story of Goldylocks. It was pretty cute if I may say so myself. (except for the part where the bears eat Goldylocks. She's been listening to dad again.)

Lily also loves being a big sister to this little guy. She is so helpful and loves being involved with everything I do concerning him. Tonight at dinner Ash threw up all over me right as we were sitting down.(Jacob was out with the missionaries so things were a little crazy) The room was silent as we all just stared at the mess thinking the same thing which was "Oh great" when Lily finally said "Don't worry mom. I'll go get a rag." She brought a rag then said "Oh sorry, did you need me to get it wet?" Unfortunately not even a wet rag could help the situation. It was definitely bath time.

Earlier today Ash woke up from his nap crying but I was in the middle of something so it took me a minute to get to him. When I went in his room I found Lily standing by the crib singing "I Am A Child Of God."

One of Lily's favorite things to do with Asher is hold him while she watches a show. She is constantly saying "Mom Asher is so cute. Why is he so cute?" to which I reply "Because he's you're brother."

Asher's Birth

2011-03-01T21:16:00.008-05:00

I'd have to say that this was by far the easiest delivery I've had so far.(Thank you little Ash) In fact the hardest part was probably getting up at 4:30am in order to be to the hospital by 6:00am. Ok so that's not entirely true but seriously, I couldn't have asked for a better delivery.

I was worried because we were inducing 8 days early but I was already dilated to a 3 and 85% effaced so my Dr. said it would not be a problem.We were a little late getting to the hospital(shocker) so I probably didn't get started on pitocin till about 7:30. Then it was just a waiting game. I already knew I was going to get an epidural early in the game just because the last two times I held off as long as I could and it was torturous. This time I figured if I'm going to get one anyway then why not just do it earlier and save myself the torture. After a few hours I still hadn't really felt anything. The charts were showing major contractions but for some reason they weren't bothering me too bad. After another couple hours they started to get pretty uncomfortable but not too unbearable but I wanted to be numb before it got to that point.

Last time I had a resident place(or should I say misplace) the epidural and it didn't work. Unfortunately for me I had to have a worthless epidural when delivering my biggest child.(9 lbs. 2.0z) I did NOT want that to happen again so we asked for a non resident. The guy I got was AMAZING! They said he could do the job with his eyes closed although I'm glad he didn't. Lets just say I couldn't feel a thing. They had to tell me when to push because I had no idea.

Shortly after the epidural I was dilated to a 6 and 95% effaced. Then my water broke and it was pretty much go time after that. I jumped to a 9 and my Dr. said I could start pushing. I usually push for about 45 minutes but after 4 pushes this little guy was welcomed into the world at 12:28pm weighing 7 lbs. 5 oz. and 20 1/2 inches long.They placed him right on my stomach so I could look at him. He cried for a second then just lay there looking so peaceful and perfect. His head was hardly misshapen and was not too swollen. It was love at first sight. I got pretty emotional in that moment just watching him sleep on my tummy. He had the sweetest little face.

They told me the epidural would wear off after a couple hours and then they would move me to the post delivery room. 4 hours later I was finally able to move my legs a little bit. (I told you it was a good one) In fact Jacob was holding my leg during delivery and after the baby was born he (forgetting I was numb) dropped my leg to go get the camera. It slammed down so hard and my Dr. laughed and said "Wow, now that's a dead leg."

This was the first time I kept the baby in the room with me at night. I usually send them off to the nursery but I didn't really think about that this time. It just sort of seemed natural to keep him with me. Needless to say it was a horrible night. He fussed and fussed and I thought I had myself one of those babies thats just fussy all the time. By the next day I wanted out of there and luckily the staff was able to make that happen for me.

It was so nice to be home and so far we are doing Well. Asher is not a fussy baby he is actually really good and my recovery has gone a lot better than the last two times. I love this little guy and am so happy he is in our family. The kids love him (so far) and things have been great. I am so proud of my family of 5.

100!

2011-02-13T00:43:00.003-05:00

Psion Beta has sold over 100 copies. This is right along with the goal I'd set for it. Kat and I are so excited and grateful for everyone's support. If you haven't already, please leave a review for it on Amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com or both. Currently, Kindle copies are outstripping paperback sales this month. Anywho, just an update.

www.psionbeta.com

Also, the blog of the cover artist:

Little Ash Man

2011-02-07T19:30:00.005-05:00

So far things are going pretty well. (as well as they can after having a baby) Ash is a champion eater and had a great night last night. I hope it continues. He is the absolute sweetest thing and we are just loving him to death.

Today I came in my room and found Lily just watching him sleep. I thought it was pretty cute.

Here is the sweet little face she was staring at.
And here is the little guy with his eyes open for once.

Welcoming Rawland Asher

2011-02-05T00:59:00.006-05:00

We added a new member of the family around 12:30pm. Rawland Asher was born at 7lbs 5oz and 20.5 inches in length. He is as healthy as we can hope, and Kat is also doing very well. We're very excited and grateful for such a wonderful addition to our family.

Kat and I went to the hospital at 6 this morning. She was induced with pitocin and received her epidural from a very capable anesthesiologist (for once). All in all the labor went very fast and smooth. She had to push through (I believe) 4 sets of contractions.

Asher came out, looked at me, said, "Hi Dad!" Then he asked to be washed off. It was very fun.
He wasn't thrilled about the goop in his eyes.

Kat's mom came into town last night and watched Lily and Jake for the day. After everything settled, I went home, got them, and brought them back to meet Asher.

FAMILY PICTURE!

