Sibling Love

Well, Everett is gradually becoming a nicer brother to his sister:) He is now wanting to hold her, he kisses her, he plays with her, he helps give her a bath, and he tries to share his treats with her. Honestly though he has gotten a lot better since day one. There are moments when he likes to pull her out of her chair or bounce her a little harder than he should, but I've come to the conclusion that he thinks he's being nice. most of the time he starts out real gently and then gets a little rough with her. I don't think he understands the concept that she is tiny and can't handle everything he does. When she starts fussy though he'll go and pat her stomach like he's sorry. It's pretty cute.

Jacquelyn loves her brother. She has her eyes on him whenever he's in the room and he can always get her to laugh. I have a feeling when she gets older he's going to be her hero. Here are a few pictures from last night and this morning:

Having tummy time together


I love this picture for the fact that Jacquelyn is watching Everett


Everett was putting his necklace on Jacquelyn ....


and became pretty proud of himself that he started clapping!

Big Boy Bed

A couple weeks ago we moved Everett from his crib to a big boy bed. We were interested to see how he'd do, but to our surprise he did really well! When Todd was taking the crib apart to convert it to a bed Everett of course had to help.

He was so excited. Once we had everything set up Everett loved it. More for playing on then anything else. When it was time for bed he fussed for a little bit, but we were surprised at how well he did. He still moves around like crazy though. On night one we found him like this:

And on night two:

He did really good for the first two weeks, but this past week he has been constantly getting out of bed. We've been having to lock his door when he goes down to keep him in. We unlock it before going to be and then he's usually in our room a few hours later. Hopefully this wont last too long and he'll go back to he's good sleep habits!

Everett's 2!!

I'm a little behind on posting but last Sunday, the 21st, Everett turned 2!! He's becoming such a big little kid. He has grown so much just the past little bit. I've always wondered when he'd start talking and saying things and the past few weeks his words are becoming clearer. He's repeating what we say more and more. He's a great helper (when he wants to be), he loves his little sister, and he LOVES hanging out with Dad.

We had a little birthday party, last month, for him. So we didn't do too much on his actual birthday. Todd's cousin Alyssa came up and we had some cake and ice cream. He was able to talk to both grandparents on skpe. We went and go him a little something so he could open a present, but sadly he found it that morning and of course had to watch it. It was a Dora DVD. I guess I have to had his presents a little better now!

Singing Happy Birthday


Blowing/Spitting out his candles


Jacquelyn enjoying all the birthday fun!

This kids is growing too fast. Here's just a list of things he's doing at the moment:

Weight: 23 lbs. (3%)
Height: 36 inches (27%)

Words he is saying (these are the words I can remember at the moment):
popcicle
mom
dad
baby
read
pickle
rainbow
cow
dog
TV
Dora
Shoes
socks
bye
car
gone
milk
juice
frisbee
movie
Rio
movie

Things he is into:
Balls
Dora the Explorer
Wipeout (the tv show)
Books
Running

Foods he likes:
popcicles
spaghetti
mac & cheese
peanut butter & jelly
veggies
goldfish
breakfast bars
cookies
string cheese

I should be better at writing this stuff down when it actually happens, but these are just some of the things I can remember off the top of my head. Everett is continuing to grow so much. He likes to test me and I'm pretty sure he knows exactly what to do to make me go crazy! He has the most contagious loving smile. I can't stay upset with him for too long. We love our little guy and can't get enough of him!

Reading Buddies

Everett LOVES to read. We'll catch him in his room reading, or he'll always come up to us with a book and say "read".

A year or so ago Todd and I started listing to the Harry Potter books on tape. We got all the way through the 5th book and then stopped. We were borrowing them from a friend and that's as many as he had. So for his birthday Todd decided to get all the books. He read the 6th book pretty quick and then started the 6th after we came back from camping. When he got towards the end of the book he was constantly in it. Whenever he had a spare moment you'd see him reading. Since Everett saw him reading he of course had to read. He would go up to Todd and try to get him to read. So finally Todd told him to go sit in his own chair and read so he could finish his book. When I walked by Everett's room this is what I found:

It was a pretty cute site. Everett was pretty occupied for awhile. He thought he was pretty cool hangin out just like Dad!

Camping Trip

This past weekend we went on a fun little camping trip. Todd loves to camp and wants to make it a family thing. Which I'm ok with it, but I have no idea how to really plan for a camping trip. We've been a couple times since we've been married but I've never really had to plan meals and such. So this was our first trip I had the opportunity to really plan for. Todd got a whole bunch of camping gear for Christmas and has been wanting to put them to use this summer. But with the baby and family this was the first weekend we had that we could really go.

