This explains why no one can tell who our kids look like.

Here we have it...

Personal History

So, I talked with some friends about doing this and I am finally getting on the ball. Seeing as this is my only journal these days, I thought I would try to write my personal history as well. I print my blog off and save it as a journal so I figured this was as good a forum as any. I hope all of you other bloggers jump on board as well. I will post the question each day and then answer it. Here is the first topic:



Tell about your family of origin or the family you raised.



Seeing how I am still growing my family, I will talk about the family I grew up in...

I am the only girl of five siblings. I am smack dab in the middle as well. My oldest brother, Marlan, goes by Buddy. He is four and a half years older than me. We did not get along really well growing up. I think we had some power struggles. He was kind of a loner I felt and I don't remember much of him during his high school years. We moved to Gilbert when he was in HS and he did not transition well. He ended up transfering back to his old school in Mesa. He is now an attorney in California. He got a degree in zoology, masters in microbiology and then went to law school at George Washington University in Washington D.C. He is married to Sally and so far they have two little girls, Grace and Ava. We get along really well now. He was home from his mission in San Diego when I went up to BYU so we spent my first three years there together.We became good friends while we went to BYU and since we have both been married I feel like we have become even closer. He got married while I was on my mission and although it was weird to come home to a new sister in law, Sally and I became immediate friends. He and Douglas share their interest in canyoneering and is has been great for them to become such good friends.



My next brother is Christian. We are just 17 months apart and we have always been really close friends. We were only a year apart in school so we always shared friends and occasionally dated each others friends. Christian was a basketball star in highschool . I went to almost all of his games. It is amazing how non athletic I am since all my brothers are really athletic. Christian was on his mission in Spain when I graduated from HS and headed to BYU so it wasn't until my junior year that we were at BYU together. He was still there when I got home from my mission and we hung out occasionally. We have always talked on the phone fairly frequently and as is the case with all my siblings, stay pretty up to date on each others lives. Christian spent a few years as an accountant and then went to Georgetown to get his MBA. He was married a year ago to Holly whom he met in D.C. He is graduated now and they still live and work in D.C.



Andrew is five years younger than me. He will graduate from BYU in December (do you see a trend??) Growing up with Drew was interesting. Even when I was in college and he was in junior high, he couldn't understand why I got privledges that he didn't or why my mom treated me differently. I always told him that it was because she loved me more. Hahaha. (He didn't think that was funny). Drew has always been really smart, but the kind of kid that often times learns things the hard way. He is studying finance at BYU. The one thing I remember most about his childhood was that he went through this phase where he was obsessed with "PeeWee's Big Adventure". I think I still have that movie memorized. Andrew is great with his nieces and nephews and Jackson especially loves Uncle Andwew. He and Greg both graduated from high school in Santa Barbara California and are great surfers. I think the Pacific Ocean is too cold, so I don't get in it.



Greg is the youngest. I would have to say that he is the peacemaker of the family, although sometimes he is somewhat contentious in how he tries to establish peace :). He just got home last week from his mission in Spain. Growing up he had night terrors and it was always freaky when you were the one who found him in one of his trances. He is the musical member of the family. He plays the piano, guitar, and sings. He was in Men's Choir at BYU his freshman year. And yes, he will be returning to BYU this fall. Greg is a lot of fun. He is always up to playing games which is one of my favorite things to do. Many of my sibling will not play games. This is probably due to the fact that we are all ultra competitive and sometimes that results in a not so fun experience. I think Greg and I are the least competitive and that is probably why we like playing games. Greg played one of the lead roles in his HS production of Les Miserables and he was really amazing at it. I wish I had a beautiful singing voice. I can carry a tune, but I don't think people necessarily want to listen to me.



Okay, for now those are the things coming to mind about my siblings. Here is some info on mis padres.



My mom grew up in Studio City California. She was one of three girls that grew up in a pretty controlled environment. My grandpa was a surgeon and they were quite well off growing up. Her parents were very involved in "society". My mom is also a BYU grad. She got her RN degree there and later got a bachelors degree in nursing from Arizona State. My mom is very much a peace maker. She is very calm and nurturing which was necessary to deal with so many anxiety ridden, stress ridden children and husband. Lucky her. My mom is very talented. He sews, plays the viola, is a great cook, quilts. It has been so fun to have similar interests as my mom.

My dad grew up in Henderson Nevada. He was the oldest of six kids and he has some of the funniest childhood stories. They get better everytime he tells them too! His dad was called as a bishop at 25 and spent all of my dad's life in church callings. They were also quite poor. I think this left a lot of room and time for creative and often mishcievious activities. My dad graduated from BYU with a degree in Spanish (all five kids and parents have either graduated or will from the Y!). He got a law degree at BYU Law School and a JD in taxation (fascinating, huh?) at New York University. He practiced law most of my life. He recently got a job in the foreign service and so in February he and my mom will be heading to Guatemala City for two years.

