crazy J

Christmas pics

Grams Doty joined us for breakfast and opening gifts. Our typical Christmas breakfast consists of "Special Breakfast" and Butterscotch Rolls. Mmmmmmm Paigie sporting a sweet "do" and playing with her Christmas toy.
J got some fun new books from nana and papa that have stickers in the back. I find stickers everywhere.
Happy little jumper.

Looking for more loot.
Mr. Claus.

Making christmas cookies for Santa.

Can't waste any of that delicious (store bought) icing. yum.
Christmas morning on the pj's the elves brought. Just noticed J is grabbing his crotch. gotta love little boys.

All ready for Christmas sunday. Kinda a lame picture of D and J, but Paige looks cute sucking her thumb.

more cookie decorating. I sort of hate making sugar cookies. After rolling out one batch I want to throw away the rest. I was righteous this year and made them all. Of course they didn't get eaten and I ended up throwing a bunch out. ce la vi (is that how you spell it?)
jackson really got into the sprinkling part.


These two love each other. It makes me so happy that they love each other so much. I hope it lasts.

Doesn't she look cute? I HATED this dress. Yes, it was really cute, but I felt like there was touille EVERYWHERE and it was scratchy. I bundled her up in a blanket most of church so I didn't have to deal with it.
When did J become a little boy. He is so not a toddler anymore. It makes me sad. Don't you like his banged up forehead.

yes, i am a firm believer of the phrase "better late than never."

jacksonism

I have to post this before I forget and he doesn't say it anymore, because really, it is the cutest thing.

Jackson always says, "oops-ee-days" whenever appropriate.

jeans shopping

really, need I say more? I despise it. There was a time when I fit in to everything, but seeing how my body has "morphed" into some unidentifiable post two baby thing, buying jeans has become my greatest chore.

and what is the deal with boot cut jeans. It seems that all jeans are boot cut. I don't understand the idea of big thighs, skinny knees, and big calves. People really think that is attractive?

or maybe I am so far from being "in style" these days that I couldn't pick something stylish out if my life depended on it.

and there is just something inside of me that will not let me pay $100 for a pair of jeans...maybe it is due to my knowledge of the aforementioned lack of style.

whatever the case may be, I have scoured the St. George market (didn't take too long to do that), ordered every style and color of Gap jeans (long and lean do work pretty well, but I am looking for something different than what I already have) and finally settled on a pair of Target jeans. I really have never clothes shopped at Target, but I may be converted.

please just pray that these jeans last until next year because I don't think I can jeans shop again anytime soon.

that kids just cracks me up...

Heard at breakfast this morning:

"God gave us everything...
bananas,
lightswitches,
windows,
trampoline,

no, santa gave me that,

garbage cans,
basketball hoops."

Talk about being thankful for the small and simple things.

another day in the life...

so, really I shouldn't be sitting here blogging, but I am. I don't know if it is a way to check out and ignore that, no, Jackson is still not asleep for naptime, yes, my kitchen does look like a bomb went off in it (although luckily not due to dirty dishes, just piles of paper) and no, I still can't eat that oreo cookie that just has way too many points in it. Whatever the reason, here I am again to update on my sometimes tedious, but always exciting life as a mother.

I am not typically much of a dieter. I guess when you are young and weigh what you want you have no need to be, but when I went to the dr. last week and found that I weighed more than I did when I left the hospital after having Paige, I decided it was time to do something. Unfortunately I lose very little weight when nursing, but just the same, I weight more?!? I decided to join Weight Watchers because you know you can eat whatever you want with weight watchers, right? Sure, you can have that piece of chocolate cake, just don't plan on eating anything else the rest of the day. It was a painful first few days, but I have now accepted that I am committed to this and didn't die of starvation either. Actually, I recognize that it will be good for me to gain control again. I am not too careful with what I eat when I am prego, so it is hard to get back into the mindset that I do need to be a little more controlled about how I eat. I am also making wiser choices about what I eat--I do realize that 8 chocolate cookies are not a healthy lunch. I will do this for the 11 weeks I signed up for and then see from there what I want to do. I am also working out regularly so I am very hopeful. I like food too much to ever commit enough to being model skinny, but I would like to fit in my jeans again and really, the muffin top can go.

