Christmas Lights and Jackson

Jackson is really into Christmas lights this year. I admit I've encouraged it. I love Christmas and all that comes with it and I guess I'm passing that excitement along to Jackson. Nearly each night we go out on foot, bike or in the car to look at Christmas lights. He is so thrilled when he spots them. He'll yell "Christmas lights" then say "beautiful." It's very precious. One late afternoon I took him to look at the lights on the bike. He wasn't thrilled because it was a bit cold and he had all of his snow gear on to keep him warm. His expression sums up his attitude towards the bike ride, but in the end he actually enjoyed himself. Jackson weighs about 30 pounds and is a bit over three feet tall. He knows and speaks as much Russian as English. His favorite things are fire engines, Thomas the Train anything, and bikes. He loves nursery now (Phew!) and making Kate laugh. He enjoys swimming, biking, climbing, running - all things active! He sings songs (I Love to See the Temple is his favorite) and says his prayers.

Update on Kate

Kate is now 10 and a half months old. Hard to believe how quickly she is growing up! She is cruising on furniture and crawling upstairs. She loves eating table foods and so far doesn't have any food she dislikes eating (although she's still allergic to rice and oats). She wants to do whatever Jackson is doing like reading, driving cars, talking on the cell phone, etc. She says "Da-Da" and "Mum, mum, mum". She likes to wave and clap. She loves getting her hair done and wore pig tails for the first time today. She weighs about 20 pounds and is about 28 inches tall.

Happy Halloween

We had a great Halloween this year. Jackson dressed up as a dog and Kate a bee...the Queen Bee to be exact (totally fits her personality). The ward trunk or treat was a lot of fun and the kids got into trick-or-treating in our neighborhood with Theresa while Jason and I were out of town. Only downside is the mounds of candy we now have to stare down and try to keep Jackson from getting his hands on :)

Fun moments at home

I love playing with the kids in the morning because they usually are well-rested and happy. One morning I took these photos of Kate crawling and Jackson exploring his curious side...as always.

Saddle Up

A few weeks ago (October 15) we attended Jason's work party. It was held at a ranch about 30 minutes east of our home. It was fun to dress up like cowboys and cowgirls, watch Jason try to rope a calf, and eat the most amazing barbeque I've ever tasted. We had a great time. Thanks to Dr. Durrie, his wife Ann, and the amazing office staff for such a wonderful evening.

Kate's blessing day

Thanks to my Aunt Nettie, we have this one picture from Kate's blessing day. In the frenzy of her blessing and the luncheon and trying to get to my brother-in-law Sam's missionary farewell, we only took one picture. So grateful Nettie snapped it for us so we can remember this precious day.

Jackson driving

While unloading groceries a couple of weeks ago, I left Jackson in the garage to play with the bikes. He loves this. I thought I'd have just a few minutes to get the food from the car to the kitchen. When I came out to get my final load, I found this: Jackson trying to drive the car. This little boy truly is 2 going on 16. He loves to drive the car and I now find myself locking the doors so he can't get to the driver's seat. Boy, can you even imagine what it will be like teaching a child to drive a car when they're 16? I can wait 14 years to find out :)

Swinging

Kate just loves to swing. Jackson enjoyes it too especially when he's right next to his sister. In fact, at the park near our home Jackson has dubbed the swings "Kate's swing" and "Jackson's swing."

Orlando

Jason and I enjoyed traveling to Orlando, Florida for the AAO meeting a few weeks ago. It was fun meeting up with Jason's parents and his brother Eric for a couple of days. While Jason was in meetings, Sally and I headed to perhaps the best outlet mall I've been to. It was fun spending that time with her. We were also able to attend Jason's presentation Sunday before we flew out. He did a great job and I'm glad I was able to see him present the findings of a study he's been working on during his fellowship.

Kate's "friend" in the mirror

Kate has discovered a "friend" in the mirror. Sure, it's just her reflection staring back at her but she thinks this little girl staring back at her is just so funny. I love this stage when they're starting to discover more about things around them. Kate is no less curious than our Jackson. Boy, wish us luck.

Monkey Bizness

We found a great little inside play area for Jackson and Kate called Monkey Bizness. It's one of those made-of-sponge places where you can let your kids run wild and play with anything and not worry about them getting hurt. Jackson loves to climb on everything and Kate likes to play with their little cars.