I grew up in a very loving and supportive environment. We are a close family although we spend plenty of time bickering as well. We are all head strong and stubborn which results in a bunch of know it alls. If we don't know it, we make it up.

It is late and I must head to bed. I might add on later. I hope others join in this personal history goal with me!

What a day!

Long story short since it is late and I have tried to go to bed earlier...

Had Westons and Jackmans over for dinner. We used to get together once a month and make dinner together, but we got out of the habit months ago (because it was my turn and I never planned it). Finally I got my act together and had everyone over. Here are a few things I learned today.

1. three kids under three in a small area equals a lot of hitting, yelling, pushing, tattle-telling and NOISE!

2. Paige does not like to sleep when a large group is over.

3. Paige gets very sad without much sleep.

4. 2.5 gallons of rootbeer is A LOT

5. Five pounds of dry ice that goes crashing to the ground really burns one's feet.

6. I can do a totally cool matrix move to get off of said ice when it is burning my feet.

7. Chicken tenders left on the grill for about an hour while more dry ice is purchased results in really over done chicken.

8. Chicken grilled too long will actually melt.

9. Pizza can take a long time to make and your kitchen will look like something blew up in it.

10. I get really tense and stressed with too much noise and chaos in my house.

11. When Jackson says he needs to throw up, he sometimes really needs to throw up.

12. Cream puffs require both egg yolk and white--(I read the directions wrong the first time and only put the yolks in--not pretty).

13. I love paper plates.

14. Good friends are worth more than gold! They forgive your crazy quirks, stay and help clean up and are really great and easy to talk with (I know that ends in a preposition, but I am to tired to figure out how to rephrase it).

Needless to say, it was a crazy and fun night.

Douglas and Staci as babies

Me..pink blanket...
Me in my blessing dress (same as Paige's)
D
D

So many people think Paige looks like D. I don't see it and it is hard for me to imagine D's features on a girl because he is so masculine. Make sense?

Weekly pictures.

Look at the rolls on those legs. I love them! And, I love her little outfit. It is so much fun to dress a little girl!
What a sweet, happy baby Paige is. Besides for the squirmy nursing and getting spit up on all the time, I have no complaints. I wish I had enjoyed J more. He was an amazing baby as well, but I think as a new parent it was much harder to enjoy. I am loving having this little baby.
and I love this little guy as well. He can be such a challenge, but even when you are mad at him he will follow you around saying, "I need a wuv." He is always quick to say "sowrry" and includes an "I didn't mean to" with it. (he often did mean to though :).)

Jackson loves his Paigie.

I love to watch J snuggle up to Paige and take care of her. I hope they are good friends as they grow up.
He is always so concerned that the binkie is in her mouth. And, if she doesn't want it, he doesn't mind trying it out either.
Love this picture.
My little cooking buddy. He always wants to get up and "help". Often times it really isn't much help.

Some pictures from the past week.

Sweet little Paigie. She is almost always content and happy. She brings so much peace to my life.
I got Jackson to look at me by asking him what was on my face.
This is what he would do when I asked him to actually look at me. Little stinker.
Helping his dad. When D is around J has to be right at his side.
He couldn't climb to the roof with Dada so he just stood at the bottom of the ladder and "held" it.

Too much love?

Last Sunday I was getting ready for church and I could hear Jackson screaming. At first I paid no attention and then I realized that it was not coming from downstairs where Douglas was keeping an eye on him. It was also too muted to be from an open room. I poked my head out the door and noticed that Paige's door was adjar. She was asleep so I quickly went to her room where I found Jackson in her crib jumping up and down and screaming. Paige was at the opposite end of the crib, turned around with a blanket over her head. She was as content as can be. Ahhhh. What am I going to do with him?

As a solution I went and bought some of those door knob things that make it hard to open the doors. That worked for about two minutes. That boy.

We have been having problems with J taking his diaper off in his crib again. I had tried everything. The best part is that he would take the diaper off and put his pj bottoms back on--poopy butt or not. Sounds nasty? It is. It infuriates me. So, my solution, take his crib apart and make him sleep in his bed. Needless to say, it has been a LONG few days. There was so much tension in our house yesterday that even Paige was affected by it. She did not want to nurse last night. It took me about 45 minutes sitting outside with her to get her to calm enough to eat. Of course the climax of the night that set all this off was JAckson taking his poopy diaper off at bedtime and walking in to find little soft poo logs all of his floor. I pretty much lost it. Jackson knew better than to get of his bed for the next little while. I wish it had lasted, but once I got it shampooed out and he was back in bed, it was back to up and down, banging on the baby gate and trying to convince us that "I need to puke" (said in the most pathetic voice a two year old can muster) or "I need to go potty."

