Danny and Kristen Woodbury

Laughing at an IPAD

2012-02-05T12:23:00.000-08:00

There's an app on the IPAD that distorts your image on the screen.

Ashlyn's Books

2012-02-05T11:52:00.000-08:00

Stage 1: I read the sentence. Ashlyn illustrates it, and she points to each word as we read to together.
I used parallel sentences so she could memorize "I like" and then use the picture to point and say the last word. It addressed the idea of saying 1 word per group of letters. She picked out the three things she likes.
Stage 2: She picked the three people she loves and I helped her write them before she drew the pictures.

This is a similar process for a Thanksgiving book.
Phase 3: We worked on sounding out CVC words and reading sight words. I highlighted the sight words and had her read the others. With each word we read, we'd go back to the beginning of the sentence (like playing add-on) in order to read and remember the words so she could understand the complete sentence and not just decode it.
The picture we did step by step imitation drawing. The blue marks are mine; the red are hers.
These are my favorites. We have also written "I want," "I see" and "I eat" books.
We store her books, flash cards, and preschool crafts in her preschool box.

Ashlyn's Letter Homework Progression

2012-02-05T11:26:00.000-08:00

This was Ashlyn's craft from August. She also wrote her name with hand over hand assistance.In this craft, she traced the shape dots, then colored in the lines, and then cut out the shapes. I gave her the white sheet with 4 letters on it and did a listening game (i.e., "put the heart on the letter T.") Last, I gave her tape to practice putting tape on the top of each shape and then we did hand over hand name writing.
She could lift the shapes to find the hidden letters to practice IDing letters. We would chant "S-T-O-P, stop!" and would say it everytime we arrived at a stop sign.
At first, I would tell her 3 letters to write and then I'd read the word to her. After working on the letter sounds, I'd tell her the 3 sounds to write the letter and then we'd sound the word out together.We'd also work on writing letters in cards as often as I had an excuse to encourage her to write (I'd tell her the letters to write).Next, we did upper and lowercase letter matching activities. This one allowed her to practice writing the lowercase as well as cutting and gluing out the uppercase letters. She wrote her own name on this homework.
This is the homework assignments we started doing once she gained control to write smaller between lines.
I like to put smiley faces on the best letters to praise her and to show her what the letters are supposed to look like. Like the letter E and G above, repetitive writing can gradually warp into something incorrect... like a heart. :) I also point out 1-2 mistakes so she gets used to correction like she will receive in school.
This is the homework she did today independently. Other than the words "cup and ten," she read and matched all the other words, wrote all the numbers, wrote the 3 words, and wrote her full name by herself. I was really impressed at how well she's doing reading! I think she had a harder time deciphering my pictures than reading the word. :)

Photography by Ashlyn

2012-02-05T11:02:00.001-08:00

When we moved to KY, I decided to get a new camera because my old one's shutter speed has greatly decreased and the battery kept dying on me... plus the poor thing has been on daily hard duty capturing our fun for the last 5 years. So I decided to let Ashlyn use my old camera. She LOVES to take pictures. Out of all of her pictures, about 1 per month has been worth saving-- that's also because a lot of her pictures are of inanimate objects. :) Since I'm usually coaching her to check on her framing and how to hold the camera without her fingers being on the lens or flash, Ashlyn's model is Jackson. He's a good sport about it... so far. He likes to take pictures too, but they aren't truly his as I'm holding his hands while he takes it.

She used to always cut foreheads off.

She takes pictures when she wakes up Jackson.

Pictures of Jackson getting dressed for church because she's already dressed. Obviously, I'm not.

Pictures of Jackson eating his snack after a nap. She prefers pictures close up, and since I haven't taught her how to use the zoom, she's usually up in your face with the camera.

Pictures of Jackson playing our balancing game.

Dance Party

2012-02-01T17:28:00.001-08:00

Story Time on Danny's Birthday (11/20/11)

2012-02-01T17:21:00.000-08:00

Excuse my weird voice... I was quite tired.

Cute Kids (from Oct-Nov)

2012-02-01T17:04:00.001-08:00

We made a huge cookie for Daddy. They were in awe with how big it was.

Practicing ballet stretching.

It just makes me giggle when I look back at them all three in a row... especially with the sunglasses.

Jackson's first day of Nursery.

Sharing the wiggle car, which is a rare moment as Jackson and Ashlyn both prefer to drive.

These funny girls are so darling together and crack me up with their imaginary play/dress up.
This mask was a birthday party favor. Props to Dax's Mom!

Did anyone see who ate the chocolate chip muffin?

Raking leaves in cold weather.

Meagan's PA Reception (Oct 21, 2011)

2012-02-01T16:51:00.000-08:00

Cousin Mohawks.

Ash, J and I flew to PA for Meagan and Ken's wedding reception. It was a lot of fun to be home with everyone and to celebrate with the Smuin's! Ash looks so cute in her flower girl dress Aunt Elaine made for her.

I had to honor of making the wedding cake! I definitely learned A LOT and am very grateful for Meagan and Ken being so chill to let me attempt this dream of mine! They were very giving to let me do whatever I could. Even I didn't foresee the cake turning out the way it did taste-wise and in appearance. :) I could go on and on about all my mistakes, but I won't... for my first time, it turned out quite beautifully, if I say so myself!

Any picture where the two are smiling at the same time is a treasure for me to have.

While we were in PA we went to some of Desiree's volleyball matches. Apparently Jackson didn't approve of the high noise level during these intense games! :) At least this is a more mild response than his It's a Small World ride experience as a baby. Progress.

Parks (0ct 4-31, 2011)

2012-02-01T16:39:00.000-08:00

Fun time jumping to Papa at the Blue Park.

The kids love the see-saw... apparently Papa does too!

Jackson learning how to climb.

J waving to random people at the Castle Park.

My little monster jumping out to scare me.

More fun at the blue park.

Sliding with hands up so she doesn't get shocked

These kids love the park and have some fun imaginary games on this boat.

J football lounge and face plant

2012-01-24T21:06:00.000-08:00

Davey visited us 2 Sundays ago on his way though town. It was really fun to have him over! The kids liked him too.
Jackson got into the whole man-night, watching the 49ers, chilling deal. (Yes, his 18 month pants are too short, but I'd rather have them too short than too long with all the mud outside and tripping hazards inside.)
On a side note, he is officially in size 6 shoes as I couldn't squeeze him into his 5s anymore... but during his first outing in his new shoes, he clipped the driveway lip and face planted across the cement. Poor guy. Cried for 30 seconds after it happened, yelled "stop mom. Don't touch" while I tried to clean up the blood, and was good to go. Tough kid.

Woodbury Beach House

2012-01-06T19:26:00.000-08:00

For Tom's birthday we all went to a beach house at Newport, CA. It was obviously right on the beach which was absoutely perfect for the kids. Wake up at 7am, eat, and out to play in the sand. Jackson needs to take a nap, no problem for Ash who can continue running around outside. View from the deck.
J relaxing on the upper deck.

She thought it was so fun to write her name in the sand.
About 2-3 lifeguard stands down, there were some really cool sand bar bump things.
We had fun jumping from them.
Then Jackson discovered that if you stand on the edge it will crumble beneath you which will make you slide down. We spent quite some time destroying these beautiful bumps.
Ash loved to race the waves and get her feet wet. Jackson liked to race, but mostly preferred to stay out of the waves. One rogue wave soaked J up to his bum-- Ash laughed and J screamed.
By 10ish the sun was out and we didn't need long sleeves/pants anymore. Very nice weather.

It was fun them be so enthralled with the waves.
Mom, stop bugging me to turn around.
I'm serious, stop bugging me!
This was her Little Mermaid pose.Ashlyn loved making foot prints. Here's the video of Ashlyn repeatedly saying, "look at my foot."

Thank you Tom for such an awesome time at the beach! I love the family pictures and can't wait to post them on the blog.

New Year's with the Foates

2011-12-31T19:25:00.000-08:00

For the past 3 New Years, we've partied with the Foates. They are so fun and this year was no exception. Danny and I entered into a previously started nerf gun fight. Next, we played The Great Dalmuti complete with hats while gorging on delectable chocolates. This view made me laugh so hard. One, because their in hats, and two... I think we can draw some friendship parallels here. Good times! Thanks Wendy and Dave!

Ashford Cabin

2011-12-30T19:21:00.000-08:00

Yeah, we finally found snow! We packed snow clothes, church clothes, Christmas clothes, beach clothes, and gifts in 3 carry-ons, 3 back packs, and 1 suitcase! So it didn't work to well getting gifts home, but it was worth bringing all the clothes as we used them all! The snow was icy and hard to pack, so the snowman had to be a small one. Good enough! This is Ashlyn and Jackson's first snowman and first time on a patch of snow that doesn't disappear when you step on it. It's hard to catch the glimpses of J's smiles, but I promise he enjoyed being showered on with snow. Man do I love that blue hat of Jackson's. It's so cute. We had fun being all together up in the mountains. I will always giggle at the memories of playing Miles Bornes and the infamous gas card. :) Thank you Deena and Wes!

PA Christmas

2011-12-25T19:03:00.000-08:00

We flew to PA to spend Christmas with my parents and Aunt DeeDee. As is tradition, we went to Hershey Chocolate World. This time we did the Create your Own Chocolate Bar, packaged hershey kisses, and enjoyed ice cream with delicious chocolate fudge sauce.

Jackson loved the ride and waved at the cows whenever he's see them. Ashlyn kept gasping and was so excited with every new thing she saw as the tour progressed. Jackson finally let Uncle Atim hold him... chocolate softens everyone's heart! Gma and Gpa gave Ash this fancy tutu which Ashlyn loves to wear even though it's freezing cold! As usual I didn't take many pictures as Dad has the better camera and I know he takes a lot of pictures when we're there. Sorry blog readers, except for Hershey, I slacked off on my picture taking responsibility. :) Thank you Mom and Dad for a wonderful Christmas!

Ashlyn's 1st recital

2011-12-17T18:12:00.000-08:00

Her dance recital was at 4:45pm. So we had plenty of time to do her hair and make-up... and for her to anxiously wait to go.

A pose outside of the dance hall.
Quick picture with her dance tutor (me) and her dance imitator (Jackson).A few poses outside the auditorium since we were there 20 minutes early. :)All the dancers were to meet in the hallway, put on their costumes, and sit in their classes. When we arrived, she saw these red tutus and said, "I don't want this (hula skirt). I want that! (red tutu)" I laughed and told her that we didn't know the red tutu dance, we know the hula skirt dance. It made sense to her, and she was okay with that.
Jackson quietly sat on my lap throughout all the dance groups until it was Ashlyn's turn. Maybe it was because they were the last group, or maybe it was because he has spent the last 4 months listening and watching this dance, but regardless he kept getting on and off my lap as I was attempting to video tape Ashlyn. She did a fabulous job. She was so excited when she ran to us afterwards and exclaimed, "I did it all by myself! I didn't look at the teacher."
Ashlyn with Karley, two very proud dancers.

Ashlyn wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate afterwards.

Both had a blast!

KY Christmas

2011-12-10T18:43:00.000-08:00

Our Ward had a Santa Brunch. The kids enjoyed returning over and over to the drinks table for marshmallows.
My favorite picture! Jackson was not okay with the situation as you can tell. He was alright looking at him, pointing and saying, "santa", but don't let Santa touch him.He loves the bear Santa gave him. It's his new bedtime bear.
It was a fun activity.

Activites

2011-12-10T17:55:00.000-08:00

Ashlyn and I went to the nutcracker. She watched the 1st half, then became fidigty wanting to stand, sit on my lap, wiggled around in her chair... then she became hungry and the whining began. I was frustrated by the end, and I feel bad about that since we were there for her. I should've packed a snack in my bag instead of leaving it in the car. The highlight of the performance was when the russian dancer came out wearing a open-belly costume to which Ashlyn loudly exclaimed, "Mom, she's not modest!" Apparently, sleeveless isn't as big a deal as an exposed tummy. :)
Jackson loves to help make cookies... for obvious reasons.
Can't miss those hard to reach places.
He's swinging on big kid swings without falling.

