shocking

 Pretty exciting time for Lily!  In November she started feeling a few teeth getting pretty loose - she was so excited!  One finally fell out one morning, and she was very happy.  It was the tiniest thing ever - it got dropped at one point in the carpet, and we thought we would never find it.  The Tooth Fairy left a dollar for her, which she promptly bought some candy with the next day.  I remember when she got that tooth!  So crazy.
Even bigger news is she turned the big 7 years old.  We had set her birthday party before Thanksgiving because of my due date.  We went to the Ogden ATC and had them do hair updo's and manicures for the girls, then came back to the house for pizza, cake and ice cream.  Lily seemed so happy, which was awesome because I normally get something horribly wrong and she ends up unhappy with something.

We then celebrated her birthday the Friday after Thanksgiving since Mom and Dad were here.  Earlier that day we emptied out the van, left the kids, and picked up a new bed for Lily to move into the office - her own room!  She was so excited!  Mom and Dad took everyone to Cafe Rio, Lily's choice, and we had more cake and ice cream at home afterwards.
It was pretty lucky we did that, because the day before Lily's birthday she got the flu or something and was pretty sick for almost 3 days.  The night of the actual day we went and got her a new coat, and Jackson gave her a new water bottle.  We also watched her baby video Amanda made for her - just a few shots from the hospital put to music, but so fun to watch.  It's hard to think it has been 7 years and we're having our fourth baby.  These events always make the time in between seem so short.
Not much I can say about this little firecracker.  She sure keeps us on our toes, at the same time as showing us how sweet she is and lucky we all are to have her around.  We love her so much!

As a side note, Jackson caught the same bug Lily did.  One morning he was hitting his head with his fist, and I asked him what he was doing.  He said he had a dream where Jesus told him to bang the headache out of his head.  Later he told me it worked.

anxious

We are quite anxious to have this baby.  I made a bad decision and let my midwife check me at 36 weeks (dilated to 3, 70% thinned), and 38 weeks (4/90%).  So instead of just expecting something to happen within a few days after my due date, like I did with all my other babies, I thought I would go early.  So annoying the more time that passed.  So now I'm a day before my due date and assuming I will never have the baby, so am finally getting random stuff done, i.e. updating the blog.

At the beginning of the school year, Lily started bringing home "I Love You" notes/art work every day.  I remember when I did that when I was young.  So cute!  It began accumulating quite quickly though - I couldn't bear to thin down the pile, wondering when I would stop getting them.  So I figured I could eternalize them in the blog books!

She is such a cutie, and loves giving presents.  Her love language is definitely gift giving - I need to remind myself that A LOT because it is not natural for me or Adam.

She was pretty excited about the one for Dad, where he has a mustache.  Also the trees and blue sky is a picture she drew of Jackson Hole for Jack.

 And Halloween begins!  It is so fun to experience the holidays with kids - so much excitement!  Lily and Jackson set up this photo shoot and took quite a few pictures posing with different decorations.

Another fun thing this year was leaves!  Jackson got the idea from somewhere that Santa would not come without snow, and snow wouldn't come if there were leaves (the last part was from me - he didn't want to bag the leaves so I told him we needed to because if the leaves were on the ground when the snow came, it wouldn't be good for our grass and would get icky).  So it would be logical to get out the leaf blower and blow the leaves off of the trees to hasten the process, right?

The kids were such good little leaf rakers this year, but it wasn't until I went out there with bags that I was super impressed - all I had to do was hold the bag open and they shoveled in the leaves!  It was amazingly fast and effective!  They had filled a few bags themselves without pressing the leaves down, so I showed them how to 'squish' the bag so there would be more room.  They called it magic.

Jackson had a field trip at the Fire Station - he was so excited!  If you look closely at the picture you'll see him holding the firemen's hand - he was just staring at him in awe.  He loves to see the process of things like that.

The boys came along with me to Lily's field trip to Black Island Farms - at the pumpkin patch!  Isaac was much more interested in throwing his pumpkin than anything else.  A week or so earlier we had gone out as a family to go to Pumpkinaze - with the corn pit, corn maze, and big slides.  After driving around forever we realized it doesn't exist anymore.

The kids were so sad!  So I was glad we got to go to this place.  No corn maze or pit but they did have slides!

 Jackson went down this big one over and over and over - I didn't realize how impressive that was until I went to the back and saw that he basically had to climb a rope to get to the top.  He would come down these crazy ways - side ways on his belly - yelling wahoo!

Lily on the other hand was my super duper helper - luckily for Isaac!  I was pretty worthless with my big belly in getting him up the hay stack, so she patiently helped him and would help him go down the slide.  It was so nice of her!  She is such a sweet big sister, these boys are so lucky.

