The Baby Crawls

well, he did it! Jax has decided it is time to crawl... On Thursday he was only able to crawl about two steps and then fall over... then on Friday he just up and booked it across the room! I was so shocked! I think he litterally just made up his mind to do it, and was off... so YES, life as we know it has changed and it is time to start baby proofing our condo again!! Yeah Jaxson, Way to go Baby!!

About my "poll" question

SOO... if you can't tell, I am in the thick of letting Jaxson "cry it out". Now I have done this with my previous 2, and they are fine... no lasting scars that I can see... but you know, it just always feels wrong! I remember when Mikayla was in this stage, I would go to the gym to excercise, and Bri would sit at home and listen to her cry and cry... but I just couldn't do it!! so I have been reading up on the subject. Not surprisingly, most of the books say that it is good for the baby to learn to self soothe, and that it makes them independent. I did find ONE book, that said "why would you want or expect a 6 month old to be independent?" they suggest that the best way is to co-sleep, or put the baby in bed with you, and that is the way most of the world do it. The author quoted a lady from South Africa (or somewhere like that!) that asked "Is it true Americans put their baby's to sleep in cages?" (that is funny I never thought of a crib as a cage... guess thats cause they are so expensive!!) and as the next best thing (if you are against co-sleeping) is that you should rock your baby to sleep. I thought that this made sense... I guess because it just always felt "wrong" to let my precious baby cry and scream for hours (I have really stubborn kids!) then we went in to talk to our bishop (not about this!) and I guess he felt inspired, because he told us a story about his daughters... one let her baby sleep in bed with them, and their marriage is just falling apart, the other bit the bullet and let baby cry and he learned before too long to just go to sleep on his own... so I can see that it may be best to let 'em cry... but why does it make me so sad?? I guess our therapist is right... I am just too soft!

Lets hear what you think... sound off!!

Playing Musical Rooms

well, after many MANY nights trying to get my older kids to sleep in the same room, I have finally given up hope! Don't get me wrong... they "sleep" just fine... it's the 2+ hours before that of giggling, shouting and jumping off beds that has finally pushed me too far! So today (after I got a sleepwalking Brian out of Jaden's Thomas the Train bed!!) I put my nose to the proverbial grindstone and started moving furniture... Jaden was FURIOUS with me! he just kept shouting that he was "not going to sleep in this stupid room" (direct quote), but after much wailing and gnashing of teeth (his, not mine..), I think I finally hit upon what was REALLY bothering him... he was worried that he was going to have to listen to Jax cry all night long! Can't say I blame him for dreading that! But I assured him that Jax sleeps really good now, in fact Jax sleeps better than Jaden does! After I got his stuff all put together and everything arranged, he jumped up on his bed and layed there for a second, and said... "I think this is gonna work, Mom..." So we shall see. Wish us luck... but it should be great!

Swimmin' at Scera...

well, today I went and took Mikayla and Jaden to swim at the Scera Public Pool with our neighbor and her son... it is a really fun place, geared mostly to small children. There is a HUGE pool, that is only 3 feet deep at the deepest place, with kid water slides, a lazy river and lots of other fun stuff... it was quite a challenge keeping my eyes on two very active kids, and they always seemed to want to go in diffrent directions!! Jaden was just dying to go down the "big slide" (and YES it was big!!) but the lofeguards wouldn't let me take him because he was not wearing a lifejacket! he was pretty diappointd! but we had a great time anyway, and stayed for a little over three hours. And can I just say that I burned worse in those three measly hours at the pool than I did in a week in San Diego?!?!? I told Brian that I felt like I needed to be in the Burn Unit at the hospital!! O the agony!! but still it was a great day, and I am sure that it will be turned to a tan by tomorrow or the next day, I just have to survive tonight!!

Ballerina Mikayla

so it has occured to me that I post alot of videos about my boys, and not much about Mikayla... now this is not because we love her any less, nor does she get less attention around our (sometimes) happy home... the thing with our girly girl, is that she does NOT like to "perform" or be the center of attention. So... on a very outgoing day for her, I managed to get her to do some of her "ballet" moves for me and caught it on video... Now most of you are family, and so you know that Mikayla has been walking on her tippy toes since she learned how to walk, so I have been trying to get her interested in taking a ballet class. And finally she has said that YES! she wants to take the class!! (BIG step for us! and I have to say it is thanks to June on Little Einsteins, not me!) so now she "dances" around the house making up little ballet moves... (then reverts to being a "tom boy" and flipping off the couch! Very Cute! Enjoy!!

WASPS!!

We are having the hugest infestation of wasps in our happy little neighborhood! Now, don't get me wrong... we have always HAD the wasps (and spiders, and snakes and mice in the bushes!) the problem is that they seem to be on a rampage this year!! Last week Jaden and Kayla were out on the playground and all of the sudden I can hear Jaden SCREAMING... when he gets into the house, Mikayla happily informs me he was "bit by a bee"... needless to say he cried and cried and eventually fell asleep on the couch. Well, today I got a real bad feeling when I hear Mikayla coming home screaming HER head off... Yep, Jaden burst through the door and proudly announced that Kayla got a "bee bite" too!! (weird thing is they were both bit on the right cheek!!) and yes she fell asleep on the couch crying as well... I would normally say call someone to get the area sprayed, but they just did that the day before Jade was stung (maybe the wasps are just mad about loosing their homes?!?!) I don't know what the deal is, but we seem to have a bad (and angry) batch of "bees" this year!!

Whoa Baby!

Nice hair big boy!

Let's play!! Tag you're it...

Here's a fun tag for you:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn’t matter if you knew me a little or a lot, if we’ve actually met in person or not, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.

So lets hear what you have to say... only funny and flattering stories are accepted here, so put your memories to the test!!

Have fun!

He's up!!

Well, my itty, bitty baby boy is up on his knees now! It seems like he was born just yesterday, and he is now 7 months old! He slept all through the night last night for the 1st time (9:30 PM to 7:30AM !!!) and now he is getting ready to crawl! WOW... time flies huh?? Sometimes I feel like I just need to stop and just pay attention! I was looking at Mikayla's face in profile today after church, and I was reminded of how chubby and cute her "baby face" was and I really noticed how big she has gotten in the past year or so! Not that I am complaining... I am fully looking forward to September when Kayla will be at school all day and Jaden will be in preschool ... I'm just saying... TIME FLIES!

Happy 4th Of July!!

We had a very fun 4th of July this year... literally we did nothing all day, except sit around the house and play together... We got a fun visit from Great Grandma Williams and Jaycie and Libby... they went to the parade and said it was alot of fun! then we decided to go and do our sparklers and fireworks (WOW we even waited til it was dark this year!! we usually go out at 5 in the afternoon...) but it was alot of fun doing the "works" in the dark for a change... except Kayla refused to get near any sparkler or firecracker (I guess they are scarier at night??), and the mosquitos (that were the size of modest houses, might I add!) just about ate us all alive! The kids refused to get anywhere near any fireworks, they stayed clear accross the parking lot on the grass, and Kayla screamed everytime Bri got one lit!! We got those fun little "poppers" that you throw on the ground and they pop... that was about all the kids wanted to do! they had a great time throwing them at each other! All in all we had a very relaxing and fun day together... and we're still itching from it!!