Ash Academics

2011-12-05T23:06:00.000-08:00

This is the note she made Danny for his lunch.

I gave her the letters for "I love you". She did the names all by herself.

Ashlyn is learning so much, and she's motivated to do it too. We play "games" like the letter sound game (i.e., what letter says Puh? or what sound does the letter T make?), the food game (i.e., where does eggs come from?), I Spy, the why game (i.e., why do we wear shoes?), the street sign game (i.e., we need to turn left on Woodhill rd. This is Codell, should we turn?), and the bigger or smaller game (i.e., which is bigger a car or a shoe?) and sing songs on our car rides. When we're at home we count 1-35 (almost always for skittles), put the number magnets 0-9 in order on the fridge, write uppercase letters on lined paper to work on sizing and spacing, write CVC words by me giving her the sounds and she has to write the letters, match upper and lowercase alphabet letters, and independently verbally spell then write 8 words (Mom, Dad, Ashlyn, Jackson, Karley, Papa, Go, Stop). She loves to write and illustrate books, but her favorite is cutting our hearts to make I love you or thank you cards. She independently draws spiders, ladybugs, flowers, suns, faces, and clouds without any verbal guidance as to what to do next.

We sing name songs to help her learn how to spell long names. This is one of the first few times singing the song. She spells our last name "w-o-o-P-b-u-r-I". Close. :)

Jackson's 18 months old

2011-12-04T18:57:00.001-08:00

Jackson is 18 months old now. Here are some things about him right now.

1. At Jackson's doctor's check-up he weighed in at 28lbs 4oz placing him in the 55th percentile for weight and at 34.25 inches which is in the 85th percentile for height. I have to admit, I was saddened. I've never had percentiles this low before, I immediately felt that I wasn't feeding him enough, which is ironic since he eats his meal plus whatever's left on Ashlyn's plate often. He's healthy and doing great. He received 1 of his 3 vaccinations and didn't even cry when he got the shot. He furrowed his little eye brows, stiffened his leg for a second, and that was it. What a trooper!

2.He is fascinated with the toilet. He has gotten over reaching in and playing with the water due to the severely grossed out exclamations from me, and has decided to imitate a more acceptable way to play with the toilet water... with a scrub brush. It's cute until he pulls the brush out and lets the water drip onto the floor-- on purpose!

3.We've had him in a big boy bed for 2 nights... and I vetoed the transition. He would stay in his crib all night, but he kept getting out of bed and would only fall asleep if I sat in the room pretending to read (yeah, who can read in the dark). He was horrible with naps, so I decided it just wasn't worth it this young. Ashlyn now has a bunk bed that she loves! She keeps asking to sleep on the top bunk, but she's been sleeping on a mattress on the ground for almost a year. So we wanted to make sure that she wouldn't roll out of bed first before we added height. Plus, Jackson isn't ready to transition over to the bottom bunk, so there's no rush. They love making a tent out of the bed. I'm excited for the storage space under the bunk bed!

4. He says at least 95 recorded words and is starting to say some phrases independently, "where daddy go? thank you mama. there it is. cereal please. don't touch. I see you. I love you. come here. big dog." He uses many typically developing phonological processes: cluster reduction, liquid gliding, stopping, and fronting (being most frequent)

5. His favorite foods include bbq chicken, bbq beans, corn on the cob, rolls, muffins, crackers, applesauce, yogurt, lolly pops, marshmallows, juice, and is pretty good to at least try everything on his plate.

6. He transitions from happy to mad very quickly. He likes to scream or hit depending on how long his angry has lasted. He'll still smash his face on my leg to pretend bite me, but he hasn't bitten anyone in quite some time. Thank goodness. He hates time outs and will run yelling No! No! No! when I tell him time out.

7. He does great in nursery. He sits in his chair and colors for the lesson, eats (sometimes stealing his neighbors food if they eat slower than he does), sits on the carpet square for music time, and plays well with the toys. Ashlyn has been in there with him, but will start going to Primary as a Sunbeam in January! I'm so excited for her!

8. He has very good fine motor skills for his age. He uses a pencil with the cariboo game to open the box/holes. Those holes are tiny! I was amazed he would even notice the holes let alone get a pencil tip into them. (By the way, that is an excellent game! Great language and cognitive game. Very motivating too.)

9.He has this habit from the time he first started finger foods that he doesn't like anything on his tray-now plate when he's done eating. While he used to throw everything left over on the floor, he knows he'll get in trouble for that. So now, he'll either put the food he doesn't want to eat on the table as far away from his plate as he can reach, or he'll put it on the plate of the person sitting next to him.

10. He has another habit of giving me his pillow and blankets when I get him from his crib morning and afternoon. The blankets I can understand-- he wants to snuggle for a few seconds before he asks to get down, but the pillow. I don't even hold it. I throw it on Ash's bed, but he insists on it being out of his crib.

11.He still gets very mad when I leave him. He screams and cries at the door until I'm no longer in sight. He is still very much a Momma's boy.

12. He is very difficult to keep quiet during sacrament meeting at church. He narrates everything and not quietly either... which is hard for me to discourage, because I love it! Until I notice the people around me staring at us because we are being quite disruptive. He is also very active and loves to climb up on the chair and get down, then back up, then wants to walk across multiple chairs, then jump on my lap, then grab what Ashlyn's playing with, then goes through the diaper bag scavenging for snacks... all the while I'm trying to keep his talking to a minimum and keep him either on my lap or sitting on the chair next to me. What's being said over the pulpit? I have no idea.

Exercising

2011-12-03T17:24:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T22:33:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving we were invited over to our friends house, the Brown's, for dinner... which was funny because we used to go to the Brown's for a pre-thanksgiving meal in CA, but different Brown's. There were 3 families there. I brought the potatoes, peas, and homemade rolls. I love and always request to bring the potatoes. That way I can make sure they're not made with that nasty fake stuff!!! That would ruin Thanksgiving for me! Well that and eating a cold turkey dinner. :) Anyway, the kids had fun and we stayed for hours talking. When we got home, I felt like there was a rock in my stomach and really achy and cold. I went to sleep at 9pm, and other than when I woke up enough to check the clock, I didn't truly wake up until 2pm the next day.

Here's Ashlyn writing her name on her Thanksgiving book.

The centipede

2011-11-23T18:50:00.000-08:00

I'm all about teaching the kids to not be scared of anything... I'm not forcing them, I'm just encouraging them. But I can't help but notice how happy I am to let them kill the bug and I get to just watch. Perk! Okay let's look back at this past year. Ashlyn stomped on a cockroach, smashed a spider with her finger, held a garden snake around her wrist, sat on a alligator, and smashed a centipede with a shoe. I'm really proud of this little girl!

Excuse the nakedness of Ashlyn... and the poor filming that caught her wiping. Sorry Ash!

Ravin Run Hike

2011-11-02T18:32:00.000-07:00

I heard about this beautiful place to hike around with little kids called Ravin Run.

There was a hands-on small museum by the parking lot.

It had some gorgeous photography back drops, and it was very kid friendly. There were even stone and wooden stairs at a few points on the trial. :)

Papa showed Ashlyn a fern. This is her excitedly showing me, and J not sure where he should be looking.

Ash did well walking most of the way.

Papa spoiled her with a few rides for fun.

Papa showed Ash lots of different looking fungi around the forest. Sometimes Ash was looking and sometimes she wasn't.

The huge leaves and abundance of logs were entertaining for the girls.

Ash and Papa at the look out point.

We also saw lots of moss. I love moss.

This is where Papa and Ash hid behind the wall to scare Karley, sleeping J, and me.

On the way back, we spotted a buck hiding in the brush.

Can you spot Bambi?

Then Faline bounded across the road followed by Bambi, but not before he turned to pose for us.

We then discussed the difference between a buck and a doe. Ashlyn's a doe.

Ashlyn's a buck... with her left horn tilted backwards. It was a beautiful hike.

Evan's Orchard

2011-11-01T18:21:00.000-07:00

We took Papa to Evan's Orchard where they have this HUGE kids play area. It's pretty amazing.

The kids weren't that into the corn maze, but we walked 50 ft into it to check it out.

Ashlyn loved walking in these huge pipes. She had great balance to do it without using her hands.

My little climber.

Ash had a blast feeding the goats... even though there was a "don't feed these animals" posted on the top of the fence. Oh well. She couldn't read it!

J wanted to feed them, but would pull back as soon as the goat would put it's nose through the fence. He eventually did feed the goats, after lots of teasing.

J couldn't use the pedals, but liked to sit on it or push it from behind.

After a long day with lots of fun play, Papa snuggled these two while they enjoyed their milk.

Visit from Papa Tom!

2011-10-31T17:45:00.000-07:00

Papa came for Halloween! So he helped J carve his 1st pumpkin... he liked carrying the knife sharpening rod and kept trying to steal a knife. Crazy kid.

He was quite entertained with the whole process.

J even reached inside to spoon out some pumpkin seeds.

Ash took her go at it. Thank you Tom for carving that really thick pumpkin for us!

She was Cinderella and he was a horse who didn't like the head-hat.

They played Trick or Treat in the kitchen with Papa.

Ashlyn was so shy that she only said Trick or Treat to about half of the homes we went to. Jackson loved imitating Trick or Treat and Thank you and would excitedly shake his Jack-o-lantern bucket at the candy holder. He loved all the dogs we saw. Before we went out, Ash said that she wanted a red lollypop. When she finally got one, she exclaimed to the man, "Yeah, I got my red lollypop!" He thought it was funny.

Lex Horse Park

2011-10-30T17:36:00.000-07:00

On August 9th, we went to a Horse Park.

with the Secretariat

Gpa enjoys laughing with Ash and J.

okay, so somehow I got these pictures uploaded in the wrong order... oh well.

She loved this pony ride! Jackson cried and tried to climb through the fence/shake the gate open in order to get to the pony during Ashlyn's ride. He was so mad that he couldn't ride so I asked the guy if Jackson could just sit on the horse for a bit. Luckily, he agreed. (that picture is about 5 pictures down)

I prefer western saddles to English saddles.

Mom was very excited to see Funny Cide and Cigar.

Thank you Mom and Dad for a fun trip!
It was wonderful getting to explore our new city.

Our 1st visitors!

2011-10-30T16:29:00.000-07:00

Eject Goose!

On August 8th, my parents came into town for a visit and took us to see the Lexington Aviation Museum. It rocked! We walked/squeezed through this B-24, which made reading Unbroken even more powerful. (awesome book by the way).

Having second thoughts about climbing into the bomber, Ash?

Jackson and I were looking at the bombs from the catwalk/birth canal. I couldn't imagine walking through there when the plane was up in the air!

Jackson's in the radio/navigator's seat.

Ashlyn was a side gunner.

Here's Jackson trying to sneak into the cockpit.

You could buy a ticket to fly in a B-24 or the other plane... B-17?? I can't remember.

One of the workers let Ash and J sit on the wing of the plane!

Is Gma Pro Guns?

It was fun to learn about how the technology has advanced so dramatically in these aircraft.

Raking Leaves

2011-10-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

Whenever I made piles, they liked to make a nest out of them. Though raking took hours, at least I had some cute companions to make me smile.

It had become quite cold outside, and I'd rather have the kids sweating than shivering. They were so sad when it was time to put the leaves in bags to dispose of.

YMCA

2011-10-17T12:14:00.000-07:00

The kids love to go swim at the kids park. On this occasion, as I was signing in at the front desk, I turned and told Ash not to play with the metal swinging bar... 5 seconds later she accidentally swung it into Jackson's mouth resulting in lots of dripping blood. Nice.

But he still had fun after it finally clotted. The slide was a favorite.

snack after swimming... yes please!