I transitioned all my 2007 files to a box yesterday and printed new labels, labeled and sorted all my files for 2008. I am ready for the year--come what may! Now onto tackling the stack of bills sitting in a pile. Hmmm, always something fun to do.

And, I am through most of my wash and miraculously it is also folded. Let's see if we can get it in drawers anytime soon. After a week with baskets in the hall I finally asked D if he would put his laundry away. He said "sure, where is it." I just shake my head sometimes. I told him the baskets were in the hallway and he said, "oh, I just see a laundry basket as an obstacle to get over." nice. Men are so brilliant sometimes :).

Not to diss on my hubby, I just thought it was a funny anecdote. He is actually great around the house and with the kids, I really can't complain...most of the time :).

Jackson is just a happy little boy, full of endless amounts of energy and learning too fast. He amazes me sometimes. Not to brag about my child, but he is a smart little cookie. I can tell him a word, ask what letter it starts with and he can tell me. He even knew pneumonia started with p. Crazy. Just kidding.

Paige is such a delightful little girl. She is a rolling champ now and sleeps great (7pm to 8am). She is content watching her brother play and making raspberries with her mouth. She loves to look at herself in the mirror and feeding time consists of her sucking, pulling off, looking at herself in the mirror, laughing, then starting over. It is a long process and I don't think she even gets much milk in the process. That gummy smile cracks me up though.

Well, I guess I will get some housework done. If I have to.

My happy little girl...

don't you love the spit up chunk on her chin and spit up on her shirt!!

Just playing around!

Wow, a new year, when did that happen? I am actually quite excited at all the things this year may hold. It will bring a lot of firsts for miss P, Jackson will be three, and D and I will both turn 30. Crazy. It should be fun. I actually set some goals for the year, which unfortunately is unusual for me. Here they are...not too many, but hopefully reasonable enough that I can actually do them.

1. Work out three times a week. (Hopefully more, but as I said, I don't like to fail :)) I would LOVE, LOVE to get down to at least my pre-Paigie weight. I will give myself a while to do so after I finish nursing, because heaven knows I don't lose weight while I am doing that. (Nursing is a sacrifice--seriously. I am glad I do it, but it is always nice when I am done too...I get myself back.) Okay, little tangent.

2. Start "studying" the scriptures again. After my mission I thought it would never be an issue...why can't everyone find time to have meaningful, thought provoking scripture study?? Then I had kids. Enough said. I really want to make this part of my life again. I need it. I need to feel like I am doing the things I need to. For blessings, yes, but also for my own personal fulfillment (also, a blessing--I guess.) Anyway, this is the second thing I am going to do (see my positive thinking at work?)

3. Really focus on improving my photography. I wish there were more classes available, but alas, I live in a small(ish) town and there really is nuttin. I want to read books and more importantly spend more time practicing. For me trial and error has been the best way to learn. I especially want to focus on lighting.

4. Be more positive and less critical of myself and others. This goal is a little more ambiguous, I guess. I come from a somewhat critical family and I think that it can be good because it helps, you always set high expectations and work hard to achieve them. HOWEVER, I think it is mainly destructive because I can never live up to my own expectations nor can others. I really want to do this mainly for my kids. I want them to be happy and positive--more like their dad (who sadly I have rubbed off on a little too much). Any suggestions on how to do this would be greatly appreciated.

There they are. Hopefully I won't forget about them by next week.

Christmas was great at the Shaw house. It was just us (Grandma came for breakfast and to watch us open gifts). Jackson was excited and totally content with all his goodies. In fact, he spent the rest of the week enjoying them. Didn't ask for a movie once. It was great. It has continued into this week, but without quite as much novelty. I felt good because I really felt like we didn't go overboard which was my main goal. He {insert HUGE heart} his trampoline. He wants to jump all the time. Santa didn't even swear when he assembled it (at least not that I heard). It was FREEZING on Christmas eve so I am impressed that he got it done. A good BYU friend was here for Christmas with his in-laws and he came over and helped which was nice.

