Staying Home

Since Jacquelyn was born I've been able to go back to work part time rather then full time.  It has been so nice for a number of reasons.  I've been getting more stuff done around the house.  I feel like our house gets picked up and cleaned more cause I have the time.  I've been able to get projects done.  I've had the opportunity to bake more.  But the my most favorite part is being able to spend time with my kids and capture these moments:

I walked past Everett's room and caught him as he dumped most of his toys out and then played inside his toy box.

of course once he saw me he had to hid!

And Miss Jacquelyn.  I LOVE watching her as she sleeps.  She's always just so peaceful. And those fingers. As she's falling asleep you can just hear her as she sucks vigorously.  Seriously!

 

It's so much fun being able to just spend time at home with them.  No work, well just a little work, but at least it's at home and not at work!  They grow so fast and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to spend as much time as I can with them. 

I've been wanting to get some good pictures of the kids, but Everett isn't the easiest thing to photograph as of late.  If I even ask him to smile he gets all serious.  So I decided I needed to get him in his element.  Playing.  He loves playing at the park.  He could stay for hours.  So why he played and ran around for a bit....

 Jacquelyn and I took some pictures. She is already 3 1/2 months! I can't believe it.  Her fingers are constantly in her mouth now.  To fall asleep she puts her middle and ring finger in her mouth with her pointer and pinky sticking out.  And she goes to town.  She would scream if we ever gave her a pacifier, but she sure loves those fingers!  She is so much more attentive and is always aware of what's going on in the room.  If she hears a nose she is constantly looking for it.  She can have such a sweet disposition ,but then a minute later she can be as feisty as ever.  She for sure is going to keep us on our toes.  But for the most part she is such a sweet and smiley baby.

I can't believe her red hair.  At times it just looks a light brown, but once we are out in the sun it is red!  I hope it stays as her hair grows out.

Everett of course had to come and give his sister some loves.

After awhile Jacquelyn ended up falling asleep which meant more play time with this little guy.

He can be such a boy at times.  Like wiping his muddy hands on this pants.  Throwing rocks.  Wiping his nose on his shirt. Running around like crazy.  Jumping everywhere. Climbing on anything.  But he is such a good helper too.  He'll go and get things we ask for.  He helps throw his sister's diapers away.  He cleans up.  Sometimes not always willingly, but once he gets going he's pretty good.  We always have to sing the clean up song in order for him to clean up.  He puts his dishes in the sink.  It still amazes me how much he has grown.

This kid has one of the best smiles that I can't get enough of.  We have truly be blessed with some great kids.  After having Jacquelyn I had a little bit of a rough patch.  She cried tons at night and I was always tired which didn't make a great combination.  Now as things have started to slow down and I have learned so much from our little miss I am truly grateful to be their mother.  Not that I wasn't before, but it's days like this where they are all smiles that make those tough days bearable.  They make my days better and make me want to be a better person.  Oh how are lives have changed because of them.  And I wouldn't want to go back to what they were before:)

Eastern Idaho State Fair

The Idaho State Fair came by once again, and of course we had to go!  We started out be eating the delicious Funnel Cake.  A great way to start out the day!  We were going to walk around first and then come back and eat lunch, but then decided we were still hungry so we stuck around and ate first. Todd tried out the new inside out burger.  They put the cheese in the inside of the burger rather then on top.  He thought it was pretty tasty!

Once we were down at the food court we made our walk around.  Not much changed from last year.  We went and saw the horses, cows, goats, bunnies.  Everett of course LOVED it.  He would walk up and point and start talking. 

Jacquelyn slept the whole way through!

Talking with the goat

This goat thought Everett's shoe was pretty tasty.  Everett wasn't too thrilled:)

Our next stop was the petting zoo.  Everett was skipping around the whole place he was so excited.  He even got to brush a little cow with Todd.  He did not want to leave when it was time to go.

It was a nice little trip.  We've decided we'll always go during the weekday early in the morning.  There was no body there! Last year was so crowed, but this year we walked through so easily. 

Over Labor Day weekend we had the opportunity to head on out to Denver to visit the Wilsons.  It was our first time taking a trip as a family of four.  I'll be honest, I was a little nervous about the drive, but it ended up being ok.  We had some rough times, but it wasn't too bad!  We left on Thursday the 1st around 2:30.  So we didn't get in till 1:30 in the morning.  We thought it was going to be a great idea traveling at night. Ummm....yeah not great with our kids!  Jacquelyn's not the best at night so we had an hour or so were it was a little rough, but once she finally feel asleep she was asleep for the rest of the way.  Everett on the other hand.  We finally got him to fall asleep, but then he kept waking up every hour crying. It was kinda sad.  I could tell he just couldn't get comfortable.

Once we got to Todd's parents he was so excited.  Everett and his grandpa had a good time playing around while we got everything set up.  It was nice to just be out of the van and be able to get a good nights rest.

We had such a nice time.  Being horrible memory keeper that I am I barely took any pictures once again.  Friday we pretty much just hung out all day.  Jacquelyn got to meet all her aunts, uncles, and cousins, while Everett had a blast playing with his cousins.  That night we decided to have an adult dinner.  We left the kids with Todd's nephew's and we headed out to dinner.  Our original plan was to eat at Famous Daves.  We knew with 10 people there would be a wait, but after some confusion, and a little conflict, we ended up over at Chili's after waiting for over an hour!  It was quite the time.

Saturday we went with Todd's parents to the Denver Aquarium.  It was such a nice day outside.  The weather was perfect.  We started the our aquarium experience with going and see Dora the Explorer in 4D. 

We just arrived!

Todd and Everett waiting for the Dora show

Cousins

Everett looks stoked right?!  We were waiting for the show to start.

 Everett as usual showed no expressions, but you could tell he loved it!  Butterflies would pop out at you and he'd try to catch them.  It was a neat little show.

After our show we went and walked around the aquarium.  Everett was having a good time checking out all the fish.  He was pretty interested in everything.

Jacquelyn hanging out and being her cute self!

Watching a flood.

 They had a section were it mimicked a flood.  We were a little interested in what would happen with Everett.  He was getting excited waiting for but once water hit him he was done.  IT was his favorite part!  Needless to say things went a little down hill after that.  The combination of no nap and getting a little wet set in for him. But we finished our little walk around and got to enjoy a few more sights.

Jacquelyn was mesmerized by the water.  She would just keep staring and staring.

Hanging out by the sharks

 After our day at the aquarium we went home and had a nice little bbq to celebrate Todd's brother, Troy, and sister's, Tiffany, birthdays. 

Sunday was our mellow day of going to church and visiting people before we had to head out the next day.  We were able to go see Todd's Grandma Kile and Great Grandma Fontine.  That night we were also able to go visit some of Todd's good friends and see their new kids.

Grandma Kile

We had such a great time.  It's always fun to be able to see family.  I of course was able to have my Super Target fix.  Todd's sister, Tammy, and I went real quick before we headed out.  Every time I go it makes me realize how much I miss it. Sad I know!  I've told Todd I don't care where we end up anymore as long as they have a super Target.  Darn Idaho had to build just a regular one:)  But on a serious note, we really did have a good time catching up and seeing family. Hopefully we'll be able to make it back soon!