Feeling Bad

2011-01-23T21:07:00.003-05:00

We now have less than two weeks until our new little baby is born and I am starting to get worried about my little Jake. He has been the baby for the past almost 2 years and I don't know how he is going to take sharing the attention with a little brother. I know he will get through it as all kids do but I can't help but feel bad for the emotional trials he is going to be put through. I didn't worry this much about Lily when we were having Jake because she is just one of those happy, positive little girls who goes into any situation with a smile and has never really had any serious emotional attachment issues. She never cried when I left her at a baby-sitters even if she didn't know the person. She has always loved going to see the Dr. even if she knew she was getting a shot, she loved nursery from day one and she was so excited to have a little brother. She never went through the whole jealousy phase or was mean to baby Jake. She welcomed him happily and has loved him from the start. Jake on the other hand has some attention and attachment issues. Most of the time he won't even let Jacob do things for him. It always has to be me and once I have this baby I won't be able to do that any more. He is the biggest cuddle bug and any time I am sitting or laying down he always comes and asks if he can snuggle with me. Every day when I put him down for a nap I hold him or lie with him till he falls asleep. I probably shouldn't have started doing that but I love the one on one time I get with him each day and it's sort of our special bonding moment. Then after he is asleep I play board games with Lily and have my one on one time with her and she and I usually end up snuggling and watching a show on my bed. I don't know if I will be able to keep that up once #3 arrives but I really hope that I can. I just keep having this fear that the more children I have, the more I will lose some of the relationship I have worked so hard to build with each of my children. I want them to know that I love each of them equally and that love will never lessen no matter what they do. I guess I just need to have a little more faith that we will be able to make this transition smoothly and that everything will be okay.

Here is Jake laying on the floor at my feet. No matter what I'm doing weather it's the dishes or on the computer or in the bathroom(a mother has no privacy) Jake is always right there laying on the floor waiting for me to be done.
Here he is in the babies car seat. I was getting it all set up tonight and he wanted to "snuggle" in it. He definitely still thinks he's a baby.

Latest News

2011-01-10T21:56:00.001-05:00

Memory

2011-01-07T23:12:00.003-05:00

When I was a little girl (I can't remember how little) my parents had the basement set up as the kids play room which means it was ALWAYS a DISASTER. It drove my parents crazy but it was too big of a mess to keep cleaning up on a daily basis just to have it destroyed again by 8 little children. One day I decided I was going to clean it but when I started I became extremely overwhelmed at the mess and decided to just gather everything up and put it in a huge pile in a corner of the room. That way it would look clean and it wouldn't take as much time. I remember feeling bad that I wasn't able to put everything away but I decided to show my parents anyway. When they came down they very convincingly acted like I had done the greatest thing in the world. The part I remember the most is when my dad said "Now there is so much clean space down here that it makes me want to dance and twirl." Then he began to do just that. I don't know why but watching him dance and twirl around the room made me feel so good about myself and I have never forgotten that.

About a year ago, Lily and I were cleaning her room and she (being only 2.5 years old) was so overwhelmed by the mess that it took a long time to convince her to keep working. Finally it was clean and as I looked around the room I remembered the story of my dad so I said to Lily "YAY now we have all this clean space so we can dance and twirl." She thought that was the greatest thing ever and now every time we clean her room we dance and twirl in celebration of our victory. She is now to the point where she cleans it by herself with out even being asked and she always comes and gets me when it's done so that we can once again dance and twirl.

Now that she and Jake share a room she has included him in the cleaning process and the other day I overheard them celebrating their accomplishment and I was able to catch it on video.

She is singing a song from Sleeping Beauty if you can't tell.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This has nothing to do with the above story I just wanted to remember something. Lily has developed quite the imagination and I love to hear her play. She spent this particular afternoon playing with her doll house. She is extremely dramatic so unfortunately the family that lives in the doll house go through many trials and tribulations on a daily basis. Sometimes I don't know how they survive.

Oh, and Jake spent his afternoon trying to figure out how to enclose himself in a plastic bin.

Support Psion Beta

2011-01-02T21:12:00.001-05:00

Join the facebook fan page.

Picture Overload

2010-12-31T20:23:00.018-05:00

Once again I tried to do a photo session with the kids and since it is so cold outside I had to make a really lame photo set in the house. I always get so stressed out when I do sessions with the kids because I try so hard to do a good job and it seems everything always goes crazy. My kids hate it and are difficult. After spending about an hour trying to get everything set up and do Lily's hair she was in a bad mood and Jake was ready for a nap. Here's what I got.

Lily started out expressionless
then switched to this. At least she is expressing some emotion.
Finally she snapped out of it and was great the rest of the time.

Jake was NOT a happy camper

Jacob was trying to make him laugh. He was thinking about it in this one.
Almost got him.......
but then we lost him.

Kat's Birthday

2010-12-24T19:08:00.002-05:00

Kat turned 27 this week. I failed to put a post up about it, but we did capture some of the action on video. Rather than posting them here in our tiny little window, I'll just provide a link. There are three videos, one of the kids chasing each other around, one of Kat trying to blow out her candles, and a very long one (15 min) of us decorating the tree. Don't feel the need to watch these, they're for us, but if you want to watch, feel free.

I love you, Kat. You're still as beautiful as the day I met you. <3

Boards

2010-12-24T00:59:00.004-05:00

Jacob has been studying for boards like mad the past couple months. Whenever he was home (which was rare) he was cooped up in the bedroom with his laptop studying studying studying. The kids always wanted to go play with him and I would tell them they needed to leave him alone so he could study. A few days ago Lily told me she had a big test coming up that she needed to study for so she needed to be left alone. Then she shut herself in her room for quite a while so I finally went in to check on her and found her actually studying.
This was the test she had to take. Looks pretty complicated if you ask me.
I am happy to say that Jacob completed his boards today (well actually yesterday since I am noticing now that it is after midnight) and he feels pretty good about it. We will find out in a couple weeks how he did. Congratulations Jacob. Thanks for all your hard work.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-19T13:32:00.004-05:00

Watch it on youtube to see the whole screen.

Psion Beta!

2010-12-17T01:21:00.003-05:00

Well friends and family, I've finally done it. I published Psion Beta. I'm very very very excited about it. It represents years of hard work. When all was said and done, I decided to stop looking for an agent/publisher for this particular book and do a Print-on-demand service. This doesn't mean I won't continue to look for an agent, but not for Psion Beta. If you're interested in purchasing it either in paperback or for your Kindle, you can do so HERE.

I appreciate everyone's support and encouragement. If you purchase the book before Christmas, you get $5.00 off. Just a bit of an incentive.

