St George Get Away

This Monday was Claudia's birthday. So Sunday night we headed down to surprise her. We had told her we couldn't make it down because of Chris's school. When we were about half way down we called to make sure she was home ( said we wanted to call her on the webcam) and found out she was in Las Vegas. We knew she had gone down there on Saturday but thought she was coming back Saturday night. Turns out they decided to stay an extra night and were still there. We panicked...slightly... then decided to call and tell Kelly we were on our way down. He was shocked and said he would try to get everything pack up and home as soon as possible but warned it would probably be awhile still. We got to the Clayton home at 7and didn't see grandma til 10, however the look on her face when she walked in the door and saw this....

Was Priceless! We snapped a shot as she walked in the door. But by requests of the birthday girl are not posting it. :)

Grandma's birthday lunch

Taycee is never short on Kisses



Taycee's "car seat head" on the way down to St George

And finally.... a big girl car seat! She loved it, but it makes me so sad that she is big enough to need one of these.

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In othere news....
We went swimming for the last time this summer in our pool.

Taycee and her first ponytail! Haha it was just a little stub... but it was there.

SPLISH SPLASH

While we were in Saint George this weekend we went to the Park by the Claytons House. It has a splash pad and since it was almost 90 we thought Kaden would want to play in it. Haha boy were we wrong. He didn't really like getting sprayed and splashed all that much. He would go in for a few seconds then run out. He did however like trying to spray other people with the guns. Taycee on the other hand is my little water dog. She was crawling all over the pad getting soaking wet. She would crawl right through the spraying water with a big smile on her face.

Who, What, When, Why, Where and How

WHO told her she could grow up so fast??

WHAT makes bubbles so fascinating?


WHEN did he go from being my baby to my big boy?

WHY does he always want her toys....
and she always want his toys?WHERE can I sign this kid up for some tumbling classes?
HOW can she go from this face....

...to this face in less than 5 seconds??

HOW am I ever going to potty train this kid when he drinks about 100 oz a day and goes potty every 10 minutes.

HOW can you resist "mom push sween.... peeese?"

HOW will I ever let these two go?

Labor Day

So I know Labor Day was over a week ago, but I am just unloading my camera and found the pictures from the day. We had so much fun I had to share even though I am a little late.
Monday morning we got up bright and early to make the accent to Willard Peak. Chris drove the Jeep with me and two others and the rest of the family took four-wheelers. The Tolman family also joined us with their Jeep and a few wheelers as well.
After we made it back down the mountain we headed to the lake for some fun in the sun. Chris went wake boarding and "got his bell rung" a few times as he had some hard core crashes in the water.

About to head up the mountain

The whole group

Inspiration Point (the peak is in the background)

The main entertainment was throwing small rocks and trying to hit a bigger rock below

We had a minor problem when Jason's motorcycle lost it's oil plug and out came all his out

The second problem came when Bryce got a flat tire and we didn't have the right lug wrench to fix it With the help of some friendly strangers we got the right tools and the problem was fixed.

Jenny and her new "Beau" Beau! :)

Chris got to wear this awesome life jacket that was a bit small



Catchin a little air.

In case you wondered where the kids were in these pictures... they were in St George at Grandma and Grandpa Claytons house. However they soon returned and I got lots of this...

5 years ago

5 years ago this month Chris and I met. It is crazy to think back to that time because it seems like a whole other world to me. It was my second year at snow college and my cousin Mandy was new to the school. There was an institute dance and I told Mandy we needed to go so we could meet people. We always use to joke " you could meet your future husband at this dance" haha who knew it would be true for me. When we got to the dance it was "meet your bishop night" so we all had to put name tags on. As I was walking down the hall of the institute building someone said "Well hi Jill" my first thought was "how do they know my name"... duh we had name tags on. I looked back but didn't see who had said it and kept walking down the hall. It wasn't until after we were married Chris told me it was him.
During the dance Mandy was very shy (still is ;)) and didn't dare talk to anyone. I spotted a group of very tall boys at the end of the parking lot, (tall was very good for me since I am 5'10" and was sick of dating boys only an inch or so taller than me) I told Mandy that if we walked by them they would probably stop us to talk and BINGO I was right. We walked by and this tall dark handsome guy stepped out of the circle to get our attention. We spent the rest of the night talking to them and it turned out they were just a few apartments down from Mandy. Now I wish I could say everything just clicked and Chris and I were in love from moment one. But I am dumb and just didn't get it. I actually started dating his roommate for a month or so and he got a girlfriend as well. However we were very good friends and I spent most of my free time at their apartment. Chris loved to tease me and he would always say " the reason I like you so much is because I can tease you and you don't get offended." Chris saw me through a lot of hard times that year, I can definitely say he has seen me at my worst. But after one semester Chris moved back to St George and I finished up at snow then moved to Provo. It wasn't til a few more relationships, and engagement (for Chris) and a few weeks of phone calls that we finally met up again on December 28th 2005. This time it did click and we did get it. We spent an amazing 5 days together before school started up again and have pretty much been hopelessly in love ever since. I have no doubt things happened the way they did for a reason. Chris came back into my life at the perfect time. I love him so much! He makes me a better person. I am so glad I get to have my happily ever after for eternity with him.