Deanna Rose Farmstead

We loved spending lots of time at the Deanna Rose Farmstead this summer and fall. It is a petting farm about 10 minutes from our house that has a lot of fun attractions and is free. Jackson loved to ride on the tractors and looking at all of the animals. Kate still doesn't understand what's so great about this place but she likes to do anything Jackson does so it worked for both kids. I'm so grateful for all of the many inexpensive family attractions - like this - that are offered in Kansas City,

Just because

Love this little girl!

Jackson turns 2

I can't believe that two years ago I was in the hospital after a rather rough delivery with a precious tiny baby boy and now that same little guy is a toddler. Jackson loves trains and so his birthday was all about trains. He woke up early that morning and I made him his favorite breakfast - eggs and toast. Funny thing is that he was more excited about the balloons and the sign on the wall than his food, which I might add he did not eat one bite of! Jackson also loves animals so we spent the morning at the Kansas City Zoo. I thought two hours would be plenty to tour the entire zoo. Boy, was I wrong. After we had gone through the more kid-friendly section of the zoo (petting farm, playgrounds, etc.) we realized we weren't even half of the way through it and the kids (and Theresa and I) were exhausted. While we were there we learned that Jackson LOVES polar bears and these beautiful little birds that he could feed. Kate loved feeding the sheep and staring at the tigers. After the zoo, we went to lunch at Panera Bread (one of Jackson's favorite places). Gratefully, he and Kate took a good nap. Then, we opened a couple of presents (Jackson finally understands what a present is and he gets so excited to open them) and then were off again to eat at Olive Garden. Jackson loves pasta. He also loves the crayons they give him. We had a great time there though missed Jason terribly (he was doing surgeries in Des Moines until late that afternoon) so we extended Jackson's birthday celebration through the weekend. Jason and I took him to Gymboree play land. Each day he got to open a couple of presents. He also got to eat his own cupcake. He loved it (a big change from last year when he didn't want anything to do with it). He got a riding train from Grandma and Grandpa, a train with tracks, a train coloring book, a train reading book, fun games from Nana and Grandpa, and a darling book from Theresa (she is leaving next month so it was a voice-animated book where she left a cute message for Jackson and reads him the book. I couldn't even listen to the whole thing as it brought tears to my eyes thinking about how much we are going to miss her. She's become part of our family: a sister to me and and a best friend to Jackson and Kate). Jackson loved his birthday. He keeps asking about when he can open more presents and it was fun to see him actually be able to pick out the letters of the Happy Birthday sign. Jackson lives life to the fullest. He is as adventurous and active as they come, but he also has a very tender, sweet side to him. He loves his little sister. He loves cars, Curious George, Thomas the Train, his prophet book, and making big piles of toys and diapers and rolling around in them. He love "cookies" aka M&Ms, pancakes, and hot dogs. He loves chewing on ice. He loves learning Russian from his dad and knows more of it than I do. He is so friendly with those around him. He loves to bike rides, swimming and nature walks. He knows how to count to 20 (skips 15-17) and his ABC's (though that l,m,n,o,p part still trips him up). I love to hear him laugh and hate to hear his "siren" cry. He is such a precious boy. We love you Jackson.

Austria

Jason was asked by his boss to present a paper at the ESCRS (European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons) in September. The conference just happened to be in Vienna, Austria. We left the kids with my mom and Theresa and flew to Europe. Vienna is a beautiful city with a lot of great classical music history and a lot of great food. We arrived on Friday afternoon and went straight to bed. A few hours later we woke up and went to a reception held in a historic palace downtown. While Jason was busy learning, I went on a walk around the city to see some sights. I ran into a great shopping mall and found our Christmas tree ornament (we collect one from every trip we take). Then, I joined Jason for a reception with the most amazing cheese and chocolate I've ever tasted (and trust me, I've had more than my fair share of both in my life). The next day we laced up our running shoes (this is the way Jason prefers to see a city...by running or walking around for hours) and went off to see the sights. We saw some beautiful churches, museums, palaces, and spent some time at the conference that night. So, instead of renting a room at a hotel in Vienna, we decided to check out a "home away from home" website where we found an apartment for rent, located right between the conference center and downtown Vienna. We saved a lot of money and it was interesting living with the locals...until Sunday morning at around 4 a.m. I hadn't slept well at all that night. I worry about our kids when we're gone and wasn't feeling well, when all of the sudden I heard gun shots. Yes, gun shots right outside our building. I was scared. I asked Jason if we should hide, but he said, oh we'll be fine. Trust my sweet Jason to just brush it aside. Needless to say, I now viewed our money-saving apartment as a death trap and wasn't thrilled to be staying there anymore. Anyway, we weren't shot and didn't hear any more gun fire while we were there (thank goodness). Sunday morning I accompanied Jason to the conference for his speech on the difference of two particular lenses used in surgeries. I thought he did a great job (and yes, I'm very biased). We also attended a Catholic mass that day to hear the organ played (Jason can't get enough of organs) and then we went to find our church and was greeted by a large sign on the door saying it was Stake Conference. Oh well, we tried. Monday we went to tour the Belvedere Palace. It was perhaps the most amazing display of artwork I've ever seen. We ate dinner at this beautiful little bistro adjacent to the palace and walked through the gardens. It was straight out of an old English movie. Then, Tuesday we started our long (just shy of 24 hours) trip home. I was so happy to be back in Kansas City and see Jackson and Kate. There is no place quite like home.