And on to that, Thursday night we put Jackson to bed and of course he wouldn't stay in bed. We just ignore him. Until...he starts bawling. I go up there to find him, his bed, the floor all covered in throw up. The first time he has ever thrown up. It was a long night. The best part though was how manipulative he was with it the next day. Everytime I would try to get him to do something he didn't want to, he would pull the "I need to puke" (again said in the most pathetic voice). After about half a day of this I lost my sympathy and told him, "okay, puke then." He has tried to pull that one a few times today, but hasn't gotten to far with it. Hasn't he heard the story of crying wolf.

So, for all of you feeling jealous of my life, I'm sorry you can't all be as lucky as I am. Last night was one of those nights where I contemplate how I can get out of this whole parenting business. There is no escape I concluded.

Anyway, another day and hope has returned. It is so nice having Douglas here to help with things.

I grow em big!

Paige had her two month appt. and shots today. She weighed 14 pound 8 ounces. She is 98% for weight, 89% for height and 93% for head size. She is well proportioned, but big!

She hated her shots. It took me a good 10 minutes to settle her down. Jackson never even cried when he got shots so this was a shock to me. She also spit up her roto virus vaccine. It was delightful.

Another Week

Dang, I have a hard time thinking of titles for my posts. Pretty lame, I know. It is late and I know I should go feed the baby and go to bed. I was tired, grouchy and emotional today and it honestly has been a while since I have felt like this. I think part of it is that I went to the gym late last night, didn't enjoy one minute of it, weighed myself (depressing) and went to bed late...hmmm, that seems to be a pattern lately. Douglas has been so swamped with work with school starting tomorrow and he comes home exhausted and goes to bed early. It should slow down a little for him tomorrow, but I know there are still a lot of loose ends to tie up on different jobs. I sort of feel like we have been coexisting lately. I stay up so late and he gets up so early, and we don't spend time together like I am used to doing. I know it is a phase, but sometimes it is hard to remember that in the moment. Paige is doing pretty well sleeping so I know that soon enough she will be going to bed at 7pm and getting up around 7am with no feeding in between. Won't that be the day!

I am going to start a new paragraph since I have issues with following post that have too long of paragraphs. That is my laziness I guess. Here are a few highlights from the past week...

1. Ordered my new computer--hooray. this puppy should be FAST and be able to handle my workload. Can't wait.

2. Sold my accord. Sad to see it go, happy to have the Pilot. We are really blessed.

3. Shot another wedding. Always a good learning experience. Some things went really well, others could have gone better. All in all I am pleased with the experience. I got a lot of exposure and that is great for my business.

4. Actually finished the ironing for the week. I am not as iron crazy as some :) yet I strive to keep up with it. I often fail. I do still have a laundry basket of folded clothes sitting down here and mine on my bedroom floor. baby steps.

5. Made way too many batched of chocolate chip cookies...my new obsession. I justify it because JAckson loves to help me cook. Right....

6. Went back to working in nursery. I forgot how boring grown up classes can be. Left the baby with my mom and went in. Crazy as usual. I actually picked up one of the crying kids (which those who know me understand that is unusual...don't like others' crying kids). She actually stopped crying when I was holding her.

7. Bought lots of baby food at Target (see this post). I mean lots....

8. Had my first round of laser hair removal. Hurt like a mother.

Okay, that is about it. Not too exciting, I know. Jackson has been relatively happy and easy lately and it has been so great. He is so good at saying thank you now and it often catches me off guard. Tonight is night one of "Operation lose the binkie". I'll let you know how it goes. He has a new favorite movie "Lord of the Beans" which is a vege tail--one of those Christian videos. They are actually really cute although he was taught that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are One being. Ahhh, he is too young to get it anyway, right?

As I said I went to the gym last night. I am undecided if I will go again any time soon. There is a part of me that so desperately wants to lose the Paigie weight and another part of me that is too tired to care. I am having a hard time coming to terms with this issue. The real question is why am I so obsessed about it?? I hate that. Why can't I be easy going about anything?

Paige is a sweet little thing. She is content most of the time, naps well, smiles a lot, coos. I love it. I love to hold her over my shoulder after she finishes eating and just enjoy the peacefulness of babyhood. I am enjoying her so much more than I did Jackson. Jackson was so easy too, but I was much more uptight. With Paige I just don't worry 'quite' as much. I still worry, but on a lesser scale I guess.

Got to empty the dishwasher and reload it. I can't stand waking up to a dirty kitchen. The clutter bugs me, but dirty dishes--depressing. Bad way to start of a day. Too bad it is already 11pm.

