He's Crawling!

 It's official...Mr. J Man is crawling! He has been scooting and army crawling for a few weeks now, but last night he did the real thing. He only goes a little ways while crawling and then reverts back to the army crawl because it gets him to where he needs to be quicker. Thanks to Mason's wonderful photography skills, we caught it on camera!

And so it begins...

As of this past weekend, our family has officially begun Christmas. Having such large families that live so close together has always been such a blessing to us. We very often get to spend time with not only our immediate family, but more often than that our extended family. The holidays do tend to be a bit of a struggle as we try to make it to all of the holiday celebrations. It has usually worked out pretty well, even when we attend 2 celebrations in one day. I have been getting a little nervous as to how it is going to go this year with 3 children (2 of which need to take a daily nap or things get pretty ugly!) I distinctly remember one Christmas when we were still living in Madison and how absolutely packed our car was when we left the very last celebration of the holiday season to go back. We literally could not see out of the back windows and poor little Mason had to sit with all the boxes and hope they did not fall on him! Just goes to show how lucky we are to have such wonderful family to shower us with so many gifts.

This holiday season started out with my family a week before the actual holiday. Although not everyone was able to make it, it was still a great day! We made it home in time for bedtime, but had to get a little playing in with all of our new stuff!

Jarrik playing with his cool "bug chain"

Of course she had to get some baby accessories!

"Skidoo" snowmobile Wii game

Mason and Dad playing with his new remote control car. Even though Dad was cursing uncle Kelly's name, I think he liked the toy just as much as Mase.

And Koryn running away, scared of the remote control car...

 This week also marks the beginning of the long awaited wrestling season. The first practice was last night and when Mason woke up this morning he was already complaining about how sore he was! I can't wait to watch him in action this year and see how much more he has advanced. I only hope I look back at this years from now and can still say that he is excited about the sport. Sometimes I think that I love it a little more than he might, but always hope that he will keep interest in it as he does so well!

Blessings

My life has always seemed to throw me extreme highs and sometimes extreme lows. There are the in-between times, but I think everyone can agree with the fact that the highs and lows stand out the most. It never ceases to amaze me that when I seem to have hit one of those extreme lows, something really great happens. I guess there is only one person thank for that :) along with my great family and friends of course. Today was one of those day. Just when I thought I didn't know what I was going to do, something great came along and reminded me to just look around me at all of my blessings.
Here are a few photos of the recent blessings that we have hanging in our house (courtesy of my talented sister-in-law!)


No frame yet, but you get the idea.




Our "Blessings"




Wall collage in dining room.



Playing

It has been quite a while since my last post and to be honest, there is no good reason for that. We have been in a pretty good routine every night with not many extracurricular events going on right now. We get home, make supper, take baths, and sit down to watch alittle bit of TV before everyone falls asleep. All in all, very normal! I'm afraid this will all change very soon as the holiday season is fast approaching and with it comes many more events. After that will be the long awaited wrestling season which will take up too much of our time!
Koryn and Jarrik are generally pretty good at playing by themselves and playing with each other. When we add Mason to the bunch, however, it isn't quite as kosher. Mason and Koryn just love to pester each other and it usually ends up with Koryn screaming (which she is currently doing in the background). One particular night as I was making supper, I caught the following pictures of Jarrik and Koryn entertaining themselves.

Jarrik loves to play the game of putting a blanket over his head. This scares Mommy a little bit, but it is so funny to watch him too! He gets the blanket over his head and then he lays there and kicks and gigles until he gets the blanket off of his head. (Simple game huh?)

 This is the face I get to see when the blanket comes off! He just thinks it is so funny!

 Koryn thought that she would make a bed for her brother and herself on the living room floor. She is pretty anal about her blankets being nicely laid over the top of her.

Peek-a-boo!

Who could not love this girl?!

This is Koryn's "ROAR" face! She likes to say "ROAR" and try to scare me, which I in turn do to her.

BOO!

Well, I know I am a couple days late but I just haven't found a time where I could sit down and write this blog post. I've said it before, but better late than never!

