Commander Jack

Jack says...

2011-06-08T22:12:00.000-07:00

"Maybe on kids day you can give me a present" after talking about who gets presents on Mother's Day.

"Mom, did you know that when you were little you used to play with Jesus everyday?"

I reminded Jack that when he is asleep at night his body will wake him up if he needs to go potty so he needs to listen and walk to the bathroom if he has to go. His response: "My weenie talks to me!?!"

In the car the other day we were talking about Jack's two grandma's and he said "Mom, do you ever think we should measure my two grandma's to see who's bigger?" (which means "taller" to Jack). I'm embarrassed to admit that such a clever idea never even occurred to me.

Jack and Annie snuck the ice cream out of the freezer the other day while Paul and I were outside working on re-staining the deck. He came outside with a sneaky, proud smile on his face and ice cream dripping down his chin. We asked him if he'd been eating the ice cream when he shouldn't have been and he just said with a mischievous laugh "Diss!" Then he thought about it a moment longer and said, totally serious now, "It's not a diss, guys, I was just hungry for it."

Jack's tummy tells him lots of things, not just when he is hungry. His nightly excuse for not going to bed is "My tummy told me it's not tired yet." Same for going home from a friend's house: "My tummy told me it doesn't want to go home yet."

Jack: "Mom, I don't want to go to Benis, it's scary there."
Me: "What? What's Benis?"
Jack: "You know, Benis. It's a planet."
Me: "You mean Venus?"
Jack (totally exasperated at this point): That's what I said...Benis!"

A girlie first

2011-05-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

We had such a perfect day today and ran around outside in short sleeved shirts and flip flops. Oh how I love the feeling of waking up to a beautiful, warm spring day after months and months of cold. It's like I can't help but walk around with a smile plastered on my face no matter what is going on.

Annie and I had a "first but definitely not last" activity today...

Okay, it's probably impossible to tell from this picture but those little piggies of her's are painted PINK! While Jack was doing his boy thing (monster trucks in the playroom, of course) Annie and I snuck upstairs to get pretty toes. Okay, I guess I should add that a couple weeks ago I tried to paint her fingernails, which totally didn't work because she kept trying to touch the paint before it dried. And Jack stumbled upon us in the middle of all this and asked if he could have his fingernails painted too. :-) I said of course, rather surprised he was interested in bright pink nail polish, and then he told me "No, I don't want that on my fingers," he only wanted blue or green nail polish. Silly me, I have no blue or green nail polish. And suddenly all nail polish interest disappeared and back he went to all his boy stuff.

And two extra pics of Annie...

A guilty flashback

2011-05-01T20:36:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I just posted on Jack's birthday and experienced major guilt when I realized that during my "hiatus" last year I failed to post anything on Annie's birthday...I should say ANNIE'S FIRST BIRTHDAY!!! Shame on me. I took tons of pictures and put nothing up on the blog. And so, not only so she doesn't hate me later in life but also for my own memory, I thought I'd post a few pictures. We did a fun little cake smash on the back patio and I borrowed my sweet SIL Heather's camera so I actually could get some good pictures!

I had so much fun looking back at these pictures. I can't believe how different she already looks in just another half year. Craziness. She is still just as much our little princess, though! Oh how I love this little sweetie.

Happy Birthday, Jack!

2011-05-01T19:42:00.001-07:00

I'm a month behind but I had to put in some pictures from Jack's birthday party! We had so much fun and he had lots of friends and cousins over (I think we had 13 or 14 kids...crazy us!). As I've posted many times before, Jack is obsessed with monster trucks so of course that was the theme. I wanted to make him a monster truck cake but was a little intimidated by the whole thing, until I found some easier ideas online. What we ended up with was far from perfect but Jack was completely awed and absolutely loved it. He seriously couldn't stop looking at it, it was super cute.

Jack with his cousin Hyrum

We played pin the tail on the donkey, hullabaloo, simon says, hit a piniata, but most of all the kids just ran around like the crazy animals they are :-).

Some of the kids lining up for Hullabaloo

"Simon says, do the robot"

Me and a sad Annie. Found out that night when I finally took her to Instacare that she had a double ear infection. :-(

After pizza, it was yummy cake time

Present time is always absolutely chaotic! The kids just can't get close enough to all the opening-up action.

The day after Jack's birthday party we visited Grandma Hollingshead who gave him some sweet Rev 'n Go Monster trucks, which he still races every day.

Then we went to Grandma Webb's for a family party, where Jack got some awesome light saber's. They light up and make all the essential "light saber noises" that all of the male gender seem to love!

And a cute one of James and Annie sitting cozy

We love you SOOO much Jack and are so glad you are in our family! You are the best big brother to Annie and have such a sweet sensitive heart. Your smile and laughter light up my life every single day and I can't wait to celebrate more birthdays with you (but I wouldn't mind if this "growing up" stuff could slow down just a little!).

Easter

2011-05-01T19:21:00.000-07:00

We had a fun little Easter egg hunt at my sister Jen's house last Sunday. This is a really lame post because I didn't take any great pics, but I had to post a few I took with my phone for Erin and Amy. Enjoy the very few that I listed below. We missed you guys and wish you were here!

Annie didn't realize for the longest time that there were actually treats in the eggs. She just kept emptying them and loading them back in the basket, counting them as she went.

James, on the other hand, seemed to have a lot more experience and dug right in to his treats!

Men are from Mars

2011-05-01T18:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we ordered pizza. Today Paul ate the leftovers for dinner. Jack wanted some so I heard him say he would cut him half a slice. A few minutes later I walked into the kitchen and saw this:

This, my friends, is an empty (greasy) pizza box with office scissors sitting inside. Yes, office scissors. Upon closer inspection it became clear that these office scissors were indeed used to cut Jack's piece of pizza. And just in case you are wondering, besides office scissors we also own these:

It was indeed perplexing and confusing to me why he would go to the trouble to find office scissors when two pizza cutters and a delighfully sharp pair of kitchen shears were only one one drawer below the counter that the pizza was located on. But the uncontrollable laughter I had over the whole situation didn't occur until I mentioned all this to him and he looked at me with utter confusion that I thought it was strange that he cut the pizza with office scissors. If I could only describe his face, one of complete innocence. It was like trying to explain to Jack that maybe next time he could use the pizza cutter instead of our office scissors in that particular situation. Yes, hilarious.

And here is my adorably crazy martian man, enjoying his perfect cut piece of pizza. Yum.

Jack says...

2011-04-18T22:35:00.000-07:00

- “Mom, what if another ghost comes and beats up the Holy Ghost?”

- As we’re getting out of the car to go to Target, Jack tells me that he just “tooted.” “Do you have to go to the bathroom?” I ask, and he tells me no. Twenty minutes later, right as we get up to the register to pay, Jack says “Toots don’t always mean that you have to go potty, mom” (checkout lady in perfect hearing distance, of course).

- Getting in the car on a warm day, Jack says “It’s freezing hot in here, mom!”

- While on the potty, Jack asks me where poop comes from. I try to explain to him that the things that we eat every day are turned into that by our bodies. He thinks about this for a second, then says in an shocked, incredulous voice “Chicken nuggets are poopy?!?”

- Me: “Great job eating such a good dinner tonight, Jack.”
Jack: “Thanks, couldn’t have done it without ya!”