And finally time for Halloween!  Liz sent costumes for all of the kids. Jackson requested Batman for him and Isaac.  Lily requested a girl pirate but ended up wanting to wear my adult witch costume (lots of feathers).  I said she could wear it around the house but not out (obviously - way too big).  So a few hours before her school party she tells us she wants to be Batwoman.  Not enough time, sorry.  So she ended up being a rock star.  She was pretty upset we wouldn't let her wear her mini shorts and short sleeves, as she has drawn swirls all over her legs and arms.  I actually thought she was just being adult, until I heard her tell someone she was a rock star.  Funny girl!  Adam was pretty upset I didn't prepare well enough to supplement Liz's Batman accessories, so kept on calling Isaac 'half Batman'.  They were so cute though, and just in heaven with all of the candy and sugar!  They wouldn't even listen to any proposition about selling their candy this year - we said they could buy a movie, or we could go to a movie theatre and get popcorn and drinks - big fat NO.  This fun set up was at Adam's work party.  The kids got to do a pinata - Lily used one arm to weakly hit it, then Jackson got it and went to town, yelling "ya!" for every hit.  It was so hilarious.

November went by pretty fast with school, and I got into a major nesting mood and organized so much of the house (helped a TON when Adam took the kids to St. George for the weekend without me - you can get a lot done without kids around!).  Mom and Dad came for Thanksgiving, and Adam was determined to do his own turkey - he did such a good job!  It was so yummy.  Only feeding 4 adults made for a simple meal and fast cleanup - wonderful!  Amanda and Tyler visited one day, and the Saturday after we were able to go down to Provo for Sam's blessing.  It was a nice week; would have been so much nicer without the baby expectation I mentioned at the beginning of this post, but it really was nice.  Always so much to be thankful for.

two years

 Isaac turned 2 years old on Saturday!  I don't have the words to say how much this little boy means to our family.  He is such a little firecracker - super happy one moment and screaming his head off the next.  Typical 2 year old!

 Lily and Jackson are so sweet with him, and it's so neat to have such a little cutie around to remind us how fun it is to be super silly.

 Jackson got some of these magnets from Grandma for his birthday, and the kids are always fighting over them, so Isaac got more to supplement the collection!   Saturday was a crazy day so he opened his present (wrapped by Lily) late that night, and didn't play with it until morning came.  He then got a waffle with 2 candles in it....yep, third kid.

 Adam is still his favorite; he's always asking where Daddy is, and follows him around whenever Adam's home.  As for me, I've been super nostalgic whenever I think of him being two - I remember when Lily was this small and it's crazy how fast time has gone.  Not cool!

 One of Isaac's favorite things is to throw balls.  He's quite good at playing 'catch', and loves to kick as well.  He is a good little communicator and saying new words every day.  He loves to play chase, and will keep up with Lily and Jackson pretty well (especially when they are being kind and waiting up for him....not all the time).  He loves to tickle, wrestle, build with blocks and play with water.  He has some pretty crazy tendencies of crashing toys together and making sound effects; also will use pretty much anything as a gun to pretend he's shooting you (one night it was a hair clip of Lily's - he probably elicits the most 'what the?' looks from me and Adam out of all of the kids).  He loves to bring me and Adam books to have us read to him on our laps.  He is a super good helper, and will always say thank you when you respond to a request: he says "q-e" and it's pretty much the cutest thing ever.

What an absolute joy to have him keep me company while the kids are at school - although I won't lie I really like it when he naps too.  I love this boy!

a recurring theme

During our annual trip to Logan to see the leaves changing, I remarked to Adam how many pictures we have of the boys throwing rocks into bodies of water.

So I thought I would dedicate this post to our recent travels and the fact that our boys love rocks and water, or according to Isaac:  specifically throwing rocks ("ra!") into water ("wa-ee!").

We went to the ward campout up near Eden.  Isaac was soaking by the time we left (I wasn't about to sleep without a mattress with my belly like this).

We had a neighbor friend visit and play in the mud hole we have where the birdbath was.  Isaac was pretty upset I wouldn't let him take his diaper off along with his clothes.  Bath time!

Possibly becoming one of my biggest pet peeves EVER, forcing me to remind myself to choose my battles!  it's not a big deal!  there are so many worse things to get upset about!  But still I find myself calling to the kids if I realize it is too quiet to "get away from the sink!"

And here we are in Logan.  We went a bit early to see much color, although had the chance to see foliage on a later trip to Pocatello to see Grandpa Ronald and his wife Zelpha for her 90th birthday.