A baby bear with a brown nose, a little ghost, and Tony Hawk

As with almost everything, Halloween got to be quite a busy day for us. We did take the advantage of going to Grandma Nita's on Sunday night to show her our costumes so that we wouldn't have to travel down there when we actually went out Trick-or-Treating. Mason has his annual "Halloween Parade" at school that I went up to watch. Tony Hawk and I picked up the little kids and quickly got them dressed so we could go and take a picture at the local photography studio with their spooky background. Then came visiting Grandma's, eating pizza, and accumulating TONS of candy! One nice thing about living is such a small community is that the people really treat everyone so well. Each home we stopped at either had a pretty good sized ziploc bag full of candy, or else they gave at least 2 handfuls of candy to each kid. This proved to be a little bit of a challenge as our little ghost (who said BOO! to everyone) insisted on carrying her own trick-or-treat bag that ended up being almost heavier than her. We traveled around to the few houses in Lake City and then headed to a couple of friends at Roy Lake. Needless to say, we will have candy around our house for quite a while!

Roller coaster costume for the costume party

The muni in Lake City has an annual costume party which I have dressed up for only a couple of times since we moved back here. Well, my co-worker had a pretty good costume idea this year so I agreed to dress up with her. Cardboard, PVC pipe, LOTS of duct tape, and bungie cords made a pretty neat roller coaster costume. We definitely had a good time, but we only got second place (a big baby and his nanny beat us out for first!)

Loud noises and an old soul

It seems I am constantly trying to think of witty little titles for my blog posts. Unfortunately, I come up with lots of post ideas but somehow never find the time to sit down and write what was on my mind!

The other night I was doing my regular routine of trying to cram as many tasks into the small amount of time that we have when we get home at the end of the day. Among other things, I decided to make some baby food for Jarrik as I thought he was probably getting sick of the squash that he had been eating for quite sometime. Making my own baby food is something that was passed down from my mother. She made all of our baby food and I found many reasons that this would be a better way to go than buying the baby food from the grocery store, i.e. no preservatives and I know what I am cooking which doesn't haven't anything added to it except for some water. Anyway, I got the blender out and started blending some green beans up. Everything was fine for a little bit as I watched Jarrik's eyes get huge and then all of a sudden he made the horribly cute baby face that tells you they are scared and not liking the loud noise! It is awful to say that it was cute as he was screaming, but you know that face....just take a look.

The green beans got made and put into their ice cube tray for freezing. Maybe I should wait for Daddy to get home next time so there is someone to comfort him while I make more loud noises.

When it comes to music, I am not too picky. I really do like to listen to most everything, but find that I am a pretty old soul with  my first preference. I know there are a few that know of my music listening style, but to most this may be a surprise. It might also make you think I am a geek and never want to listen to the radio in my vehicle with me!

As we were on the way to some unknown destination at this time, one of my favorite songs came on the radio. I love to listen to older country so the song happened to be "Ya'll Come Back Saloon" by the Oak Ridge Boys. I know what you are thinking...loser!! Anyway, I was just singing along to the song (with it turned up rather loud I might add) and all of a sudden I look over and Mason who is just quietly sitting there kind of moving his head to the beat of the music. A little smile comes to my face as he sometimes hates the music I listen to, choosing to listen to Hip-Hop or Rock over what I like most of the time. Then I look in the backseat and Koryn is sitting there dancing along too! This almost makes a tear come to my eye...love those 2! I might add that the other day on our way to town, I was surfing through the radio stations and passed up a Johnny Cash song when Mason says, "No, Mom go back. That was Johnny Cash!" Ha I have taught him well!

"Neighborhood hangout"

I have recently become a fairly avid reader. It's amazing that this came about after I had given birth to my third child! You would think that in the midst of all the craziness of our lives I wouldn't have time to read a book. But, I find that this brings me a little bit of quietness from the almost constant loud while I am feeding Jarrik or right before I go to bed. In the newest book that I am reading The Stuff That Never Happened by Maddie Dawson, I found a passage about the woman's children that struck me. She speaks of her home being the "neighborhood hangout" when her children were younger. Most of her children's friends would come to her house to hangout after school, before events, etc and she loved this since she was able to know just where her kids were and what they were doing, but also because the other kids felt safe there. As I read this, I found that this is something that I have always wanted. Mason is already at the age of inviting friends over. Sometimes I feel a little bad that he doesn't get to have friends over more often, but when we live out in the country and have 2 other small children in the house, it gets to be a little hairy sometimes! Our doors will always be open to anyone that wants to "hangout", whether it is my kids' friends or our friends.