PA trip

2011-10-12T11:53:00.000-07:00

These two do so well on flights. They've learned to make use of every available space on the plane, and I've learned to give up the aisle seat so I can guard them from bumping the passenger in our row.

We were able to watch Desiree's senior rec night for volleyball. I was thoroughly impressed at what an amazing volleyball player she's become. What a stud! Way to go Boo! I think she could play collegiate.

Gpa and Gma's house is a child's dream come true with all the fun toys they have. Here's Ash posing with her favorite stroller and baby doll. She asked for me to take the picture.

These 3 goofballs had a blast playing and feeding off each other's giggling.

Jackson posing with Aunt Meagan and...

... Ash posing with Aunt Meagan. These are their cutest posing pictures!

Loads of fun and laughter with 3 doting Aunts and 2 adoring grandparents.

We went to PA for Ken and Meagan's wedding open house. It was held at the Wiggin's club house which was stunning! I was privileged to be entrusted with the task of making the wedding cake. Oh I could go on and on about how I made rookie mistake after mistake... but in the end, I was able to hide all my decorating mistakes (well most :) and the taste was so good, it out weighted the visual flaws. To my defense, it was my first attempt at a wedding cake. Thank you Meagan and Ken for the vote of confidence! Thank you Mom and Dad for funding my talent development! I've loved every experience I've had to learn and grow.

Keeneland Horse Race Track

2011-10-08T11:32:00.000-07:00

We were able to walk through the stables to watch the horses being washed and prepped before coming to the race track.

Ashlyn kept asking when she could ride the horse so we had a few discussions about jockeys and how only jockeys can ride the race horses. I know, it's no fair. I've always dreamed of riding a race horse around the track!!

Jackson loved watching the horses.

The stands were beautiful and pristinely clean.

We were there before the 1pm race start to tour the facility and watch warm ups. You could tell by what people were wearing if they were there to tour (jeans) or there early for the race (picture "my fair lady").

Danny took these pictures especially for Grampy and Grandma Vibeke.

Castle Park

2011-10-06T10:55:00.000-07:00

Jacobson's Park is referred to in our home as the Castle Park. It is an all wooden fortress of play that is thrilling for the kids and stressful for me as 3 kids going in different directions can quickly hide out of my sight.

Ashlyn's baby fine hair looks like this when she goes down enclosed slides.

They love to feed the ducks and play in the sand pit together.

These two love to sit on the porch and wave good bye to anyone who was at our home.

It's quite fun to hear the dueling chorus of "bye, buh-bye, good bye, bye".

This is our luxurious 3 bedroom house.

Random picture: I just can't figure out how these kids can squeeze into such small places AND have about 10 toys in there with them! How is that even comfortable to play in for extended amounts of time.

Carbo Loading

2011-10-02T10:48:00.000-07:00

My kids LOVE bread, muffins, and rolls. When I bake banana or blueberry muffins, the batch yields 18. Other than the 2 or 3 we leave for Danny, this amount is devoured in 1 day. Jackson has pulled chairs from the table into the kitchen to steal another muffin. When I wouldn't let him pull the chairs, Danny found him using the oven door as a ladder to climb up and swipe a muffin. Thank goodness the oven wasn't hot anymore when he did this. We love our carbs!

Videos of Jackson

2011-09-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

Creative Play

2011-09-22T11:26:00.000-07:00

With all the toys we have, they decided to create a fun game using the stroller as an obstacle course. Way to think outside the box kids!

First day of Ballet

2011-09-15T16:24:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn was so excited for her first day of Ballet class. She picked out her leotard and tutu first thing when she woke up. She danced around the house waiting to go to class.

The first day of class there was a substitute teacher who was gentle, soft spoken and taught class at a repetitive and slower pace. Ashlyn did really well following the teacher and participating albeit shyly participating, but moving in smaller movements nonetheless. The second day of class was a completely different story... the actual teacher is really fast moving in throwing out new moves and transitioning to another activity or move before Ashlyn figured out the previous one. She started to get overwhelmed and just stood there watching the other girls. Then on the third day of class, when her friend started crying, she joined in with crying and not wanting to dance. It has taken me from that day until TODAY (nov 10) a total of almost 2 months to get to her feel comfortable and participate in the entire class. It took me sitting close to where she was dancing, video taping the routines for us to practice at home, playing ballet class at home to practice quick changes in dance moves, and putting on face glitter and nail polish to amp up in excitement to dance before she would fully participate again. I just hope it stays.

We'll see if it continues next week.

(half way through the dance she looses her tape on the floor and searches to find it. When the camera goes crazy, Jackson runs and blindsides me to show me the balloon he was playing with.)

When Ashlyn started to get nervous today during the few second break between activities, she would play with her tutu by pulling it up and down her torso. She would pull the tutu up under her armpits and turn to see if I saw her with a silly smile on her face. Hence the reason why her tutu is all jumbled up in this last video.

First day of Preschool

2011-09-12T15:44:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn and Karley on their 1st day of Pioneer Preschool.

I talked to some women in our new ward and found out that quite a few women wanted to participate in a Mommy and Me/Joy School type preschool program. So there are 10 kids (only 2 being boys) in Ashlyn's preschool.

I do a 30 minute mini preschool lesson daily with Ashlyn and Karley. I created an informal preschool assessment so I could chart progress. This was Ashlyn's results as of 9/13/11:

Questions about self correct: first name, birthday (incorrect middle, last name, age)

Rote Counting last correctly sequenced number: 13

One to One correlation counting: 5

Identify alphabet letters: A, B, H,J,L,O,S,Y

Identify Shapes:triangle, circle, heart, star, moon (incorrect square, rectangle, oval)

Identify Colors:red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white, brown (incorrect black, gray)

Spell name verbally: yes

Spell name with cards: yes (which was one of the first times she has done this!)

Write name with pen: A O U (o & u were attempts to write an S) then she became distracted and drew a snowman and bananas

Identify numbers: 1

I then tested the entire preschool group per parents requests on 10/31/11 and she scored the following:

Questions about self correct: first and last name, birthday (incorrect middle name, age)

Rote Counting last correctly sequenced number: 14

One to One correlation counting: 14

Identify alphabet letters: all letters EXCEPT --> I,M,U

Identify Shapes: square, rectangle, heart, star, moon (incorrect triangle, circle)

Identify Colors:red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, white, brown (incorrect black, gray)

Spell name verbally: yes

Spell name with cards: ashYLn

Write name with pen: ASHYLN

Identify numbers: 1,2,3,4

As of today, she can count to 25 with some help with 14 and 16. She can identify 1-9 with some cues like 5=looks like an s, 6=circle with a hat, 7=upside down L, 8=glasses, 9=circle with a tail. She can verbally spell Ashlyn, Jackson, Mom, Dad, Papa, Stop, Go, Karley. This morning she wrote the 4 names in our family. She can say the letter when told the sound it makes to about half the alphabet. She can use scissors to cut paper circles, triangles, squares, rectangles, and hearts.

She is learning so quickly. It's been fun to watch her figure things out and get so excited about it!

Halloween Song Duet

2011-09-11T09:31:00.000-07:00

Today at church I had to opportunity to give a talk on "the importance of having continued faith in the aftermath of attacks such as 9/11" as part of the 10th anniversary in sacrament meeting. I thoroughly enjoy preparing talks even if my presentation is not the same caliber as my Dad. I'm working on it though. :) It was sobering to think back and recall the memories of that day. Yet, it feels like it happened ages ago in the distant past, but it has only been 10 years. As much as I'd love to write my thoughts, the two talks I pulled quotes from for my talk were Terror Triumph and A wedding Feast by Jeffery R Holland and The Times in Which we Live in by Gordon B Hinckley. Fabulous talks concerning 9/11. Below shows the second song that Jackson now joins in and sings.

Proud Moment

2011-09-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

So Ashlyn has had some difficulty the past few nights sleeping through the night. She would wake up to go to the bathroom, but still needs help to wipe, would wake us up because she was hungry wanting to eat, and wake us up to ask to sleep in our bed... then she would wake us up again at 6:30am because she was awake for the day. So last night, I talked to her during the bedtime routine about sleeping all night- if she wakes up and it's dark, she needs to stay in bed; if she's hungry, she'll just have to wait for breakfast; she's not allowed to sleep in our bed so don't ask; she's not allowed to come into our room in the morning until the sun comes up. I then ended the talk by saying, "if you sleep all night long, I'll give you a treat in the morning." I was thinking treat meant a fruit snack, marshmallows, and heaven forbid I actually let anyone know that I have chocolate milk hidden in the fridge and have to share. She looked at me and said, " oh! I want Cheerios (plain, not even honey nut!) to be my treat." Oh yes honey! You can have as many Cheerios as you want. I'm so tired from being woken up repeatedly, I would've agreed to brownies with chocolate sauce! (totally kidding) She definitely didn't know the leverage she had on me at that point. :) That was a proud moment for me as a nutrition-conscious parent. She didn't even think about marshmallows let alone ice cream or cookies. The hardest part about healthy nutrition is having your taste buds enjoy eating well, but if I can help her at a young age with that, I will be very pleased!

Happy Feet

2011-09-07T09:16:00.000-07:00

duck duck goose

2011-09-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn and Karley have a ton of fun playing with each other. I worried that familiarity would result in more fights over toys, etc., but they continue to love being together. Ashlyn sometimes asks on Saturdays "when's Karley coming over to play?" or if she hears the doorbell from the mailman, she asks if her friends are here to play. It makes my heart smile.

These girls needed a bath from getting soaked in the rain/mud, but they wanted to stay and play having fun pretending to dive under water to save the toys. Considering the water depth was only about 4 inches, it was quite funny to watch.

Jackson and Ashlyn love playing this game... however, they think that they should run circles every time goose is said instead of when goose is said to THEM! Oh well. Fun times!

Jackson at 15 Months

2011-09-06T17:08:00.000-07:00

This is what I see when I hear "Tuh Duh!"

...and he's always so proud of himself.

About everyday he pulls all the books off of this shelf and sits in the middle to read.

1. He has 12 teeth and is currently teething two canines on the top.

2. He can go up stairs standing with a hand on the wall. He walks with one foot on the curb and one foot on the ground.

3. He loves to jump and can sometimes get some air... and sometimes not fall too.

4.Spontaneously says: dow tush (don't touch), mama, daddy, bye-da (bye dad), Jesus, hewo (hello), day do (thank you), boo, uh oh, tease (please or cheese), shoe, dow (down), uh (up), dow (go), uh duh you (I love you), two, des (yes), titi tow (tickle toes)

5. Imitates: datsuh (Jackson), dashi (Ashlyn), meets (mouth), mi (milk), papa, diapah (diaper), bus, no (nose), a duh (all done)

6. Can Identify at least 15 pictures of animals. Identifies his hair, tummy, toes, ears, mouth. Sometimes he can identify eyes and nose on someone else, but not himself.

7. He prefers gripping a crayon pinkie-side up and when I correct him, he quickly switches it back... so I have him lay on his stomach on the ground to plant his forearm on the ground forcing him to continue to grip the crayon thumb-side up.

8. Has a great attention span focusing for an extended amount of time onlooking at picture books by himself, on me reading a narrative book to him, on library story times, and on preschool circle time with Ashlyn's class.

9.When he walks by my bedroom and sees me lifting weights, he immediately drops what he's holding and comes over. He'll pick up his 1.5lbs weight and start doing curls, triceps lifts, and squats. I love it! However, after he finishes his reps with me, he likes to sometimes throw the weight... a few close calls.

10. He loves to be outside and cries when the door opens and he isn't allowed to go out.

11. Goes down straight slides on his bum and 1/3 of twisted slides on his back.

12.He feels that he should get a treat every time Ash does.

13. His favorite snacks are Popsicles, marshmallows, vanilla wafers, and goldfish.

14.He can stack blocks mostly 3 high and a few times 4 blocks high.

15.When I brush his teeth, he likes to close the cap, he sits still if I sing the ABC"s while brushing, and pulls away randomly during the brushing in order to pretend spit to the side.

