I love my kids

Oh, how they make me laugh. Even on the mornings when all I want to do is get back in bed because I didn't sleep the night before, they will find some way to make me smile and want to stay out there to see what they are doing. They adore each other. They are each other's best friend. Of course they want the toy the other is playing with but if they are enjoying themselves, they will go find the other to have them enjoy it too. Andy will push them around in the laundry basket to make it a car and Emma will refuse to have it move until Jackson is in there with her.

Jackson is such a happy boy. Even this last weekend when we were in the ER finding out he had croup and not something stuck in his throat to make him sound like that, he was all smiles and play. (It didn't sound like the seal bark until after we got to the ER but they gave us a steroid that helped with the swelling so it wasn't a wasted 4 hours.) He loves to laugh and smile. He definitely loves to get into everything but I think his favorite thing is his sister's bed. He crawls into it at any possibility. I'll have to get a picture of that.

He is so close to walking. Andy asked me that while I was in Idaho a month ago while he was in school here, that if it looked like he was going to take his first steps without him, I should just push him down. He didn't really mean it but he wanted to be there for it. My dad, on the other hand, wanted to encourage Jackson as much as possible while we were there. He concocted a towel to hold him to give him courage to go for it. Jackson just thought it was a game and didn't associate it with walking at all so it didn't have the desired effect for grandpa. It sure was fun to watch, though. The funny thing is that I've seen these exact things for sell since this experience. They just have longer handles. Funny, huh?

Emma is such a helper. I am amazed at how much she just wants to help. This is her helping me bake. They had to cook a little longer but Emma really wanted to help take them out. She is starting her own chores when she chooses. She throws anything away for you but will drill you for all of the information on what it is first. She gets things for me when I need them. She helps us clean her room even though you have to keep her on task because she gets so preoccupied. She is so loving. She never misses an opportunity to tell you that she loves you with a hug and kiss. She always gives "sugar" when asked.
In sum up, I have amazing children. They are so good to me. God gave them to me because they have all of the characteristics that I lack so I can strive to be more like them.

Andy's Birthday & Easter

I just had to put this. It made the whole family oh so happy. Andy isn't a huge fan of cake. It's fine sometimes, it has to be super moist but mostly he just would go for a cookie any day of the week. So his birthday cake is usually an obligation. When we went out to eat for his birthday, they gave us a free cookie that was about 6 inches in diameter. That was my aha! moment. So I surprised him after I made him his birthday dinner and pulled this out of the oven afterwards. It was a 11" chocolate and peanut butter cookie. We gave him a chunk with a bit of ice cream and I don't know if I've ever seen him happier after a meal.

Emma has been fighting us on naps for months now. We try so hard to get her to go down during Jackson's second nap and when she doesn't, we have to fight to keep her awake until bedtime. There's been a few times that she throws us a curve ball by getting down from the table. There we will find her asleep on the floor. How can you be mad at this? It makes us laugh until we have to wake her up. Grumpy...

Here's Easter! Aren't they the cutest little bugs ever? Well, this is the week before as it was General Conference on Easter. Had to show them off to someone when they are this cute, right? Look at Hammer all dressed up as well. Just joking. Just his diaper. Sorry to expose your shame to the world, Hammer.

I have to close with a picture that made us laugh the whole day. Emma came up to me while I was getting dinner ready and said something about her bunny. I knelt down and asked her to say it again. "Bunny was bad. He's in time out." She was right.

Injuries

It has been a huge gap of time since I last blogged as I was in Idaho and didn't have my cord to download pictures. I have much to catch up on. Yeah. We're going to go back to Easter even. That's later. Now onto the injuries that hit my children within a week of time. I told you the story about Emma's stitches so here is the picture. Poor trooper. I'm rubbing it every night to help break down the scar tissue and with an ointment that is supposed to reduce scarring. Guess we'll see when she gets a little older. This picture is right after she got back from the hospital. She wanted to go swimming as soon as she got back and the doctor said since she doesn't get her head wet, it would be ok.

This is when her bandaid actually came off.

This happened exactly a week later. Jackson fell down and scraped his nose on the cinder blocks that hold our bed up. He is so determined to learn to walk and do things on his own. At this rate, people are going to start turning us in. It broke my heart. It didn't help that it was his birthday that week.