Mason and a couple friends at his 8th birhtday.

Dressed up in hippy gear and a Jimmy Hendrix (thank you Holly!) for Homecoming.

First Moments

With an 8 year old, a 2 year old, and a 5 month old our house is full of first moments. Being the oldest means that Mason gets to take us through everything for the first time. Recently, those firsts have included tackle football, not telling Mom where he is after school, and of course being annoyed with almost everything that I say. Being a 3rd grader brings lots of firsts in learning, also. It never ceases to amaze me what these kids are expected to learn at such a young age! In practicing for spelling tests, I have almost had to second guess whether I knew the correct spelling of some of the words. Today he ventured to the library after school and checked out "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." While he is pretty inteligent, I think this book is even a little beyond his reading level. I did tell him that we could read it together, but maybe he will surprise me just as he did when he read almost the whole book of Jonah out of the Bible on his own (yes, this is one of the shortest books in the Bible.)

Koryn is full of funny little firsts. I posted a while ago about potty training. We just recently started this sersiously. We have been going for about 2 weeks now and we are definately seeing progress! She is pretty good about keeping her pull-up dry and going in the potty! She is also at the stage where almost everything that comes out of her mouth is hilarious! The other night she looked out the window of the car and discovered that the moon was out. This must have been amazing to her because she gasped and said "MOM, the moon!" and kept on with this for about 5 miles.

Jarrik is the sweetest little guy in the world and is just getting big too fast! He has had lots of firsts that have gone unspoken of for a while. He waited until he was about 4 months old to roll over, and since then has maybe done it once. Laying and kicking while he turns himself in a circle is just much more interesting apparently. He is now eating cereal and vegetables. Daddy made a comment while watching me feed him rice cereal, "Don't feed him rice. Summo wrestlers eat that stuff and Jarrik is big enough!"

Lazy Nights

This post is coming just a couple of days short from when I had intended to write it...There are not many times when this title pertains to this families life. However, the beginning of the week found us spending a Monday night doing everything except our usual rushing around the house. I couldn't help but think how it could have been very different had our sports buff been allowed to participate it 2 sports this fall. Mean old Mom made him choose between soccer and football because both would have been too much for us to handle.
So, we started this last week of September out on a pretty good foot. Among the things that were accomplished on our lazy night were: getting dishes done that had been there for far too long, supper and baths at an unusual early hour, giggles, potty in the "big girl potty", and of course, some pictures while we were just hanging out. Enjoy!

Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday Koryn!



My pretty little girl!

Saturday, September 17th marked Koryn's 2nd birthday! What a fun filled 2 years she has brought us already! She is a little girl of many different personalities...even on her birthday she proved that. As we were getting dressed on Saturday morning, I said "Happy Birthday Koryn!" and started singing 'Happy Birthday to you..." Well, let me tell you she DID NOT like this at all! She yelled at me and said "NO!" Hopefully she will learn to love her birthday in years to come, otherwise she is going to have a long road ahead of her.

Holding up the fingers and saying "Two!"

Finally, by the end of the day she was accepting that it was her birthday. She did let me sing to her and she even let me show her how to hold up to fingers and say that she is 2. What a cute little peanut!


Tired out after the party.

We ended up having her birthday party on Sunday so that Daddy would be able to be there. She was definately more into the birthday by the second day! I think she started to understand that birthdays mean eating cake and ice cream and making as big a mess out of it as she wants, presents, and lots of people that love us!! She had a great time opening her presents, although after each one she thought it was time to be done and play with that toy. As we were taking a bath before bedtime, we did our ritual of singing as we rinse off the soap. We sang 'Happy Birthday', among others, and Koryn's version was 'Happy, Happy, Happy!' As you can see from the picture above, it must have been a long day for Dad too!

A very happy birthday to my sweet little girl!!!

