Christmas

I lost my camera--not sure how, but here are some pictures my mom took with her camera on Christmas morning:

Jasmyn got lots of clothes and toys and a cute little book she really likes.






Tai got spoiled this Christmas despite my best efforts not to. He is such a boy and loves Buzz Lightyear, Iron Man, and Trains. Needless to say, he was just too easy to shop for.


















The highlight of Christmas morning was the train table. Even though we gave it to Tai, all our kids loved playing with it. Any time we had to go somewhere Tai would say "no mom. Im playin' my trains"























Jasmyn meets Santa for the first time. 'Nuff said.










Tai sat on Santa's lap but wasnt very chatty. However, he was excited for the candy cane after.





Here is a little story about Jayda. When I was a kid I remember pouring through toy catalogs so I could make extensive lists of what I wanted for Christmas. So it surprises me (and makes me a little proud) when every year Jayda only has 2 or 3 things on her mind that she wants for Christmas then she picks one to ask Santa for--and they are usually fairly reasonable items. This year it was a pillow pet. (The other items she had on her list were a zhu-zhu pet, her own vacuum or broom so she can help mommy clean, and a globe). I love that girl.

Jasmyn's First Birthday

In an effort to keep Jasmyn's birthday separate from Christmas, I will be blogging them separately, too.

My baby just turned a whole year old. She has 6 teeth, is not walking yet but cruises around pretty well, she loves to cuddle baby dolls and push cars around while making "brroooomm" sounds. She is a good eater and not so good of a sleeper (she still wakes up a couple times a night). She is a social laugher--she laughs at anything that other people are laughing at, even if she doesn't get what is funny. She is a chatterbox. She especially loves talking on phones or anything that resembles a phone (her most creative pretend phone--a watermelon rind). She can say mama, dada, Jayda, Tai-Tai, hi, ba-ba (means "bottle" or "milk"), nigh-night (means "blanket"), and book, among some others I cant remember right now. She also loves to dance. Here are some pics of her b-day party(s).

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I am thankful...

So I am a little behind on the Thanksgiving post, but i feel compelled to do a little "thankful" post after doing the "venting" post.
So here goes...

I am thankful for:
1) My husband who can cook. He did the Thanksgiving turkey and the stuffing for my family's dinner. He is also good at his job, good with the kids, and good to me. Thanks, Honey!
2) My kids who make me smile. Despite all the challenges that children bring to life, I cant imagine life without them because they bring so much joy and laughter to our home.
3) Extended family. I have to work a part time job to help make ends meet, but I couldn't do it without the help of Lehi's family and my mom. I am also grateful to live so close to grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles, and even great-grandparents and we truly miss those who do not live close by.
4) The Gospel. I should probably have made this number 1 because nothing else would matter as much without it, but I am grateful it is a part of my life.
5) All the other physical things that make life comfortable, including our house, cars, beds to sleep in, a table to eat at, you get the picture.
6) A generally healthy family. I may complain a bit about the minor health issues that we have had to deal with, but I am truly grateful that we dont have anything serious going on with our health at this time in our lives.

And while I am posting, I have a picture of Tai and a story to go with it--just for fun.

So we have been trying to potty train Tai, but he has been very stubborn. He will go an entire day in underwear with no accidents but the next day refuse to even try to go. As an incentive I bought him some Iron Man underwear because he has been into Iron Man a ton lately. Well my plan backfired slightly because instead of wearing his underwear as it was intended, he decided that the underwear makes a great Iron Man mask...