worth remembering

Watching Daddy pitch for the JD Clark softball team

There are quite a few things that happened after Isaac and during October:

~ Big shout out to Adam for again being an absolutely AMAZING birthing partner! I kept on thinking afterward "I can't believe we did it again!" He's such a huge part of me being able to get through those labors. And I have to admit that I am a nerd and LOVE thinking that he is proud of me.

The dentist! They did awesome and were so adorably nervous.

~ My neighbor Laura who had the kids before Amanda picked them up called me at the hospital. She commented on when she answered the door Amanda was like a ray of sunshine coming into the house. I agree. Trying to describe how grateful I am for her would be a complete waste of time. She made that first week of postpartum a breeze. I cried the night she left and now that I am thinking about it.

Jack's FIRST time off the bus. Mimi was there to greet him too. It is the neatest thing to see him so excited about school (albeit a few weeks of forcing him to go was necessary, not anymore and he always is happy and will say "ride bus" when he gets off. So cute.)

~ Each day that passes makes me think that two kids was definitely my challenge so far. With both Lily and Jack in school 4 days a week (overlapping 3 of those = 2 hrs Mom can do whatever the heck she wants when Isaac is sleeping) I definitely lucked out on the timing. Some effects Isaac had on the kids:
Lily: SO excited. She actually still waves down strangers asking if they want to see her baby brother. When he cries she will rush over to him to calm him down. Always kisses and hugs. It's awesome as I can take showers while she talks to him in the bouncer and keeps him happy. An amazing big sister.
Jackson: From observing Lily, pretty excited as well. Whenever Isaac cried the first few weeks Jack would quickly look up at me and say "cry!" and run over to him to calm him down (not so much anymore). He loves helping with diapers, will get them and wipes for me, help me undo buttons, then exclaim "big poop!", and will throw diapers away. Downside is tantrums are a bit more frequent, I suspect from checking to see if we still will pay attention to just him. Not too difficult to handle.

Jackson was so excited about this wagon at the fruit stand on Highway 89. Yeah for cheap fresh peaches! Definitely a last minute pregnancy craving.

After 4 years, I am finally done working at Alpine. They have been telling me they want me to stop for the past three years, then asked me to come back to train more times than I can count. Perfect timing, and what a perfect place to work while staying home. Never more than 5 hrs a week and most of the time less than that; super nice administration; I went whenever I wanted; and when I have babies I can bring them until they're old enough to be babysat without a bottle. The extra income has been a blessing, not to mention the little break I got each week. Apparently I will return in January for a few weeks when Jennie has her baby, but besides emergencies I'm pretty sure this last week was the last. Bittersweet.

~ I missed the end of summer while in the hospital, and I still feel cheated. The autumn leaves were amazing this year. We were able to take our traditional trip to Logan this year to drive through the canyon, get some Aggie ice cream, show the kids some landmarks of my alma mater, and get some yummy food. Although this photo is at Pineview Reservoir. Check out those colors (and beautiful kids)! Totally doesn't translate through a camera - it really was incredible.
~ I may be biased but dang! Those have to be two of the cutest outfits out there. It was very difficult to keep Lily out of her ladybug costume every day - she thought she was beyond beautiful and would go up to anyone saying "do you see a cute ladybug anywhere?" Adam said the crayon costume was the only one Jackson would even consider. Halloween was the normal nightmare with candy for meals for about 3 days straight, but I got to go house to house with the kids the year (first time), and it was hard to make them go home they were so cute and excited.
~ Another dinner to see my Dad recognized for being a great person. He has represented a bunch of teachers in Washington County, so the UEA put him on their 'honor roll'. I drove down to Salt Lake with the kids, dropped them off at Aunt Carol's so they could be in heaven at her super kid friendly house, and had such a great time with Dad and sleeping Isaac. It's always so fun to spend time one-on-one with Dad, and I'm so glad he invited me to come. ~ Isaac went to bed and this picture makes me want to go and wake him up. This morning he smiled at me for the first time; I was pretty excited. He is a wonderful baby and I am such a lucky mom. Plus! These babies bring such blessings. Adam got promoted at work - pretty huge as the last time they promoted someone to this level was three years ago, AND they didn't even go through the interviewing process. They just picked him. Nice to see his hard work appreciated, he really deserved it.