that time natalie and i took our kids downtown on a friday night to take pictures of jackson for his baptism announcements in front of grafitti

30

i turned 30.

last weekend.

i saw one of my girlfriends today and she asked me if i freaked out about it at all. but i was excited to turn 30. 

as soon as i woke up on my birthday i sent a text to a friend and said that i woke up smarter and sexier. in my little brain that magic number transformed me into something better. it's all in my head of course, but there's some awesome things that go on in my head.

in reality it's not the number that has had any effect on me. it's just the confidence that comes with maturity and the happiness that comes when you truly figure out who you are and what drives you. 

and in all honesty, i did a lot of really stupid stuff in my early 20's and it feels good to know that i'm not that person anymore.

a day with payton

is it corny to say that payton's birthday was "dreamy"? 

well, corny or not it was dreamy.

i'd had one of the worst days ever the day before his birthday. waking up in the morning finding out that someone has stolen your debit card number and gone on a shopping spree sucks balls. big time. but the god's of fraudulent charges were smiling down on me and i was able to take care of everything that day. 

when it comes to birthdays for my boys i like to keep them small. now that i'm an adult and all "self aware" i realize how much big gatherings stress me out. when they're older they can have big birthday parties with friends, but while they're small i want to soak up all the memories that i can. 

after payton had cake and opened his presents jackson went to his cousins house for a sleepover. so payton and i set up his hot wheels tracks and put together his various lego sets. we played, laughed, he told funny stories, then he told me "all i wanted for my birthday was to spend time with you".

seriously, best.thing.ever.

then i laid down on his bed and fell asleep listening to the cute sounds and things he would say while playing with his legos. 

it was dreamy.

one year older and wiser too

has it really been 5 years since this little man arrived?

it finally happened

Remember back in January when I excitedly proclaimed that Jackson had his first loose tooth?? Well here we are 9 months later and that tooth has finally come out!!!

I was too chicken to really pull the tooth hard so unfortunately he ended up walking around for a few days looking all snaggle-toothed and weird.

But after my sister really loosened the tooth up for me I gathered the courage to pull it. Since we'd tried many times before and I'd scream every time I tried to pull the tooth I got Jackson pretty scared about the whole situation. I had to take drastic measures in order to get that tooth out. Bribery didn't work so the next option was sneak attack. I called him into my bathroom and when he walked around the corner I put him in a headlock and yanked his tooth out before he even knew what happened.

Pre-Schooler

birthmonth

Instead of celebrating Jackson's 'birthday' it's really like we've been celebrating his "birthmonth". When Nate came home for a few days at the beginning of the month we celebrated Jackson's birthday with him, then again at my brother's house a couple weeks ago. So instead of doing a big party I just decided to have Jackson's best bud/cousin come over for the night.

We spent two surprisingly fun hours at Chuck E Cheese. I didn't know until it was too late the battery in my camera was dead, so it was pretty lucky that good ol' Chuck E had a photo booth.

Aren't they just the cutest?

First Grade

Jackson officially started 1st grade!

It was an exciting morning. We went to his friend Izac's house in the morning so we could all walk to school together. The boys were so excited that they ran the whole way there. We couldn't keep up with them.

The three boys (Jackson, Braxton & Izac) were all in the same class last year and the cute little McKenna was in the other afternoon class. Me and the other mothers of these cute kids are besties, so naturally the kids are on a semi-bestie basis. (I love this picture because Payton looks so cute there in the corner of the picture.)

After school Jackson ran to me, hugged me, then jumped up and down while he told me that "first grade is awesome!"

Payton really missed Jackson, and I think deep down inside Jackson missed Payton too. I think this picture says it.

Anniversary

I failed to mention that on December 26th Nate and I were officially married for 4 years.

Horrible Christmas Photographer

Can you believe that these are the only pictures I took on Christmas?

First day of School (last week)

My little baby Jackson started kindergarten last week.

He missed the first two days of school because we were in the process of moving, but he jumped right in as soon as we got here and didn't miss a beat.

The only draw back to him starting Kindergarten is that I feel old, and Payton feels abandoned when Jackson leaves him for school.

All in all though, it's been a smooth transition and we're all doing great.

Happy Birthday Jackson!!

Jackson turned 5 today!!
We had planned on spending the day in Santa Cruz playing on the beach and going on rides. On Friday morning we were trying to find something fun to do. Nate wanted to go to L.A. but we figured taking a big trip right before we take a big trip isn't a good idea. So then he suggested Santa Cruz, but I reminded him that we were planning on going on Saturday. So he came up with the grand idea of staying the night in Santa Cruz.
Brilliant!!

So we combined Jacksons birthday celebration with our desire to live it up during our last weekend in California. It was perfection. I'll probably post millions of pictures about it tomorrow and drool while I do it.

So, here's the Birthday Boy! Happy Birthday Jackson!!!



Usually when we come to the Boardwalk the boys go on all the rides together which means that Jackson ends up going on the tamest rides in the park. He always enjoyed himself, but, feeling extremely big today he wanted to go on the big people rides. This meant that I got to go with him.

The first ride he wanted to go on was the Ferris Wheel.

I've been avoiding Ferris Wheels since about the 5th grade.

My parents took us down to Lagoon when I was a kid and I was so excited to go on the HUGE Ferris Wheel that they have there. I was talking it up for weeks about how awesome it was going to be. Then when we got in line I freaked out, pulled my hat over my face and cried LIKE A BABY!! Seriously ya'll!!