Our favorite books

2011-04-18T21:45:00.001-07:00

My sister Erin is an amazing blogger. She does super creative and fun posts, and also doesn't go months (or close to a year) between posts. In fact, she is my blogging inspiration, though I've given up the idea of ever getting to her level (and my blog is still broken, as you can tell). I totally loved this post she did, what a great idea and a wonderful way to remember our absolute favorite books that we are reading to our kids every day. I absolutely adore reading a really great bedtime story to my kids. It's like a sweet lullaby that happens to include beautiful pictures.

San Jose del Cabo

2011-03-28T22:24:00.000-07:00

Mommy and daddy took a vacation! And it was amazing, probably the nicest place I've ever stayed...gorgeous, romantic, perfect relaxation. Mmmmmmmmm. Just dreamy.

The resort we stayed at is called Cabo Azul located in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. Every few months Travelzoo runs an awesome promotion from them and it was worth every penny. I love to travel but part of the fun for me is finding the best deal possible, and, well, sometimes maybe I go to extremes. I knew I wanted to stay at Cabo Azul and the price was great for that, however the flight from SLC to Cabo was $630. It was nonstop, at least, but yeah, not really interested in paying that. I decided to check flights from Las Vegas (flying anywhere from Vegas is often way cheaper, even including the flight from SLC to Vegas) and found one for $380. Much, much better. The flight wasn't nonstop, however, so I clicked on the link to find out what city it went through. Guess what? The flight from Vegas for $380 went through SALT LAKE CITY...yes, the same nonstop flight that was $630. Those crazy, mean airlines playing their crazy, mean tricks. Well, I wasn't about to play their game. We couldn't just pay for the Las Vegas priced flight but waltz onto the airplane once it got to Salt Lake, but at least on the way home we could waltz right off the plane at Salt Lake instead of going all the way to Vegas. All a little easier said then done, it turns out. Paul and I had to rent a car from the SLC airport at 10 p.m., drive to the Las Vegas airport through the night (and pay through the roof for the one-way rental), sleep in a parking lot for a couple hours for our flight, fly back to SLC, then finally take our flight to Cabo. Whew. Coming home was obviously A LOT easier! It was worth it in the end, but I think I'm too old for those shenanigans ever again.

Tri-level infinity pool, warmest water at the top and cooler as you went down

These were some delightfully warm tootsies I had (which happen to be significantly colder right now)

Yummy dinners every night at the little Mexican town we stayed in. Paul ordered this super delicious fish entree, cooked in a piping hot lava rock bowl.

My slightly more boring but still oh-so-delicious enchiladas!

Just a couple-a lovah's out on the town

Took a boat tour out to The Arch, it was gorgeous!

Ladies, try to hold back your jealousy! Paul will be mad I posted this...hee hee.

Huge thanks to those that made this kid-less trip happen. We have the BEST family!! Jenn & Tyler, Momma Hollingshead, Todd & Natalie, and the special award of the trip goes to...Jilly! Jack got sick while we were gone (I know, every parents worst nightmare), and Jill was the lucky one to end up with him during this time. She was such a champ and the sweetest auntie to our kiddos. We love her SOOO much and thank our lucky stars for her. Smooches.

Right Now

2011-02-26T19:23:00.000-08:00

Right now Jack...

Is CRAZY into monster trucks. He organizes monster truck competitions and obstacle courses for his 8 trucks to compete in. His favorite right now is his Superman monster truck!

Loves PB&J and applesauce for lunch.

Still struggles to keep those undies dry at night (exasperation!).

Is reading to us every night before bed for five minutes before we read to him (we found some begining reading books at the library). He's getting better and better every day!

Is still super sweet to Annie, never agressive and actually shares his toys with her. Yay!

Is super dramatic and his lower lip will start to quiver and he'll cry at the tiniest things (again...exasperation!)

Asks me "Did you know I love you mom?" at the sweetests moments.

Right now Annie...

Eats anything and everything nonstop all day. If she's within 10 feet of the kitchen, she'll make a beeline for it and start pulling any food she can find out of the cupboards.

The one true exception to her "eats anything and everything" rule? PB&J, Jack's favorite thing to eat. Go figure.

LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and loves to say all the characters names (especially Minnie and Daisy).

Counts to 10 pretty darn good.

Climbs on and over everything.

Still whines and cries in the car way more than she should. And I still give in to these whines and cries, giving her toys or snacks. Which explains why this goes on and on. ...sigh...

Still lets me cradle her in my arms and rock for a few minutes every night before bed. Heaven on earth.

The Blessings of Today

2011-02-23T15:15:00.000-08:00

Sometimes on especially frustrating, boring days I catch myself looking to the future, imagining what it will be like when my kids are older. I picture a super ideal day, all of us going to the latest kids movie together, then out to dinner without having to use a disgusting high-chair that the baby will whine the whole time to get out of anyway. Or maybe a fun vacation, going on a plane to Disneyland and the beach

No more changing diapers, middle of the night wakeups, car rides with a screaming baby strapped in the carseat...I could go on for a bit here.

...but...

In ten years, when my kids are older, I highly doubt that by 7:30 p.m. (sometimes 7, if I'm really on the ball), all my kids will be cozy in their beds, warm and fast asleep. Ahhhh....evenings are absolutely heavenly around here. Paul and I walk through the house, cleaning up any leftover toys or messes that need to be dealt with. Then it's totally "our" time, currently being filled with watching the TV series Alias. We're about halfway through right now.

At this point in the day, I'll take back my earlier wish of fast-forwarding to the future. I'll enjoy my quiet evening with my honey. And I might even think about a few more things to appreciate in raising a young family. Like...

(Saggy) diaper dances

Binky smiles

Splashy bubble baths

ENDLESS snuggles and kisses (how will I survive when that goes away?!)

It's not my fault...My blog is broken!

2011-01-30T20:48:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's been a LONG time since I've been on here. Embarrassingly long. Long enough that it was a question of "At this point do I just let it fade to the background and never post again" kind of thing. But I realized that it is already fun to look back at pictures and of what we were doing just a year ago, and I had seriously already forgotten things just from my last posts. I need to be documenting our lives better than this, especially while my kiddos are so young and precious. Otherwise in 20 years what will I even have left of those memories??

Way back when I was actually still posting things in the Spring I tried to do something fancy with my blog background and it all went crazy and I lost everything I had been working on as well as my list of friends/family bloggers. Why am I the only one who struggles with this "easy" blogging technology stuff??? Ugh. Anyway, I still have a broken blog but thought I'd better start posting something, or it will just never happen. And one of these days I'll get to fixing it. :-) Will someone volunteer themselves to come over and solve all my blogging problems?!

I'll just do some quick updates so I'm not up until 3 a.m. this morning. I don't know about you, but my kids sleep in about once every year or two and I'm guessing tomorrow won't be that morning. ;-)

We had a wonderful Christmas and had so much fun spending time with family. One of the early highlights was the Hollingshead Sweater Party. I'm not going to call it an Ugly Sweater party because obviously these two works of art Paul and I are wearing would never fit in that category.

Although it was never stated out loud by anyone, I'm pretty sure we at least one the award for classiest couple. Paul's family is so crazy and fun, basically everyone gets together and then doesn't stop laughing until you leave. So fun.

Christmas Day we went to the cabin with a lot of my family and had such a blast.

We found out what a crazy little snow dude Jack is at this age. He spent hours outside sledding on the fun hill by the cabin and we even put him in skis for a bit and he was a super good sport and loved it.