J's first time playing in the snow

2010-12-08T21:03:00.003-05:00

Tonight I had to go out and shovel the driveway because our plow guy never comes and I was worried Jacob wouldn't be able to get in when he got home. It was Jakes first time playing in the snow and he pretty much thought it was the coolest thing ever. Lily helped me shovel. I don't know why she chose to dump the snow in a big pile right behind the car but it was nice of her to help. Lily has been so excited for it to snow so she could make a snow angel and a snowman. Today It finally snowed enough to do that. Although we didn't get to the snowman because it was late, she still had fun rolling around in all the fluffiness.
Jake does not have proper gloves. He just has little knitted mittens and when they get wet he takes them off. I had to take him inside three times to put socks on his hands and he screamed each time thinking it was time to go in. His poor little hands were bright red ice cubes and he looked absolutely miserable but he still did not want to go inside. I practically had to drag him in after about 45 minutes of play and he kicked and screamed and cried and hung on the door for about 20 minutes till I forced him in a warm bath.
After his bath he put Jacob's boots on and was ready to go out again. He was not happy when I told him it was bedtime.
I wish I would have gotten a video of him first stepping outside. He just giggled and giggled as he tried to walk through the snow that came almost to his waist. I didn't think to grab the camera till we had been out there for a while.

ps. After we went inside the plow guy came. I was so mad but at least the kids had a good time.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

New Camera

2010-12-05T16:14:00.002-05:00

Kat got her big Christmas present early. An HD video camera. We've taken a couple of fun videos with it, which we will now share with you. I would actually go to youtube to watch them rather than trying to watch them on the blog.

Smartest Decision Ever

2010-12-03T21:37:00.004-05:00

Sorry no pictures. I just wanted to write down something I've been thinking about lately so I don't forget it. When Jacob and I were car shopping for our mini van, one of the big questions we had to ask ourselves was "Do we want a DVD player in the car or not?"

Jacob convinced me the answer was absolutely not because cars without it were obviously cheaper and our kids get enough movies at home but then we started to find some that had a DVD system that looked awfully nice and tempting. I started to really think how nice and fun it would be to have one and eventually our answer turned from absolutely not to whatever it doesn't matter as long as we get a good deal. We then narrowed it down to two cars.

One was just a basic car with nothing special and the other had a DVD system, leather seats, sun roof, automatic power sliding doors and you get the idea. The problem was they were the same price. The latter just had more miles on it. Then my husband did something horrible to me and said "I don't care. You choose. Just let me know when you make a decision."

I battled that decision in my head all day. I called my parents and tried to get them to make the decision for me but they just encouraged me to be smart about it. So I took off my worldly prideful thinking cap and put on my wiser intelligent one. I decided (with the help of my mom/Jacob) that with the economy headed the way it is it might be better to get a car with less miles in case we can't afford another one for many many years. I also realized that a DVD player would be a bad idea because no matter how much I told myself it would only be used on longer drives that eventually I would get used to it being an easy solution to a stressful situation and my kids don't need TV at home and on the go. I remembered family road trips as a kid and how we talked to each other and sang songs and laughed and played; and I wanted it to be that way with my own kids. So I chose the boring car (and I think Jacob was hoping I would pick that car because he was against a DVD player from the start).

A few days after we got the car I was driving to the store when Lily started to sing Families Can Be Together Forever in the back seat. After she said "Mom I want to be a family forever. Do you want to be a family forever?" I told her yes and she said, "Do you think Dad wants to be a family forever?" I said that I knew he did and she decided that Jake probably did, too. It then hit me that so many of the precious conversations that I have with my kids happens in the car and that if they were too busy watching a movie that those precious moments would come to an end. I know this is already so long but I wanted to record another quick conversation I had with Lily tonight as we were driving to pick up Jacob.

Lily: Mom what is Christmas really all about?

Me: (shocked at her question and trying to think of a simple way of explaining it) It's about Jesus and remembering all the wonderful gifts he has given us.

Lily: Oh because Jesus died for me and then he came awake, and that's why we have the bread and water at church.

Me: That's right because he loves you.

Lily: Yep, he is my brother and I gave my tithing to him at church.

Me: Yes you did and why did you choose to do that?

Lily: So that he can build Temples and churches and help people. Can I talk to him?

Me: Yes. When we say our prayers we talk to Heavenly father and Jesus and we can feel them talk to us through the Holy Ghost. Do you remember the Holy Ghost from your nursery class lesson?

Lily: Yes.

Me: That was a great question you asked Lily.

Lily: Thanks mom.

Now back to the car story. I'm not trying to say that people who have DVD systems in their car are dumb and ruined for life I'm just saying that for me and my family not having one was the smartest decision ever.

28 Weeks

2010-11-23T22:26:00.002-05:00

I realized I hadn't taken a profile shot since 18 weeks so I figured I better just do it. Sorry for the grumpy face. My photographer was teasing me as per usual.

Jake's Prayers

2010-11-20T10:47:00.003-05:00

We have started including Jake in our family prayers. He normally goes to sleep before we get around to doing it but now we make it a priority to do it before he goes to sleep so he can learn. Afterward Jacob helps him with his personal prayers and this is how it goes every time...

Jacob: Ok Jake say Heavenly Father

Jake: No

Jacob: Thank you for mommy

Jake: No

Jacob: Thank you for daddy

Jake:No

Jacob:Thank you for Lily

Jake:No

Jacob: In the name of Jesus Christ

Jake: No

Jacob: Amen

Jake: Amen

He is very good at keeping his arms folded and he is surprisingly pretty quiet and still during prayer time. He loves to be a part of family prayer but he struggles a little with his own.

I Think We're In Trouble

2010-11-10T18:21:00.002-05:00

Today Lily picked up her play phone and started talking to her friend Jack's mom. She didn't sound very happy. Her conversation went like this....."Hey Stacey, you better bring Jack over here RIGHT NOW. And tell him to bring his Woody and Buzz. Now bring him over to my house and HURRY QUICK!" Then she ran to the bathroom and began putting on some of my makeup in preparation for Jack's arrival. When she was finished she came to me and said "Mom I think Jack is going to love all these wonderful colors I put on my face." I can't say I'm looking forward to the teenage years with this girl. apparently she felt Jake needed some too.

Lily stuff

2010-11-07T10:16:00.005-05:00

This is just my attempt to corral all these Lily stories/quotes into one place.

Today:

Jake had a nasty diaper, so I hid under a blanket while Kat changed him. Then Lily joined me underneath and said, "Daddy, I'm staying away from that dangerous poo!"

