Summer Update

This summer with our families was so much fun. The kids got to know the family again before we ran back for school again. It was hard leaving again but we'll be back for the holidays before you know it.

Jackson is growing by leaps and bounds. He is a lot smaller now than Emma was but that's being a preemie. If you take him back a month on the chart, he is about what she was. It's hard when you realize your kids are almost off the charts and then go to regular numbers. Tall and skinny kids. Definitely not my genetics doing that for them. Jackson is laughing and loves his sister so much. She will go to him in his swing and cuddle with him and laugh. We don't have to worry about her being mean, it's her loving him too hard. While with my parents, she tackles him to hug him. It's funny to see how much she adores him.

I can't believe when the whole family gets together. We went to Jackson Hole, WY as a family this summer. It was a lot of fun and not nearly as stressful as I thought it would be with all of the kids. Emma and Abby get along so well and Alex adores Cory. Emma was so curious of Asher the whole time. We needed her to keep giving him back his Pooh Bear but she always did it willingly. We went on a couple of hikes, watched the gun show, stayed in a cabin and everything. That really was a lot of fun. It was fun watching Alex and Abby on the slide and on a bungee cord trampoline thing up there. Abby loved it and smiled the whole time but I think we found out that Alex has a fear of heights with that experience. Asher is built like a brick and loves his mom with all of his heart. If she leaves his side, he has such a heartfelt cry like his world is shattered. He is going to give Alex a run for his money when he gets bigger so Alex better be nice to him now. It is amazing that the toy that is sought after is a doll stroller that Andy's parents gave Emma last Christmas. There were quite a few arguments on whose turn it was.

We got to go to the zoo with the whole family. It's amazing that we got to enjoy so much with everyone. It's too bad that people have to go back to their lives and we couldn't just keep having fun.
It was Emma's second birthday. We had everyone from my family and Andy's parents over for her favorite meal of waffles and a cake that I (with Dad supervising) made because she loves cats. It was my first time even trying something like that so it has to only get better now, right?

Jackson was blessed on July 19th so more family would be there. It was amazing how many people did come. I love when family is together so this was fantastic. I want to thank everyone that did come. Jackson's great grandparents (my mom's parents) came for the occasion to make it even more special.

Emma and the Door

I have to tell the story of what happened today before I update the stuff that happened this summer.

We had some people coming over at noon to buy our desk that is just taking room in our small apartment so it had to go. I was hurrying and making a dinner in the crock pot and Andy was painting the front room that has been in limbo since I got really sick with the pregnancy. (It's still not done but a lot closer.) I had finished the dinner and so Emma was done watching me when I started cleaning up. I hear her little running feet going in our bedroom. It wasn't a big deal because she has become obsessed with our bed since Jackson lays up there to play and get changed. All of a sudden, we heard the door shut. She does that a lot too so it's ok. It wasn't until the little click that we realized how that suddenly went badly. Emma locked herself in the bedroom. We had both unlocked those types of locks all of the time but this one wouldn't budge. We decided to just take the doorknob off. That's when we realized that our phillips was the only tool that was nowhere to be seen. Andy kept trying to get the door open while I went to find anyone we knew to get the screwdriver. I went through 3 different people in our ward who weren't home and the landscaping guy that doesn't speak english and kept trying to give me keys to something when I saw some people that I had never talked to on their patio smoking. I had to ask them if they had a phillips we could use. They lent me a whole case. By the time I got back, the buyers for the desk were there, they had tried to open the door as well, and had no success. Emma had been crying the whole time when she figured out that she couldn't get out. We finally got the doorknob off and we couldn't get the lock undone when my little finger feels a push. Emma was pushing my finger on the other side thinking it was our regular game that usually happens without the door. Needless to say, when we opened the door to a girl that had already forgotten what had happened, we put the doorknob back on and a little cover immediately went over the knob to make it a little harder for her to lock the door. Funny thing is that our usual roles were reversed in all of this. Andy was freaking out and I thought it was pretty funny. I knew it would be ok. Don't get me wrong. I hated hearing Emma crying and not being able to help her but I knew nothing bad was going to happen and it would turn out alright. And it did.