Annie didn't ever stay outside for long but that didn't stop her from looking cute in her snowsuit!

Now that the holidays are over we are back to our normal everyday life. Paul is busy with work and his church calling but still finds time for lots of fun. Luckily his schedule is flexible enough and he is a wonderful hubby and dad who is willing to help out with the kids while I tackle my latest venture: learning to ski! Turns out 30 is not too old to take a ski class. :-) I've been doing the Start Now Program at Park City Resort and HIGHLY recommend it. It's so much fun and I've met an awesome new friend who is now my class buddy. Turns out I love to ski, who knew???

Jack turns 4 in a couple months and is a smart little cookie. He's definitely hit the "questions" stage of life. Everything out of his mouth seems to be a question these days! And once you answer the question it just brings on more questions (usually with a "but why?"). Jack is already reading really well, any word that actually "makes sense" with the spelling he will be able to sound it out. It's super exciting and a surprise I didn't see coming yet, and it has it's own challenges since I've realized how many words in our language just don't make any sense by sounding them out! So I do a lot of explaining throughout the day on things like "actually, the "e" at the end of "apple" doesn't make any sound." I'm sure it's so confusing for the little guy, but he absolutely loves reading and doesn't seem to mind.

Annie is still our princess. She is such a girly girl at 18 months it's unbelievable and can usually be seen wandering around the house on tippy-toes singing Twinkle Twinkle or the Barney song (which only I understand, of course). She already likes "accessories," whether it be necklaces or hats or, apparently, sunglasses.

We bought these sunglasses for Jack a year ago but he never wanted to wear them. The other day Paul put them on Annie and she wore them for the next hour, just chilling out in her carseat with her SG's. Now it is part of our ritual, buckle the car seat and put on the sunglasses! The minute they are on she is seriously in "chill mode." So funny.

It's not much, but that's it for now! If you read this send me your blog address, because I no longer know how to find anyone's blog after losing them all! You can email them to luci_webb@hotmail.com.

Hugs and kisses (but most of you just get hugs).

He's Got the Moves

2010-03-26T20:33:00.000-07:00

So every morning as we have breakfast Paul plugs his iPhone into the speakers and starts Pandora. Friday mornings are "Dance Party Fridays" (and, FYI, Saturday mornings are "International Music Saturdays"), and Jack, Annie and I watch in amazement as he breaks down as no one else can. Sadly, I only have a few moments to share, but I think you get the general idea. Here he is, the king of any dance circle:

Picture post

2010-03-25T22:14:00.000-07:00

So, my lovely sister-in-law Heather let Paul and I borrow her super nice camera. I know I'm way behind on posting, so I figured I'd just do one big "picture posting" to make up for it!

Okay, so we mostly ended up taking pictures of Annie. Look at this cutie, can you really blame us????

And now, I went a little black and white crazy (these look kind of blah small but are cuter full-size)

Have you ever tried to get a good picture of a 3-year-old and 7 month old together? Impossible, right? Right.

Jack is super impressed with Annie's yoga pose

Working up some sort of master plan (Annie looks worried about it, too)

And, finally, the whole fam!

The Birthday Boy

2010-03-25T21:16:00.001-07:00

My little guy is 3 years old...I can hardly believe it. It's been surprisingly emotional for me because I think I'm finally starting to realize that my baby is now a little boy and that he will just keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger until he will suddenly not really be "mine" anymore. Well, maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself there, but let's just say I'm holding both my kids a little closer these days. Jack is such a light in my life. He's happy and sweet and smart to boot. What more could any mommy want?

We had a big crazy birthday party with some of his friends from the neighborhood and cousins Ella, Isaac and Luke. There were a lot of 3-year-olds running around the house like maniacs, which is just the way Jack likes things.

Here's the whole crew in one of the calmer moments:

Paul told the kids they had to wear their birthday hats in order to get a cupcake. Does Cohen look happy about this or what?

This picture reminds me of something:

Just up to his old trick he learned from his first birthday:

Opening presents was a huge group effort:

He also had a fun little birthday party at my mom's house that he shared with his Uncle Zack, so this is one little boy who has gotten alot of presents! He is having a blast with all of them, too, and it should help us over these last few weeks of cold weather before we can finally start playing outside again!

Amy made an AWESOME fighter-jet cake for the boys!

Jack got some Geotrax for his birthday and has been busy with them ever since (here is Aero and Eric, his favorite!):

WE LOVE YOU, JACK!! Thanks for being my best boy.

Can you spot the baby?

2009-09-24T14:29:00.000-07:00

An update

2009-09-24T14:05:00.000-07:00

What's up with us?

A gorgeous hike to Silver Lake in American Fork Canyon

Afternoon snuggle naps

Annie smiles

Pool toys in the bathtub

Somewhat calmer bathtimes

Burrito boys

Girly girls

And big-boy beds

(And a special shout-out to Natalie for watching Jack all afternoon so I actually found myself with time to do this post! Thanks Nat!)

What are little girls made of?

2009-09-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

Sugar and spice and everything nice, that what little girls are made of...

Little Annie is cuter and cuter every day. We are having so much fun with her. One of the talents she already has is that she warns us when she is about to toot or poop by making super cute and smiley faces. Paul says the only thing she inherited from him is her gastrointestinal system. Agreed. She's eating really well and getting chubby, and still trying her best to keep me up at night. Somehow I still adore her though.

What are little boys made of?

2009-09-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

Frogs and snails and puppy-dogs' tails, that's what little boys are made of...

Jack has left babyhood behind for good and is such a fun little boy. He is the best big brother around and is very sweet with Annie. He is mostly potty trained, though I take full responsibility for the fact that I tend to cheat and put him in pull-ups when we go somewhere and I don't want to deal with taking him to the potty and toting Annie along. He also started school at a little local preschool, which he absolutely loves so much that he cries when we leave. That is Jack's best compliment: if he cries when we leave, it's a good thing (preschool, nursery, grandma's house, etc.). He is such a joyful boy.

Monster Trucks!!!

2009-09-01T12:43:00.000-07:00

So Jack has one-upped his love of cars by discovering MONSTER TRUCKS!! Don't ask me how this happened, I never told him anything about them. It's like in the middle of the night a fairy came to him and whispered "I know how much you love cars but there are these other things you don't yet know about but you are going to love. They are called "monster trucks" and they're big and loud and tough and dirty. All your favorite things." From then on it was love at first sight.

He's been absolutely obsessed with them for a couple months now, and it seems every other sentence out of his mouth has something to do with them. Paul was driving the other day when the radio show he was listening to had a contest for free tickets to the monster truck rally for the 21st texter. Well, he started texting like mad and won four tickets. Annie and I decided to pass on the offer, so he and Jack went with Todd, Luke, Mark and Sean (Jack and Luke didn't need a ticket). It sounds like an amazing time was had by all, but Jack seemed to be particularly impressed. I'm pretty sure it was heaven on earth for him. Paul said he didn't want to leave their seats the whole time, even when there was a little halftime break and Paul told him they could go get a treat he wouldn't leave and just sat stairing at the field waiting for the monster trucks to start again. I just can't say how much I love this age...it is such a magical time and I'm so glad to be able to share it with this little guy!

A little sweet monster truck action for those of us unable to attend

Sean made sure to dress appropriately for the event

Luckily Jack brought his trucks from home so when the action stopped on the field he could continue the monster truck fun

Congrats Amy and Zack

2009-09-01T12:39:00.001-07:00

My littlest sister is getting married...how does that happen?! I will admit she found herself a cutie. Wishing you guys the best during your fun engagement time!