Lily: I want to go to the Temple.

Kat: No I'm sorry. You are going to stay here and play with grandpa.

Lily: But I want to go get married in the Temple too.

Kat: And who would you get married too?

Lily: To Jesus.

On the airplane Kat was getting close to landing in Cleveland so you could see all the trees and their pretty colors. Lily turned to the man sitting behind her and said..."Look at all those pretty trees. Heavenly Father made them."

Lily had a conversation with her cousin Jack in Utah about superheros.
Jack: "Well my favorite is Spider Man and Iron Man."
Lily: "Well my favorite is my dad."

Lily was upset that she didn't get to ride the ponies at Patterson Fruit Farm so when we got home she grabbed her little toy horse and said angrily, "Hey mom, do you see this horse? I can't ride this horse because its bum is too small and my bum is big and this horse can't even walk. I need a horse that can walk." Then she proceeded to demonstrate how impossible it was to ride the horse.

One night as Kat was getting her ready for bed she found her sitting on the couch with her head down and she was sniffling. This was their conversation:

Me: Lily what's the matter?

Lily: I just want my friend Jack.

Kat: I'm sorry buddy Jack is on a little trip with his mom and dad right now but he'll be back soon.

Lily: But I just love him.

Kat: I know you do sweetheart. He's a good friend isn't he?

Lily: Yeah.

Kat: Well lets go get ready for bed and we can talk about it some more.

Lily:(as she is walking to her room) I just love him so much.

Kat:(after we brush teeth and are in her bed) ok lets say your prayers now.

Lily: I just want to talk about Jack.

She then proceeded to tell Kat what her favorite thing was about Jack (She likes to play with him at her house and he makes her laugh) She hoped that while she was trying to go to sleep that maybe he would open her door and surprise her. Nobody ever told us it started this young.

Kat made toast for the first time in the new toaster tonight. This is how it went....
Kat:"Lily do you want jam or butter?"

Lily: "Jam."

Kat: "Are you sure?"

Lily:"Yes" So I put jam on her toast and she says "I wanted butter."

So I eat the Jam one and make her a butter one. Lily: " Bust I wanted jam." It's a good thing she's not running for president because she is a major flip flopper. The toaster is awesome though.

One night Kat made pancakes for dinner and somehow messed them up. She me Jacob that she destroyed dinner so we needed to move on to plan B. Lily looked at her then put her hands on her hips and said "You have got to be kidding me."

I know Lily, how do you mess up a pancake?

When Lily watches a show she always stands with her face literally 3 inches from the TV. Kat tells her to move back because Lily will hurt her eyes. Today she found a brilliant solution to the problem. She wore her sunglasses.

"Mom I'm a dinosaur with a HUGE appetite, but don't worry I'm just an herbivore."

One time Lily named Jake, "Lucifer."

Trying to get Lily to branch out and try a different fruit other than a pear.

Jacob: Lily, do you want to try this plum, it tastes like a pear.

Lily: That's not a pear.

Jacob: I know but it kind of tastes like a pear, do you want to try some?

Lily: No. Dad that is not a pear.

Jacob: I know it is a plum but it kind of tastes like pear.

Lily: Hey mom, that's not a pear. It's a plum.

Kat's story:

Part of Lily's prayer last night: "Thank you for my daddy. (a high five is exchanged between Jacob and Lily) Thank you for my mommy. Thank you for BYU." (another high five is exchanged)........Sigh.

Conversation Kat had with Lily while tucking her in bed tonight:

Lily: Mom do you have a baby in your tummy?

Kat: Yes I do.

Lily: Dad doesn't have a baby in his tummy because boys don't have babies in their tummies.

Kat: That's right, and why don't boys have babies in their tummies?

Lily: Because they have WAY to much hair on their tummies.

Trip to Utah (or at least one tiny part of it)

2010-11-03T22:27:00.010-04:00

I recently took the kids to Utah to see my little bro get off his mission. It was so nice to see family. We had a lot of fun. I pretty much forgot my camera everywhere we went but I did manage to take it the day we went and rode my sisters horses. (keep in mind it was my really cheapo camera) My sister has 5 horses and I was so excited to go ride them. I used to go ride them once a week before I got married but I don't think I've seen them since. Lily was super excited as well. Here is Jake chillin in the back of the truck. He loved petting the horses but if they got their faces too close to his he freaked out so he liked to just watch from the truck.

Lily hugging Bonnie with my mom. Bonnie is one of my favorite horses. My sister had her bridal pictures taken on Bonnie and they were beautiful. She is such a sweet horse.

Above is Valentina. Lily really liked this horse and kept saying it was hers. Below is Lily riding Cinco. She doesn't look happy in this picture but she was so excited to be on such a big horse all by herself. Cinco is the horse I used to ride back in the day. Her mom is a tiny little pain in the bum horse named Bambie but luckily Cinco is a sweetie.
These are my sisters two little boys Ty (on back) and Cody (in front) they are so stinking cute and they make me smile a lot. Lily LOVES playing with them and talks about them all the time. My sister recently had a little girl named Grace and I am SO HAPPY I got to see her while she was still so tiny. She was a doll.
Ok so I pretty much look like I'm on drugs in these last two pictures but keep in mind I was soooo tired. I hadn't been sleeping at night thanks to Jake. He had a really hard time adjusting to his new bed. This is Lily and I on Dakota. My sister says this horse is a fruit loop and after riding him I will agree. He doesn't like to listen very well. He also thought that Lily had such a nice looking head of hair that he diced to take a bite of her long pony tail.
Jake LOVED riding. He was so chill and relaxed the whole time but when you tried to take him off he would get so upset.
Thanks for the fun times Becca and Ryan. I hope we can do it again.

PS Jake may or may not have thrown a lot of grain on the ground while chillin in the back of your truck:) Sorry about that.

Discoveries in Solitude

2010-10-30T16:49:00.002-04:00

Kat and Lily and Jake have been gone for the last week and a half. I thought I'd share some of the things I've discovered about life since I've been alone:

1. When you go to bed alone and wake up alone, life is like one long day.

2. I wash and fold clothes much faster than Kat.

3. I don't know how to work the dishwasher.

4. Writing happens when little kids don't need books read to them.

5. My kids actually miss me when I'm not around.

6. Socks can be left on the floor for a few days and then gathered up at laundry time.

7. I'm lazy about cooking. My lunch for the past few days has been cereal, plums, yogurt, carrots. Dinner: string cheese, milk, pizza, or plums.