Kate crawls

My sweet little girl is growing up. Here's a picture of her crawling for the first time. She's been military scooting for a while but finally figured out how to use her arms and legs to go where she wants to go...and now she's on the move. I love the fact she's so eager to do what Jackson is doing, playing with his toys, and teasing him by grabbing his "Woobie" (aka his favorite blanket). Kate crawled just a couple of days later than Jackson did when he was her age. Love our little girl!

Jim's wedding

The second weekend of September we traveled to Salt Lake City for my brother Jim's wedding. Kate and I left Thursday. We spent the next two days helping my mom get everything ready for the wedding luncheon they hosted, took care of all of those last minute helps for Jim, and had lots of fun with Uncle Jeff and Grandpa. Friday night we picked up Jason and Jackson from the airport. We stayed the next two nights at Greg's and Sally's home. Jackson loved playing with the toys there and saying "Nana sleeping" (Sally goes by Nana and the last time she visited Kansas I kept telling Jackson she couldn't go into her room because she was sleeping so now he associates Nana with sleeping). Saturday morning Jason and I went to the Salt Lake Temple to witness my brother and Sandy, his darling wife from Mountain Home, Idaho, be sealed for all eternity. It was a beautiful ceremony and I learned so much from the words spoken. After lots of pictures in the hot sun, we had a nice luncheon at the Grand America. Kate and Jackson had a nap (or rather Jackson napped while Kate screamed for hours...uh, she's a little pro-mom right now). We all went to spend a few last moments with my parents before we went back to Sally's and Greg's for a fun night of catching up and watching Perry Mason. Oh, I love that old show. Sunday, yes September 11, we flew home. It was a little weird to be flying on that infamous day and to land in Kansas City Airport where we later learned there had been a passenger who had not complied with TSA and had forced an entire terminal to shut down. Kind of scary. Jason then headed for Iowa to do some work and the kids and I headed back to Kansas City. We are so glad to welcome sweet Sandy to our family. She is such a beautiful young lady with lots of love for everyone around her. We look forward to getting to know her better.

Kate's first bike ride

A couple of weeks ago, I took Kate for her first bike ride. She was a bit concerned at first but actually liked it once we got going. Here's hoping that there are many future bike rides for my little girl and me.

Wedding weekend

Jason and I attended the wedding of his good friend Shai in Providence, RI yesterday. It was a beautiful ceremony and a fun evening with friends. We love spending time in New England - a second home of sorts for Jason.

Becoming Best Buddies

At first, Jackson was jealous of Kate. He couldn't stand that she was taking mom and dad away from spending time with him. Then he tolerated Kate. He realized she wasn't going away but didn't exert himself to play with her and if she didn't something he didn't like, he bopped her on the head or pinched her leg. Not nice. But, the last couple of weeks as Kate is starting to scoot and babble, he realizes that she's kind of fun to be around and is now very protective of her. For instance, she was crying while I was making lunch and so he found a big spoon to give her to calm her down. Also, he loves to make her laugh. He'll do all sorts of crazy antics to get her to smile and chuckle. I am so grateful this special bond is beginning to form between our kids and hope it continues forever.

Rice allergy

We thought Kate had caught Jackson's flu bug in June when she threw-up rice cereal a couple of times. Then, I tried to feed it to her again a week ago. Guess it wasn't the flu but a rice cereal allergy. Poor girl was sleeping then suddenly woke up and started vomiting. Jason hopes it's just an allergy to the flaky rice cereal and not a life-long allergy to rice. I mean what is life without sushi, right?

Better than average day

I had such a fun day with Jackson and Kate this past Thursday. It was finally cool enough here in Kansas City to actually enjoy being outside. We took advantage of the weather and went to the local park. Jackson loves to slide and swing, and apparently Kate likes it too! We also ventured to the grocery store where Jackson actually enjoyed helping me shop as he "drove" the grocery cart. Special day with two special kids...