Baby Annie is here!

2009-08-09T18:14:00.000-07:00

Our precious little baby girl has arrived! Anna Mae Hollingshead came on Tuesday, Aug 4th at 9:40 p.m. and was a big girl at 8 lbs 7 ounces. My body went into labor on its own so I decided to try for a VBAC instead of another c-section. Everything went wonderful (except for the hour when the epidural only worked on one side...yuck!) and I only had to push for an hour or so, which I think is good for a first labor, right? She had a few breathing problems (basically a less severe version of the meconium aspiration Jack had when he was born), so she had to be in the 2nd level nursery the whole time we were in the hospital, but we were able to bring her home with us when I checked out of the hospital 48 hours after the delivery, so we were so excited about that! No two-week stay in the NICU this time around! She is now healthy and eating wonderfully, and being naughty by keeping us up all night (last night at least). She started out loving the binky but now only wants to suck on the boob all night...mama is TIRED! It's nice to have the perspective though that this sleepy period doesn't last forever. She looks A LOT like my mom and sisters (especially Erin and Traci), so she is all Webb so far. Jack is doing awesome in his big brother role and is being so patient and sweet with his little "whister" Annie.

Well, sorry for the rambling post, but I wanted to mention something really quick.

Here's Annie:

The greatest daddy:

And the cutest big brother around:

Rainy Days

2009-06-18T21:55:00.000-07:00

I can't believe this crazy June weather! Does anyone else living in Northern Utah feel like we suddenly became Oregon or Washington? On the one hand I am loving the cooler temperatures and I don't really mind rainy days (plus it's great for the wildflowers we planted in the backyard). On the other, Jack and I are missing the fun pool days I thought we'd be having at least a few days a week. Is the whole month of June going to be like this?

Last week during one of the crazy cold and thunderous rainstorms we've been having we went out on the porch to watch the rain fall. It was coming down so hard in huge raindrops. Suddenly Paul grabs Jack, both fully clothed with socks on, and starts running around the circle with him. They came back to the porch and Jack begged to go back into the rain, so Paul stripped them both down and went for it. The little dude just couldn't get enough of it. They ran around forever until I talked them both back in with warm chocolate chip cookies. They are my crazy boys!

And, of course, after the rain comes the rainbow...gorgeous!

Hollingshead Family Trip

2009-06-18T20:50:00.000-07:00

We just got back from an epic trip with the whole Hollingshead family to Yellowstone National Park. We rented a huge cabin in Island Park (about 25 minutes from West Yellowstone) with 7 bedrooms and two fun lofts and plenty of beds for everyone. I think we had close to 20 adults and 16 kids/babies along for the ride, so there was a fair amount of chaos going on. Overall I couldn't believe how smooth the trip went, though. It's been so long since I've been to Yellowstone I was just so amazed at the beauty of it. We barely scratched the surface of all the things I wanted to see (didn't even get up to Mammoth), so we need to take another trip back soon. We saw tons of buffalo (or bison, which is it?????), elk, an eagle in it's huge nest, a pretty big coyote (Paul was so excited because it really did look like a wolf, but we're pretty sure now it was a coyote), antelope, a moose, and we even saw a black bear! Add to that the gorgeous scenery, hot springs, geysers and waterfalls, and you can truly understand why Yellowstone is such an amazing place.

The bear!

Lower falls

View from lower falls looking towards the "Grand Canyon" of Yellowstone (we are standing directly above a HUGE waterfall)

Jack has the best seat around on the waterfall hike

Yep, I'm trying to get Jack to say "cheese!"

At Old Faithful...is Jack finally learning how to ham it up for the camera??(Unfortunately the answer is still no).

One of the many bison on the side of the road

These guys know what to wear to fit right in with the locals

Date night for Sean and Scott (I think Sean paid)

A Luke, Jack and Tara choo-choo

Family pic

Four wheelin' fun

Our Long Lost Friends

2009-06-11T22:58:00.000-07:00

Two of our oldest friends, Cole and Kelly, are visiting for the whole summer while Cole is on a break from law school in Alabama. They came to our house for a barbeque and it was so much fun to get re-aquainted. They have two cute boys, Grant and Will, and Jack had a blast playing cars and chase with them all night. We are so excited to have them around for at least a couple more months and can't wait to spend more time together. Cole and Kelly are the type of people that we will always remain close to even though we may not be able to have a lot of contact or communication. The friendship just picks up where it left off. :-) You gotta love friends like that.

Grant, Jack and Will

How adorable is this face?!

A Day Out with Thomas

2009-06-11T22:38:00.000-07:00

We took Jack up to the Heber Valley Railroad for their "Day Out with Thomas" event. We had so much fun, though Jack seemed to be a little overwhelmed by it all! Paul told him we were going to the Island of Sodor (you know what this is if you have kids who watch Thomas) and we were going to have a train ride on Thomas. I'm sure he had no idea what to make of that statement, so once we were there and suddenly Thomas was really there, right in front of him, he just seemed in total awe! They had lots of fun activities, but Jack's favorite (besides the Thomas ride) was a booth with some really intricate and fun model electric trains. I think he wanted to stay and watch those little trains go by for hours, because everytime we tried to leave that booth he would have a complete meltdown. Finally we got him away so we could board Thomas for a real ride on a real train. It was so much fun! We can't wait to go again. In fact, he still asks me when I am loading him in the car to go somewhere "Island Sodor? See Thomas, mommy?" It is so very cute, but it breaks my heart we have to wait so long to take him again. We'll be sure to keep it in our plans for next year!

Camping in Escalante

2009-05-30T23:26:00.000-07:00

With the baby coming in August, we’ve been trying to pack in all the fun and excitement we can before the chaos begins. So it felt great to get our first camping and hiking trip in as early as possible for us. We went with Traci, Christian and cute little baby Junah to Escalante and hiked to the beautiful and magnificent Calf Creek Falls. We had excellent weather (not unbearably hot during the day or unbearably cold at night for the little ones), yummy food cooked over the fire and the dutch oven, and lots of fun adventures packed into our weekend. The kids did awesome even though we asked a lot of them, like the almost 6 mile roundtrip hike we ended up taking right at naptime. Probably not our smartest move, but they both did awesome and were great little campers. We’ve been wanting to get a child carrier backpack so we can hike easier with Jack, but didn’t have it yet for the trip. Paul ended up carrying Jack on his shoulders most of the way up to the falls and the whole way back down. Wow am I grateful that I get to have such a buff guy! He was absolutely amazing and in such great shape it didn’t even seem to bother him, even though we hiked through sand most of the way and there were some good little hills to climb. Jack and I are so lucky he’s ours!!

Here are some of my favorite pics of the trip:

All of us at Calf Creek

Our little fam right before Paul plunged into the icy water and swam to the waterfall

Cute dad's and even cuter sons!

Saturday afternoon after the hike we went on a nice drive so Jack could have a little car nap and ended up at Bowen Reservoir. It was beautiful and the perfect place to relax and throw rocks in the lake.

We had such a great time and can’t wait for the next trip. Who’s in??

