An Interview with our 7 week old Munchkin

I sat down with Jackson this afternoon to get his thoughts on life around our house the last several weeks.

So little man, what are your thoughts on our weather lately?...

Yes, I agree. I think that the snowing, sleeting, and 40 something degree temperatures are getting a little ridiculous for the end of May.

Despite the poor weather conditions how is everything else going in your opinion?...

You have loved meeting all sorts of new people? Oh good! I am glad that you have enjoyed all of our company as much as we have these past couple of weeks! Let me just tell everyone a little bit about who we have gotten to spend some time with...

Two weeks ago, one of my BFF's, Stephanie and her husband Brett, came to spend a few days with us. I was SO happy that she was able to travel with her MD's permission (she is going to have a baby at the end of July and some MD's don't like their patients to travel in the 3rd trimester) It was a short but sweet visit! We were able to go to a JJ Cole warehouse sale where Steph got stocked up with baby gear at clearance prices. We also actually had a nice sunny afternoon for a walk. Jackson got lots of quality bonding time Steph and she got a sneak peek at what she will be in for in a couple of months. We can't wait to meet her little bundle of joy!

This past week, my brother Matthew and his girlfriend Jana came to spend some time with our little family. We LOVED having them here!

One of the nights they were here my cousin Chris and his girlfriend Beth came to have dinner with us. They are living here in Logan for the summer working at a local theater. We had a great meal and great fun playing rockband!

The rest of the week, Matthew proved his skills as the "grill master" on several occasions and Jana proved that she was the "baby whisperer" when it came to helping Jackson fall asleep for his daytime naps. We got to spend lots of time hanging out and eating large amounts of sugar in the form of ice cream, cookies and doughnuts. The only thing that would have made their time here better is if the weather would have cooperated with us. The only sunny day was the day before and morning of their departure. We made sure to take full advantage of the sunshine on those days!

Between the rainstorms, we were able to take Matthew and Jana up to Bear Lake. Here is our little family after enjoying the famous raspberry shakes and curly fries from the Hometown Drive-Inn...Jackson could hardly contain his excitement!

We truely appreciate that these special people took time out of their busy schedules to come and visit us. We love having company and want to make sure that all of our friends and family know that if you come to see us you will have a cozy bed and a bathroom all to yourself! :)

On that note....Jackson, did you know that my one of my other BFFs Megan is coming to see us next week? I am so excited for you to meet her...what do you think about that?...

Tingey's Terror LCC

I spent this past Saturday down in Salt Lake with a couple of my climbing friends. Our initial plan was to climb Lone Peak via the Big Willow route, but after those plans fell through, Jason and I decided to head up Little Cottonwood Canyon to climb a route called Tingey's Terror. Here are a few videos from our trip...


Video 1



Video 2



Video 3



Video 4

Mother's Day

Not only did I get to honor all the lovely women (via web cam) who are positive influences in my life, I got to spend time with OUR little boy. It's funny how BEING a mom makes you look at mother's day (and all those other women in your life) in a whole new light. I have a whole new, deeper, appreciation of the sleepless nights, hours of rocking and comforting, and endless laundry that my own mother, mother in law, grandmother, etc have gone through over the years...and I wouldn't trade this role for ANYTHING! Thank you so much especially to my own Mom, Shallon, and Grandmothers for always being there for me through all my ups and downs. You each are TRULY an inspiration to me (and Travis) and our lives would not be complete without each one of you in it!

Travis and Jackson worked hard to make my first mother's day a special one. Jackson let us give him a bath WITHOUT crying, Travis made me breakfast, lunch, AND dinner, we went back to church for the first time since Jackson's arrival, and ended our day with a nice long walk with the dogs. The weather was B-E-A-UTIFUL for the first time in weeks! Jackson (with some help from his dad) got me a darling necklace with charms including his name, birth date, and birthstone.

It was a perfect day!

This one's for you Dad

I just wanted everyone to know that it is a VERY special man's birthday today. My dad is the greatest dad there is, and I just want him (and everyone else) to know how much I love him!

To this very day, and for as long as I can remember, I have considered myself a "daddy's girl." Growing up I loved spending time with this wonderful man. Some of my favorite memories include:

• Helping him work on cars in the garage. I thought it was so cool when he would let me hand him the spark plugs or roll around on the creeper
• When he taught me how to slow pitch a softball (not to brag, but I was one of the best in my league back in the day!) :)
• Helping him wash his truck on a number of occasions (even though he would get mad at me for doing a mediocre job sometimes...he always made it better by buying me ice cream afterwards)
• When he taught me how to shoot a basketball "the right way and not like a girl" which he did by holding one of my hands behind my back (even though I was in tears I really appreciate that skill now!)
• How he would never let my brother or I go to bed hungry. If we got our bedtime snack taken away as punishment by my mom, he would sneak a snack into our room after we were in bed
• The countless "daddy/daughter" dates that we went on. I LOVED having his attention all to myself
• How no matter how bad of a day I was having he could (and still can) make me laugh

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. I am so lucky to have such a positive example of a man in my life. Not only is he good to me, he also is a wonderful father-in-law to Travis and awesome Grandpa to Jackson. Dad...thanks SO much for all that you do for each one of us. It is appreciated more than you know and we all hope that your day was a fabulous as you are! ;)

SO over it!

The entire time I was pregnant I was looking forward to my maternity leave. There were the obvious reasons of getting to spend so much time with my new baby (and Travis too since he works from home), not having to worry about going to work, and getting to actually ENJOY springtime weather instead of having to look at it from indoors at work...well so far I am 4 weeks into my maternity leave and I can count on ONE hand the number of times I have been able to enjoy warmer weather...not because I haven't felt up to it, but because it HASN'T happened...today it actually SNOWED for a few minutes...UGH! The next few weeks had better shape up or I am not going to be a happy camper.

(okay now that we have THAT out of my system)

...

...isn't he a doll? He loved this new toy I brought out for him today! He enjoyed it so much in fact that I am afraid he was a little overstimulated and completely missed one of his midday naps..oops! :)

This melts my heart...

...Travis is SUCH a great dad... I love these boys SO much!!

Check out my kicks!

To celebrate his 3 week birthday Jackson wore shoes for the first time!

Isn't it incredible how FAST he is growing? He officially is too big for his preemie outfits now and moving into his newborn size wardrobe! :)