16.His favorite song is "Old McDonald". He sings EIEIO and when I say "and on his farm he had a..." Jackson will yell out either "duk, dog, horse".

17.When I change his diaper, he says "don't touch" while grabbing himself because that's what I've said to him over and over. Then 2 weeks ago, he said "don't touch" on the playground to me when I held on to his chair and to a little boy at church trying to grab his toy horse.

18. He likes to climb up to stand on his toy car, his high chair, in the stroller while I'm jogging and on the dinner table and say "tuh duh!!" with his arms spread wide like a circus performer.

19. When you ask him a question, he likes to respond with a strong "uh Huh" emphasizing the second syllable.

20. If you try to talk to him and he doesn't know you, he'll stare you down. Around unfamiliar people he's VERY serious! Otherwise, he's quick to laugh and loves to have fun!

21. He loves to run, to chase others, and to be chased. Just say "I'm gonna get you!" and watch him tear off!

22. He loves to drink milk and wants it first thing when he wakes up in the morning. Oddly enough, he has a pattern of always pooping right after he drinks milk. At least he's predictable.

23.When he's sick, he remains happy plus he has a habit of throwing up and falling asleep in it. Tuesday night Ashlyn ran into my room at 8:30pm saying that Jackson threw up. It was a LOT of chunky throw up. I typically don't do well with throw up due to the smell, but luckily it smelled like bananas. Side note, I didn't think I'd ever want to have a smoothy again. Anyway, Danny came home around 9:30pm and found Jackson asleep laying in his throw up. It was funny because I picked him up absolutely asleep and by the time I undressed him and lowered him into the bath water, he woke up, looked up at me with the biggest smile like "Hi Mom what are you doing here!". He played in the water having a grand ole time. He played on our bed climbing all over Danny having a grand ole time. Laughed like nothing was wrong and then dry heaved until bile came up. He threw up a total of 4 times with three rounds of changing sheets, bathtub time for J, and rocking him for 30 minutes to make sure he's okay. Finally at 2:30am we went to sleep for the night. Awesome. What a night.

I love this kid!

Kitchen Dancing

2011-09-04T13:53:00.000-07:00

Poor J puts up with Ashlyn dressing him up... he's so cute! I'm glad our kitchen is big enough for Danny's computer station, my cooking area, and the kids dancing floor! I love our family time.

a'tucky and loovuh

2011-09-02T13:51:00.000-07:00

These three play so well together. It's so fun to watch and listen.

Cookin' and Singin'

2011-08-30T12:45:00.000-07:00

This is what morning is like at our house. :)

Humor in "Boo"

2011-08-21T12:14:00.000-07:00

Actually, when Ash said Boo I'd widen my eyes... which was what made Jackson laugh. But it taught Jackson to say Boo with good lip rounding! He's ready for Halloween.

Balancing Trick

2011-08-18T11:23:00.000-07:00

This was the first time Jackson ever stood independent on my hands... Danny figured out that it was just because he was eating and wasn't aware that I took my feet away. :) He still doesn't stay up very long when he feels my leg supports back off. Ashlyn does best at staying up when she can focus, which is why we count to 5. Otherwise she wants to sit down pretty quickly too.

First Day at UK -PhD

2011-08-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

Yeah! Danny's first day at University of Kentucky. He's off to get a PhD in Public Administration and Policy. We're proud of you Love!

The night before, we had a HUGE wind storm that knocked down a very large branch. The kids thought it was fun to break off sticks and beat the branch with them.

This and That

2011-08-04T19:12:00.000-07:00

I still don't know how he got this mark on his chin, but it made me laugh so hard. Nice Soul Patch!

Ashlyn wanted a picture taken of her really badly, but Jackson was relentless in wanting to point to her ear saying, "eyes, eyes". Drove her nuts, but he was so excited to practice IDing parts of the face on Ash.

These two make mealtime very entertaining.

Jackson has had a bad habit of biting when he's mad (Ash took a toy or won't give him his desired toy)... well then Ashlyn started biting back. That's when I cracked down.

My silly girl is such a pure hearted sweet girl.

What I'm learning about KY

2011-08-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

Baby J loves to imitate his big sis Ash. What a cute pair!
Lots of practice talking to Grandparents...
(If you feel this comment doesn't apply to you, then give us a call!)

We play hard here! Sometimes nap time needs to be around 11am because he can't hold off until noon.

Reasons why I love KY:

1. The DMV is incredibly fast. I went to get a KY driver's license. I waited in line for 5 minutes. After the initial worker took my information, I was immediately called for my picture. I went to sit down and get Ashlyn her snack and book for the wait... and didn't even have time to open her snack before I was called up to get my finished license card. There were about 20 people in the licensing office but they were so fast it was as if they only focused on getting me in and out. I love how the DMV office has separate rooms for the various needs of the people... it's soooo much faster! In and out in less than 20 minutes; I'm one happy customer!

2. Wherever you go, there is a good likelihood that you'll smell cigarette or pot smoke. We smell it in our front yard every morning thanks to our neighbors (I swear I smell it in our bathroom too... but that's under debate at the moment). It's a big thing here. I've never seen so many divers people young, old, poor, rich smoking before. I view it as "smoking is something uneducated people do (or old people who didn't have the facts about the negative side effects available in their youth) because they don't understand what it will do to their body. But it's still going strong here. It may be due to the fact that tobacco is the 2nd leading cash crop of KY. I don't know, but it bugs me. Yuck!

3. I LOVE where we live. For me, it's a quite neighborhood, nice fenced in yards, sidewalks everywhere (well almost), and the nicest neighbors I've ever had! I love Kathy and Rodney! But whenever I tell anyone who lives here, I live off of Woodhill, they all respond with a shocked look like "really you chose to live there" and they basically tell me that I live in the ghetto by government housing; that you try to move out of that area not into it... but I feel just as safe here as I did living in Rancho Meadows apt in CA! It makes me giggle. They made this big deal about the park a block away from us is a drug dealing park... well, during the daytime (which is the ONLY time I'd ever be at a park) I've only seen people there once and they were a group of teens with an adult teacher preaching religion to them. So dangerous huh.

4. As much as I enjoy our 3 bedroom 1 bath house with a deck and big back yard... it was well, there's going to be an entire post on it later. You'll just have to wait. :)

5. The infrastructure of the roads is wonderful! It takes 15 minutes to get anywhere I'd want or need to go. Plus, even during a busy traffic time... well should be busy, but let's be honest, there was no hold up, or bottle neck traffic. It's wonderful! I don't look at the clock and think "oh I'll have to wait until traffic dies down to go on the highway." Bliss!

6.We have an amazing ward! A.)They were so welcoming- numerous people greeted us the 1st Sunday we were there and because Danny had already been to the ward 3 weeks earlier, they new us by name. (and not just people in leadership too. I found that out recently as I'm figuring out who does what). B.)This ward has a TON of educated people (almost all the women have their B.A. with some having M.A. and a lot of men with PhD's) BUT the women stay home with their kids!!! Ding Ding Ding! This is the place for me! I finally fit in perfectly! Plus, these women have what I really, really wanted from CA... book club, aerobics group, mommy and me preschool, park day (well it's still being organized), and lots of socializing.

7. Our first week at church was also the first week for Katy and Nathan... who graduated from BYU, and I remembered taking undergrad classes with Katy. She also lives close and we're exercise/walking buddies. Plus being visiting teaching partners... she is a blast to be with and I'm so grateful for her. I also found another woman in the ward who graduated from BYU and we lived in the same apt building- good ole Heather Cove! It's really been a ton of fun to feel so connected so quickly.

8. Can I tell you how much I love the kindness, respect, and southern hospitality that is found everywhere here. From store workers that are soooo helpful to random people I approach for assistance, everyone is really kind. I also was called Ma'am for the first time and .LOVED.IT! I definitely want Jackson to learn to be a southern gentleman. I still need to learn what it means to be a southern belle... I'll let you know what I decide about Ashlyn.

9. The accent isn't strong here, but there is a distinct cadence that is fun to listen to. The only thing that is weird for me to hear is how people say "Louisville". The only way I can describe why it "bugs" me is you don't hear people talk normally and then bust into an Italian accent to say one word like "manicotti." Why do people here change the /u/ and /I/ vowel sounds in this one word to make the word sound VERY southern with a regional draw, but don't use that regional vowel pattern anywhere else in their speech? I don't speak with a German accent to say the city name East Berlin, PA. Why do they use a draw accent with Louisville but not when they change Versailles to sound like "ver-sales". At least people in New Orleans slur that city name together along with the rest of the words in the sentence! Be consistent! That's all I ask. :)

10.I never thought I had allergies until I moved here. My eyes burn most days, my nose is partially closed off and not with mucous but it still runs pretty much all the time, and I have sneezing fits which makes my throat itch like crazy. I've taken allergy pills, but it doesn't seem to have any effect. I'm still figuring it out.

11.While it's mostly nice and quiet now, when we first moved into our house the cicadas were SO extremely loud I could hear them over the lawn mower I was using! They gave me a headache if I was outside too long until I finally got used to them and learned to ignore their constant buzz. I mean WOW it was loud! Much louder than living by a busy 4 lane street in RC, CA! What's up with that! :)

Our Fixer Uper House

2011-07-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

Both our fans looked like this... wow!

I was out mowing the lawn, edging around the house and fence, hacking down the hedge that had grown over on our side of the fence, and pulling up vines for 2 hours and my legs became this.

I was in so much pain for 5 days. The itching would wake me up it hurt so bad.

I love our new place, don't get me wrong. Danny did an excellent job finding this place for the right price, 3 bedrooms, a fenced back yard, quiet neighborhood, and good location with only 4 days to secure it before coming to Utah for the wedding. But why is it that I am always scrubbing the place I leave, just to scrub the place I'm moving into. This is my 5th place in 5 years with the same pattern of 2 major cleanings as part of comings and goings. It's so frustrating to arrive and see the above dirt in all the windows, mirrors, counters, tub, fans, kitchen drawers... to then have issues with mice in the kitchen, ants in the bathroom, lots of flies coming in from outside, mosquito's in the front and back yards, poison ivy in the hedges, and a snake that darted out at me while mowing the yard... I've had enough with nature! We set sticky traps, baited traps, and used sonar pulsars... and could not catch our ninja mice. It was very frustrating having to vacuum, wipe everything in the kitchen down, have all the dishes cleaned and put away, and have all the kitchen items in 4 draws in plastic tubs to keep the draws emptied/cloroxed every night.

Bienvenido a Kentucky!

2011-07-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

We arrived during an incredibly hot heat wave. The humidity was so "heavy", we had a hard time going outside of our house the first week.
When we did go outside... we walked a block to a park. Played for about 20 minutes until we were red faced and soaking wet with sweat and came home for Popsicles.

Jackson's on an eating kick where he likes everything... so much so, that he'll lick the plate when he really approves and wants more.

So out of all the furniture that was dismantled in order to fit in the pods, this office chair was the only item to have the screws lost. So we used it like this for the first month. The kids thoroughly enjoyed it and I liked having a place to have them sit and wait until I could get what they were wanting. (instead of them walking around and hanging on my legs)

These funny kids found many ways to entertain themselves inside day after day.

Some of the ideas they came up with were a bit silly... but still entertaining!

They enjoy putting random things on their head and singing "a silly hat, a silly hat, I wear it on my head because that's where it's at and it makes me feel so happy that it's ME!" By the way, this was the shirt she was wearing and I was trying to take off of her for bedtime. She obviously had other plans.

We have had this cuddle bag for 5 years and finally opened it. The kids love their reading bag, jumping bag, climbing bag... Did I mention it was really hot here!

Chuck E Cheese

2011-07-13T10:33:00.000-07:00

Fearless J.

The Clown Car.

Thank you Gma for a fun trip for the kids!

Because when the kids are happy, we're happy.