Love you to the moon

When Mason was little, "Guess How Much I Love You" was our favorite book. Everytime we would leave each other or go to bed, we would say "Love you to the moon and back again!" Made my heart smile everytime he would say it. Well, we still own that very same book. It isn't in as great of shape as it used to be, but that only means it is used and used well, right?

Koryn is not quite so good at listening to a book being read to her. She lasts MAYBE 2 pages before she gets bored and either tries to turn the pages really fast by herself or she just starts rambling off about something different. As we were on our way home the other night, I simply said "Love you to the moon, Koryn" and that was all it took. She repeated it back to me and I said "And back again". Now she gets quite a kick out of saying this phrase to me. Not only does it make me smile because it is something that we are continuing from when her brother was little, but the way she says it is just so darn cute!! I had to video it last night just so I could share it!

And then there were 4....

Daddy playing with Jarrik while Koryn posses as soon as she sees the camera

It's that time of year again....fall. As much as I love this season, I dread it all the same because with it brings the harvest season. And, what does harvest season mean to us....that our family suddenly went from having 5 members to now having 4 (at least the majority of the time.) Craig informed me about a week ago that they would be starting chopping soon and all of sudden I started to panic. It was one thing when they started last year and I had a 7 year old and a 1 year old. That was doable. Now, though I have an 8 year old, an almost 2 year old, and a 4 month old. Drastic difference. Immediately my mind started thinking of everything that was going on. I think most mothers understand when I say that most of the time we take care of about everything ourselves anyway. But, just knowing that Craig is absolutely not there to rely on is a different story. As with everything else, this too shall pass.

On top of a full work day everyday this week, our agenda includes: football practice, meeting with boss for work, football practice, football game, and then it's the weekend! Enjoy your week everyone!

Daddy's little girl

When we got pregnant the second time, I was secretly hoping to have a little girl. Maybe I shouldn't say secretly since I'm pretty sure Craig was well aware of this. I cried when the ultrasound technician told us that it was a girl and I looked over at Craig and he just smiled and shook his head. This is funny to me since I believe the main reason that I wanted to have a girl was for him, and his reason for NOT wanting a girl were the exact same. All of you that know my husband know that he has always been a little rough around the edges. Well, I knew that the minute he met his little girl his heart would melt. I thought, "This is what is going to settle him down and he is just going to love this little girl to pieces!" Well, I'm not so sure that he has settled down much more, but he definately loves his little girl. They do just about everything together and as much as it breaks my heart when she stands by the window when he leaves, crying saying "Daddy wit you!", it also makes me smile! That moment when you see your little girl loving her daddy that much is just priceless.
One of the things that they do together (and quite well I might add) is lay on the couch. After bath time, Koryn goes right to the couch and lays down with daddy. She has this need to always be holding someones hand. One night I heard Craig as he was trying to scratch his nose saying to her "Koryn you have to let go of my hand for just a second, I need to scratch my nose!" So cute!

This picture is one I coudln't resist sharing. Craig reads his Journal like it is a religion. So, this particular night he had sat down on the couch to read the paper and Koryn sat down with him. He gave her the insert that was in the paper and they sat, just like this for a while. All of a sudden I heard Craig say "Huh" like he had read something interesting. Not too long after, I heard little Koryn repeat him "Huh" like her paper was interesting too. I peaked out our bedroom door and I saw Koryn looking at Craig for his reaction, but he didn't turn her way, so she just went on reading her paper as normal. They are two peas in a pod!

Sweet Corn

Mason doesn't always get too many appearances on the blog. This is mostly because when I decide to do a blog post we are sitting at home and the little ones have done something that is too cute not to take a picture of and share with everyone. While this is happening, Mason is usually out and about doing numerous other activities. So, today he is outside of my office with his best buddy selling some sweet corn. I couldn't resist taking a picture of them while they didn't have any customers out there.