Our friends the Wilcox's came with us. We had so much fun. It was nice to just sit and relax. I got some reading and naps in. We got eaten by plenty of mosquitoes and horse flies. Everett got plenty of time to play outside. He even got to experience falling into a fire! Luckily our friend Tristan was close enough and grabbed him quick. He had no burns or anything. We were all pretty surprised. Sadly he didn't learn from it. He kept wanting to go by the fire. Hopefully someday he'll get the gist of it!

My meal plans weren't the greatest, but everything turned out. I went the easy route and just brought stuff that was already made so all we really had to do was heat it up. We were planning on staying all day on Saturday, but between Everett needing a really good nap and all the flies we decided to head on home early.

The Wilcox's have a camper and I told Todd we should invest in one! We probably wont be able to do that for awhile, but man they seem like they making camping a whole lot easier. Our camping is probably done for for this year, but hopefully next year we'll get some more trips in. I know Todd's already planning on it:)

Thursday Morning-Enjoying the campfire






Playing his harmonica


He learned how to get in and out of the tent....Unzip, get the essentials out


Then get himself out.....


And then zip back up


This is pretty much how Jacquelyn enjoyed her camping weekend :)

2 Months

Our Little Miss Jacquelyn is 2 months old! She is getting so big and growing so much. My parents thought she had already grown a lot during the week they were here. Here are some of the things I've been noticing this past month

She is starting to stay up for longer periods of time.
Her hair is getting redder! When we're inside it looks like it just has a red tint to it, but the minute you take her out in the sun it is red. We'll see if it ends up staying like that.
She knows when people enter the rooms and will follow them.
She has the biggest smile! And she likes to smile lots.
Our night times are becoming much better. She has a fussy period between about 5pm and 9pm. I think we're finally starting to understand how to comfort her and help her during that time.
She was only waking up once during the night, but the past few days she has enjoyed going back to every two hours. I haven't been enjoying it as much.
A few weeks ago she was just over 9 pounds. We go in for her appointment next week and should get a more accurate weight and height.
She loves bright colors. Everett has started showing the I-Pod to her when he plays Angry Birds and her eyes just get real big. She was just follow it as he moves it around.

Once again the time is just flying by. It's gone by fast with Everett and now with jacquelyn. She is just growing and growing and we can't get enough of her.

Visit from Grammy and Grandpa

This past week we had the privilege of spending some time with my parents. They came up to met Jacquelyn and to be here for her blessing. They came up on the 27th of July and stayed until this past Thursday, the 4th. I love when they came up. We don't get to see them too often, so when we do I try to take full advantage of it. The first few times Everett met my parents he was a little apprehensive at first. But the last few times have been different. He's really starting to remember who they are and I love it. We had such a great week. To document everything I decided to go ahead and just write about each day. Some days there was more picture taking then others. I'm trying to be better at taking pictures!

Thursday-July 28th, 2011

To start our day off we I took the kids over to see my parents at their hotel. Everett was a little shy at first, but it didn't take long for him to get over that. Grammy gave him some fruit snacks and she won him over. Then he got to play with all of Grandpa's hats. I think Everett gets his love of hats from his Grandpa. They could probably both start a collection together.

After getting ready we headed out to Sam's to get stuff for the festivities that weekend. Everett and Grandpa shopped together while the girls went their way. When we met up with them Everett was in heaven. Grandpa had gotten a huge bag of gummy bears and had opened them for Everett to start eating. I'm sure Everett was happy with his decision of going with Grandpa at that point!

Later that afternoon we met up with Todd to celebrate his 28th birthday. We had been wanting to go to Yellowstone Bear World for quite some time. It's a little place off the highway in between Rigby and Rexburg. So while mom and dad were in town we decided to take the opportunity to go. It turned out to be such a fun experience! We drove through and saw deer, elk, turkeys, bison, and then at the end were the bears. Most of them were in their little homemade dens. So we didn't get too close to them. After the drive they have a little petting zoo and amusement part. Everett loved it. He would actually go up to the animals and pet them. My mom went and got some food and was trying to show Everett how to feed the animals. He did not want to open his hands. I don't know if he just got a little scared, or what. But once the animals left we noticed he tried to start eating the food! We'd tell him no and he'd start crying. He did not understand that concept! Animal food is not human food!

The little rides they had were Everett's favorite. He LOVED the train and wanted to keep going on it. Todd took him on a little big bigger ride. We thought he'd either like it, or start crying cause he was afraid, but there was nothing. He showed no expression! Once he got off he just wanted back on the train. He was little devastated when we made him leave.