Christmas morning was a little disappointing for J when he woke up. We told him Santa had come and he wanted to go see him. We explained that Santa had left and his face immediately got sad. He thought that when we said Santa was coming that he was coming to hang out with us. He got over it once he got on his trampoline.

J and D really made out like bandits...J got a Thomas duplo set which he really has fun with. He has really enjoyed building with his duplos lately (legos for little kids). I think we will get some more sets for his birthday. I like sets that I can add to and that keep him busy. He also got a Buzz Lightyear with which he has been completely enamored. He always yells, "to infinity and beyond" when he runs down the driveway to Grams house. He also got a Leapfrog computer and some books from Nana and Papa, some Play-do (which much to my chagrin has already been intermixed--hate that) and a Bob the Builder movie from Gma Dee and Gpa George and a few other assorted stocking goodies from us. Oh yeah, and some more play-do and Hungry Hungry hippos from aunts and uncles. He was a happy camper.

D got his road bike and tons of RB gear. I think he thinks the living room is going to be a permanent house for the bike :). He loves it. He went on his first official ride yesterday and was in heaven. He has a good suga' mama.

Now a little year in review:

Of course Paigie was the most exciting event of the year and although she has changed immensely in her seven months of life (can you believe she is already seven months??) her changes have mostly been sitting, finally rolling over, squealing, eating baby food, sleeping through the night and such new baby feats.

Here are some of J's highlights as of today:
Favorite breakfast--"hootnenany" (hootenany or german) pancake
Favorite movie--depends on the day really, but I would have to say anything Vege tale (quite witty movies, actually)
Favorite treat--hershey kisses (what he just told me) or cookie dough
Favorite toys--Bob the Builder, Duplos, Play-do, Books, Buzz Lightyear
Favorite books--Dr. Seuss, Disney Storybooks
Favorite songs--Popcorn, Leafy Tree Tops, Bob the Builder
Favorite color--usually pink, although he is saying blue today
Best friend--Marissa

I finally feel like Jackson has turned a corner on driving me insane. Seriously, for a while there I was ready to ship him to some band of gypsies. The last few weeks, however, I feel like he has matured (a crazy word for an almost three year old), but really he understands consequences a little more which has resulted in better decisions and he has played by himself more. Can't quite explain it, but all I know is that is has been much more pleasurable to be his mother.

Hmmm, what else, I guess really I should go get something done around here. Hope all of my followers :) had a great Christmas and that this year is good to you.

Prayers of an almost three year old.

Some of the things Jackson can be heard blessing:

Santa
Jesus (he needs lots of blessings :))
That mason and marissa will be nice so that they can get presents and candy from santa
That mom and dad won't fight (okay, we really don't fight much and not in front of him if we do)
That he (Jackson) won't tell mom to "just go somewhere" (his exact words)
The gingerbread house
Gingie (the gingerbread man that goes with the house)
His Toys
The pirates who do nothing (??)
The pirate ship

I know I still have a little baby weight to lose, but come on...

I enjoy having Jackson tell his Dad various things...I think mainly because he talks so cute. I get him to say things like, "you're insane in the membrane," and "you're a goof ball galore" (pronounced gawore by J). Today Douglas retaliated and told J to tell me that I was an animal. Jackson proceeded to tell me that I am an animal. I asked him what kind of animal and without skipping a beat he said, "a big hippo."

A regular hippo wasn't large enough I guess.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Now that I finally finished decorating. I even swept off the front porch to top it all off. I am quite pleased with how things turned out this year. Here are some pics of my work.

This last picture is just to show that I FINALLY finished my advent. It only took three years.

I mailed off the Christmas cards to day (insert huge sigh of relief). I made D help me fold, stuff, stamp and return address all the cards yesterday. I addressed them so that they would actually make it to their destination. Dang, it costs a lot to send out Christmas cards. I think I sent somewhere around 75 this year. D knows everyone, not kidding. We don't ever go anywhere without his seeing someone he knows. I just have to tell myself that I only do it once a year. I had two different cards made. One was a really cool trifold, except the colors were off at the printers and I didn't want to wait until they reprinted and shipped them. So, if you wonder when rust red became a Christmas color, you will understand. The other card was just flat and I really liked how it turned out.