I have to give this kid quite a bit of credit. He is such a trooper being the big brother. I'm fairly sure that no parent intentionally leaves their child out, but it seems that is what happens sometimes. With such a gap in age between him and the younger kids, it just happens that they are doing completely different things. Many days he goes to the farm with his dad and helps out or plays with his other buddy. Many of these days have ended with him spending the night at his friends' house sparatically. He has also had a couple of weekends that he has been invited to go camping. I feel like I don't get to talk to him for sometimes up to 2 to 3 days at a time...isn't this supposed to be when they are about 17?? But, everytime he comes home with a smile on his face and happy to be back home with us. Now, we (or maybe just I am) looking forward to the school year when we will dive straight into sports. First tackle football, then wrestling, and last soccer. Should be a constant busy straight through until May...would we know what to do if we weren't constantly busy?!

Normal?

Well I guess we are back to what we can call normal...although I don't know that it's the same normal anymore. With so much loss recently, it is hard to not feel a sort of emptiness every day. It's almost as if we go through the motions, but don't really live the day like we would "normally" do.

Even so, when you have 3 kids running around you have to try to live for the moment. I have been saying that I might be partially ready for school to start so that we get back to some routine. I would like to think that our whole family runs better when we have a routine (maybe it is just me that is happier when there is a routine so then the whole family runs better :). However, the start of school is a week and a half signals the end of summer. This is something I am not ready for. It seems as though we have tried to cram as much lake time as we could into this summer, but I still feel like we haven't had enough! As if we weren't trying to pack enough into the summer with baseball, swimming lessons, Lake City softball, and just enjoying the nice weather, I have been doing quite a few pictures. As I type, I am cropping images....this only seems to add to the craziness. I told someone the other day that I think I do all of this just to prove that I can (although I really don't know why that is needed!)

I will leave you with a couple of pictures of my mini-me and the little man sitting in the bumbo seat. He should not be big enough to do this yet at 3 months should he?!

Back to the real world

Well, our lives the past couple of weeks have been in a sort of turmoil. To say the least, I feel like a train has hit me and then backed up and ran over me again!
Almost 2 weeks ago, we had a pretty big scare with little our little man. He had been congested since after we went camping on the 4th of July. I had taken him in to a local clinic since his regular doctor was gone for about a week and a half. They gave him an antibiotic and nebulizer and said that the tightness in his lungs should get better. Well, he had his 2 month appointment (that was late anyway) scheduled and the night before we went to the appointment he had one of his coughing fits. I got a little scared and said to Craig that he looked like he was turning purple from coughing so much. When we got to our appointment I could see the look in the doctors' eyes when she took a look at him; he was not well. I felt as though I were in a dream. I don't tend to take my kids to the doctor that often for a couple of reasons. First of all because they are rarely sick and secondly because everytime I do, the doctor seems to tell me that they can't give them anything for that and it just needs to run its course. This appointment went a little differently. First of all, little miss Peanut was in the worst mood. So, as the doctor and nurses were trying to get Jarrik's O2 levels, x-ray his chest, and many more things, I was mostly trying to console Koryn so she would stop making such a ruckess. In the end, we found out he had Croupe, his oxygen level was at 80% (normally should be over 90%) and he had thrush. After much anxiety from myself, he has almost made a complete recovery. I keep telling myself that we are so lucky that our kids do not have serious health issues, because I don't know if I could handle it!

To end a very long and stressful weekend with Jarrik being sick, we got the news that my godfather had passed away. It is kind of hard to describe my relationship with him, but one of my best friends put it the best (he was an uncle to me too.) I didn't expect it to hit me that hard, but it really was a difficult time. My prayers are with the best godmother I could ask for, and 2 of the greatest friends/cousins/men I know!!

To top off this awful news, Koryn got the flu on our way to visit with the family. Nothing worse than seeing a little girl throwing up and not knowing what to do. On top of that, a 104 temp!! Very scarry again! Mom had to stay home from work for a day with her. By the end of this last week, everything was back to some sort of normal again. It won't be the same world as before, but back to the real world for this family!

Peanut

I think every parent (even though most dads won't admit it) secretly hopes that they will have a little girl. When we got pregnant the second time, this was my hope. Of course, I would have been happy with a little boy and as long as the baby was healthy, it really didn't matter. But, when we found out we would be blessed with a girl, I had tears in my eyes!