Jack's Perfect Day

2009-05-30T23:15:00.001-07:00

I could do about 10 posts of Jack doing his favorite thing, throwing rocks in the river (or any body of water). He just loves it and never can seem to get enough. Luckily we have quite a few places to go right near our house, but a few weeks ago when we were staying at the family cabin near the Uintah's we drove up the mountains and found the perfect rock-throwing site. It was still really cold and there was some snow, but everything was crisp and fresh and beautiful and we ended up exploring for a long time.

Easter

2009-04-21T22:23:00.001-07:00

My good friend Melissa had a fun little Easter Egg hunt in her back yard a few weeks ago. I had to post the picture of all the kids sitting so patiently with their baskets while all the moms frantically tried to find their cameras and take pics. They just kind of watched us and waiting there with their baskets like "what's the big deal, mom?" Such adorable kids and they all were really cute with each other.

Unfortuntely I had a horrible "mothering moment" after we got home. Earlier in the morning as we were getting ready I realized I'd left his Croc's at Todd and Natalie's house. It was really warm outside, so I decided to see if his pair from last year still fit him. I put them on him and they did seem tight but he didn't complain and seemed to be walking fine. He was in them for HOURS as we ran errands and played at Melissa's during the Easter Egg hunt. There were a couple times I looked at him as he was walking around and thought he was walking a little funny, but honestly I'd kind of forgotten about using last years Croc's and didn't think anything about it. He started getting a little cranky towards the end of the day so I took him home and removed the shoes and discovered he had MASSIVE nickle-sized blisters on the insides of both his tiny feet. They were bleeding and the skin was completely removed and rubbed off horribly. I don't think I've ever had blisters that bad on myself, let alone caused them on my two year old. They still are not healed, the skin keeps re-peeling, and I feel horrible every time I see them and remember how bad I messed up. I almost wish he would have been cranky and mad all day at me as my punishment, at least. But he just dealt with it all day and went with the flow. Nothing like a stupid mistake like that to humble you as a parent. Part of motherhood, I guess?

My baby is two!!

2009-04-21T21:56:00.000-07:00

Oops, I'm a month late on this, but I still had to announce: Jack is now offically a two year old. I can hardly believe how fast time has flown, but he definitely looks two and acts two, so it must be true!! The weather was gorgeous and warm on his birthday so we played outside all day, flying kites at the park and (of all things) going to the new Walmart open house! While I'm not the biggest Walmart fan, they had a lot of fun activities for little kids. There were fire trucks, police cars and motorcycles that Jack could climb all over (every little boys dream come true), free food and drinks, and appearances by Mickey and Minnie and the Easter Bunny. Jack was very excited about meeting Mickey and Minnie, though he did seem confused that they didn't talk back to him. He just kept waving and saying "Hi Mickey, Hi Minnie" over and over with a huge smile on his face, waiting for them to respond.

Our tough motorcycle guy

I am loving this age and would stop time for a bit to make it last. He is just such a joy and a sweet, warm, loving little guy. He loves to sing songs, his favorites being Old McDonald, Twinkle Twinkle, Happy Birthday, and the ABC's (he can sing that one almost the whole way through by himself and recognizes most of the letters by sight now!). He has turned into a huge snuggler, which is fun because he wasn't snuggly as a baby. He loves other kids (when we're at home he often begs me "see people?" or "see friends?") and it's becoming clear I'm not enough for him any more. He is just extremely social and outgoing, especially with other children. I'm hoping that holds until the baby comes and he will just be glad to have another person in the house with us! As for now, though, I'm excited to be able to enjoy one last summer of just me and my little guy before the real chaos begins! Yikes, how will I ever handle two!?? Until then.....

WE LOVE YOU, JACK! THANKS FOR BLESSING OUR LIVES WITH YOUR SWEET HAPPY SPIRIT!

Preschool Prep Comany

2009-03-06T14:04:00.000-08:00

I had to spread the word about the Preschool Prep Company DVD's. If any of you have already used them, you know what I mean when I say they are amazing (and those without kids can probably skip this post as you will find it extremely boring!). They have one for letters, numbers, shapes and colors. We bought a pack with all four a few months ago and within a couple weeks of Jack watching the numbers, shapes and colors DVD's he knew them all! He could not only count to 10, but he also recognizes all the numbers (so if I point to a five he knows it is a five, etc.). It's the same with shapes (octagon seems to be his favorite shape!) and colors, too. The shows are highly entertaining and keep them interested, and they are pretty short (I think each one is about 30 minutes). We were holding off on the letters one, but he's now watched it a few times and knows many of his letters now, too. The other day he picked up one of his foam bath letter cutouts and said "F." I couldn't believe it! Obviously I'm not worried about him knowing this stuff yet, but I figure if he's going to watch shows sometimes they may as well be as educational as possible. And they really help him pick up on the concepts of all these things so that he understands what I mean as I reinforce what he is learning.

Thanks Erin for finding these!

Spring Fever!!

2009-03-03T21:05:00.001-08:00

Is anyone else's family going crazy for Spring? We've had a few nice days of weather where Jack and I have gone to the park and run around the backyard, but most days we're feeling stir-crazy inside. Paul has appointments in St. George once a month or so, and Jack and I went along two weekends ago. It was such a wonderful break and great chance to be outside and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Friday night we got in a little late and after checking in at our hotel we just went to dinner at the Pizza Factory. Saturday we spent the morning and afternoon at Zions. We went on the Riverside Walk , Jack threw rocks in the river every chance he could get, and drove through the tunnels, which he loved (especially when Paul honked the horn). Then we went back to the hotel and swam in the outdoor pool. It was only 55-60 degrees outside, but the pool was supposed to be heated to 80 degrees or so. Um, not quite! It was a little chilly! But Jack just loved it, I guess it has been too long since he went swimming. He didn't mind the water temp at all. Sunday we went to Snow Canyon to play in the sand dunes before we had to drive home.

I forgot my camera, but we did take a few pics on the camera phone.

Throwing rocks in the river

Running along the Riverside Walk

It's one giant sandbox!

Beautiful!

Oh, Baby!

2009-01-08T22:15:00.001-08:00

Okay, so I got behind on the blog again. I know I'm not the best at this, but this time I have an excuse. Can I blame it on being pregnant and nauseous and tired and more tired? I guess I can only claim that for the last 3-4 weeks of not posting, but these days I feel like I've accomplished a lot if I actually take a shower and get out of my pajamas for the day. Yes, morning sickness is in full swing. We are very excited about this baby and everything seems to be going well (and "helpful" people keep telling me to be grateful for the morning sickness so I know the baby is alright...I know it's true, but do I really have to feel grateful for feeling this way?!)

Anyway, almost all of you already know our happy news but I thought I'd better make an "official" announcement for those who didn't. To use the phrase we used last time to announce our pregnancy with Jack "A New Ute is on the Way!"

Celebrating in the Big Easy!

2009-01-08T14:57:00.000-08:00

Paul, Sean and I got back a few days ago from our New Orleans trip and I can't begin to describe how much fun we had. Obviously the Utes huge win at the Sugar Bowl had a little something to do with it, but New Orleans was such an awesome city that the game just felt like the icing on the cake. Paul and I can't wait to go back, because we couldn't possibly fit everything we wanted to do in the 4 days we were there. I loved the shopping (lots of it and all within walking distance), and we all loved the food and interesting sightseeing we were able to do. We explored the French Quarter, the Garden District, and the Riverwalk. It was all so beautiful and unique, and surprisingly clean. I guess I don't really know what I expected but it was better than I imagined.

