Life is Fair - Part 2

We figured it would be good to get the girls out of the house, so Dad took them down to the county fair. I think Emma needs more activities like this. When we saw the large Clydesdale horse Emma asked me, "Is that real?"

When we went to the petting zoo and saw the goats and pigs Emma asked me, "Are they real?"

When we went to the rides Emma said, "WOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

And if you are wondering, Aiden and Mommy are at home taking naps.

Life is Fair - Part 1

More than he could chew...

A few days ago at the dinner table, Aiden bit off more than he could chew. Whatever he had eaten had partially blocked his throat. He was coughing and gagging, so it wasn't technically a full chocking incident, but it was close.

We pulled him out of his booster seat and began to give him some gentle thumps on the back to help dislodge the food. There were several seconds of tense silence around the table as we worked to help him out.

Emma was obviously feeling the tension, and felt the need to say something to break the silence. She blurted out, "I knew we shouldn't have had another baby."

It took everything in our power not to laugh. A few seconds later Aiden coughed up the offending food item: a small piece of his croissant roll.

The good news? Yesterday his first tooth poked through. Now we can lecture him about chewing before he swallows instead of him just trying to gum everything to death.

My Oprah aha moment

So, I spent most of the evening yesterday complaining. Complaining about how I can't keep the house clean, the laundry is never done, the kids won't do what I say, nothing ever gets done. The way this morning went only affirmed my frustrations. So, like I do when I'm stressed, I sat down and watched Oprah. She had country music stars performing and Darius Rucker performened his song "It won't be like this for long". It made me tear up and remember that my kids won't be little very long. Pretty soon they're not going to want me to play dolls with them or let me hug and kiss them in public. It was a nice reminder of how unimportant house cleaning and laundry is. In twenty years, I really will be sad that they're not four anymore. I am lucky right now, even if I'm in a dirty house with a long to-do list. Because, really, it won't be like this for long.

Here is a link to the website where you can hear the song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at_lUnFjXg8&feature=related

Camping we will go....

Brent and I decided to go camping this past weekend. We only had one night open. So, we left Friday afternoon, set up camp, went to bed, woke up, took down camp and came home. We went with some friends from the ward who don't have any kids, but brought their big dog (which the girls loved). We both walked away thinking "boy, that was a lot of work". It's a whole new ball game when you're the parent going camping.



As you can see, camping in Arizona isn't quite the same as the lush mountains. We didn't get to do much exploring and did have a few run ins with the local cactus. One advantage, though is that we were soooo warm. Even at night it was great weather.

The girls loved sleeping in their tent. They spent much of the morning inside it playing

Or, as you can see, just chilling.....in their undies.

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Sarah and Phil gave us some needed breaks from holding Aiden who, even at home, insists on being held almost every waking minute.

The girls loved Fritz, the dog. Brent hated him. Despite having dogs while growing up, Brent has not learned to like them. The girls kept telling him, "I wish WE could have a dog"

More Days

We had Valentine's Day celebrations consisting of pink pancakes and some pez candy from mom and dad. The girls though that was pretty neat. Aiden really enjoyed the pancakes!

Emma and Aiden had a picnic in the backyard. This is mommy's way of getting out of going to the park.

Days at the Jackman house

So, it's been a while since I update the blog, and in an effort to document our normal everyday things, I wanted to post a few pictures of just random stuff we've been doing.

Aiden has been learning to sit up. With the girls, it was a one week process. Aiden, though has taken a month long from start to finish. He seems to fight it. He can sit up for a long time when deeply interested in something right in front of him. But, if it moves or he doesn't want to sit up. He flings himself backwards and will NOT even try to sit. So, he sits with is boppy around him to save his soft head from his own stubborness.



Emma is constantly asking to do crafts. So, we have made a lot of bead jewelry lately. They have a really good time. This is a good representation of how the girls look during the day. Sydney insists on doing her own hair. Usually with huge random bows. They are RARELY in regular clothes. It's alwasy some leotard or dress up dress.

Animals meeting other animals

We took advantage of one of Brent's off Fridays to go to the zoo. It's been a long time since we were there, so it was really exciting.

Aiden was giggling and smiling. We tried to catch it on camera, and this was the look he gave us.

"What? You're going to take my picture. Oh, okay, I'll take a break from laughing to pose for the picture." He is already a trained subject for Brent's photo experiments.

We put all the kids in the turtle shell for a picture. Here, Aiden is trying to roll over. He's not a big fan of tummy time.

So, we put him on the floor. He was just learning to sit, so Emma has her hand behind his back holding him up for the picture. Isn't Sydney cute?

Happy Birthday Brent!

Brent's Birthday was yesterday. He is officially 31 years young. The girls were more excited about everything than he was. Brent asked for brownies and Emma was less than thrilled about not having a cake. But, after I told her we would put candles on it, she was okay. I just grabbed a handful of candles (I didn't want to make him really blow out all 31) and gave them to Emma. She was very indecisive about where to put them. Thus, our brownies were full of holes where she had stuck in a candle and then decided to move it.

We made cards for him and Brent and I both commented on how nicely they were done (much thanks to our friend Mara who helped them do the cards while I taught her daughter piano lessons). Unfortunately, his presents (a nice set of luggage) didn't get here on time. So, he opened an envelope with a picture. We're both excited to use them! Then, we got a babysitter and went out to eat at P.F. Changs. We had a great time just talking and hanging out with each other.