8. After about three days of no wife, dreams start getting really weird.

9. It's nice to come and go as you please.

10. Being a family man is the best way to live.

Patterson Fruit Farm

2010-10-17T16:48:00.013-04:00

Yesterday we went to a cute little farm. It was our first family outing in a long time. Jacob thought it was extremely over priced and maybe it was a little but it was still fun to get outside. It was basically just a bunch of slides although the kids really enjoyed them. Above are the kids and I sliding on the big one.
Here is Lily just looking cute
This is Jake falling down a slide
Lily and Jake in an Indian teepee
Jacob pushing the kids on a cart
Jacob and Lily walking through a corn maze that was extremely muddy. We had to cut through the corn to get out. Jake fell down a couple times and we all got pretty muddy.
Jake hiding in the corn

My favorite part about the farm was the all you can eat apples. They were so fresh and sweet.
Here is Jake (the hater of food) taking a bite. I was impressed that he even took a bite.
Here he is spitting it out and getting ready to wipe it on his shirt
And here he is throwing it in t he trash

They Didn't Get it From Me

2010-10-11T12:16:00.006-04:00

Don't get me wrong, I love books and I love reading, I just can't sit and read for long periods of time. It takes me at least a month maybe more to finish a book. Jacob reads all the time and can sit and finish a book in one sitting. I'm pretty sure my kids got the ability from him. They will sit and read to themselves FOREVER. I'm always so amazed at the attention span they have when it comes to books. Jake especially pretty much reads all day long and that's not an exaggeration. He brings me one book after the other non stop. This morning we read 9 different books several times each all with in the first hour of his waking up. If I am doing something and can't read to him then he will go sit and read to himself. I can always tell when he is reading Cinderella because when it gets to the page where the step sisters are ripping her dress I hear a big gasp from the other room. Many times he gets so excited about a certain part of a book that he comes running down the hall with the book yelling "Mommy mommy" because he is just so excited to show me what is happening in his story. I can also tell when he is reading his dinosaur book because every page he is so amazed and yells "DINOSAUR" in his most monstrous sounding voice. I'm pretty sure he will be smarter than me by the time he starts kindergarten.

Lily also loves her books and has memorized so many of them that she reads them to us. We are going on vacation soon and she is having a hard time deciding which books she wants to bring on the plane with her. This particular night I put her to bed at 8:00 and then at 10:00 I found that she was still awake. She told me she had been packing her books and had them all stacked up and ready to go to grandma and grandpa's house. We still have almost two weeks until we leave. Many times I find her reading in bed when we think she is asleep which means she has been reading in the dark. I'm not quite sure what to do about that.

And here they are reading together. It was one of those moments where the house gets too quiet so you get nervous but I found them like this which is usually the case when the house gets quiet but not always.

Attempted Photo Shoot

2010-10-03T17:06:00.009-04:00

I decided to try another photo session with the kids and although it turned out differently in my head I still managed to get a few good ones. I hate that when I edit them they look ok in the window I'm editing in but when I put them on the blog they don't look as good. Oh well I tried.

And yes Jake has the same facial expression in every picture

Lily's eyes looked really neat in this one but like I said it looked different in the editing window. If you click on it and make it bigger it looks better.
All these poses were her own doing

A Father and His Daughter

2010-10-02T13:25:00.003-04:00

The other day while we were at Target we were walking past the entertainment section and Lily said "Oh hang on mom I'll be right back." Then she ran down the isle and around the corner. I followed her down wondering what she was up to and when I turned the corner I found her standing right in front of a big TV staring at the football game that was being displayed. I watched her for a minute then told her it was time to go and she replied "Hold on mom it's BYU."Lily and Jacob watching the BYU game last night. Sadly it didn't last long since they didn't play well.

Jakes Favorite Word

2010-09-25T14:32:00.003-04:00

This is what Jake says every time you ask him a question...

Also today we had the ultrasound. The kids came along and Lily loved seeing the baby on the screen but Jake was very nervous because we were at a doctors office and he wasn't sure about what they were doing to me. We were proud to find out for sure that we will have another little (see below) running around. She is excited and helps us pick out names although I can't write them because I have no idea how to spell them or even pronounce them. Here is a picture of her being happy about it.

Ultrasound Results

2010-09-25T14:19:00.006-04:00

I am always nervous going into an ultrasound.
To have the doctor or nurse tell you not just the gender but the
shape of things, healthwise and whatnot.

Add to that watching your wife get gooped up in jelly... fun times.

But we're grateful to announce that everything is healthy.
Obviously it's a huge relief to us, after lots of prayers that
yielded positive results. Because in the end, that's what matters
!

Bubbles Are Great

2010-09-23T15:23:00.002-04:00

I love hearing my kids play together. I also love this bubble machine that some friends gave Lily for her first birthday. It allowed me to make dinner yesterday with no interruptions.(except to stop and film) Jake is also learning to jump and yesterday was the first time I've seen him actually get both feet off the ground.

Sunday Photo Shoot

2010-09-20T21:47:00.004-04:00

I decided to take some pictures of the kids since Lily was excited about her new dress. We're almost at fall season here, and in the east, fall actually means something besides a drop in temperature. I promised Lily we'd go out and get pictures of the leaves changing colors. So look forward to that soon. Anyway, here are some pictures:

First Child

2010-09-15T23:12:00.001-04:00

I know I have said this on Facebook but I am going to say it here as well. I could not have asked for a better first child. Lily is a natural care taker and she is so unselfish. I can't believe how many times Jake has wanted something that she has and she just gives it to him even when I know she really wanted it. Anytime Jake gets hurt she is usually the first one to the scene and she gently holds his hand and walks him over to where I am saying "It's ok Jake. I'll help you find mom. You will feel better." She is so proud of her little brother and likes to tell others about him. She is already so excited to start sharing her toys with her new sibling and is having a hard time waiting till February. Today I was in a hurry to get ready because I really had to get to the store and I was trying to do it before Jake needed his nap. He was already super grumpy. He was sitting in the hall outside the bathroom crying with a book in hand because he really wanted me to read it to him and I was trying desperately to finish my hair so we could go. A few minutes later I noticed he had stopped crying and I heard him and Lily in Lily's room. She was reading him the book. Her memory is quite amazing too because she was almost reading it word for word. I tried to film them with out them knowing but she saw me. She is the absolute sweetest thing and I just love her so much.