I am going to start some neighbor and work people gifts today. Nothing fancy, but just a little something. I am itching to bake and make candy etc. We will see if I get my act together. Next year maybe I will do vanilla again. I made homemade vanilla last year and never heard a peep from anyone about it so I thought it was a bust. But here comes Christmas again and people start asking if I am doing it because they loved it. All right people, you have got to let me know sooner so that your acceptance can be motivation for the next year :).

Did I mention that we got turned down by about 10 people to play Santa for the ward Christmas party? So...

My hubby is such a good sport. Actually he was a great santa. When we got the costume it was so nasty. It smelled that smoke and B.O. and bad breath. I brought it home the night before, washed it in really hot water with a little detergent, oxy, biz and chlorox and I lysoled and febreezed the beard and hair. Still after all that I was a little weary to touch it. Douglas joked that there should have been a little flask pocket inside.

The kids kept getting on his lap and telling him that they wanted to see Roudolphs nose so Santa said, "stay up really late on Christmas Eve, look out the north windows and watch for the flashing red light". Boys would get up and Santa would say, "I know what you want, a girlfriend, right?" Which of course made all the kids laugh. And one girl told him what she wanted and he said, "you want underwear, huh." It was pretty cute. He was a great red faced Santa. Oh, and the shoes didn't fit so he had to go out in his socks and people in the ward have been calling him the "shoeless Santa."

Jackson was so intrigued by him. He had no clue it was D and he kept going back to talk to him again and again.

By the way, Jackson is not asking Santa for a Green egg with M&M's. He saw it at Target and that is all he wants now. Good thing Santa has been known to shop at Target.

So have I told you about these tasty morsels??

Three words...Hea-ven-ly.

I stocked up so as to not run out. I am addicted.

We bought our Christmas tree a week ago Saturday, and that is where this saga begins. On Tuesday I went to string lights on the tree and there were needles everywhere. Everytime I touched the tree it just fell apart. So, being impulsive and really irritated, I dragged the thing out of the house, got it to the top of the car, secured it down and took it to Home Depot where I returned it and bought another. I bought a smaller one, luckily so the return process wasn't quite as painful. It is up, lighted and decorated though and I am feeling good. Santa can come. I have thought a lot about having a really pretty themed tree, but I have such good memories of helping decorate the tree growing up and I want my kids to have the same experience. I think it is fun to decorate together and I don't want to get irked everytime Jackson moves another ornament. Someday I will have a fun themed tree, but that will be in the distant future. Here is a picture of the tree. The second picture is the spot J decorated. He saw no need in spreading the ornaments out hence they are all clustered in one spot.

and yes, I know I need to vacuum.

Paige is now sitting, but still not even trying to roll over. My only consolation is that she has done it before. I guess she tried it, it wasn't all it was cracked up to be and so she has decided not to any more. I am a little worried though...you know the usual mom thing. If this was baby #1 I bet I would have been really concerned.

Well, I think that about sums up life. I am getting really excited for Christmas and even D is excited. Santa is bringing J a trampoline and I think he will love it. I am going to make him just for at least 20 minutes a day. Maybe then he will have a normal amount of energy.

Tonight is Gingerbread house night. Gotta love Costco's prefabed Gingie houses.

Off to play mom.

Oh yeah, here is a little family picture from when we went to see the lights at the temple.

(insert) huge sigh of relief...

I can breathe again. I have taken a little hiatus from the blogging world as I have tried to tie up all the loose ends with my photography business so that I can enjoy the holidays. I finally finished editing the wedding I did in October and boy, that is a huge burden that has lifted. My Christmas season started right before the wedding and so between family pics, traveling, having family in town and, you know, being a mom, I felt like a chicken with my head cut off (is that even how the saying goes?) I also FINALLY ordered my own Christmas cards which is also a huge weight lifted off. I started decorating the house yesterday and although it is slow going, it will get done. You know what I hate the most??? Stringing lights on the tree. I know, an artificial one would solve that problem, but I love the smell of the real ones. We choose a really pretty one this year. I am not one to look at every tree. I just find one that looks okay and take it home. The one we bought opened up and is nice and symetrical with a perfect point for a star. Of course the point it too close to the ceiling so we will have to do some sort of makeshift something.