Tickets from SLC to New Orleans were around the $800 mark by the time we were going to buy, so we got really creative and flew out of Las Vegas (drove there and back) to Gulfport, MS (about 45 minutes from New Orleans). Our tickets with this route were only $230, so it was a huge savings.

Sean ended up on a different flight than us so Paul and I had a few hours to kill in Gulfport while we waited for him. The beach was empty as it was only 65 degrees outside, but it was really beautiful and peaceful.

The Gulfport airport was tiny, with maybe only six gates and one little escalator down to the one bag claim machine. Paul made a sign for Sean and went and stood next to the other drivers with signs waiting for their customers to come in. I wish I could've gotten a picture of him standing in the row of them with his "B-Dash" sign, but I had to wait at the curb with the car.

The Riverwalk in New Orleans

Ladies, that spot next to Sean is currently open...get in line for a chance at it!

We showed up at Alabama's Allstate Tailgate party thinking we were going to Utah's tailgate. Oops. Oh well, we had a great time!

Paul led a small group of Utah fans to victory in a kazoo fight song competition. He won a polo shirt, which he lost a little later that day. Whoever found that polo shirt, Paul really wants it back.

My brush with a HUGE celebrity...it's Bergwood, the Allstate guy!

Riding the trolley to the Garden District:

Tailgate Party right before the game

We stood in a concession stand to get some food and Paul was really vague about what he wanted to eat and mumbled something about not being hungry. Well Sean and I get out of the line with our corndogs and turn around to see Paul walking towards us with a MASSIVE smoked turkey leg! We had been making fun of people walking around with those things (they were as big as my head!) and Paul suddenly orders one! He also stole the honey mustard that was on the table with the rest of the condiments and carried it around with his turkey leg for the next hour. He had all sorts of jealous looks coming his way.

The Superdome is HUGE, and it was filled 3/4 full with Alabama fans. They were loud and proud, too.

Our corner held their own, though, and we had a lot more to cheer about!

Love that scoreboard

Happy Campers!

What a trip. Way to go Utes! And New Orleans, we will be back!

Snow Days

2009-01-08T14:46:00.000-08:00

Jack has fallen in love with playing in the snow. We'll be inside all warm and cozy and out of nowhere he will look at me with these big puppy dog eyes and pleadingly say "Outside? Outside?" Who could resist that?

Watching the snowplow:

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-03T12:05:00.000-08:00

This post is a little late, but I had to stick in some Halloween pics! We had such a fun and busy Halloween weekend. I'm always amazed how much more fun holidays are once you have kids. Jack did such a great job wearing his costume all night. I didn't think he'd wear it long (at least the bandana around the neck part), but he had it on the whole time. Wouldn't wear his cowboy hat though...oh well. We borrowed Paul's costume from Tom and Melissa and Paul had everyone cracking up! We were very bad parents that night...Jack didn't go to sleep until midnight and then woke up crazy-early at 6:30 a.m....yikes!

Amy was Little Bo Peep and her friend Ryan was her sheep...aren't they cute!?

My cute mom and her new grandson Junah

Isaac

Ella

Traci and Christian

On Saturday Jack took a long nap to make up for his short sleep the night before, and then we took him to the Real Salt Lake game. It was so great to be there and cheer as they beat Chivas in the 90th minute! Jack had a fun time and loved being at the stadium with all the crazy commotion and noises going on. Then we dropped him off at my parents and watched the Utah-New Mexico game on TV with our friends Lance and Christy over wings and pizza. It was a scary nail-biter at times, but our 9-0 Utes pulled it off!

Wow!

2008-10-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

Jack's latest word is "wow." He tends to wow just about everything, but he says it in a way that you know he is in true awe. Example? The other day at the grocery store I went to grab an onion. He always says "apple" when we go to the onions because he thinks that what they are. I picked up a huge purple onion and said "no, this isn't an apple, it's a really big onion." His response? "Wow!" about 10 times over and over. He was saying it while looking at Paul's i-phone last night, so Paul hit the record button. Gotta love the i-phone! He also started saying "no" when we ask him to say anything. He will first say "no," but then he usually ends up saying it anyway. Too funny.

Here's the link, but it's only active for 10 days:
http://2.recordertheapp.com/8879f114d0c815071085

Cornbelly's

2008-10-29T08:23:00.001-07:00

We went to Cornbelly's for family night on Monday. I was so impressed! I had no idea they would have so many fun things to do. I knew there was a mini corn maze for little kids, so that's what I planned on doing but we didn't even end up having time for it. Todd, Natalie and Luke came and Natalie hooked us all up with free passes (gotta love her connections!).

Going down the really BIG slide

You'll have to blow this one up to see, but that dinosaur-looking thing was a haunted house. Paul and Todd decided it would be a great idea to take the boys through...not so much. Luke must already "get" what scary stuff is, because Natalie and I could hear him screaming from the outside! Poor little guy! You can also see the awesome tower of carved pumpkins in this pic.

If you see Jack when we're outside, you'll notice he usually has a rock in each hand. I don't really even notice him finding them, he just all the sudden has them. Must be his sixth sense to find a rock at a moments notice.

Cutie Luke climbing up the net

A little brotherly competition racing rubber ducky's

Bouncing away

I wanted this picture to say "cutest daddies." Instead it says "cutest gay couple." Sorry guys! ;-)

The big chair

Getting sleepy, time to go!

If you haven't gone, you need to! Only a few more days, though, it closes Nov. 1st.

Jack and Luke, BFF's

2008-10-26T21:12:00.000-07:00

Todd and Natalie had a little getaway to Snowbird over the weekend, so we got to have Luke come stay with us while they were gone. We had so much fun during our action packed weekend! Those two little guys play so well together that it actually feels like less work watching them both! They played for hours together in the playroom, passing various toys back and forth and every once in awhile even "talking" to each other. They had one tiny altercation over a dump truck, but other than that there wasn't any fighting whatsoever! Pretty impressive for a 1 1/2 and almost 2 year old, right?

I took them to the park on Saturday afternoon and they played on the swings and went down the slides, but mostly just threw wood chips. There was a guy working on an empty lot across the street, using a big excavator (yep, I'm a mom of a boy so I now know that word!) to fill a dump truck. I wish I had my camera to capture their enthralled facial expressions. We walked closer and sat on the lawn for about 20 minutes while they watched in amazement. They took turns pointing every once in awhile and saying "that!" Too cute.

After the park we picked up a pizza and went back home for a feast! I wasn't super hungry and only had one piece, but the boys must have worked up a huge hunger! Luke had 3 whole pieces, Jack had two (minus the crusts on both). I couldn't believe it. They just kept pointing at the pizza box for more. We had grapes for dessert to balance it all out. Luke sat in the big boy chair and let me know he prefers the "bib-free" look these days.

Then they played in the bath for awhile to clean up the pizza mess.

After the bath it was jammies and Little Einstein's while I cleaned up and got things ready for bed.

Jack woke up at his usual too-early time of 7:15 a.m. and had breakfast. When Luke finally woke up at 9 a.m.(!), Jack decided it was time for second breakfast, so he had another waffle.

More playtime before church

Reading books with Paul (they're holding hands in the second one, hee hee!)

All dressed up and out the door! Notice how Jack is always a few steps behind Luke. He is so in awe of his older cousin that he really does follow in his footsteps. If only Luke could teach him how to sleep until 9 a.m.!