Here are weekly pics of Paige and J man. I love his smile.

Oh, and I am enjoying book three of the Twighlight vampire series. Still cheesy, but enjoyable. Why do I find myself wishing she would pick Jacob. There is so much more substance to their relationship? anyone with me?

The pee-pee doll was well worth...

the $50 I spent on it. It was great for potty training Jackson, but who knew it would provide him so much entertainment now. He can play with that thing for hours. I LOVE IT.

The light at the end of the tunnel....

I will probably curse myself for writing this, but 4 days straight Paige has slept from anywhere between 4:30am and 6:00am. (tears of happiness are now brimming in my eyes).

Weekly pics

I love this smile. You should see Jackson try to get her to smile. Actually, I am going to try to record it. It is scary and oh so funny. He is having some issues in the smiling department. So, I have this new idea that I am going to try to take a picture of the kids each Sunday to track their growth. We will see how many weeks I last with that one.
Paige is the best little baby. She slept from 10 to 5 last night. Hallelujah. Unfortunately it probably won't happen again tonight, but one can hope. She is always a happy little thing. I can't believe how much she has chubbied up. Do you think she looks like either of us?
And here is the reason I am not sure how long this picture this will last...Jackson. I totally bribed him to sit here for this picture, but notice he wouldn't actually hold on to Paige. Also, he has a smile only a mother could love. I never realized that smiling is a learned skill. Jackson was on a rampage this weekend. I tried to let him be a big boy and wear pull ups at night. Bad idea...every night he took it off, put his pj pants back on and I woke up to him crying in the middle of the night and his bed, and all his bedding soaked. This happened two nights in a row. Ahhhh...it is bad enough getting up to feed, but to change sheets, no thanks. Last night he did it to be a stinker. At about 9pm he was still up. We went in and he had thrown out all of the things he didn't want nasty and then peed in the crib. A little deliberate? I would say so. We have now threatened to take away the bink (yes, he still sleeps with a binky at night--not ready to fight that battle). That threat should work. He is petrified to lose the binkie.

Jackson also flushed his underwear down the toilet yesterday and Douglas found him right after he attempted to do the same with his shorts. The undies made it down, the shorts, no--luckily. That kid is going to be the end of me. Am I going to survive the two year old stage. Praytell it gets better or I am going to be loony before this ends. Oh, and now he pees on the potty like "daddy". He devised this himself--climbs on the seat, puts his knees on it facing the lid, leans his head on the lid and aims down. Kind of ingenious actually, but WHAT? Don't even get me started on the germ aspect of all of this. I am just envisioning a public restroom. NASTY.

J is a TOTAL daddy's boy these days. In fact, if D is home, J wants nothing to do with me. I don't complain...hehe. It is when the weekend ends and Jackson is calling for dada to get him up. I show up and he is not happy. Sorry buddy, this is as good as it gets when dad is gone. D is so good with he though. They sit and play and watch movies together. They love to pillow fight which mainly consists of D pelting J with pillow, J falling over and cracking up. Guys are so weird.

Well, another week is upon us. I made this profound statement to Douglas for which he is still making fun of me. I know what I meant. I said, "life is so...life" meaning that is just happens. Most of the time it is the same old thing, but for some reason it brings us so much happiness. When we talk about the kids after they go to sleep it is so easy to realize why we love them. God was smart when he made the last time we see our children when they sleep. There is something so peaceful about a sleeping child.

I guess I should feed my kid breakfast. Life.

Paige

So, I have been meaning to take these pictures since we blessed Paige--6 weeks later I finally got to it. I was glad I did because her arms barely fit in the sleeves--little chubbet. Of course, there is this time period between about 2 weeks and when a baby sits where pictures just don't do the child justice. They always looks all scrunched. That is why I always tell people to get their baby photographed within the first two weeks. Anyway, the first day I tried to get some pics she cried. She never cries and she was unhappy. They learn early to hate the photo session thing.
Don't you love the little smile? She always smiles with her tongue out and I think it is so cute. I am biased, yes I realize. Do you know how hard it is to try to get your child to smile and get an in focus picture at the same time??? Hard. Most of the pictures she was half cut off (trying to take it without looking through it).
And while I am taking the pictures and neglecting my two year old he manages to go outside in my shoes, underware and one of his non play clothes shirts, turn the hose on and spray the whole porch and back windows, cover his shirt in red dirt and get into trouble. And he does all this while shuffling around in my sandals. What a maniac. I should have learned my lesson when he, in the three minutes my mom was gone, filled the large container of dog food with water which consequently molded and was thrown out. I should learn. Don't ever leave him alone.

and so my life goes...

I should so be in bed right now...