The Famous Profile Shot

2010-09-11T12:00:00.002-04:00

So I'm only 18 weeks but I'm poking out far enough that I figured it was time for a profile picture. Both photos were taken by the talented little miss Lily. I'm finally feeling some squirming going on inside and it was fun to see the little critter at my Dr. appointment yesterday. It seems that everyone around me is popping out babies so I get a little discouraged when I think of how far I still have to go however, today I went on a little walk holding a precious little hand in each of my hands and the thought occurred to me that once I have three there will always be one hand I am not holding so I am just going to stop being so impatient and discouraged and enjoy every minute with my two little ones.

BYU vs UW

2010-09-05T22:35:00.001-04:00

BYU vs Washington 2010 FM from Furious Monkey on Vimeo.

The New Minivan / Lily Monster

2010-09-05T17:56:00.008-04:00

This is a barebone 2007 Honda Odyssey with almost 26K miles. We bought it from Carmax. We had a great experience from them and highly recommend going through them for a used car. They made it really easy. The only drawback was waiting about 3 weeks for a car transfer. If you'd like to see what it looks like, here are some photos for you to dig.

Inside shot. Middle seats apart like normal bucket seats.
Inside shots with bucket seats pushed together. This is very easy to do. Just pull a lever and push the seat over.

Outside shot.
Back shot. Seats up.

Lily STOMPS the seat into the cargo space! Atta girl! Again, very easy. Pull a rope to sandwich the seats, pull a tab and pull the seats into the cargo space. The only thing it needs now is a big blue Y on the side.

Lily decided to play dress-up as a monster. Her costume was awesome.

FIVE YEARS!

2010-09-02T20:55:00.005-04:00

Today Kat and I celebrate our fifth anniversary. It's amazing how much we've grown together and done in such a short time. I suppose our biggest accomplishment is the family. After that, everything is details. Kat, I love you!

Happy Independence Day!

2010-08-31T19:17:00.001-04:00

So long MWC!

If you haven't seen these videos:

2010-08-28T10:55:00.002-04:00

I don't make light of the topic discussed, but it doesn't make these videos any less hilarious.

Improvement

2010-08-19T11:27:00.003-04:00

This is an updated video from that last one I made of Jake reading a book and thinking all the animals made a bear sound. It's amazing how fast these tiny kids can learn.

Jake has been talking like crazy these days and it is so fun to hear him talk about things that he gets excited about. Yesterday he saw a picture of Woody from toy story at the grocery store and was so excited he couldn't stop telling me about it. Here are just a few words and signs that he says often.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What's Wrong With This Picture?

2010-08-17T14:19:00.006-04:00

Jake would rather sit and try to figure out how to get that dress on Sleeping Beauty than play with his cars.
But Lily doesn't mind that he plays with her princess dolls because she would rather play with his cars.

And there is definitely nothing wrong with this picture I just thought it was cute. Don't you just love family night?

Lily's Kitchen

2010-08-08T17:49:00.005-04:00

Lily has her own restaurant called Lily's Kitchen. Jake is a frequent customer
Here she is keeping an eye on Jake. She gets nervous when he comes too close to her hot stove.
Jake serving me my dinner.
And of course the dishes must be washed.

The Zoo

2010-08-05T15:34:00.004-04:00

According to Jacob the only good thing about the Cleveland Zoo is that it is free on Mondays. He did like the dinosaur exhibit and that is pretty much the only thing we took pictures of. We were only there for about an hour because it was extremely hot(despite our efforts to get there bright and early to beat the heat. We couldn't get Jake to drink any water and Lily basically whined and cried about everything. As you can see in this picture Jake was also very tired and ready to fall over any second. Oh well, we tried. I also felt bad because the whole night before and the car ride there Lily kept talking about seeing the elephants and tigers and wouldn't you know the zoo was undergoing construction in the elephant and tiger exhibits so both were gone. She was pretty disappointed. I think the thing that did us in was the butterfly house. it was SO STINKING HOT in there so we tried to get out quick but some of the butterfly's got out of the first set of doors so we had to wait for somebody to catch them and put them back before we could go out. On a side note, I was very hesitant to post this picture because it is my first posted picture of my pregnancy. I am only 13 weeks however I look like I should be 20. Considering the fact that we only had about 3 pictures total I decided just to post it. I pretty much wear this skirt every day because I can't fit in to any of my shorts. I gained weight really fast in my hips with Lily too so I'm thinking maybe it's a girl.

Lily and Jacob hanging out.
They were pretty neat looking so we got a little video.

J and his book

2010-08-01T13:55:00.003-04:00

Jake is starting to really take to books and I love it. His favorite is "Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?" He reads this book to himself over and over again after I have already read it to him several times. He is obsessed with the bear if you can't tell and he thinks all animals should sound like one. I don't know if he just likes the bear too much or thinks he's being funny or if he really just has no clue what the other animals say. We're still working on it.

Spaceships and cheese

2010-07-30T12:42:00.005-04:00

Lily has really been in to building things these days. She was so proud of this spaceship she built that she wanted me to take a picture. And yes she has chocolate all over her face just in case you were wondering. And of course I had to snap one of Jake who was over in the corner saying "CHEEEEEEEESE"
Then they both wanted me to take one more. Here is Lily's big cheese.

Lily's Prayer Tonight

2010-07-21T01:57:00.002-04:00

"And I'm going to share all my toys with my sister. And I'm going to play with her and be nice to her. And I'm going to share my kitchen with her. And I'm going to be soft. And thank you for my clothes and my toys and and and and everything. Thank you for everything!"

Body Art and a Story

2010-07-18T20:39:00.004-04:00

When the Kat's asleep, the kids will play. Lily and I got bored and decided to redecorate her face with a pen. Jake saw how much fun we were having and wanted in on the action. I love how expressive his face is.