Isaac will go for big rocks, who knows why.  Jackson dragged the branch out of the water, who knows why.

Lily got into things, which normally doesn't happen.  She wasn't too happy with Jackson who would rather be by the water than exploring the spooky forest and secret hideouts with her.

Maybe this is what Jackson was hoping for?  In any event the boys were pretty excited to see the splash.

Labor Day weekend Adam said "let's go to Jackson Hole!"  And if it had been two weeks and $1,000+ in car expenses later, I would have said no.  As it was, I said yes.  We went through Priceline and expected a basement room next to the janitor since this was an incredibly nice resort.  Lily sensed as much, and wanted Adam to take her picture while she 'posed' for him.

Because it was a super short trip since we left after Relief Society, we didn't see a ton.  But I was very determined to use our National Parks pass we bought at Zions in July.  (Didn't see the government shutdown coming....)  But the Visitor's Center was awesome and the kids were enthralled for quite a while.

The next day it was raining pretty hard, so even though we had wanted to do a few small hikes with the kids, that was a no go.  Lily whined for the entire 45 minutes from our hotel to the Grand Tetons.  Jackson of course wanted to get going with Dad right away, rain and all.  We ended up at Jenny Lake, which was a short walk from the car.  The kids loved the bear tracks.

"Why the heck are you taking pictures and not carrying this slow boy??"

The water was pretty warm, and the kids were in heaven!  Even Lily, who was pretty cold in just her sweater (the cold season fight begins....), but is obsessed with rocks so ultimately thought it was great to have such a beautiful selection of pebbles.

 Sidenote:  Lily painted a few of her rocks with nail polish, and sold one at school for $1.  Crazy.

The only downside to how much fun this activity is, is the fact that you have to leave sometime.  No fun carrying a slightly muddy and wet boy who is kicking and screaming because they aren't ready to leave.

Here are some random shots.  By our cute balcony.

Jack thought it was awesome we were at a place with his same name.

Breakfast!  The aspen trees were the perfect touch.  Such pretty sounds.

The view was incredible - not awesome with a toddler obsessed with climbing, but still incredible!

The semi-hot tub was perfect since it started raining.  The kids were so happy with a pool their size and they were all taking turns jumping in.  Isaac is a crazy water baby.

Our room.  Adam started a log fire for the kids to watch as they fell asleep.  We felt really bad for the childless couple next to us (and any people in the building, really), since our kids were, well, kids.  They were good listeners and not crazy rowdy - but still loud.

And along with fall comes Adam's softball games.  The kids had so much fun running around, back and forth to say hi to Dad, then come ask me who was winning.  And the sky and mountains are so amazing this time of year.

One more from Logan:  with Aggie Ice Cream at USU!

fast!

Our stake does a one mile walk/run along with the 5k, so I thought I would see if Lily wanted to try it out and run with Adam.  She was excited to do it, especially after I showed her pictures of Brooklyn running a 5k.  Prior to that morning, I was getting pretty nervous about what kind of experience it would be for her.

I was kind of surprised how jealous I was that Adam got to do it with her, and also that I started to cry when I saw her running up to the finish line!   She was so cute!  And very thirsty!  Adam said she ran a good portion of the way, trying super hard.  She finished at about 11min 30 sec.  Since that is my average when I go more than 6 miles I was super impressed!  :)

 Jackson felt pretty left out, and kept on asking me when he was going to be able to go running.  I searched and searched for another 1 miler, but no luck.  When I asked if it looked pretty fun, he said yes and that he wanted to run with Lily so they could hold hands and finish together.  Pretty much the sweetest thing ever.  I am so excited to have them as running buddies next year!!!!

 Adam recently got to cash in his Father's Day present of trying out a Ferrari on a race track.  It was in Tooele so he went by himself (hr+ drive).  I had no idea what kind of experience it would be, as I paid quite a bit for it, even with 50% off.  It ended up being about 15 minutes in the car.....I was worried when he told me that, but he actually was very happy (yippee for non-failed presents)!  He said at first he thought "it's just a car," but then when he got to drive it was super impressed, and informed me that we'll probably get one some day, regardless of the $250,000 price tag.  Ha!

(Such a good looking guy!!!)

And as long as we're talking about being fast, Isaac and Jackson have been entertaining themselves this past week with going "fa!" (per Isaac) down the hallway, with huge jumps into the bedrooms at the end.  It always surprises me how long they will do it - especially when I'm watching and saying "wow!"  I am so glad Jack is home half the day, I can't imagine how lonely Isaac is going to be when Jack is at school more.  For the most part they play so well together - just a few issues with teasing......