Thanks for coming to play, Luke! We had so much fun!

My Bad

2008-10-10T12:16:00.000-07:00

A few months ago my friend Melissa called me. I answered the phone, and the first thing out of her mouth was “Okay, what is up with your blog?” Alright, point taken. I promised her I’d get it updated. And then didn’t. A few days ago I received a similar call from my sister Erin living in Virginia. I answered the phone to the words “I hate your blog!!” Since it is uncharacteristic for Erin to be quite so hateful towards anything, I now fully recognize the seriousness of the situation and I’m going to say that I’ve learned my lesson and am ready to re-enter the blogging world. I wouldn’t want you to lose any more sleep over my un-updated blog, Erin. ;-)

So, to get things back on track I’ve done a little rundown of the last few months. I definitely didn’t stop blogging for lack of things to post. We had such a fun summer and were constantly going places and doing things. Summertime with a little toddler is such a blast! We made some great memories. The next few posts show just a few of the fun things we did!

Roughing It

2008-10-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

We took Jack on his first camping trip in September. We went with the Allred's and Jack and Kolman had so much fun playing in the dirt, helping put up the tents, and watching the fire. We put Jack in his pack n play in a tent right next to ours since he doesn’t sleep well in the same bed with us but does great in the pack n play. He must have been warm and cozy because he slept quietly through the entire night. I, on the other hand, tossed and turned and probably slept a total of about an hour or two. I kept thinking I heard noises that could possibly be a bear ready to tear through Jack’s tent. We can’t wait to go again next summer, but we’ll have to borrow or buy a bigger tent so that we can fit Jack in with us this time. Paul thinks I'm crazy (he slept like a baby, of course), but I'm sure other mom's out there understand!

When Jack woke up in the morning he came in and snuggled with me for awhile. It was sooo cold outside!

Our tents with the doors facing each other:

Gorgeous Morning!

Fishing with Grandpa

2008-10-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

We went on a fun little fishing trip in the Uintah’s while at the cabin. Dad took us to a beautiful little river where Jack could throw rocks in and Hyrum ended up being the star fisherman!

Dad and Paul both caught a few puny little fish. Hyrum pulled in the biggest one!

Jack's Tractor Ride

2008-10-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we were at the cabin and Paul and Jack were playing outside. Our neighbor Jim drove by in his big tractor, and Jack stood mesmerized as he watched it approach. This is one tractor-happy little guy we have on our hands (I guess like any typical boy/man!). Jim stopped and asked if Jack wanted to ride with him. I may have been a little more cautious about the whole thing, but of course Paul just plopped Jack right up in the side seat and off they went! Paul ran in the house to tell me and get the camera, so we went after them to get some pics. Jack rode in the tractor for about 45 minutes as Jim picked up huge hay bales on his ranch, in complete awe the whole time. Jim said he was talking the whole time “but I don’t know what in the world he was saying!” I have no doubt Jack still dreams about that moment!

Here’s our little guy in the big tractor:

S & S Shortline Railroad

2008-10-10T11:36:00.001-07:00

We saw this place mentioned on our friends Ryan and Heather’s blog, and after we saw the pictures we knew we had to go. Jack is completely obsessed with trains and this place was so amazing to him! It’s in Farmington and only open the first Saturday of every summer month. You get to ride a big train and a little train, and they even have swings and other play areas. We had so much fun, thanks Ryan and Heather!

Alaska

2008-10-10T11:22:00.000-07:00

I’ve been trying to get Paul to post something on his Alaska trip, but since I hardly even have any time to post I’m guessing he never will. I’ll just post a few pics. They caught A TON of fish (mostly halibut), and saw lots of whales and other wildlife. Alaska looks absolutely breathtaking and from what he’s told me it really was the trip of a lifetime.

Anyone interested in coming over for a fish dinner?

Tom’s one happy fisherman!

Fishing at twilight:

More fish caught (I’m posting these for any of our guy friends/family that may be reading!):

Goodbye Brian and Tamara!

2008-10-10T11:00:00.000-07:00

Our good friends Brian and Tamara left us for sunny California in August so Brian could start law school. We were able to have one last cabin trip before they left and we had a blast. Todd, Natalie and Luke made it up, and Ryan, Heather and Raiyah even came. We had so much fun on our last get together doing all the typical cabin stuff: shooting guns, swimming in the river, roasting hot dogs and marshmellows over the fire and watching movies at night. We miss you Brian and Tamara!

The wheelbarrow ended up being the “in-demand” toy. How cute are Raiyah and Jack?

A little ATV fun:

Here we are! (Todd, Nat and Luke had already left)

San Diego

2008-10-10T10:32:00.000-07:00

In July the whole Webb family took went on a fun trip to San Diego. We rented a big beautiful house and each family had their own room and space. We went to the San Diego Zoo, Sea World and played at the beach a lot. Erin and Bryan were able to make the trip from Virginia so we were able to see their little family again, which was so fun!

All the cousins (minus Ivy) on the bed:

Jack and Paul making sand castles:

Happy Ivy was such a cute beach baby!

My beach boy:

The cold shower after playing wasn’t much fun so Jack tried to make his escape:

Riding the Elmo ride at Sea World:

There's plenty of room for two! Hyrum and Jack at the zoo:

Another day, another beach. Christian created this sand masterpiece of Paul:

Sleepy babies at the beach are the best!

Yesterday was almost 90 degrees so.....

2008-05-19T10:17:00.001-07:00

I don't think these pics need much explanation. Yay for warm weather!

A Perfect Saturday

2008-05-18T09:13:00.001-07:00

We had such a fun and busy Saturday. First we went to Tara Day, a little fundraiser golf event in honor of one of my best friend's who passed away in high school. Her awesome parents have made it a yearly event, and every year close to Memorial Day we get together to remember Tara and raise money for the special education department at Viewmont High (Tara worked with the special ed students while in high school). Everyone plays the mini golf course, and there is a silent auction and raffle. It was such a beautiful day and Jack had a great time running around. Brooke and I had to try to get some pics of our little boys together (who were dressed almost the same), which was a little more challenging than we'd expected!

Here they are, playing “who can hoard the balls away from the other person:”

Jaxson to the rescue!!

Brooke and I with our little dudes

Then, Saturday night we watched Luke for Todd and Natalie. I put on the Wiggles for the boys while I was chopping veggies for dinner, and Luke cozied up in the little red chair. Jack played on the floor for a bit while he watched, but at some point he squished his way in with Luke. As soon as I noticed them like that I went cruising through the house looking everywhere for the camera and found it just in time. It was so cute!!

Messes

2008-05-17T21:53:00.000-07:00

What does it look like when two new rolls of paper towels are completely unrolled?

.....Tada!

The mess making has really reached an all time high these days. Jack is going for world's best in the baby olympics, and I think he may win in both the "amount of mess made" category and "shortest time it takes to make the mess."

Our Virginia Trip

2008-05-06T20:18:00.000-07:00

We just got back from our visit to the Trumps in Richmond, VA. We were able to be there for sweet Ivy's baby blessing, and Erin and Bryan were great hosts showing us all the interesting historical sites. Hyrum is such a sweet little 3-year-old. When you ask him to do something, he says "of course" in this funny little New-Yorker accent and quickly does what you ask him to. And Ivy...well...Ivy is about the most perfectly happy little baby you could ever ask for! She is so quiet it was easy to forget she was there, but then every once in awhile you would hear a tiny little whimper that apparently was her cry to either eat or sleep. Apparently at her last immunization shots she didn't even cry, she just looked up at Erin with a sad face and told her a really sad story about why she wished the nurse wouldn't have stuck her with that needle. She is adorable!