Lily kept coming back for more...

As for the story part of the post, Kat and I ever since we got married, have never been able to watch our wedding video in our DVD player. We always thought, all this time, that it just didn't work (the DVD). When we approached the kind lady who had put it together for the file, she said she'd already deleted it. However, we just got a new CD/DVD player in our home computer, and I popped in the disk, and ...WALLAH! It worked. So, 5 years after our wedding, Kat and I watched the entire wedding video. It was great. Thanks, for doing that) you know who you are!

I made sure to make 2 back ups of it, and if I can find a way, I'll post it.

Happy Independence Day!

2010-07-05T10:49:00.003-04:00

We celebrated our country's freedom in style. My favorite part of the day was learning new camera tricks with my good friend, Dave. After church we went over to his family's house and I brought my trusty camera along with our new tripod. At night we saw some fireworks and I took several shots of them. I'll put up some of my favorites.

A picture of Dave with the missionaries. Blends right in...

Here we are at a golf course and some of the kids played with sparklers. All of the rest of these shots were taken with a tripod leaving the shutter open.

Here's Lily playing with one.

And here she is looking cute. She's wearing a diaper b/c she wet herself a few minutes earlier.

The whole family.

Lily and Jake with fireworks in the background.

A nice one of Kat and the kids watching the display.

The rest of these are some cool fireworks pictures:

These Days

2010-07-01T13:51:00.003-04:00

Lily is really into books and I love it. Normally when the house gets quiet it's time to be nervous about what the kids are getting into but the past couple weeks I have been finding Lily in her room just looking at books. I asked her why she has to make such a big mess when she reads and she said that it's because she just wants to read all of them. We are now working on getting one out at a time. In this picture she is reading Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which has been the favorite of the day. I tried to look up a little video clip of the cartoon on youtube so she could watch it but I ended up getting some stupid little video that someone made to mock the ninja turtles and out of nowhere it became very violent and used naughty words. I had to hurry and turn it off. I think we'll just stick to the book for now. Jakes new thing is to become very offended every time I lay down. I have no idea why. He can be playing and laughing with Lily and not even paying attention to me but somehow every time I lay on the floor to do my exercises or whatever the reason be, he always glances over and gets upset. He will always cry and run off and bury his face in a corner or in this case a chair. Most of the time he will run all the way back to his room and put his face in what I call his "special corner" because it seams to be his place of refuge a lot. This video starts out with me lying down and then when you see the camera move a little bit, that is when I get up.

Water Babies

2010-06-21T16:19:00.003-04:00

I hate bath toys. All they do is get slimy and moldy and gross. Especially the ones that you can suck water into and then squeeze it out. After a while they start spraying little flakes of mold and it makes me sick. I recently threw away all our bath toys and bought a little container of fish that looked like they would not collect slime as easily and would be easy to clean. It wasn't quite enough though. The kids got bored with them easily.The other day we were at the dollar store and found a large pack of balloons. That night we filled a few of them up with water and drew faces on them. They call them water babies. Jake especially gets feisty if you takes his away. He screams "BABY." Sometimes we close the shower certain and they throw them at the walls and try to pop them. So far it's a hit.
And this is Lily rinsing her hair. She plugs her ears because she likes the sound the water makes on her head.

Awesome vid

2010-06-18T21:44:00.000-04:00

See more funny videos and Music Videos at Today's Big Thing.

My Big Little Kids.

2010-06-09T19:44:00.008-04:00

I feel like I haven't recorded updates on my kids for a while so here goes. Jake is the sweetest little guy ever although the last couple weeks he has developed a very mean side that just might send me through the roof one day. Here he is helping himself to some cereal. Isn't he cute?

He still has his "eating disorder" He is EXTREMELY picky and only eats about 4 things: yogurt, crackers, pancakes and occasionally a grilled cheese. He won't drink milk and usually not juice either but luckily he does drink his pediasure and water. The last week or so he has started eating chicken nuggets, pizza and vitamins which is HUGE. Yesterday was his first time eating pizza so I had to get a picture. I've never been so thrilled to see my kid eating junk.
Lily is the biggest tease right now. She definitely gets that from her dad. She is also quite the smart Alec. The other day I told her to go get dressed and she came out with her pants on her head and her shirt around her waist.
Today I told her to go get ready to go to the store and she came out like this. She did her own hair and everything. She had 10 flower clips in her hair and she told me she needed the sunglasses so that the sun couldn't find her. She also told me she chose her boots because it was raining outside. Let me just say she was a huge hit at the store. Sometimes I just can't believe how fast she is growing up on me.
Now for some random pictures. This is some of my family playing with my nephew Ty's "contraption" that my sister Sarah and I bought for him because we are cool like that.
Playing in the bath
My nephews Ty and Cody are obsessed with Mario and Luigi. Lily wanted to join in on the fun so she told me she was a "Peachy Princess" I'm pretty sure she meant Princess peach. Aren't they adorable?
Lily playing with friend Ashlyn at Sulphur Springs. Ashlyn needs to teach Lily how to smile.
Jake at Sulphur Springs. Yes he got his whiteness from me.
Jake being cute and playing peek-a-boo sort of.

Every year we like to interview the kids on their birthday. This years is a little late because we were on vacation for Lily's birthday and forgot. This isn't a great one so I might do it over another time but it will have to do for now. I must warn you that Jake is screaming and throwing a fit in the background and when he is in one of those moods you can't touch him or even look at him or it makes it worse so that is why we are just ignoring him. I like it because it shows Lily's smart Alec side I was talking about.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Trip To Vegas

2010-06-06T21:12:00.006-04:00

The last two days of our trip we stayed with this awesome family. We hadn't seen them in 3 years. Their daughter Hallie was so cute and she made me wish Lily was there. Our awesomeness caught Adam unawares.
We went to the Shark Reef at the Mandalay Bay. It was pretty neat but WAY overpriced.
Big ugly fish with my beautiful face in the glass because I don't know how to take pictures through glass.
Hehehe.
I thought the jellyfish were pretty cool actually.
Our last night at the South Point Hotel, we went to dinner at Planet Hollywood which was a pretty fun place, then we saw Cirque du Soleil : Beatles Love. On our way out we stopped at the last showings of the Belagio fountain. I loved the fountains and the songs playing along with it. Earlier we had gone to the Bodies exhibit but I don't have any pictures because they were not allowed which was a real bummer because it was really neat. They have the same exhibit here in Cleveland, if you're interested in seeing it. We thought of the resurrection and tried to figure out how it all would work. We laughed at the thought of all those freeze-dried bodies with no skin just walking away some day.