After the zoo and rides, my dad got us to go on the Curator Tour. We rode on this bus and had a girl telling us about all the animals. The fun part was that we were able to actually feed the animals. The elk would come up but were too exciting. When we got to the bears it was so fun to watch them. It's like they knew what the white bus had. Food. They were start walking up to it waiting for us to drop stuff. When we got to one point of the tour the girl had us all yell "come here bears!" And sure enough they all came. We had such a good time. Everett was able to come home with a cute little bear hat as souvenir. He loves that thing. He's even taken a nap with it on. I tell ya he has a thing for hats!

That night we were able to see Todd's brother, Tim, and his family. They came in for the blessing too. They have a little boy, Josh, who is just 3 weeks younger than Everett. It was so fun to watch them play together. We went and had dinner at a little park behind our apartment. We were sure one of the kids were going to get hurt. They had a huge slide that Everett and Josh kept trying to go up. Everett would get to the top and then want to get down, but Josh was behind him. I knew Everett was going to knock him down, but luckily nothing happened! To finish the night we had some Oreo Cake and ice cream to celebrate Todd's birthday!

Friday-July 29th, 2011

Friday we all got together and set out for Mesa Falls. We thought it'd be fun to show my parents, and Tim and Tiffany, a little part of Idaho. We think Mesa Falls is beautiful. We went to the overlook to the Lower Falls first, and then headed to the Upper Falls. The kids had a blast running around and going up and down the stairs. We even got to take a cute picture of the cousins. It was fun to have them since Everett doesn't get to see his cousins much. After seeing the falls we decided to go on the little hike that takes you to the lower falls. Well, it doesn't quite take you to it, just a little closer to it.

The hike was quite the experience. My mom was pushing Jacquelyn in the stroller, but halfway through had to take her out cause she was screaming. So we replaced her with Everett. Well, that didn't go over too well. He was so tired, but did not want to be in there. He just kept crying and crying, but my mom trucked on. When we came to a stop Todd took him and as they were walking Everett fell asleep for the rest of the hike. He wasn't the only one though. Josh fell asleep on Tim's shoulders. It was pretty cute. When we finally got to the end it was little bit of a let down. Like I said it just gets you a little closer then the overlook gets you to the lower falls. If you're not a fan of heights it's not the best cause you have to get pretty close to the edge.

After getting back to our cars we had a nice little picnic and was able to sit and rest a little. That night Joe and Debbie, Todd's parents, and Troy made it into town. We were able to go out to Texas Roadhouse, after much deliberation, and enjoy some family time together.

Saturday-July 30, 2011

Saturday we were able to have Jacquelyn's baby blessing. It was beautiful and Todd did such a great job. Since we were having family in town we decided we would take advantage of it and celebrate Everett's birthday. It's not till the 21st of August, but since we don't have family close to us we thought it'd be nice for him to have a little party with everyone while they were here.

We had our family, plus lots of extended family that came out. It was so nice to see the turn out and how much family we really do have so close. My grandpa Tuckett is from this area and some of his siblings still live around here. My dad hadn't seen his Aunt Ester for quite some time. They were able to come out from Boise along with some cousins. It was so neat to see them all together.

Before family had to start leaving, we sang to Everett and let him blow out his candles. He couldn't quite get it. Finally he just spit on the candles! It worked. He started clapping at his great accomplishment! Anytime he does something now he claps for himself. Opening presents this year was so much more fun than his 1st birthday. He got so excited for each and every present. He expressions and noises he made were priceless. He got books, movies, legos, balls, more toys, and a new sand/water box. Luckily we have our own patio now that he can play on with his new toys. He goes out everyday and plays in the water and sand. Sure enough it all gets tracked into our apartment! but he loves it so I can't complain. He's also loving all his new books. Everett is quite the reader. He's always coming up and asking us to read to him.

The rest of the day we were able to spend with family. Todd's Grandma Wilson also came up so we were able to spend some time with her. Everett got to play more with his cousins before they had to go. We think he thoroughly enjoyed having kids to play with rather than us! They were a little more fun.

Sunday- July 31, 2011

Sunday we were able to spend time with both my parents and Todd's parents. We took them on a nice little drive out to Jackson Hole. It didn't start on the best note. I ended up slamming my dad's finger in the door as we were getting ready to go. Not a good way to start. Luckily everything got better. We stopped at the Elk Refuge and had a nice little picnic and enjoyed everyone's company. Then we headed out to Signal Mountain. When we got to the top it was beautiful. It looked out over the valley. That is one thing I really like about living out here. The scenery. I don't think it could ever get old.