We also made the two-hour drive up to D.C. for a quick tour. I've never been there and was so impressed by its beauty! I was surprised it was so green and lush, and the stone monuments looked so stately against the background of the beautiful old trees and gardens. We only had a day, which obviously wasn't nearly long enough to take it all in, so we'll have to plan another trip soon. While in D.C. we had dinner with Paul's old mission companion Eric, his wife Holly, and their little baby Owen. I should say that Paul and I took turns having dinner with them. Jack had completely had it for the day and was not cooperating, so one of us roamed outside the restaurant with him. Speaking of Jack, I learned three important things on this trip:

1. I will never again take a six-hour plane trip with a one-year-old
2. I will never again take a six-hour plane trip with a one-year-old
3. I will never again take a six-hour plane trip with a one-year-old

Yes, the flights were that bad. He was so miserable and grumpy, he cried (I should say screamed) a good portion of each flight until he finally fell asleep. He wasn't eating and sleeping well the whole trip, and I realized after we got home that he had thrush the whole time, which would help explain the super grumpy attitude. Poor kiddo. Of course it was worth the trip, but in the future I am sticking with my motto above. If anyone for some reason catches me going against my new motto, please take me by the shoulders, look me in the eyes and state "You will never again take a six-hour plane trip with a one-year-old." If I still show resistance, slap me across the face, grab my upper arms and thoroughly shake me, and then repeat the above sequence until come to my senses.

Here's some pictures.

Feeding the giraffe's at a Richmond zoo (FYI: giraffe's have crazy long, slobbery, black tongues that will frighten children and adults alike if not fully prepared for the experience):

This kangeroo was just slightly over dramatic. We weren't buying it and he didn't get any sympathy points from us:

The camel was a little camera-shy and ducked out of the picture at the last minute:

Sweet Hyrum can't stand to see the animal locked up, so he's taking them back to the wild:

Sleepy boy at the pool:

Jack's excited because he knows the age-old rule "he who holds the keys gets to drive:"

Cute little dude:

Hyrum at the chopping block:

Everyone in D.C. (I was looking at the other camera. The one up on a cloud in the sky):

Family picture time:

Me and Abe just chillin'

My boys, first happy then sleepy:

Thank you Erin, Bryan, Hyrum and Ivy! We love you and miss you already!

Discovery Gateway

2008-04-04T22:36:00.001-07:00

This is a plug for the Discovery Gateway children's museum if you need a good place to get out of the house with your kiddo's. Jack and I met Brooke and Jaxson there a couple of weeks ago and the boys (and the mom's) had a blast. Everything is hands-on and there is something for all ages, even a one-year-old like Jack. They can pull things apart and make messes like crazy.

Ummm, which one of us is actually driving this thing, anyway?

Commander Jack in his ship

Back to the car again (does this look like a guilty face to anyone else?)

Apparently, even in wooden block form, sugar still tastes better than anything else

Through with the sugar, now onto the fruit

Jaxson makes wearing an apron look good

"One corn on the cob and one carrot, please."

Thanks Brooke and Jaxson! We had so much fun!

99 Balloons

2008-04-01T20:59:00.000-07:00

My sweet sister-in-law Heather emailed the family the link to this amazing clip and I just had to pass it on. It is so moving and truly illustrates how deep a parent's love runs for their child. What a lucky little boy Eliot is to have such amazing parents, and what blessed parents they are to have been touched by Eliot's sweet life.

http://www.ignitermedia.com/products/iv/singles/570/99-Balloons
(sorry, couldn't get the links to post right so you will have to copy and paste)

On the blog created for Eliot, www.ninetynineballoons.com, his father posted this quote from his funeral:

We encourage you today to not forget Eliot. To not forget whatever his sweet life taught you. Please go & do that which has been stirred in you through his life. And we look forward to hearing of the ripples he has made in eternity.

It's amazing to think how many people have been positively impacted from Eliot's life. His story has taught me to hug my little one a little closer, work harder to be more deserving to be his mother, and be grateful to my Heavenly Father for every moment I am blessed to have him in my life.

Happy Birthday Jack!

2008-03-21T16:06:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe, but the little guy is one. We had a fun cake smash to celebrate. Here's some pics (sorry so many, it was hard to decide!).

The cupcake stands alone

Hmmmmm...that's a really BIG cupcake! I'm intrigued.

Mmmmm....it's good!

It's quicker this way

The sugar rush begins

and continues...

and continues...

Hey, that's mine! (click on this one to see the awesome evil eye Jack is giving Paul)

Ready for my close-up

The aftermath

All clean

WE LOVE YOU JACK!!!

Ridin' Broncos!

2008-03-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

So Paul seems to have this running idea in his head that Jack will grow up to be a cowboy. Of course he's not serious, but I'm pretty sure he is still harboring pain from the realization that he never became a cowboy himself. We went to the petting zoo at Thanksgiving Point a few weeks ago with Todd, Natalie and Luke. They have a pony ride for the kids, so we plopped Jack right on one (he ended up on the biggest one, which was funny since he was by far the tiniest kiddo there). It was pretty hilarious to see him crouch right down and hold on tight while the horse walked around. He was concentrating pretty hard, but every once in awhile he'd look up at us like "what the heck is this all about?" Check out the pictures below. You'll notice that for Jack, it was all business, but for Paul, it was a dream come true! Just look at that smile on Paul's face! Now that's a proud daddy. (To fully appreciate, click on the pictures to see the enlarged version.)

Here's cutie Luke (also seeming a little confused) with Todd

Now we just need some warmer weather so we can go back! Anyone up for coming along??

A Week in Paradise

2008-03-16T19:18:00.000-07:00

Paul and I enjoyed an amazing trip to Hawaii March 3-9. We really packed in a lot of activities, but there was plenty of time to just sit on the beach and relax as well. We visited Pearl Harbor, snorkeled Hanauma Bay, kayaked to Mokuluas Island, watched the evening show at the PCC, saw tons of whales on a whale watching cruise, and finally on our very last day stuck around the Waikiki area and the beach in front of our hotel. Whew...I'm tired just reading that, but it really was a very relaxing, easy going vacation.

Jack stayed at home with his grandma's, and I'm guessing he had just as much fun as us! In fact, he seemed pretty mad after we picked him up from my mom's and brought him home to our boring house. Who knows what hijinks went on, but I guess what happens at grandma's stays at grandma's! We are soooo grateful to our sweet mom's (and dad's, of course!) for their help with our little guy. We love you guys!

View from our room...wow!

Paul cruising in the Sebring

Hanauma Bay (notice the nice dent on my forehead from my goggles!)

Pali lookout

Lanikai Beach at sunset...gorgeous

Kayaking with the sea turtles!

The requisite picture with Duke before we left for the airport

At least we got to come home to the cuteness that is this little man!

A new baby blog is born!

2008-02-24T13:55:00.001-08:00

Well, after being asked by about five people in one week if we had a blog, Paul and I realized the time had finally come to build one of our very own. Jack's Grandpa Hollingshead came up with the entirely appropriate name of Commander Jack for him, so we're utilizing it here. We hope you will enjoy keeping track of all the latest shenanigans taking place in the Hollingshead household.