Jaxon and all his 6 month cuteness!

knock on wood

I got the kids all loaded up to go pick up Jonas after class and our car is dead... hahaha!

the good news - it's just a fried battery... I just thought that was funny after the previous post!

my ramblings

Usually I am out once my head hits the pillow at night but last night I couldn't sleep and of course Jonas was out so I had no one to talk to. So the thoughts just rumbled around in my head until 2 am. I was thinking all about life and all the changes we've made and all we have been through in the last little while. We have been here for a month now but you sure can't tell by looking at our house, it is such a mess! I REALLY love a clean and organized house and I despise clutter! If you've ever seen my house you'll probably notice how bare the walls usually are, it's not because I haven't gotten around to decorating, it's because that's the way I like it. :) I am a simple person and so I like a simple house. Anyway, the purpose of this post is to get some of these thoughts out of my system. As I was laying awake last night, I was thinking about how just a few months ago I was so worried about everything. We were moving our family across the country, leaving family behind, and we still weren't sure about finances, but we went anyway, because it felt right. I have been a little scared about doing things just because it feels right because 2 years ago, we felt right about moving to Germany for Jonas' master's degree and that did not work out and was a hard thing for us to go through. Well, here we go again but I was just laying there thinking about how we did it and we are here and we are still alive and we have everything we need and we haven't run out of money. Everyone is healthy, the car is still running, we didn't get into any accidents!! I am not at all saying life is perfect because it definitely isn't. We definitely have some trials. But I am just amazed that we are here and everything is ok. Should I be amazed about that? Well, I am happy things are falling into place. Yesterday was my first day in YW since I was a YW and I think it's going to be a really fun calling. I get to teach next week and I am actually kinda excited. The 2, yes 2, girls in my class are awesome, nice girls. Yeah! It's a releif for me to have a calling that I like because I am scared to death of some callings, like anything that force me to be up in front of a group, especially adults! So, I am thinking this will be good for me. I have been so worried about getting Maelie into some sort of inexpensive preschool and she finally at the last moment got into the high school preschool here. Today was the open house and I took her as well as Kyla and Jaxon. I am impressed and think it will be good for Maelie as this is her year before full day kindergarten and it will be good for her to have her own thing away from Kyla. I am hoping that it will be good for Kyla to get some alone time as well. Kyla is one of my trials (and blessings) in life, but what would I ever do without her?! Just when I think she is doing better she goes through some hard time. She threw the biggest fit as we were leaving the preschool, so frustrating and embarassing, especially when you have 3 and you are trying to get out the door and you feel like the whole world is staring at you. I think I am going to have to work something out with Jonas where he stays in the car with Kyla and Jaxon while I drop off and pick up Maelie from preschool. Anyway, that is what life is all about right? Figuring things out, working through challenges, trusting in the Lord, growing, and moving forward. Next on my list is potty training Kyla which I am not even near being thrilled about! AND, I need to lose some weight!! We joined the YMCA and Jonas and I are able to go workout together while the kids go to the child care and they are liking it there so, so far so good. Jonas is trying to gain weight, while I am trying to lose. I wish I had the problem of trying to gain weight! That would be a BLAST! =) Anyway, I think I am done rambling for now, thanks for being there for me and all that... I am off to clean and organize!

America's Day for Kids

Jonas had 2 spare hours in his day today so we went to a FREE kids carnival downtown!

Maelie was making Jaxon crack up while I was feeding him carrots yesterday, makes for a huge mess!

2 new videos

"Jaxon 6 months" and "PB & J" under Stanford Family Videos to the right

Happy 6 month Jaxon!

Jaxon is 6 months old today! Here are his stats...

19 lbs 14 oz (85%) - 2 more ounces left of carseat! =)

28 1/4 in (95%)

44.8 cm head (75%)

He also had to get his hips X-rayed since he was a breech baby - everytime the light came on, he wet himself, kinda funny! We have to go back for shots since they were out!

Jonas and Jaxon put the bunk beds together on Monday. They are from IKEA and as we (I mean they) were hammering away we realized that we wouldn't be able to get it out the door and have no desire to take it apart so when we move from here (hopefully in a long time) we will probably just hack it to pieces and throw it out the window =)

And these pictures are for Grandma, thanks for the cute bedding, the girls are loving their new beds... and yes, Maelie has already fallen off the top. But she knows now that her bed is for sleeping on and not playing on. :) Hopefully!!!