(...even if Jackson was terrified of the gigantic mouse.)
And when the kids are happy from being worn out... they sleep like a rock!

I was changing his clothes, and it didn't phase him one bit.

Photography by Ashlyn

2011-07-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

good morning...
someone didn't want a morning picture... or was caught smelling their armpit.

At least one of us was in good spirits first thing in the morning!

I love you Grandma!

Manti

2011-07-07T10:12:00.000-07:00

We're going to Utah!
Ashlyn is a very active sleeper... so sleeping NEXT TO the bed became sleeping UNDER the bed. Well partially. It was enough to get her stuck. Needless to say, she was quite frantic when she woke up!
Thanks DeeDee for hearing her muffled yelps.

Ride on cowboy!

Relaxin' with Gpa.

Three little ones watching the lawn mowers.

4-wheeler ride up the mountain! So fun! Brings back so many fun memories.

Thanks Uncle Russell!

Even in park, this machine is loads of fun.

Cocoa Beach and NASA

2011-07-06T12:07:00.000-07:00

J thought it was so fun to fling muddy sand all over himself... and anyone nearby.
Papa took Ash into deeper water to play in the waves.
These cute kids had so much fun. It was a great beach day.

Animal Kingdom

2011-07-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

We tried to keep Jackson in the stroller so we didn't have to carry him... but decided that his lack on interest in the animals because his line of sight was with items like park lamps wasn't worth it.
The Safari ride was really fun!

Jackson enjoyed the bumpy ride so much... he fell asleep.

Nap time!

These two had such a great time.

Nice air conditioning break.

Jackson was fascinated with Rafiki.

Ashlyn continuing being brave with animals.

Jackson staring down the others that thought they could touch his goat.

This is the result of Ashlyn not wanting to walk anymore.

Independent Swimmer

2011-07-05T11:02:00.000-07:00

After the two week RC rec swimming lessons, Ashlyn's been progressing a lot! She has a lot more confidence to swim solo with longer lengths and increased repetitions of lengths. With all the opportunities to practice, her swimming skills have flourished this summer! Very exciting! Jackson's benefited from watching Ashlyn. He's comfortable on his stomach with minimal support moving his arms paddling and legs kicking... sometimes at the same time! :) He can blow bubbles in the water and can go underwater without crying, though it's still not his favorite thing to do.

4th of July in FL

2011-07-04T11:40:00.000-07:00

Tom's title as a lizard whisperer continues to be well deserved. I caught this lizard and was showing Ashlyn when it jumped out of his hands. He thought it went under his shoe, but then he lost the lizard. When Tom stood up, the lizard was hiding on his pants!
It stayed on Ashlyn's arm for a bit. Ashlyn enjoyed it quite a bit!

Then Danny pretended to go in to kiss the lizard, which made it jump onto Ashlyn's shirt. She stared like this for quite some time.

Danny went in for another kiss... but Ashlyn pushed his head away.

Ashlyn with her temporary pet lizard!

We ate, watched fireworks, attempted to have the kids play with sparklers, but Ashlyn was the only one really into it...

...and Jackson wanted to singe off his eye brows by holding it too close. So the activity was short lived. We made it through 10 sparklers.

As nice and relaxing as this Independence Day was, missing the Provo Parade and first Carrie Underwood and now Brad Paisley at the Stadium of Fire... I have my desired plans in mind for July 2012! With the country singers motif going on, oh please be Taylor Swift!

FL Wedding

2011-07-03T11:39:00.000-07:00

So we learned what "corn hole" is. The kids enjoyed playing their own version.

The kids did very well sitting/standing still during the wedding... probably because Ashlyn had a lot to look at around the church and Jackson was asleep for most of the time. Then we drove to another church for the reception (where this picture was taken). Luckily the Armstrong extended family is VERY kid friendly and no one minded the kids roaming everywhere. At least no one seemed annoyed and were very kind! Ashlyn danced by the buffet line until she found out about the disco ball and ceiling lights twirling on the dance floor. Then continued her dancing at this new venue. Next, she discovered the buckets of soda with ice water. While she liked to reach her hand in or dip her toes, I thought I needed to worry about Jackson at this point. I didn't foresee Ashlyn walking backwards and falling into the bucket of ice water... with no change of clothes or panties, Danny and I took her outside to wring her clothes out. Yes, anyone driving in front of the church would've seen a 3-year-old in her panties running around playing corn hole while I tried to get her dress as dry as possible. She toughed it out and went back inside to continue dancing without complaint for the rest of the reception. Jackson enjoyed putting the thin bubble tube favors into the glass soda bottles. It was a cute game until he would find a bottle that was still in use... numerous close calls. With 4 kids and no one leaving the reception covered with sticky soda, I'd call it a successful evening!

Congrats Nicole!

Florida's Gator land

2011-07-03T11:07:00.000-07:00

Good morning kids! We're in Florida!
With all the pictures being taken at the Armstrong family gatherings because of Nicole's wedding celebrations, Jackson started making this funny "cheese" face.

The morning of the wedding, we took a trip to Gator Land. Ashlyn fed a Galapagos Turtle.

And eventually touched his head.

As soon as Jackson got inside the gate, he immediately went up to the turtle to pat the turtle's shell.

Ashlyn really enjoyed feeding the birds in the enclosure. These two birds were fighting over the food on the stick and the fight would lead them up and down our arms.

Then the highlight of the day... after a alligator wrangling show, we had the opportunity to sit on a gator for a picture. I loved it!

Then it was Ashlyn's turn. She walked up to the alligator just fine, but didn't want to sit on it. Go figure, right. I lifted her into a straddle of the gator (this picture). Then the man asked me to scoot her forward and put her feet in front of the gator's legs.

This is her on the gator. I'm pretty sure she's looking at me thinking, "What am I doing on a gator! Mom what are you thinking?" Yes, I know... but I'm so proud of how brave she is! If she would've said no, I would've had no problem walking away without forcing the issue. When she went, I was thrilled to support.

Bye CA, hello FL... UT, and KY

2011-06-27T10:54:00.000-07:00

My dear, wonderful, AWESOME Aunt Elaine flew down to my aid Sunday night June 26th before Danny left to start driving to Kentucky the 27th. She took the kids for 3 days so I could focus on packing the entire house so we could pack into the moving pods on June 29th.

*side note-Danny didn't leave (for various reasons-work, outlets, packing his boxes) until about 10pm the 27th. When he was passing through Daycreek Rd (about half mile from home) our Tahoe was hit from behind by a bonehead. What a way to start a journey.
I can't thank the Highland Ward enough for all of their help. I think there were about 6 men helping move furniture and boxes and there were 5 women to help me clean the entire house top to bottom. My friend Michelle's husband Chad and my father-in-law Wes were incredible to make all of our belongings fit into two pods... they looked like this!

A special heart felt thanks for Deena and Tommy for staying with me from start to finish during the 4 hour pod packing/cleaning ordeal being the first there and the last to go. They were willing to help with everything and could understand my incoherent strings of tasks as I was losing my mind. They took so much burden off of me, which was at this point too much for me to handle. Then to arrive at Tom's house (where we were staying during the move transition) to find Aunt Elaine's dinner ready for me and the kids asleep. Bliss! Then to have Tommy come over to bring me a bouquet of Tulips, my favorite flower! What a wonderful end to a difficult day.

The kids spend our last day in CA with Grandma Deena and Aunt Court.

I drove my Aunt Elaine to LAX the morning of the 30th so she could make it home for work- THANK YOU SO MUCH for staying an additional day! The kids loved being with you, and I loved being able to focus on the tasks at hand knowing that the kids are eating, sleeping, and having fun playing! You are spectacular to my aid for two moves in 6 months!

The kids and I said our good byes and drove to Marriott at LAX to spend the night before our morning flight to Florida.

We love you!

Ash's Hike with Papa

2011-06-23T18:11:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, Tom took Ashlyn on an outing. They went on a hike where they found this gopher snake. Ashlyn loved "holding" this snake and even more recently, when she sees Papa, she asks to see pictures of her snake on his phone.
It looks huge on her wrist, until you pan out.

Then they went to the train tracks and watched two pennies get flattened on the rails. I've actually always wanted to do this.

At home later that day while I was making dinner, we had the following conversation:

A:"I need to go wet."

M:"Okay go to the bathroom"

A:" No, I need to go wet on the grass"

M:"no we don't do that"

A:"yes I do."

M:"Did you go wet on the grass on your hike with Papa?"

A: "yes I did!" with a big smile.

M: "Did you use toilet paper?"

A: "no, I shake it off like this *crouched down,stuck out her bum, and shook it.

M: "well, we're having bathtub time tonight!"

Lesson learned: Next time pack tissues with the water bottles and snacks. :)

She loved it, and I'm so grateful for all the time she has been able to spend with Grandma, Papa Wes, and Papa Tom!

Disneyland Birthdays

2011-06-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

Happy belated Birthday's Ashlyn and Jackson! Jackson shamelessly stared at anyone wearing Mickey ears on their head. He couldn't even focus to take a picture because he just had to continue staring at the Mickey ears. So funny!

I liked this picture of Jackson looking at his Daddy.

Funny story- On the way into the park, I talked to Ashlyn about not running away or leaving us. She needed to stay with us close by and if she wanted to look at something interesting, she just needed to tell us and we'd take her to go see what she wanted to see. While we were walking to Toontown 10 minutes later, she started lagging 5 feet behind us and while running to catch up exclaimed, "Mom I'm going to be lost!" I knew right then I wouldn't have to worry about her.
She appeared to be scared of these princesses leaning away from them, not wanting to approach them, refusing to talk to them... but this is actually Ashlyn's favorite picture she asks to look at even though she doesn't look happy.

I felt bad, Ashlyn really wanted to see Cinderella, but we didn't get through the line fast enough to make it down to the next level in time. It took about 1 hour to get through this line... I don't want to do it again.

This is how Ashlyn looked at just about every ride. So anxious and so cute!

This was the first ride of the day and Ashlyn was thrilled!

Jackson took a good 1.5 hour nap.

These two characters did an incredible job keeping in character and being absolutely hilarious! The mad hatter played peek-a-boo with Ashlyn while maintaining his frontal lisp and warbling pitch variations within words.

Jackson was sooo close to being tall enough to ride Autotopia. Merely 1.5-2 inches short.

But because of Jackson's inability to ride the ride, Ashlyn got to ride twice back to back with Tommy and then me. She didn't get the point that she was stearing... it was like we were playing bumper cars with only our car and the rail!

Ashlyn loved to raise her hands on every ride and wanted those sitting beside her to raise their hands as well.

This is the beginning of Thunder Mountain Railroad. Her first official fast roller coaster or at least her reaction made it seem this way...

Here she is starting the ride all excited.

Here she is starting into the tunnel still going up two hands raised.

This is starting the fast downhill fall... as you can see she is snuggled into Tommy's chest for safety.

The next climb she raised one arm while holding onto the rail with the other. When we got off I asked her if she wanted to go again. She replied, "No. That one's too scary."

Thank you Papa for an awesome birthday trip!

The kids and adults loved it!

Disneyland Happy!