We love you Brent! Thanks for being such an awesome dad and husband. Things I love about you:

• You're always quick with a witty comment
• You always know the answers to things, if you don't, you'll look it up.
• You wrestle with the kids
• You are always willing to read to the girls
• You often walk in the door from a long day's work, and walk straight up to me to take a crying Aiden from my arms
• Your camera takes great pictures :) (Here's a tip, NEVER say this to a photographer)
• You are extremely patient with me
• You support me in doing things for myself
• You're handy and a great fix it man

I could go on, but you get the idea. Thanks for all you do, Brent. Hope you had a Happy Birthday!

My favorite little boy

So, because Brent does all the posts, there are many pictures and few words. I wanted to take a minute a talk about Aiden since he has made it half a year without much documentation.

Aiden is my joy. For the first time, I want my baby to stop growing and just be little. It's bittersweet that he is 6 months old. I just want to hold him and cuddle him all day long. Sometimes, I do. I play with him far more than I played with the girls at this age. The other day, we just "rough housed" on my bed for almost an hour. It was so fun. He loves to play with people and is finally enjoying his sisters. (In the past, Sydney has been a little too much for him and he would actually cry and look away when she got too crazy). I still have to work for giggles, but smiles come easily. I decided last week that he needed to learn to roll over (yes, he never has rolled over) and so I took a few minutes and "taught" him how it was done. After a day of that, he got the hang of it and can do it on his own now. I would've never waited so long with my first baby. He needs more practice and doesn't lift his upper body off the floor much, so we'll work on that. I would probably say that he is sitting up too. He still falls backwards a lot, but he can sit for a while on his own and play with toys.

He is a great baby as long as I'm holding him. He naps great in the morning and the afternoon is often a toss up. Thus, he can be fussy in the evenings while I'm trying to do dinner, clean up etc. I give him massages for his bedtime routine and that is one of our favorite times of the day. He always coos a lot and smiles at me. It's really fun. He's got the "nay" sound down and sometimes I think it's a "day" or "may" sound.

We take him for his check up next week and so I'll know more about how big he is. I know he weighs 18 lbs. becuase he was at the doctors yesterday for a possible ear infection (no infection). His eyes are a beautiful light blue and remind me of the way Sydney's used to be. He is pleasantly plump and I think that his hair has stopped falling out and is growing back now, except for the wonderful bald spot on the back.

So, this is long enough, but I think you get the point. Aiden is my favorite right now. He makes me happy. He's not my best baby. But, even if he's fussy, I just adore him. I think I was ready for a baby when he came and having older kids who can play by themselves leaves me with time to spend on him. It's so wonderful. He is my "handsome boy."

Happy Half-Birthday

Aiden is 6 months old. Oh how time flies. We love you buddy!

Safe from whom?

The chorus to the primary song Scripture Power:

Scripture Power,
Keeps me safe from sin.
Scripture Power,
Is the power to win.

Today Emma was singing and halfway through the chorus she pauses and says, "Mom, who is Sam?"

The Look

Miranda and I both agree that this look by Emma is very representative of her current attitude. We see this look at lot.

Hair: A Photo Essay

Dreams of a little girl

Emma was telling me yesterday morning about the dream she had. She said:

"I was in a boat with Prince Eric and the sea witch was coming, so I had to hurry and kiss him. Then the boat fell over and I fell in the water and turned into a Mermaid and I started singing, AHHH AHHHH AHHH (the tune that Ariel sings when she's losing her voice)"

"Wow, that sounds fun," I said

"Yeah, it's lots more fun than snakes," she said (which she used to dream about often and wake up screaming.

It's fun to see what is going on inside her mind.

Yum Yum

We've started mixing in some solid foods into Aiden's diet. I'm not totally sure how a smashed up soggy noodle from a 2 day old bowl of chicken noodle soup can be considered "solid".

He reminds us of a little baby bird in the nest as he strains his neck upward for his next bite. At least mommy isn't having to regurgitate the food for him.

And to answer the question... Where is Sydney? Hmmm. Sydney had made some bad choices and was sitting up in her room in timeout. When I went to get her for dinner, she had turned off the light, crawled into her bed, and gone to sleep. She didn't wake up until the next morning. I guess you could say I sent her to bed without dinner, although that was not my intention.

Girls

I took 1,510 photos on my recent trip to Utah, and none more fun than these:

La la la la la

Emma spilled some yogurt on the kitchen floor and did nothing to clean it up.

Later, when I saw the mess, I sternly told her to get a rag and clean the floor. She got a damp washcloth and sat on the floor and began to scrub.

While she cleaned she started to sing: "Sing Sweet Nightingale. Sing Sweet Nightingale. La la la la la."

5 bonus points to the person who can tell me where that came from.

UPDATE: Congratulations to Dave for earning the 5 points. Wait until about the 30 second mark in the video to see what I am talking about.

4 More Videos

Over the Christmas break we worked on teaching her how to ride a bike (without her training wheels). 2 sessions of "no training wheels and no pedals" and then one session of "pedals on the grass" and this is the result. She is very proud of herself. (We are very proud of her as well)

Merry Christmas