So, what has been going on. For one, D and I were both released from nursery...and right when I finally started accepting the fact that I was with my two year old all the time. Actually, I was kind of starting to enjoy the kids. I know that sounds bad, but really when you do it all day long every day, it would be kind of nice to have a break. D loved it though and it was really fun to serve with him. There are not many callings where you get that luxury. So, I got called as a relief society teacher, D as an elders quorum teacher and both of us are on the activities committee. Oh yeah, our ward was split and that is why we have two callings. I have already taught twice and although I may not be the best teacher, I love teaching relief society. I think I can say that it is my favorite calling. Too bad I cry so easily. I try to play it off like I don't, but that is the reality.

We also had our first ward activity which, with only two weeks to plan can off pretty nicely. Yes, we had TONS of potatoes and fruit left over, but the food was good, we had a good turn out and even santa came (more on that in another post).

Jackson is so funny these days. He drives me bonkers a lot of the time and I can't leave him by himself of some sort of chaos will ensue, but he says and does the funniest things today. This evening Douglas put his little gloves on him and he started singing?? "Hand Hand Fingers Thumb" (it is a book for all you non-children's book readers). Then, he walked over to this milk can we had, started banging on it and yelled, "sing mama." It was pretty funny. Of course when he had stopped drumming and I continued singing he made it very clear that I was done too.

Then, during family homely D and I were talking and J came over to tell me a "funny secret". He got close to me and whispered in my ear, "funny secret" and cracked up laughing. Then he told me he had to tell me another secret. He went to my other ear and whispered, "go give daddy a hug, squeeze his juice out and drink it" (a little family thing we do). I started laughing so he told me he would do it and went to D to do so.

He is just such a crack up.

Paige has been so delightful lately. I forgot how fun they are when they hit about six months. Whenever I feed her she stops every few seconds to laugh with me and smile and coo. I love it. Or, if we are in her room, she will stop, look at herself in the mirror (she has mirrored closet doors) and do the same. It is so cute. She squeals and squaks all the time. She went in for her 6 month check up and she is about the 85% for everything. She is about 18 lbs, 7 ounces now. She barely even cried with her shots. She is just so much fun.

Well, off to bed. I am almost done with Harry Potter 5 and I think I will go get the movie tomorrow (haven't seen it yet). The HP books are always fun.

I may actually get some Christmas cards made!

Thanks to Anne, I finally took some photos of the kids. I can't do it alone!!

covering the basis...

Jackson only includes two things that he is thankful for in his prayers:

Jesus

and

Santa

He knows who truly matters.

what a stinker.

Lately Jackson has been giving me a run for my money. I am trying really hard to be consistent in his punishments so that he knows that I mean business (this really is not one of my strengths). Anyway, one of his rules is that when we ask him to do something he doesn't say no to us (usually very rudely). If he does he has to go to his room which he hates to do. So now when we ask him to do something he doesn't want to he says "ni". I guess he is not saying no, although the meaning is the same. He is such a smart little stinker.

let's be honest for just a minute...

We are would like the world to believe that our children are the little saints that we are able to capture in the ONE Christmas card photo, but in all honesty, doesn't this more closely depict what our children are REALLY doing while we are getting photos taken??:)

Thanks Andrea for letting me capture your children how they REALLY are. It was refreshing.

just testing out my macro settings.

kinda trippy.

Preview

This one is for you, Robyn...

These things don't last long...

you know, all the cute things your kids do and say so I thought that as I wait for pics to upload I would share a few.



First, Jackson always says, "after later." Anytime he wants something and I tell him he can have it later he will say, "okay, I can have it after later."