ER trip for Jackson

2011-06-14T10:19:00.000-07:00

My poor little man. So at this point 10am, his red spots were HUGE and starting to bruise. When his feet turned purple and puffy, I called the substitute pediatrician, as Dr. Jain was out of town. She told me to take him to the ER for blood work because Roseola shouldn't be the size of a half dollar and should not bruise. After the nurse weighing and medical history stuff, as we were walking to the ER room, the doctor stopped us in the hall and asked if he was on medication. I said amoxicillin and he turned to his coworkers (titles unknown) and told them Jackson was having an allergic reaction. The doctor and nurses came in with steroid and benadryl medicine droppers. The doctor asked me to give the benadryl to Jackson. I thought speed was the concern and thus some missed his mouth and dribbled down his cheek. She looked so disappointed and exasperated at me as she said, "It was really important that he gets all of this medicine." Um, opps. You could have told me BEFORE. Then the nurse came in and wanted to give the steroid dropper to Jackson himself. So he had me hold Jackson tight against me laying down as he pinched Jackson's cheeks to force his mouth open. As he finished, he told me I needed to calm him down quickly or Jackson may throw up. As I raised Jackson to a sitting position a second later, Jackson threw up all over himself, my leg, and my cupping hand. The two nurses just watched me without helping. I looked up and said, "a little help here." When they didn't move, I let the throw up in my hand drop to the tile floor and grabbed the cloth on the bed to start wiping off more throw up... onto the floor. I felt so rude, but no one was responding! I was very frustrated at this point knowing that he had just thrown up the benadryl and was forced while screaming to take medicine that causes puking if you're not relaxed... and I didn't pack a change of clothes so he is now naked in a cold hospital room. Awesome. They came and gave him benadryl and steroid shots. He fell asleep, but 20 minutes later they had me wake him up for tylenol because of his temperature and heart rate. Ashlyn was bored out of his mind this whole time wanting to play with all of the cords and equipment hanging all over the walls.

We were discharged with instructions to give him benadryl 3 times a day and steroids 1 time a day. This second picture shows how he looked about 12 hours later. He took the benadryl fine but needed goldfish to be willing to take the steroids.

So now he is labeled as allergic to penicillin and we need to test to see if he is actually allergic when he's older.

Birthday Wishes for Aunt Dee Dee

2011-06-13T22:52:00.000-07:00

Roseola

2011-06-13T22:26:00.001-07:00

Sunday Afternoon #1
view #2

Sunday night #1

view #2

Monday, June 13th afternoon #1

view #2

Monday night #1

view #2

Some of his red spots are bruising. He's swollen, ichy, and his feet are so puffy that they turn purple-if you touch them when purple, he cries. But other than that, he's still smiling. Poor guy. He's such a trooper.

Happy 1st Birthday Jackson

2011-06-06T22:24:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, June 5th, Jackson started a fever that spiked at 102 degrees. After his morning nap with a spike at 103.6 degrees (on his birthday, the 6th), I took him to the doctor's office. Due to the large tonsils and possible sinus infection, amoxicillin was prescribed. We went home for his afternoon nap and at 4pm when I went to wake up Ashlyn for swimming lessons; I found him laying sprawled on his stomach, beat red, eyes wide open but not looking at me, and completely still like he couldn't move. I hurried and picked up my lethargic little boy and took his temperature... at this point I pretty much had a panic attack when it read 105 degrees. Danny hurried and filled the amoxicillin. By Wednesday, his fever was down at 100.2 and gone by that night. Poor guy. What a 1st birthday!

Side note: Because of the fever I cancelled his one year check up. So we just had the appointment today the 23rd. His stats are...

height- 32 inches= 95th percentile

weight- 25 lbs 3 oz= 90th percentile

He's teething all four of his 1 year molars and needs to take a sample dose of amoxicillin in 6 months to confirm his allergy. He still signs "more, all done, please." He says "mama/bom-bom when he's really mad, dada, do (go), bee (beep), uh oh, me (amen), " and imitates "ah duh (all done), puh puh (up), dow (down), muh (more), ow (meow), oh oh (woof), ah ah (qwack), ah-oo (a-choo), h-h (hot). When you tell him time to wash your hands, he'll stick his hands out like you're going to cuff him. He still points a ton to select what he wants to eat from his plate or a nearby plate, to indicate that he wants to be taken out of his room when you pick him up from his crib, or to indicate to me that Ashlyn has the toy he wants (This one is the best! I love that he signs please, then points to the toy while looking at me instead of at Ashlyn because he knows the results will be better when I assist). He has full body tackled Ashlyn and still screams in moments of impatience. He eats anything- at home or at restaurants but refused to eat mashed "baby foods". It's quite nice. He drinks milk from a bottle and water from his sippy... and if you mix that up, he will likely only drink a little bit and then refuse to drink more. When he's done eating, he doesn't like anything left on his tray... so he'll throw it over the side. Most of the time I notice the first throw and take his food away, have him sign all done, and wash hands. If I don't, then I look over to see a content little boy quietly sitting there with an empty tray and food scattered all around below his high chair. He doesn't like his food on a plate; if you serve him a plate, he will almost immediately pick up the plate, dump it's contents onto his high chair tray, and eat one handed while holding the plate up in the air to the side of his tray.

Ash and J's Birthday Party

2011-06-04T22:10:00.000-07:00

When Deena arrived 30 minutes before the party was to begin, I wasn't ready... at all! Needless to say, I was a wreck and nothing was decorated. She came to my rescue and like a whirl wind threw everything together! Thank you a ton!!
Ashlyn was so excited for her party. She loved to come to me and exclaim, "It's my party time!"

It was a luau theme. All the kids liked their leis.

Side story: The other day Papa asked her how old she was, and she said three. Then he asked her how old Jackson was, and she said one.

I jumped in and asked her how old I was, and she said three.

Then I asked her how old Daddy was, and she said one.

Even at three years of age, she can already tell that girls are more mature than boys!

Jackson loves the pool toys! He was thrilled to play with them.

Our little fearless birthday swimmer.

Side story: In her swimming class, she worked on blowing bubbles in the water, putting her face in the water, going completely underwater, back floats, front floats, jumping into the pool to me, and kicking off the side of the pool and then swimming 6 feet to me. Almost every time we go in the pool she reminds me, "I can't go underwater." and I correct her, "yes you can. You mean you don't like to go underwater?" and she responds, "yeah. I don't want to go underwater."

He was getting so miffed at me not letting him get in the pool... sorry kid! Safety first!

Let's be honest. I wasn't nearly as strict about waiting until he was one to eat certain foods like wheat bread, cheese, strawberries, crackers, and a few others I can't remember right now. But he had never had goldfish until the party... and WOW did he LOVE them!

All the kids loved this little pool because it had warm water in it. Happy Birthday's you two!

Ash hanging out with Hannah and Olivia.

After some pool time, I tried to have the kids play some party games... It was an epic FAIL!

Game #1-musical towels. In summation, the kids went out basically youngest to oldest with each child crying when they got "out". I was so sad that I made Ashlyn cry at her party! I'm such a horrible Mom!

Game #2- Monkey toss. Ashlyn played the first round, but wouldn't throw the monkeys in the second round. She just stood there so sad.

Game #3- Wacky Tourist Relay. Ashlyn would even approach the other kids to play the game and stood by Danny to watch.

Game #4- Limbo. This one was supposed to be for the parents... but none of the parents wanted to participate. So it was a free for all with kids running into each other going back and forth under the bamboo stick.

Fail, Fail, Fail, and oh yeah, FAIL!

All the kids at the party.

Opening Presents.

Ashlyn opened her presents...

... and Jackson's too.

But it was easy to see which gift was meant for Ash or J... Cinderella, skirts, princess camera,ballet slippers? Definitely for Ashlyn! Firetruck, tonka trucks, red corvette, motorcycle, helicopter, train? hummmm, I wonder. :)

There were more gift bags versus wrapping paper, which made it hard for me to tell if the present had been opened or just tipped over. Ashlyn gets so excited that she tears through everything leaving quite a mess!

Jackson's best buddy Austin was at the party!

Besides the games and the fact that in the madness I forgot to even use the balloons or ice cream I bought, it was a fun party.

The luau cake

2011-06-04T22:04:00.000-07:00

I couldn't find a surfer, a hula girl... anything but this swimmer with a swimming cap on.
But I think it turned out great... even if the beach towel looked like a piece of cheese! :)

while making this cake I realized that I LOVE Pirouettes! They are absolutely delicious! I also found out that if you put them on the night before, they will soak up the moisture from the frosting and lose their crunch by party time. Nuts!

Ashlyn loved her cake! That made all the frustrations and hours worth it! She even looked for it in the cupboard (where I was storing it before the party) that night after her party and a week later wanting to see it again. She didn't get to see it being cut up as she was opening presents. :)

Beach Day with Friends

2011-06-03T21:38:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn loved running towards and away from the waves. If she was holding someones hand, then she'd let the water crash up to her knees.
We packed a picnic and ate at the beach. Other than me dropping my bunch of grapes in the sand, it was a great idea!

The kids loved playing in the sand and at the water's edge.

The guys spent the entire time building a masterful sand castle.

The kids helped a little where they could... but I think the guys preferred them NOT helping.Dave was the most detailed with his work. I'm surprised none of the kids knocked down the multifaceted sections of the castle. A miracle!She loved to run.

He loved to point.

He was quite content the entire time... besides the time when I tried to leave him by Danny and the castle so I could run in the waves with Ashlyn.

Happy times together with friends!

...but every child has their limit.

...and some kids hit their limit a bit harder than others.

I'm really glad we got to go!

Happy Birthday Ashlyn

2011-06-02T21:15:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn's 3 years old!...and continues to find ways of getting more and more cuts and bruises.

Since we were having a party on Saturday, we decided to have a small cupcake celebration for her real birthday. She received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from Papa and still points out her flowers today.

She liked passing out her cupcakes.

Grandma gave her a really cute bunny sleeping bag and slumber party for her birthday gift. Ashlyn had the slumber party Saturday. She didn't go to bed until 10:30pm because she was having so much fun playing in the tent (in the living room). Deena said that it took playing General Conference, Elder Holland's talk to put her to sleep! :) Hilarious! Ashlyn had a great time!

Afternoon Angels Game

2011-05-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

As part of our preparations to attend an Angel's baseball game, we all dressed in red and then Ash and I painted our nails red!
I was getting our lunch and snacks together... and Ashlyn found her lolly pop. She wanted to hold it to make sure it was taken to the game. Ironically enough, it was actually never eaten.

She was so excited running, skipping, and dancing around the house repeating, "mommy, daddy, ashlyn, and jackson going to a baseball game!"

She wanted to sit on the ball both entering and exiting the ball park.

I initially asked a janitorial worker nearby to take a picture of our family outside the park on our way in. This man came over and took the camera from her with some comments about seeing that she's so busy that he'd like to take it. Then he explained that he would like to take a picture of our family for the OC Register online newspaper for the fan section. Comparing the two pictures, he did a very nice job compared to the lady... so I'm thrilled that he awkwardly jumped in like that.

The kids playing with the hand prints.

We had 2nd row seats behind home plate. They were awesome seats!

Ashlyn's pose.

Our family.

Probably because Ashlyn was playing in the aisle, the Angel's girl standing behind her asked if she could come for the "smile cam." Ashlyn was so cute! She was quiet with a princess wave...

...and since she wasn't rowdy or tall, she didn't get much camera time. So I missed getting a picture of it by a second! If you look closely, you can see her blonde hair where the .com is in blue. It's like Mike Wazowski on Monster's Inc!

She enjoyed participating in this little activity and was very patient since they had the kids standing there for a good 10 minutes until the inning was over.

My favorite part of having their seats right next to each other is that Ashlyn can help feed Jackson food and his bottle while we drive. It's so nice!

It was a fun family trip though I have to admit that the trips to the bathroom for both Ash and J, the smile cam, feeding them lunch, making sure they weren't bothering anyone being in the aisle... I didn't get to watch much of the game, but we had a fabulous time regardless! Thanks Tom and Dr. Lally!

Last day of Gymnastics

2011-05-23T07:36:00.000-07:00

May 23rd was the last day of Gymnastics.
She learned to kick her legs straight out with every step and keep her arms out while moving her feet in front of the other.

Coach asked her to demonstrated again... and this time she did it all by herself before coach was even ready to spot. Surprised coach; it was pretty funny.

Swinging on the rings. She can do this without me holding her hands, but she can't get enough momentum to reach the kicking bag without my push.

Sideways hand crawl on the bar. She couldn't support all of her weight especially with her legs straight out, but probably most.

More bar crawls.

Jackson enjoyed doing this bar and the trampoline activities.

He would focus so hard that he'd stick his tongue out.