When the kids are away…

I am sad to report that this week there are no pictures to post, no funny stories to tell, no crying…from the kids at least… no diapers, no bottles, no late night visits in our bed. I miss it all. I think that most parents have moments when they think "if only we didn't have kids" or "what would it be like to have a week of freedom". I have thought this to myself at times. Those moments usually come when I am cleaning up poop off the carpet, or we are invited to some fun event that we have to decline because of a lack of babysitters. Sometimes I have thought "what would life be like if we hadn't got pregnant with Kadenso early and I stayed working and we actually had money in our account" I have looked back to the days of college where I was free to do what I wanted when I wanted and had a small twinge of longing.

This week I had those days back. No kids, no expectations, no to do's, just freedom. I want my kids back. Don't get me wrong it was nice, nice to sleep in, nice to pick up and go, nice to be on my own schedule. But it doesn't compare to walking in Taycee's room in the morning and seeing her smile and squeal and kick her legs because she is so happy to see me. It doesn't beat having Kaden run up to me several times a day with his arms wide open to give me a hug. It doesn't match the feeling of love we get when we see Kaden shuffling into our room to sleep with mom and dad because he is scared. Being free is great, being a mom is better. I will take a few moments of poop in the carpet and nights at home with the kids to be able to have the million moments of smiles, laughs, learning, and love. I think I always knew that, but it was nice to have the reminder.

I love being a mom. It is the greatest blessing I could have ever asked for. It is hard, and underappreciated, and tiring, and frustrating, and all consuming, and totally worth it. I never comprehended the love that would come with kids. I guess it is impossible to. They add more joy to life, more love, more learning, more understanding. I can't imagine anything better.

As I have been separated from my kids this week I have had a slight glimps of how Heavenly Father must feel as he is separated from us, his children. As I do he must worry that we are safe and happy and well every moment we are away. He must long to have us back in his arms to hold and to love. As I woke up yesterday and went in to check on Taycee to find her not there I wrote a note in my head

Dear Heavenly Father,

I promise I will come home someday. And I will give you a big hug. Whatever it takes… I will be there.

Love,

Your Daughter.

 

I will see my kids in less than 12 hours!

 

-can't wait for those hugs-

9 months

9 months old! I can't believe it. I still like to think that she is my little tiny 5 lb newborn... but that is definitely not the case. She is getting bigger and smarter every time I blink. It makes me so sad., Kaden was 9 mo. when we got pregnant with Taycee. That doesn't seem that long ago and he is a little boy now. She is on all fours crawling now, she can sit herself up, pull herself to a stand, she picks things up with her fingers and puts them in her mouth, and she has her first 2 teeth now. She is our little sunshine and she always has a smile to give.

Taycee you are our little princess. We love you so much! You make every day so much fun. Here are 9 things we love about you
1- How you scrunch up your face when you smile
2- How you always have your tongue sticking out
3- Your chubby cheeks
4- When Mom comes to get you in the morning you smile and screech and kick your legs
5- You LOVE and ADORE your big brother. You never take your eyes off him.
6- You are so smart. Dad can't handle how fast you are growing up.
7- Your beautiful big blue eyes
8- Your crazy hair that sticks straight up
9- Your fun happy go-lucky personality
You are our angel and we are so proud of you. We can't wait to see what great things you will do in your life!

xoxo- Mom and Dad

Taycee 9 mo. Old

Weight: 21 lbs - 83 percentile

Height: 29 inches - 95 percentile

Head Circumference: 17 inches- 23 percentile

Kaden 9 Months
Weight: 24.5 lbs - 97 percentile
Height: 30.5 inches 97 percentile

This is how Taycee sleeps now

Finally!! They are friends

Taycee 9 monthsKaden 9 months