And what a joy she has been the past 22 months! She definately has spunk in her (hense, the reason why I am glad we only have one!), but she is just so sweet! Obviously a daddy's girl, she has him wrapped around her little finger! Part of my secret hope for a girl was this very reason. I knew that Craig would melt when he met and got to know his little girl. Their relationship is a very unique one. They have their own little things that they do together...I.E. share candy, play in the mud, and lay on the couch together. But, they definately get on each others' nerves too! Our little peanut knows how to push every button there is (this may be the reason that I sometimes say that she is my pay back child!) She for sure knows how to push her daddy's buttons and even after she gets yelled at, she will go and snuggle on the couch again with him :)

Daddy and her brothers are going to be awfully protective of her as she gets older, I have a feeling. Much to her father's dismay, she is developing a love for clothing and shoes. I brought home some clothes the other day and she proceeded to take them out of the bag and hold them up to herself saying "CUTE!!" Her dad would much rather she wear jeans or work clothes everyday (and for that matter be dirty and unattractive her whole life so that no boys will like her!) Even so, we can't wait to see what the future holds and who she grows up to be, attitude and all!!

My Boys

You wouldn't believe the strange looks that I get when I tell people that I like having boys and that I like to shop for boys clothes more than girls clothes. But, it's true...I just love my boys. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my little Koryn too, but I am definately glad we only had one girl! (check back for more on that in a later post!)

Mason is one of the best big brothers any kid could ask for. Does he pester his little sister? Yes! But, he is always right there when I need a helping hand. He may not always be the happiest about having to help with everything, but he does none the less. He is also such a soft-hearted little guy that it makes my heart melt. Craig doesn't seem to find this a good quality (he thinks he needs to be a mans man all the time) but I know that when it comes time for him to be dating, this is going to be a good quality! There are those times that I could just about ring his neck when he shoots attitude at me, such as last night when he was upset that he didn't get to play much in his baseball game and he continued to whine about just about everything. He was sitting in the backseat of the car and out of the blue he said "So we aren't going to have a birthday party for me or anything?" with the most attitude you ever heard! Of course the attitude upset me, but he was right that we haven't had a birthday party yet. It kind of got put on the wayside since his little brother entered the world a day after his own birthday, and since then we have been crazy busy! Soon, I told him!

Then there is my little man, Jarrik. What a cutie!! Even though I have been averaging about 4 hours of sleep per night, I still look at him in the morning and think, "How could I be upset with such a cute little thing?!" But seriously, this sleep thing has got to get better soon! I find myself in aw (as I'm sure every mother does) when I think that he is already almost 2 months old. I can't believe how fast the time is going, but yet I can't wait to see what the future holds. I look back at his big brother and all of the time that has gone by, but I can still remember all of it as if it was yesterday. As we have become a wrestling family, one of the things that I look forward to most is Mason showing his little brother the ropes at the sport.

I have been thinking alot lately and have decided that I am very glad that I get to "grow up"with my kids as my mom told me once. Even though some things are hard and times may be tough most of the time, we still make the best of it! I have done the math and have figured out that when Mr. Mason graduates from highschool, this mama will be 35. And, subsiquently when his little brother (the last of the children!) graduates from highschool, I will merely be 42! Bring it on!!

Summer Baseball days

As our summer really gets into swing, I am reminded of the years that I used to spend going to my brothers' baseball games. Kelly played baseball from the time he was a little boy until he graduated college. I got accustomed to going to all of his baseball games, whether I liked it or not (secretly I enjoyed going because most of the boys that he played with were really cute!) Kelly was a pretty good little baseball player and had an unmistakable stance when he was both batting and playing in either the in-field or out-field. You could just feel his love for the game as you watched him play. He must have been pretty good, because he ended up playing baseball at Augie when he went to college. All-in-all, I am pretty proud of him!

Mason has now taken to the sport of baseball. As much as I wanted to deter him from it for the sake of spending more time at the lake and not having to drive all over the place for games, he really enjoys playing and has caught on to everything with the sport pretty quickly. And, wouldn't you know, he has almost the EXACT same stance when he bats as Kelly did! He brings that bat up and somehow shakes the bat and his little butt at the same time. I am finding that as much as I didn't want to have to run to these games, I am finding the same love for watching him play as I ended up finding when Kelly played (not because the boys are cute anymore!)

