What to do?

I have a darling little 10 month old boy,... that is what most people tell me... I'm not disagreeing, but not everyone gets to see the side of him that follows me around the house SCREAMING at me for whatever reason. He is not tired, not hungry, has toys, people to play with, shows to watch but none of this seems to interest him. I have a hard time getting anything done and many days I am so frazzled from being screamed at that my patience is quite short with my poor little 5 year old (who also has to listen to this)...

So, my plea to anyone out there who has been through this phase... WHAT DO I DO?

And really, after watching this video I think it is funny how ridiculous he is about it. He can definitely turn those tears right on and off at his own whim.

He is my own little Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde.

Here is my cute little Dr. Jekyll, ready for his breakfast.

We learned that the WHOLE family loves Indian Food this weekend, as Aram joined the ranks. Unfortunately, Indian spices do stain skin...

Yes,.. he is just too cute to stay mad at.

Randomness...

Just some random pics and videos I've taken in the last week...

I swear, this kid goes to sleep with normal hair, but he is such a crazy sleeper that he wakes up with this major bed-head!

Sometimes (not very often) he thinks it's fun when his Sister mauls him.

Even big girls need naps occasionally.

She always sleeps with her eyes slightly open, her Dad thinks it's creepy.

Aram and Grammie in all their cute-ness.




We recently got a piano which both of the kids love to play on. Aram can barely reach but he will stand on his tip-toes to get his shot at creating music.

This little guy just insists on feeding himself these days and it is always a messy affair, but the icing on the cake was when he started putting the food in the sides of his hair. YUCKY!

Trip to Denver...

We took a quick overnight trip to Denver last week. Aric had a meeting so the kids and I went to the Children's Museum for a few hours, they had lots of fun. The next day we all went to the Denver Zoo. Of course, my camera batteries died right after we got there so there are very few pics of the zoo.

Aram was not overly interested in the animals, so he got a good nap instead.

The Museum had lots of fun play places.

Aric and Jasper went inside the bird enclosure to get up close and personal.

This bird was NOT a fan of Jasper's... He kept pecking and squawking at her through the glass.

Jasper holding Aram down so I could get a picture of the two of them together.

More play at the Museum...

All in all, a fun trip. We also got to visit with one of Aric's brothers and his family... no pics thanks to dead batteries. :(

Goo Goo for Goggles!

We are ready for swim lessons,.. and even though we look silly and don't REALLY like to wear the goggles, it sure is fun to have them! :)

Aram had to be restrained to keep him from pulling them off right away!



Silly, Silly kids!

Trying the new goggles out in the baby pool!

These two had fun today... jumping on the trampoline with a sprinkler under it and swimming in the baby's pool (it was too cold for Swift and Aram). Luckily, NO major owies this time! (The chunk of skin missing from the bridge of Jasper's nose was from LAST time, when they decided to slide across Grammie's wood floor on pillows!)

These two LOVE mischief, and each other! :)

No more MONKEY falling out of bed!!

Noise I would rather NOT wake up to:

A loud THUNK followed by earsplitting wailing!

Yes, that would be our son... climbing out of his crib this morning.

Ever since Aram learned to stand up in his crib I have worried about this possibility and asked Aric to lower the crib mattress, but as time went on with no incidents I put it mostly out of my head. Well, better late than never and luckily he wasn't truly hurt. It still amazes me the difference between my two children. He is such a WILD man.

Here he is an hour after I put him to bed tonight... still rambunctious as ever, but definitely contained this time. (or so I hope!!)

This Monkey is good and stuck in his cage this time!

"If I smile and act cute, will you get me out?"
Life is just so fun when you are getting into trouble!

Graduating...

Life has been full of little Graduations for Jasper. I still remember so many of these triumphs... every ounce gained, to finally (after 1 month of life) get to start taking in actual milk, and then to drink it from a bottle rather than a tube. Getting out of the hospital at 2 months when she finally reached 4 lbs. Getting off the supplemental oxygen at 5 months. Learning to turn her head to both sides with the help of physical therapy, then learning to stand was also a challenge. Crawling, walking, talking... She has always been the type of kid that we REALLY have to work with, things have never come easily so it feels like almost every milestone was a triumph. I was very worried about sending her to Kindergarten so young and whether or not we would need to hold her back after this year.

Today she graduated from Kindergarten.

It was such a cute program (even though I couldn't see her) and I am just so grateful for the opportunity the Lord gave me to raise her. She is amazing. Of course we had to work at it, but this little girl is definitely ready to move onto 1st grade next year. I thought it would be fun to show you where she started from...

I wish I could describe how truly tiny and frail she was, pictures do not do it justice.

This is a small bathroom sink that we bathed her in when we first got her home from the hospital. She fit perfectly.

Holding hands (kind of) with Mommy!


And just look at her now. (I think folding her arms while walking has defintely been ingrained from church... :)

Recieving her diploma from her Teacher, Mrs. Richmond.



She is going to miss her friend Mikalynn this summer!

Hopefully next year I wont worry as much. :)

Field Day!

Jasper had Field Day last week at school, and let me just say,... her gross motor skills are STILL her weakest area! :) It was very fun and funny though watching her try, she doesn't even care if she is the ABSOLUTE last one (by quite a lot sometimes). The class just cheered her on as they waited for her to finish the obstacle course. Later in life this may be one day that she will want to play hooky, but for now I am just glad she is such an easy going girl and not competative. Her best friend on the other hand, is one of the most athletic kids in the class and finished first in almost everything so she gave Jasper one of her 1st place ribbons!
Anyway, here are some fun pics and videos...

Aram thought Field Day was fun as long as he didn't have to sit in a non-moving stroller.

The end and the beginning of the busyness.

With Jasper's first year of school drawing to a close, I must admit I am somewhat relieved to have 3 months to slow down. It has been a busy 9 months for her as well as Aram and I. We are always the ones running her back and forth from school, spending time helping out in her classroom and eating school lunch with her about once a week (she loves this, and is always begging me to come for lunch). So, as many of you know, the end of the school year gets even crazier as the field trips start rolling in. We went Bowling last week, then on Monday the entire school was bussed to Farmington to watch the movie Earth, followed by lunch at the park. It was fun, if a little wild. Jasper is usually too busy dancing around to get a good picture, but I tried...

Jasper and her friends, Rylee and Mikalynn


Life may just be getting busier in our house this summer though, due to my VERY active little boy. Now that he crawls everywhere, he is into everything. Jasper loves playing with him, but her games usually involve dress up (note the 'FAIRY' cute wings on Aram) and her dollhouse, which he loves. She will just have the furniture all arranged the way she wants it when her brother comes crawling right into the dollhouse to plop himself down and REarrange it for her!

How can you help but endure the orneriness when it comes with a face like this?

Aram's new favorite game: unload and inspect the contents of the diaper bag. He should get a job with an Airline. :)

Maybe he can even earn some real "wings" in the process. ;)