It was a great ending to a romantic evening.

An excellent article everyone should read:

2010-05-24T12:54:00.001-04:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/21/AR2010052101854.html?sid=ST2010052103072

Vacation Time: Visit Great Grandparents and the Temple

2010-05-23T21:44:00.010-04:00

The Saturday before Kat and I headed to Las Vegas, we stopped by my mother's parents to say hello and introduce them to Jake. We often forget that many of our family still haven't met him. We wish we could visit more often. However, that's one reason why we blog. Every Saturday my mom's family gets together with my grandparents and have lunch and just hang out. We made sure we made a visit. Here are some highlights:

Jake really liked my aunt Betty's dog, Perry Mason:

Lily played dollhouse with her Great-Grandma:

We got to meet my darling 1st-cousin-once-removed, Kaitlyn (sp?):

Then we headed over to the Salt Lake Temple, where Kat and I were married. Lily loves to see temples, and we like to see her love the temples :)

Lily really enjoyed playing at the fountains, even if she couldn't go in the water. Jake wandered all over.

Vacation Time: Children's Museum

2010-05-16T19:25:00.018-04:00

We had a blast at the Children's Museum in Salt Lake in Gateway Mall. Lily and Jake and family went with Ty and Cody and Aunt Becca. The kids learned several new, important trades:

Filling the car with gas

Cashiering

Housekeeping

Horseback riding

Stuffing plastic balls into pneumatic tubes

Architecture

Helicopter Piloting (Ty was especially excited about this, and had a difficult time relinquishing the controls to other pilots-in-training

Slide building (okay, I actually spent most of my time making this. The kid in me just had to come out)

Earthquake damage prevention

Newsanchoring (hot news anchor!)

After we parted ways, Kat had to stop into a store so Lily and I went to the water works. She loved it.

Vacation Time: Lily's Birthday

2010-05-13T17:09:00.006-04:00

We kicked off Lily's 3rd b-day in style with a walk to the park while we awaited the arrival of all the guests. Here is a shot of Kat carrying Jake:

I managed to capture a rare shot of a collection of Kat's family sitting around:

We returned back to my parents' house and ate pulled-pork sandwiches, hot dogs, and opened presents. Lily got lots of volunteers to help her from cousins.

We also celebrated the birthday of her uncle Ryan and Mother's Day! Happy Mother's Day, Kat. You are the world's best Mom!

Vacation Time: Zoo and LES

2010-05-12T23:45:00.007-04:00

And on the second day, our family went to the zoo ... and we visited LaVell Edwards Stadium.
Lily, Ty, and Cody ran around a lot.
Lizzy had a good time, too. Then she ran off and we had to hunt for her for about 10 minutes. Uncle Jake found her at the Rhinos.
Floyd and Floyd just chilled.

Jake liked the Cougar statue at LES, but Lily got scared.

Lily ended up getting lost at the zoo, too. She had been riding with Shannon (my sister) in her wagon, and after leaving the playground and heading to the cars, we thought Lily was still with my sister. When my dad showed up, he asked where Lily was. We told him she was with Shannon. "No she's not," my dad said.

Kat and I both ran back to the zoo. Fortunately, she was still in the playground, assuming everything was fine. We think she climbed out of the wagon after Shannon started heading back to the car. We're so thankful Heavenly Father hears our prayers we offer daily for protection over our children.

The animals (or photography show off moment):

Lily, now that she's three, is a monster when she gets tired. You see the proof.
Sorry about not focusing past the fence, but I wasn't using macro, and couldn't get close enough with my standard lens.
I really enjoyed shooting the elephants. Har har har.
Ty is awesome. This pictures makes it obvious. He treats Lily great.
Turtles rock, Dude! So do ... tortoises.

Vacation Time: Park

2010-05-12T23:23:00.004-04:00

I took finals early so we could fly out of town on Tuesday, instead of Wednesday or Thursday, and we have tried to fill our time with lots of fun things. On Wednesday morning we went to the park:

Grandma Crosby went slightly mad the moment we arrived.

Lily tried to hit on a couple of girls walking a dog.

Kat just stood around and looked hot.

And Jake tried to run away.

MAY DAY! MAY DAY!

2010-05-01T11:52:00.002-04:00

The National Enquirer is reporting the following story:

http://www.nationalenquirer.com/obama_cheating_scandal_vera_baker_video_/celebrity/68589

Before you dismiss this, keep in mind they also broke two other now infamous scandals:

1. John Edwards
2. Tiger Woods

Here's the bulk of the story:

While (Vera) Baker has insisted in the past that "nothing happened" between them, the ENQUIRER has learned that top anti-Obama operatives are offering more than $1 million to witnesses to reveal what they know about the alleged hush-hush affair.

Among those being offered money is a limo driver who says that he took Vera to a secret hotel rendezvous where the President was staying.

On the condition of anonymity, the limo driver said he took Baker "from a friend's home in the DC area to the Hotel George where I learned later that Obama would be spending the night."

The driver recalled that he "waited in the lobby while she went to change her outfit.

"But to the best of my knowledge she did not have a room at the hotel and she was not staying there so I thought that it was a bit odd."

The driver said he then picked up Obama at the airport and drove both he and Baker to various locations while he was campaigning for funds. Vera accompanied him to each meeting.

"About 10:30 PM, I drove them to the hotel and they went in together!"

"My services for the evening were done - and there was no indication she was going to leave the hotel that night."

Babies and Exercise

2010-04-27T20:23:00.001-04:00

Jake has started saying a few understandable words and I thought it was pretty cute. It's also cute how much he likes Lily's baby doll. In this video he only says "baby" but he can also say ball, uh oh, mommy, daddy, baba and uh uh (as in "no").Lily is also showing off with her daily exercise routine.