After our sight seeing we made our way back home to get rested for the rest of the week.

Monday-August 1, 2011

My mom had a family friend that passed away just before they came out. The funeral was being held in Salt Lake. Being so close, my mom wanted to go down and visit her old childhood friends. So Monday, my mom, dad, Jacquelyn, and I headed down to Salt Lake. Todd and Everett were able to hang out at home and enjoy some bonding time. They spent the time putting together his new sand table. It seemed as though they had quite the time together!

My parents and I had a pretty good time. The drive was nice once we got out off the rain storms. I think my mom enjoyed her visit with her friends also. It was fun being able to watch her reminiscence about their childhood.

After the memorial we headed out to a Super Target. I have missed Super Target more than I realized! They need to build one out here. We went and searched the baby isle quickly and then headed out. Before beginning our ride home we had a nice little dinner at a new restaurant and then we headed out.

I had such a good time with my parents. It was nice being able to hangout with them and to just talk.

Tuesday-August 2, 2011

Tuesday we had a pretty relaxing day compared to the week before. I headed into work for a little bit while my mom watched the kids. I came home to a nice clean apartment. My mom went and cleaned everything. She's pretty amazing. We were hoping she would be able to get Jacquelyn to drink out of a bottle, but no such luck. If my mom can't do it, then I don't know who can!

Once the kids woke up from their naps we headed over to get my parents and head out. We went to Verizon and then met up with another one of my Dad's cousin. He was in town from Hawaii. We were able to catch up with them for a little bit before they had to head out to Utah.

After our little shopping trip we met up with Todd to have his birthday dinner. He has been wanting to try King Crab Legs forever. So my mom and I decided to give it to him for his birthday. We found a place here called Jakers that was suppose to be pretty good. The meals were pretty good. Todd liked his crab, but he wasn't too impressed. But now he knows and now he can say he's tried them!

After dinner we finished our shopping and then once again ended our day. After getting Everett to sleep, Jacquelyn and I were able to go hang out with my parents for one last night.

Wednesday August 3, 2011

Wednesday was another nice day. The morning we took it easy once again. My dad went on his daily walk while the kids and I hung out with my mom. Then they went down for naps. After naps we began our day once again. I'm disappointed I didn't take any pictures that day. Luckily my dad has some that I will hopefully be able to get soon!

We all headed up to Rexburg to go to the splash park. This time Everett loved it. He was still a little hesitant in the beginning, but warmed up pretty quickly. We even got him to go down the slide! I had to go put him up there, but he still went down! After all the water fun grandpa bought Everett a ticket to ride on the carousel they have in the park. Everett went up and picked his horse he wanted. This was another moment were I new he would either love it or hate it. And once again he would not make any emotion!! As we would go by my parents and Todd, my mom would do something funny and Everett was trying sooo hard not to crack a smile. Every time we came by him he would do this. It was pretty humorous. Once the ride was over he wanted to keep going. He loved it! Despite his expression he still wanted to keep going. So of course we went on one last time.

After all that fun we headed over to G's Dairy for some delicious ice cream. It was a great way to ended our time in Rexburg.

While my parents were here Jefferson County was having their fair and Wednesday night was the Rodeo. When my dad saw that he wanted to go. So Wednesday night we headed out to the Rodeo! Both Todd and I had never been to one. We had such a good time. Everett loved seeing all the horses and cows. He got to enjoy a hot dog and cookie. He chowed it down faster than I had ever seen him eat! Towards the end he got a little antsy, but grammy was able to keep him entertained. We got to end the night by seeing the bulls and then we got to say goodnight to Grammy and Grandpa for their last night here.

Thursday-August 4, 2011

Thursday morning I got the kids up and going and we went to spend the morning with my parents before they had to leave. We helped them get everything packed and then headed out to breakfast. Everett had such a fun time color and counting with Grammy. Then we got to go walk around main street. We came home with a delicious Apple Pie Caramel Apple from the Carmel Tree. Unfortunately my mom had 1 slice and then I had to finish it! It was so good. I got to savor it for a few days and have a slice here and there!

The time finally came for my parents to head out. It was hard as usual. I keep thinking that each time will get easier and I will be able to say goodbye with out tears. But it has yet to happen. Each time I see them it makes me realize even more how I wish we lived closer. I'm just grateful for the time we do get to see them and have fun. There's never a dull moment! We always have such a great time.