Mason and some of his best buddies got to eat at Subway after their game.

Hand!

For those of you who do not yet have children, you will never completely understand the feeling that I had the other night until you do decide to have your own.

Amist all of the ruckus that goes on at our house recently, there are little quiet moments that I have come to deeply appreciate. One of these moments happened the other night as Koryn, Jarrik, and I sat down to go to sleep. Our schedule lately is not a normal one (and this momma is in need of it to get on a more normal track!) as it has just begun to get warm out, there is no school, and mom doesn't have to go to work in the morning. So, we do not by any means eat supper at a normal time, or for that matter get to bed at a decent time. Daddy ends up being at work pretty late since it is light out longer and they can get more done. Koryn and I had finished eating supper, and mister Jarrik had eaten and was ready to fall asleep. We sat down in our oversized chair and I turned on the television. Everything was quiet and I thought Koryn was falling asleep. I looked down to find that she was holder her little brothers hand and was snuggled into my lap. She looked up at me and had to make sure that I knew she was holding his hand. She said "Ma, hand!" as if so proud of herself for being so nice! My heart melted and I gave her a hug...ah the little moments!

Bath Time

Yesterday evening, after Koryn had gotten home from spending some time with Daddy in the tractor and pasture, we decided to go right to the bathtub as she was pretty dirty. Jarrik needed to take a bath also and most of the time I find it quickest and easiest to do them at the same time. So, we turned the heater on in the bathroom and got all of our things ready. For one of the first times, Jarrik thoroughly enjoyed his bath. He didn't cry one time, even when I took him out and put lotion, diaper, etc. on him. He just layed there and took it all in. Big sister Koryn even got to help a bit. Jarrik has a baby tub that I just put into the bath water right along with Koryn! She thinks it is pretty special to help with things for her little brother!

Potty Training

Miss Koryn decided last week that she did not want to have her diaper on anymore. She had never really been one that messed with her diaper, so when she started taking it off we realized that maybe we should start potty training. So, we were in Aberdeen and decided to buy a potty chair and get started on this. I don't think that Mom is ready for potty training yet, though. With a new baby in the house and my life pretty much running on a 3 hour feeding schedule, adding another task in there just seems awfully difficult! We have gone on the potty chair a few times and have been successful once I believe. She has taken her diaper off numberous times and peed on the floor 2 times. I think it is going to take a little more dedication from Mommy before we will be wearing big girl panties!

Jarrik Curtis Jones

A little late, but better late than never right??

Welcome to the world Jarrik Curtis Jones!! He was born on May 4th at 3:19 PM and was 8lbs 12oz and 21 inches long. By far, this was the hardest labor out of all three of mine. While little miss Koryn was reluctant to enter the world, this little man just had a hard time trying to meet us for the first time. There were some complications during labor and at one point they had told us that they OR was ready and we may have to do an emergency C-section. I don't know that it really registered to me at that point, but I could see the concern on Craig's face as they told us this news. In the end, our little man entered the world, but had the cord wrapped around his neck a couple of times. His face was very blue and it took him quite a while to get color back. Grandpa Lonnie seemed a little concerned and nervous about this when they came to visit, but the doctors assured us that everything was fine. By the next day he was gaining quite a bit of color in back.This was our best attempt at a family picture as Koryn was not wanting to have any part of it. She wasn't too sure about baby Jarrik. Although, she really didn't care of mommy was holding him, she just really DID NOT want Grandma Nita holding him!They now seem to be pretty good friends. Koryn tries to help a little too much, but at least she is helping and not hitting, right? Jarrik is a trooper and puts up with it. He even sleeps through most of the screaming that goes on at random times of the day, and night! What a good little man!Mason is just the best big brother that anyone could ask for. Even though he and Koryn get on each others' nerves and argue quite a bit, he is still a big helper and I don't know what I would do without him! Can't believe he is already 8!! And don't worry, there has already been much talk about how he will teach Jarrik everything he needs to know about wrestling!
So welcome to this crazy, wonderful life Jarrik!! We are so blessed to have you and can't wait to watch you grow!!