She would run to the foam pit when coach would announce that activity was next.

Though he looks contorted right now, he actually enjoyed the pit too.

Papa, Great Granma Vibeke, Daddy, and Uncle Tommy were all present as she accepted her certificate.

Great Job Ash!

I hope Kentucky has a rec program like this so she can continue.

Downtown Solvang

2011-05-22T21:27:00.001-07:00

Solvang's a cute town.

There was this huge wooden shoe... so we had to take pictures.
Fun times with cousins!
Almost all looking.
Now these two are just being silly... not only NOT looking at me, but looking in opposite directions! This was the second picture attempt... obviously not any better luck!

We took a family picture in front of Connie's store "Royal Copenhagen". She had us over for dinner and made a smorgasbord. It was delicious. I tried eel for the first time outside of sushi and Jackson enjoyed his first frikadela. We also ate many rundstykkers with jam or havarti with danish salami-Gotta love carbo loading! Oh and the oranges up there are so juicy, they drip juice while peeling them! They're so sweet; they're like candy!

Woodbury Family Beach Day at Solvang

2011-05-22T21:01:00.000-07:00

When we first arrived it was overcast and cold.
So the boys built a trench. Danny found this stone with an imprint perfect for his thumb. He was quite fond of his shovel stone.

Jackson liked watching and pointing to the waves as they'd crash on the beach. This was his real first time at the beach since he was 2 months old.

The closer he stood, the more apprehension he showed on his face.

This is how he stands and walks a majority of the time... which explains his new nick name= J. Rex!

He liked shoveling sand.

Ashlyn had a blast running around the beach, throwing rocks into the ocean, playing in the trench, and playing with Rhys.

Jackson was a bit temperamental at first. He'd switch between liking the sand and getting frustrated with it very quickly. It was harder for him to move around in at first.

Tommy and Danny were hard core with the whole trench thing. They even made a tunnel for the water to go through and into the trench tub... we didn't stay long enough for the tide to rise high enough to come in, but it was fun anyways.

The sand was damp and perfect for packing. Ashlyn made her first sand castle...

...and then enjoyed stomping them flat!

J tasted a few handfuls of sand before discovering the truth that sand.is.gross! Ride on bud!

Getting these three to look at the same time was an epic challenge... getting them to all smile at the same time was impossible.

Fond of Tommy

2011-05-22T20:55:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn loves her Uncle Tommy.

She slid her booster seat RIGHT next to him... I mean, there was plenty of room for her to sit a foot away. This is where she wanted to sit. Then we realized that she wanted his chocolate milk shake. She didn't want to share with me; she wanted Tommy's!
And yes, she is still very fond of Tommy's hair. Even though he's cut his long locks off, she still likes to play with his hair. Sorry for the ketchup she rubbed into your hair! :)

J's videos

2011-05-19T14:33:00.000-07:00

He still needs a verbal prompt to use signs, but he doesn't need a visual model anymore for "more, please, or milk" we're working on "all done, help". I'll try to get him blowing kisses another time, it's pretty funny as he appears to be biting his palm and peeking through his fingers. He loves his games like "up and down" or when I say "ahh" he puts both hands on his face. He also likes to touch my nose for me to sneeze, my eyes for me to blink 3x, my mouth for me to eat his arm, and my ears for me to say "ding dong". His favorite book is "Good Night Moon". He will bring it to me and point with me. He likes to point with me to the cat and say "ow", cow "oo", bear "ahhh", mouse "eee" in a high pitch squeal, blow at the hot fire, and wave for good night. Jackson is finally using a bottle and will drink up to 4 oz at a time. I'm working on getting him up to 8 oz before fully weaning him by his birthday! Hallelujah! Ashlyn hasn't had an accident in a long time, but continues to want me to stand at the door of the bathroom in order to "go by herself"... we're working on her going without me present so she doesn't do her panic dance and squeals while she's waiting for me to come. BTW- Ashlyn's favorite book right now is "I Need My Monster" by Amanda Noll. It's adorable! We drew a picture of her monster named Herbert and it's taped on her window.

On a not-so-proud-of side note, he has finally gotten sick of Ashlyn taking his toys. She has officially pushed him to the limit. Not only does he protest by screaming really loud in burst screams, but he has bitten her 2 times now. Once 3 days ago and the second time yesterday... where he gave her a little bruise on her inner arm-elbow area. We have now changed the requirements from Ashlyn saying please while taking the toy away, to having her say please and wait with her hand outstretched. However, Jackson is a little teaser... so with her hand outstretched, he will hold the toy out for her, then quickly pull it back when she makes a move. He will do this a few times before Ashlyn gets upset and either takes the toy or comes complaining to me. Soooo, as of today, we've been working on not only waiting with her hand out after saying please, but ALSO bringing a toy TO Jackson for a trade. It's worked the few times we've practiced thus far today. Hopefully this solution will work and stick!

Aquarium of the Pacific

2011-05-18T15:00:00.000-07:00

We went on a family outing to the Aquarium last Saturday. It was so awesome! I saw some variety of sea horses that I've never seen before!!! She liked the colorful fish, the really big fish, and loved finding the "nemo fish".
Jackson had wide eyes the entire time and would grunt while pointing when something was exciting to him.

This was how he looked the entire time! It was fun to see how observant he was. They both thoroughly loved the shark tank. The sharks would swim right up to where these two kids were plastered against the glass. Surprisingly, they weren't scared or startled.

The sea lion and seal show was awesome! Yes, Ashlyn did dress herself today... I think she thought we were going to Disneyland. AND she didn't want to keep her jacket on because Danny had told her at home that she didn't need a jacket... at. home. She interpreted that to mean no jacket all day. She's very good at following directions, and sometimes a little too good.

We had front row seats, but these two wanted to be right up against the glass. :)

We're slowly getting all of our "CA bucket list" checked off!

alphabet preschool

2011-05-18T14:49:00.001-07:00

Hey kids, this way!
There we go! Smile!

The preschool lesson for today was the letters ABCD. We first talked about the letter A and 1.matched the letter card to the alphabet Caterpillar to tell them what letter they were looking at, 2. played I Spy with only 4 letters on a drawing, 3. played I Spy to find the letter in the text of a book. Next, we made alphabet soup by having each child retrieve a foam letter from the "grocery store" or couch. After that, we put on our reading glasses (as seen above) to search around the room to find the 4 letters just discussed. Once they found their letters, we went to the table to practice tracing these letters with crayons. Last, we traced the letter card with our finger and then wrote the letters in corn meal. It was funny to hear them shout out letters like H, N, S (letters in their names)... when all we were using was A through D over and over. Cute kids!

water lesson at preschool

2011-05-18T14:35:00.001-07:00

Last week for Preschool, they had a water lesson about the concept of floating versus sinking.

They were all very excited to take a turn and drop it into the water. It was a surprise to them if it would float and they would cheer if it sank!
Go go gadget arms, Rachel!

Then they played a cooperative relay water game. They each took turns filling a cup, running it to the empty bucket, and then running back to give the cup to the next person. They had to fill the red bucket. At first go around, they didn't want to spill the full cup of water... by the end, they didn't care how much water actually made it, they were running as fast as they could!

They raced to the wall and back, ran through the sprinklers, played basketball, and rode Angela's big wheel tricycle.
The class is perfect with two girls and two boys. These two love to dress as princesses and the boys love dinosaurs, cars, and super hero's!

pictures update

2011-05-18T14:03:00.000-07:00

Last week it was warm enough to swim, so we had some friends over for a "swimming lesson". They blew bubbles, floated, flutter kicked, used noodles/kick board/life jacket to swim across the pool, jumped into the pool with submersion, and went down the big rock slide. They did an excellent job! It was good to have Caden there to go all out trying these water skills. He was going underwater, jumping in without anyone catching him, and showing these timid girls that they'd be alright.

Here she is figuring out that the rock is hot... it would've been a cute picture, but it's still funny.
This is Jackson on day #1 of his 4 day fever ranging from 101.6 to 103.8 degrees. A very stressful couple of days to say the least. He was such a trooper and stayed happy... which made it difficult for me to decide whether or not to go to the doctors. Finally, I did on Thursday (he became sick Tuesday) to find out that he had pharyngitis. His tonsils were almost touching. Poor guy!

Besides being dressed in only a diaper and taking tylenol, I kept a wet washcloth on him to keep his temperature down. After the first few hours, he didn't pull it off anymore and let me put it on his head, back, and stomach without complaint. Ashlyn saw him (in the picture above), started giggling, and told me, "Jackson looks like a sheep!"

Then the next week (while Jackson was still on his 10 day medication), Ashlyn was playing instead of taking a nap and fell off our bed. I thought she had dislocated her arm because it hung limp and she wouldn't use it for 3 days. So on the third day, we had it "x-rayed" (anyone wanting to hear me vent about a holier than thou x-ray technician who possibly mutated some of Jackson's and my cells... call me!) This was the shield he had her wear for the x-rays. She wore that wrist wrap for 3 days, then when we found out her arm was fine, I took her swimming... and after that, she started to use her arm/hand again.
Current gymnastics class. I wish I could have taken a picture of Ashlyn and Jackson side by side jumping on the trampoline, hanging on the bars, and swinging back and forth with their legs on a soft column pad... but obviously, Jackson still needs me to spot him. They giggled and love doing the activities together!

more funny quotes

2011-05-09T19:50:00.000-07:00

1.We were saying good bye to Tom and I prompted Ashlyn to say, "Have fun in Vegas". She doesn't know what Vegas is and it turned into "have fun with Jesus!" Danny and I enjoyed a long laugh on that one.
2. Ashlyn asked to get down from the table without finishing her lunch and while normally I don't permit this, I was dealing with a very ill Jackson and let her get down to play. While she was playing, I asked her to finish her lunch before it gets eaten for her. She responded, "Boys don't eat my lunch." (meaning Danny and Jackson)
3. I was talking to Ashlyn about finishing preparations for dinner because Danny was coming home. She told me, "Daddy wants a big hug and a clean fork." Wow, she understands men and at 2 years old too! Impressive.
4. A few nights ago, Ashlyn woke at 5am because she was cold and asked to snuggle. So I meant to just snuggle her until she fell asleep, but I fell asleep in the process. At 6:45am Jackson woke up, sat up in his crib, and started to babble. Ashlyn lifted her head to look at him and said, "Jackson shhh. Mommy's eyes are closed." He laid back down and we didn't get up until 7:15am! He listened to her! Nice!
5. Jackson says, "uh oh" and signs "more" and "I want."
6. Jackson has a strong preference for foods. He is not fond of mashed "baby food" texture and wants the whole stuff with adult flavors. Last night I steamed sweet potatoes and zucchini for him to eat while we had vegie pasta. He would push away the spoon of mashed vegies and point to my plate of vegies and sign "I want". The only way I could get him to eat his meal was to hide it under a slice of mushroom or squash. :) He's also obsessed with cherrios and gestures/requests them at each meal! Even Ashlyn knows his grunts and gestures enough to tell me, "Mom, Jackson wants some more 'cheer-os'!"
7.She repeats herself if she doesn't get the response she wants... for example, this is the conversation I overheard this morning while I was putting my makeup on.

A:"There's a man in the back yard!"
D: "Yeah there is."
A: "Dad! There's a man!"
D: "There IS a man in the back yard."
A: "Look, a man in the back yard!"
D:"Ashlyn, I know there's a man in the back yard!"
A: (repeated again)
D: "You already told me. I know."
A:(repeated again)
D:"please stop saying that."
K:"Ashlyn the man is cleaning the pool. He's allowed to be back there."
A: "okay." and walks away to play.
-I have some smart remarks to make about this miscommunication, but to Danny's defense, he was still in bed waking up! So I'll be nice.