I inherited some amazing qualities from my lovely Mom. One of the not so amazing things is a crippling fear of heights.

But because I love Jackson so dang much I put on my brave face and got in the Ferris Wheel line. I wasn't really sure how he'd do. Sometimes it kind of seems like he doesn't like heights, but you never can tell.

He LOVED it!!.

As soon as we got on the wheel went half way around and stopped us at the VERY TOP for about 3 mintues. I would've had a full blown panic attack right then and there if it weren't for the Lamaze techniques that I learned but never had to use. Steady breathing did the trick for me (but don't expect to see me on another Ferris Wheel anytime soon).

I felt the need to take pictures to prove to any doubters (Jackie) that I really did it.

Jackson told me about 50 different times during the trip that "This is the BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!" and boy did he deserve it!!

Graduation Pictures

Nate's class & teaching team

Diploma

Certificate for exceeding the Army's expectations

Kindergarten

Nate is almost done with school!! He starts testing next week. As long as he passes everything we will be moving back to Utah on September 4th!! I can't even begin to explain how excited I am to move back. I was in a panic the other night trying to figure out what I wanted to do with Jackson. I was originally planning on staying here in Cali when Nate went off to Arizona for 5 months for more training and I didn't feel comfortable with Jackson starting Kindergarten out here. I don't know why, I just didn't. So now all this Utah business got thrown into the mix and I sat up all night Thursday night thinking about all the things I need to get figured out. I looked online to see when school started at Bella Vista Elementary school and he will be missing the first two days of school and the Kindergarten Interview/Assessment dates. I called the school knowing that no one would be there since it was July and I left a message thinking no one would call me back for two weeks. But, I got a phone call "bright and early" this morning at 7:30 a.m.!!!! Even though we'll be getting there late he'll still get to go!!!

I can't believe he's old enough for Kindergarten. And he's so excited too. He been asking me for weeks when he gets to go back to school. He loved his pre-school class and I know he'll really love Kindergarten.



These photos were taken on his last day of pre-school. Look at that little girl behind him showing some skin. Scandalous!!!!

Twenty-Seven

Well July 8th came and went without a single thing mentioned on this blog about my birthday. I did indeed turn 27 years old on July 8th. For the first time in what seems like forever Nate and I got a babysitter and went out on a date.

We ended the evening in Carmel-By-The-Sea, one of our favorite spots, to catch the beautiful sunset.

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Congratulations little man!!

Say Hello to my semi-potty-trained-friend!!

In all honesty I've kind of been dreading potty training Payton. He didn't seem too interested, and I just wasn't really eager to get started. Then one day he didn't take his nap. He just sat up in his crib for an hour talking and playing. I finally went in to check on him only to find that he took of his pants and diaper. There was poop everywhere. I was mad.

After this I decided I should take potty training a little bit more seriously. When I potty trained Jackson it was easy, structured, and essentially quick and painless. He was potty trained by the time he turned 2. It's been a little bit different with Payton. See, he lives life on his own terms. He's the sweetest kid in the world, but prefers to not have people telling him what to do. Even if that means holding his pee in for hours, he'll do it. But he does it with a smile on his face! So when I realized that having him on a structured schedule while potty training wouldn't work I tried something else. Nate thought maybe the problem was that Payton didn't like sitting on the big toilet. So Payton and I took a trip to Target and he picked out his own toilet that was just his size. This helped. He at least enjoyed sitting on it. But still, he didn't like me telling him to go pee.

So I just let him be a free spirit and I left him alone. I think this is what he wanted. He wanted to do it his own way. He had a couple instances when he completely wet himself. Then after that he wet his pants just a tiny bit, recognized what happened, and ran to the bathroom to go potty on the toilet.

This is all very consistent with his personality. He's very independent and prefers to figure things out on his own.

So here's to less money spent on diapers and wipes!!!!

The Big Two

Can you believe sweet little Payton is two?? I can't believe it. I mean, when he sasses me and gives me attitude I can believe he's two. When makes a mad-dash for the park and almost outruns me (complete exaggeration) I can believe he's two. When he takes Jackson down and holds his own in a wrestling match I can believe he's two.

 
I guess it's just hard to believe that he was born two years ago, yet I'm still using the "I just had a baby" excuse for why I'm a little soft and squishy in the mid-section.

He had a fun birthday. He loves cars. LOVES cars. They are always on his mind. He has to have a car in each hand at night when he goes to bed. If I've picked him up in the night to give him a little love, when I put him down (and he's still completely asleep) his hand instantly reaches out for Lightning McQueen. As soon as he has it he snuggles it close to him and continues to sleep like a log.

So given his love of cars, his birthday was all about cars. I even made him a cars cake. The frosting had nothing to do with the movie, but hey, it had Cars cars on there so that makes it a cars cake!! In an attempt to get him excited about potty training we also got him some big boy Cars underwear. He prefers to wear those on his head as opposed to wearing them on his buns. He'll get there though. Grandma & Grandpa McKenzie supplied Payton with more Cars paraphernalia and the boys' Easter clothes. Grandma & Grandpa Child sent Payton birthday money so after the party we went to the Disney store so Payton could pick some things out. My advice is to never take a two year old to the Disney store in the afternoon when he hasn't had a nap and he's totally overwhelmed with having a party in his honor. He was pretty grumpy, but picked out some really cool little things. And of course, they were more cars. I think he has almost all the characters now.
So that's the run down. He's two, and we like it!