Paige is still fairly new to solids and still has a pretty strong tongue thrust so every time I give her a bit of food she sticks her thumb right in her mouth, takes a few sucks and pulls it out. I think that is how she has figured out how to get it down. It is cute and messy!

a little friendly discussion...

So, here it is. I know there will be many differing and strong opionions on this subject. I will lay out the facts, and my opinions. Then I would love to hear what all of you think about the matter. Then I will tell you what decision I made.

I am a firm believer that all babies that are healthy can be trained to sleep through the night. By 14 weeks I think all babies can be sleeping at least 8 hours if not longer. Both of my babies were sleeping a good 12 hours by about 12-14 weeks. People say I am lucky to have great babies, but I also think it is because I teach my babies to sleep. I am not saying I am an amazing mother, I just follow a philosophy called "The Baby Whisperer" and it has been magic with getting my babies to sleep, eat and play on a schedule. It is my sanity. I can't function without a little predicatbility. That being said I have to say that I am really against the idea of letting a child "cry it out". I will let Paige cry for a few minutes until she finds her thumb and gets to sleep, but seriously, it kills me to listen to my babies cry.

So here is the situation: over a week ago P had the stomach flu--you know the whole throwing up, diarreah bit that no mother wants their little baby to have. Because she was sick she started waking in the night and I would feed her. I don't know if she was actually hungry or just needed comfort, but when my kids are sick I will give them what they want and need. So fast forward a week...P is healthy and still waking up one or two times a night. She wants to eat. Period. She wants her mommy and a boobie and nothing else. Is she hungry? Doubt it. Does she want comfort? Probably. I kept thinking it would pass, but it didn't. I was getting exhausted and cranky. Something had to be done. So I came up with a plan.

Yesterday with the time change P's routine was a little out of whack. That necessitated an extra feeding during the day. I figured that it was a perfect opportunity to get a few extra calories in her body and make sure she had enough to get her through the night. I also gave her two bowls of rice cereal.

7 pm came around and I fed and put the kids to bed. I am just about to settle down for a long winter's nap around 11pm (way too late) and what do I hear?? My sweet little P crying. I gave her a few minutes to see if she would settle down. She would and then a few minutes later she would start up again. Had it been 2 am I probably would have just gotten up and fed her, but it had only been 4 hours. She goes 4 hours during the day, most certainly she can go longer (much longer) than that at night. What to do?? D and I discussed this at length as we lied in bed not sleeping because P was crying. It wasn't a pained cry. It wasn't a hungry cry. It was a MAD cry. I knew that if I went in there it would reinforce that if she cries I come in, yet at the same time, I really don't want her to feel abandoned or whatever else. Honestly, it was killing me to hear her cry.

What would you do?

It is sad when this is a big life decision...

Okay, so it is Miss P's first Christmas. I have waited for the chance to dress a little girl up for Christmas my whole life and let me tell you, this has not been an easy decision. So, here are the candidates. D informed me that with all the money I have spent on shipping I could probably pay for the dress...

practicality...totally over rated.


Love this one, but here is the problem...it is silk and dry clean only...spitty baby + silk = a lot of dry cleaning.

So, I already got this green one (dress only--J is WAY too old for a little outfit like that). I thought that maybe it would be a nice simple dress. It was really ugly and kind of Walmarty looking...not that I have any problem with Walmart, but I would rather pay the Walmart price if that is the case.I love the idea of J and P totally coordinating...at least until J is Way too old for that to be cute anymore. I love the brown and blue. We will see how they look in person. (it would be the vest outfit for J and little dress for P)This was my first idea. I think it is really pretty, but I am not IN LOVE with it. It is machine washable though. I guess it just doesn't look too Christmasy to me.


And, I found this today and I sort of think I am in love and it is machine washable...still I need to get it to see how it really looks.
I already have an outfit for J picked out if I don't go with the brown outfits. It is a cute sweater vest, trouser outfit from Gymboree with, of course, the cute hat for picture purposes.

silly j

ole?

halloween pumpkins

my long lost daughter

isn't she a pretty one? j came upstairs and said, "hi mom, I'm you." too cute.