Gymnastics Class

2011-05-02T13:27:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn had her second Gymnastics class today. She did so well! It was really exciting. They started out learning how to use a hula hoop, then played with a parachute, stretched, and started on their 1st obstacle course. They did head stands, but Ashlyn did hand stands all by herself! They did back "rolls" off a circular bag, summersaults, walked on a balance beam, 2 feet hopped in hula hoops, and modified cart wheels.
Next, they went into the large gym area where the big equipment was. She jumped forward and backwards in a straight line on a trampoline, hung from a bar with her toes on the bar and her nose to her knees (her legs are straighter than last week! Her left hand is slipping in this picture; her coach would be so disappointed in me for not spotting her in these pictures like we do during class :)...

...walked sideways on a low balance beam,

then decided that she wanted to go forward some more one food in front of the other,

and swung from rings. She is so tall that she couldn't do the swing straight legged! :)
I'm going to get pictures next time, but I didn't get to take pictures of the foam pit! She loves to jump in and have me throw her in. Jackson wanted to climb in too today!
Last, they go back to their starting room to get a sticker, stamp, and coloring page. This is what their coach tells them to do while they wait for their turn.

She is a really good listener, quick at learning the activities/movements, and is becoming less shy. Today her coach asked her to demonstrate for the class, and she was slow to walk to the coach, but did what was asked of her (it was the toes on bar picture above that she demonstrated). She was so excited afterwards that she skipped back to the line where the kids were sitting with a huge smile on her face! Made my heart smile too!

Go to this link to see Ashlyn do a back walk over--http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fsg5eZIUs9g

more funny bounce house pics

2011-04-28T15:16:00.000-07:00

You can't imagine the giggling that next occurred from their 3 kid pile up!
Ashlyn's friends Caden and Angela!

These two plus Sean are the 3 friends that Ashlyn talks about when you ask her about her friends.

Preschool Community Outing

2011-04-27T13:55:00.000-07:00

We went to Pump it Up 2 weeks ago for a birthday party.
It was so much fun that our Preschool Group decided to go too!

Great gross motor development! :)

Caden was a really fast climber! That guy can move!

They had fun going down the slide racing, holding hands, doing a train, on their stomach, laying down... very creative!

Caden found these helmets... they never jousted, but they had fun wearing them!

These friends play so well together! This has been such a blessing for Ashlyn! She didn't have any playmates in St. George and had become VERY socially reticent. She still needs to warm up, but is doing so much better! (i.e., When we arrived Caden was so happy to see her that he came over to give her a hug. She hid behind me as I encouraged him to just grab her for a hug! :)

I made many trips to the top to help some kids down, take Jackson down, and because I am a kid at heart! By the time I thought to take a picture of us, Jackson was really tired and ready for a nap, but he really did enjoy the slide and bounce houses!
Though I think, maybe, I enjoyed them just a bit more!

Aerobics class and bounce houses... what an awesome morning!!

little update

2011-04-25T22:00:00.000-07:00

Ashlyn takes naps on our bed because otherwise she just stays awake playing with Jackson. She dismantles the bedding as she settles in for her nap... pillow cases pulled off, blankets all over twisted, she's sprawled sideways... She's one active and crazy sleeper!
Her hair is finally long enough to do french braids! They were so cute!

Silly girl loves to pose!
He loves to imitate Ashlyn and laugh when she's laughing!
He also likes to laugh to get Danny's attention during dinner.

He is such a funny little guy!
A few weeks ago we had a FHE lesson on Noah's Ark. After the lesson, they got in the ark with the animals for a ride in the ocean. They thought it was great fun!

Fun Facts:

Jackson can climb both up and down the stairs on his stomach! He's quite good at it and has only fallen down the stairs once. It was from the 1st step because I scared him telling him not to climb the stairs... mother of the year award right there.

Ashlyn has this thing about saying "Mom, help me find the way" whenever she is asking for help, and I didn't respond immediately. It's hilarious because the words are from the primary song "I am a child of God" and she started this out of no where.

I did our last Preschool lesson on textures. Since that class, she's been using words such as hot, cold, smooth, bumpy, rough, soft, hard, wet, and hairy in a list of 2-3 adjectives using the conjunctive "and"! Love it!

Easter Dance

2011-04-24T22:24:00.000-07:00

Jackson has some awesome moves: side sway, bouncing, and bum poppin'!

It was too cute that they were all dancing with a toy! Funny that J's happened to be the car he was playing with!

4 days of Easter

2011-04-24T22:07:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, as part of Park Day, we had an Easter egg hunt with our friends.

(no pictures yet... I forgot to take any, but a friend did)

On Saturday morning, our ward had a hunt and pancake breakfast. The hunt was in the rock field next to the church. When all the other kids started running, she sauntered over, waited for us adults to come and then casually started picking up the eggs. :)

She loved opening the eggs and would gasp in surprise and excitement when shiny wrappers were discovered... I would gasp in excitement when the shiny wrappers were mini twix or snickers! Whoo hoo!

Jackson was excited to play with the empty eggs!

Simple pleasures!

----------------------------------------------------
On Saturday afternoon, we went to Corona to see the Foate's for an Easter egg hunt and El's birthday party! The hunt was on this ranch/orchard property that was very beautiful and large! They hid 400 eggs for the kids! The front yard was for the kids 3 and under while the field was for the older kids! They had mango salsa, a cheese ball, cheese spread, and crab dip... delicious!
This time I put Jackson down right by an egg so he could "discover" it.
He examined it.

Then walked around with it happy as a clam to be watching the scurrying kids around him! Look at that quizzical brow! I love it!

Then they got out their power wheel tractor and jeep... which one did Ashlyn want? Grandpa Holdaway, G-Pa, and Grampy would be so proud!

Easter part 2

2011-04-24T21:32:00.000-07:00

This top picture was taken the Sunday before Easter... but Easter morning was not a happy occasion for me getting myself and the kids ready.On Easter I wore a yellow outfit... but here's my fun new way of tying a scarf!! I am in love with scarves right now! After church we went to Deena's for an egg hunt and dinner.

They got some fun Easter "hats!"

J wanted nothing more than to rip these ears off his head... the velcro was very strong!
These two girls collected all of the eggs in 3 minutes and 45 seconds! Impressive! Even Jackson got in on the action and collected 4 eggs that were on the grass. He would walk over, pick up an egg, plop down to inspect it, shake it, and then put it in his his basket that I'd place beside him... and go to the next egg and repeat! Nice job bud! I did have to fend off the two girls from taking his eggs after the rest of the back yard was picked clean! :)
This time when we went inside to crack the eggs for the loot... Jackson knew that what was inside was for eating! :) Though he didn't get any he was happy biting the candy in its wrapper, throwing it to the ground, and picking up another from the basket!

Family Update

2011-04-19T09:15:00.000-07:00

Guess who's going to the Kentucky Derby next year!?!? WE ARE! I don't even know when it is, but it's my main exciting part about moving to Kentucky this summer! I can't wait to get a huge hat like the ones on My Fair Lady! I know I'll look just like Audrey Hepburn. Gettin' our overalls on and becoming friends with the horse people! I anticipate learning how to make some amazing fried chicken... it will truly be Kentucky Fried Chicken! :)

Congrats to Danny for getting into the Public Administration and Policy PhD program! We're so proud!

funny quotes from Ash

2011-04-18T23:54:00.000-07:00

1. G-Pa showed Ashlyn his 6 inch scar on the side of his knee and told her a story about it being a shark bite. A few days ago, Ashlyn was showing me her scratches, bumps, and bruises and after pointing to the scratches on her knee she said, "GPa has a shark bite on his leg!" It was really funny for her to remember his story.

2.While in PA, she was sitting on the toilet to go poop and she couldn't push it out. This is what she told me with the saddest eyes, "my bum's broken.

3. Tonight we were sitting at the table eating dinner and she said this-"I scare kids at school like this" with this face pictured below. Out of nowhere. I have no idea where she got it from!

4. She giggles as she tells me what others have just said, "Kids say bucket," "Daddy say be right back," "Jackson say 'ba'"

5. This girl LOVES applesauce! We go through two of the HUGE containers a week! If you even just talk about it, she wants to eat it right away... even if she has just finished eating! This morning I dished her up a very small bowl of applesauce to appease her while the oatmeal was cooking. She finished and then said, "I want some more applesauce... just a lot!"

6.She likes to associate objects with those she's seen them on: courtney's curly hair, shilo's shiny flat shoes, DeeDee's draping black cover up, G-Ma's exercise sandals... she's constantly telling me where I get my fashion ideas from!

7.About every other day, we at some point rock in the rocking chair together. Usually I list off things she's done that I'm proud of her for (i.e., helping Jackson get his toy that a child took from him at Aerobics, playing nicely with her friends, cleaning the windows with me, putting her toys away, washing the dishes...) and then I always end by listing those who love her and then I say, "You are so special. You're Mommy's big helper. You're Daddy's sweetheart, and you're G-Pa's Izba." She always giggles and repeats "Izba!" and if she wants me to repeat it she'll say Izba with a question intonation. Whenever we talk to G-Pa on the phone she whispers to me, "G-pa said Izba!"

8. And her most commonly said phrase, "Mom, look at me!" while making a funny pose.

fun videos

2011-04-18T22:18:00.000-07:00

Crazy kids!

Walking all over!

Aida's in Town

2011-04-14T21:41:00.000-07:00

Beckham was blessed Conference Sunday. He had the cutest little jacket on. It was a very sweet blessing for such a sweet little guy. Dirty Grandma and Grampy waited to start driving back to Canada until after the blessing. They are so awesome! Funny Story: As soon as Grandma arrived for the blessing, she immediately went to the kitchen to help finish the luncheon preparations. She opened the fridge and out popped a huge jar of pickles, shattering all over the floor!! We started making jokes about how she makes such a grand entrance, likes to be in the spotlight, etc.... she was so embarrassed! But it was Dirty Dan who had just put the pickles away, so really the next person to touch the fridge was going to take the fall-- sorry Dirty Grandma!

Rhys and Ashlyn are such fun cousins and great friends! They both ask for each other and play soooo well together!

They loved to follow each other around, and their little conversations were so cute! For quite a few days after the Aida's went home, Ashlyn would look at me and say, "I want to play with Rhys. Let's go to Papa's house." or "Daddy going to Papa's house to see Rhys. I wanna go too!" And still about every few days she asks where Rhys is.

These two thought it was so funny to hide in Deena's vacuum closet. Jackson looks so adorable in his suit!! Thanks Dylan for passing along the handsome outfits!

By the way, at his 10 month well baby check up he is 22.5lbs in the 75th percentile and 30 inches tall in the 90th percentile. Go J GO!

Side note: Jackson is in an upright car seat and is loving it! These two just sit there entertaining each other. So fun!

We celebrated Grampy's birthday with cupcakes, angel food cake, and...

... going to Cheesecake Factory! Delicious! Chicken Madiera... amazing! The kids did well until I brought out Jackson's applesauce... Ashlyn had a fit wanting to eat it. I now pack enough for both of them- won't.make.that.mistake.again! What a Meltdown!

photo shoot part 2

2011-04-03T22:17:00.000-07:00

Between sessions we went on a walk and found this gorgeous bush in someone's yard. She is so good at creating poses I just couldn't stop taking pictures. So here's another long string of photos to enjoy.

She spotted this swing and loved it! I was worried that we'd get in trouble... so we left quickly.

general conference photo shoot

2011-04-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

We were showered, dressed, and ready for Saturday morning's General Conference... and she looked so cute! I just had to take some pictures!

This is her main pose when you ask her to pose.

...when you ask her to point her toes.

Enjoy!

fun day's work

2011-04-03T21:25:00.000-07:00

I love waking up to the pretty sun rises!
We were dressed to go to Disneyland, but it fell through...

...so we went on a walk with her tutu!

All in a hard day's work! :)

modeling new panties

2011-04-03T20:52:00.001-07:00

G.Ma took Ashlyn to get new princess panties, and she came back to show her panties! Boo took these pictures! These are in the sequence that she posed!

okay so this last one has some butt cheekies showing... Ashlyn is such a funny girl!