Jackson at 21 months

Jackson is my comedian. He loves to make people laugh. He loves to explore: has a recent fascination with bugs, likes hiding in cabinets, and goes everywhere he's not supposed to. Swimming might be his all-time favorite activity right now followed closely by bike rides and throwing rocks into a nearby pond. While Jackson is very active, he's also sweet. He loves reading his books. He adores his baby sister Kate and is very protective of her though we're still helping him learn that hitting her leg or head isn't acceptable when he's trying to express frustration. Poor Kate! He loves his Daddy, he calls me Jami (how did that ever start?!), and he enjoys posing for pictures. He makes our home so fun. Love my little man Jax.

Kate at 5 months

What can I say about my sweet Kate? She just melts my heart. I am so grateful for her and the good baby girl she is. At 5 months she's starting to babble. She sounds like an owl and has recently learned to drum roll her lips. She loves to roll over and appears to be on the verge of starting to scoot across the carpet. She's happy! She loves to smile which, in turn, makes me smile. She loves to hold hands and be near someone. She finds Jackson fascinating and watches him with great interest. She loves to eat and has ventured into solid foods finding apples and rice cereal to be quite tasty. Her laugh is endearing and she's quite ticklish. She's more mellow than Jackson, but I can sense an inner strength, a confidence of sorts, with her. So grateful I am blessed to have a little girl.

A week of lasts

The last full week of May was busy for us as we prepared to leave our home of three years in Iowa City and relocate to the Kansas City area for Jason's fellowship. It was a walk down memory lane for me as I reflected upon how drastically our lives changed during those few years. When we moved to Iowa, Jason and I had been married less than two years. I was still in graduate school, working for Children's Miracle Network and traveling throughout the U.S. But, in one short year we added Jackson, then Kate and let's just say our lives are much different now. Busier? Maybe. The chaos is just different now with two little ones who make our lives so much more entertaining. Before we left Iowa I had to do a few things I had come to love there: walk through our neighborhood, relish time in our first home, bask in the views of never-ending corn fields and rolling hills, boating, and biking to Coralville Lake. It was, in essence, a week of "lasts" but also the beginning of a lot of "firsts" for us as we made our way to our new home, our new life in beautiful Kansas City.

Jason's Birthday

We celebrated Jason's 33rd birthday on May 25. Jason had to work that day but found time that evening to take Jackson on a bike ride to the Coralville Lake (Jax loved it) and then we went out to dinner at Olive Garden. We gave up birthday cake for these Italian doughnuts with raspberry and chocolate sauce. YUMMY! I think we'll be going back for more real soon...

We're in Kansas

So much has happened in the past few weeks. Weeks of preparing for and talking about our move from Iowa City to Kansas intensified the last week of May. Even though I don't care to see another cardboard box or roll of moving tape for the foreseeable future, I'm glad this move allowed us a chance to de-clutter and simplify our lives. After two days of intense packing on May 25-26, we made our way to our new home in Kansas. And boy do we love it here! It's so nice to have warm weather, a pool within walking distance, and great shopping within minutes from our house (I'm talking about COSTCO, but others like Pottery Barn and cute kids clothing stores are nice, too). Jackson loves his new home and especially the pool. He can't wait to go "wimming" every day. Kate, on the other hand, has shown us another side of her since our arrival here. The quiet, easy-going, content to just lay on the floor and be quiet little girl has been replaced by a rather demanding diva who reminds me daily that girls are definitely more emotional than boys. I'm still sifting through boxes and Jason is still in Iowa finishing his residency. And, I'm trying to get used to having a baby monitor as the kids sleep downstairs. I panic if it doesn't go off (are they alive?) and then I don't sleep when it beeps all night (sigh). So, we still have a few kinks to iron out but we're happy to be in Kansas, missing our friends in Iowa, and excited about this next chapter in our lives.

Florida

Jason and I enjoyed a week in beautiful Florida. We loved the sunshine, exercising, studying (Jason), watching the Royal Wedding, meeting ophthalmologists, and spending time with family and friends. Jason found a specific kind of palm tree he just loves so I took a picture of it just in case we ever live in an area where we could plant one. We also went to an alligator and snake farm. Not a fan of either but I'm glad I was able to see them in person. We were also able to meet up with Eric and Amy and their family in Miami. Jason and Eric were both born at a hospital there and were able to re-visit it with their mom Sally. It was a special time for the three of them. So thankful for our time in the Sunshine State and we can't wait to go back :)