And for the first time in his life, Jaxon is in a crib! Thanks to Travis and Kristin for letting us borrow the cute surfing stuff!

We still don't have a bed, after 5 years of marriage, we have always had something more important to spend our money on. But we do love our mattersses and the new quilt my Mom and I made! LOVE IT! And after that air mattress, our mattresses feel especially comfy!

And Maelie starts preschool next week! She is SOOO excited! She wants to take a lunch to school so bad, I have been trying to explain to her that she "gets to" come home and eat her lunch. I think she will be fine when full day kindergarten rolls around next year!

if you haven't already found this...

check this out.. hilarious!

http://www.seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com/

oh, and yes, she is fake, just making fun of our mormon blogging culture :)

clarification

YES! We got all our stuff, the truck came on Sunday, which is why I am buried in boxes. Yes, I think we have it ALL! We even have someone else's box! SCORE!!!

good news

Jonas has an assistantship! YEAH! That means free tuition, good health coverage, and a small salary! He will be designing something to find out more about the glaciers in Antartica.... or something like that... =) Oh, and I have a new calling - beehive advisor!

buried in boxes

what is all this stuff???

Niagara Falls

Well, we had another weekend without our stuff to unpack and I got a deal on priceline, so we went to Niagara Falls, it was beautiful! We were all amazed! The girls loved it and Jaxon was soooo happy on the Maid of the Mist (the boat ride out to the falls) we were a little worried about how the kids would do on the boat, especially Jaxon...

Kyla and the American Falls

Journey Behind the Falls

Jonas, Kyla, and the horshoe falls

happy baby

super super happy baby

Maelie and the horseshoe falls

Maelie and her "wand"

it started raining around 7 pm and we wanted to wait for the falls to light up and also for the firework show, so we went back to the car to wait while the girls watched a movie, apparently Kyla was a bit worn out from the day... there was so much rain we ended up leaving when we saw the falls light up, we didn't think there would be any fireworks that night, oh well, maybe next time!

Journey Behind the falls was AWESOME and VERY wet!!!

"Oh, Canada!" - on Maid of the Mist

the tunnel behind the falls - very cool and slippery!

our sweet blue ponchos on Maid of the Mist - notice Jaxon's smile :)

a glimpse behind the falls

The kids all loved it and they even wanted to go again today, but we didn't because we got a call from the truck, it's coming tomorrow afternoon, a little awkward that they are coming on Sunday, but whatever! It feels like christmas eve! =) No more traveling for a while!

"Thanks for the animals, Grandma!"

Love, Maelie and Kyla

THE TRUCK IS COMING!!!

My phone just rang and it was a California number and let me tell you, it felt like CHRISTMAS! I answered the phone and the lady told me the good news that our household HAS FINALLY LEFT LA!!! I practically shouted with joy and she was all business... ANYWAY, it will be here between Monday and Wednesday, they will call the day before it comes! HALLELUYAH!!!!

a few pix

out our back door

watching the rain

lovin' those green beans

4 day weekend!

Jonas doesn't have class on Friday, it's so awesome! For now anyway... once he starts his assistantship, he will probably be busy all week. Our goal is to keep it like a full time job with the nights and weekends off, but we will see how busy he gets. We actually didn't do that much this weekend but it was a nice weekend nonetheless. We found the coolest park ever! I wish I had brought the camera. It has tons and tons of trees so it is all shaded and beautiful! But there are plenty of fun things to keep the kids entertained and some nice benches where Jonas and I were able to sit back and watch. They have enough swings there so the kids aren't waiting in line for a swing. I even pushed Jaxon on the swing and he had the biggest smile on his face! And there is a bathroom there, good thing, since Maelie had to go twice! Anyway, we will go back sometime and I will bring the camera. We also went to a 2-ward putluck at a park yesterday morning which was fun and good to get to know our ward a little better.

Jonas and I like to watch movies after we put the kids to bed. It is kind of like a date night and sanity saver for us. Well, since out tv and clear play dvd player are in a warehouse in LA, we bought a few games to play and it's been fun. We bought Disney Scene it? (we have the laptop), Last Word, and Electronic Monoploy. All are fun games! Well, hopefully the truck calls today!!! If it doesn't, we are going on a trip this weekend!