a labor of love...the quiet book!

It's done! The quiet book is finally done. I managed to finish it a few days before Christmas, just in time for Jaxon to open during our own little family Christmas.

Before I go any further, I must tell you that a LOT of these ideas came from other people's quiet books that I looked up online. Some of my favorite blogs that I got ideas from were Sew Can Do, Leafy Treetop Spot, and How to Make a Quiet Book. I also got a lot of ideas just from searching "quiet book" in Google images.

I had a lot of fun making the book. At times it was hard to focus on the "more important" motherly duties because I was so motivated to get this book done. Normally I don't like to do big projects for that reason, but it helped that I could at least finish a page at a time.


Jaxon's first unhindered glance through the book (he got sneak peeks while I was making it)


the cover


Shapes that snap off


This is by far Jaxon's FAVORITE page...


the lock comes undone and there's a picture of all of us inside.


...counting....
I have a few of the soccer and baseball beads leftover and Jaxon carries them everywhere! They are a favorite.


fridge (for the next page)


what's for breakfast? (the food velcros off so you can put it in & out of the fridge)


buckles! Jaxon's #2 favorite page.


clock





it's carrot-pickin' time!
there's a funny memory that will always go with these carrots...while I was sewing the carrots, Jaxon was playing in the same room and I had given him one of the finished carrots to play with for a few minutes. He gave it back to me and it was soaking wet. Like soaking. After smelling it and examining it I had thought he had put it in his mouth so I asked him if that's what he did and he said "no"...I thought he was lying so I was lecturing him about lying...then I saw a puddle by his feet on the mini quad he was sitting on. Yeah. That's right....it was soaked in pee. I sat there for a few minutes trying to think of any way that I could restore the poor carrot...then soon realized I would just have a make a new one. So, I'm pretty sure I will think of that frustrating but now funny potty training moment every time I look at the carrot page :)


tent...
I got this idea from Homemade by Jill. (Jill, in case you are reading this, I like yours way better! ;)


with a bear inside :)
Jaxon loves campfires so this page is fun for him. It usually gets him & I talking about the campfires he helped daddy build in the summer.




...finally found something useful for those ripped but favorite old jeans!



So there it is! I'm really happy with how it turned out. I plan on making a couple more pages each Christmas. It's really neat to watch Jax enjoy it. It actually worked this Sunday in church...it actually kept him quiet when he was supposed to be quiet! :)

Time for bed....half an hour ago!

Good night

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

new blogger layout settings

Help! My blog is doing weird things. Ever since Blogger "upgraded" their layout options I've been having a hard time with my blog backgrounds. Has anyone else had this problem, and found a solution? I don't know how to get it to stop interfering with the blog backgrounds I choose from a website other than Blogger.

The biggest problem I'm having is the big blue strip across the top of the page....why won't it go away!?

Contagious Giggles

It's been a long time since I've posted!
Here's a video to give you a glimpse at where the kids are at now :)




The other day I bent over with Jada to let Jax give her a kiss before her nap. One of them started giggling and the giggling continued! SO funny. It made my day!

birthday boy!

Jaxon is 2 now!!

What fun to celebrate a 2-year old's birthday! He's been around enough birthdays now to understand what we were talking about when we told him that his birthday was coming up. He helped me bake his birthday cake and for a couple days afterward he would randomly talk about his birthday cake.

We were out at a friends' cottage for the week during his birthday so we had some friends out to celebrate with us. Here are a few pictures:








While we were at the cottage, Jax got a tick in his neck! Gross!!


...an up-close picture. We pulled it out with the tweezers and thankfully got the head out. PRETTY disgusting.



To see more pictures of our summer, you can look at my Facebook album here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=207655&id=643215447&l=845fb9ef40

mamma of two

wow, it's been a while since I've posted! We've had a crazy summer...lots and lots of company which has been awesome. We haven't had to travel anywhere for holidays this year because everyone has come to us! :)

The kids are doing great...Jada is smiling now and sleeping 8 hours at night, and Jaxon is talking up a storm and is learning his colors, shapes, and his favorite songs ("wittle star", "me" {Jesus Loves Me}, and the ABC song). It's a real joy to see him learning. And he loves his sister SO much. He's gotten really good at being gentle with her (though I still don't trust him 100%), and when he hears her cry he says "no cry, Jeeya", or runs and brings me her soother. He also loves to come into her room when I'm laying her down and sing his bedtime songs to her (with my help of course). Yesterday I caught him signing "I love you" to Jada and saying "uv you Jeeya".

I am of course loving having Jada around but it has definitely been an adjustment. I was very spoiled with how independent Jaxon has been the last 6 months or so...being able to trust him in another room by himself while I do stuff around the house...running errands just the 2 of us...picking up and just going somewhere fun together...having as much one-on-one time with Jaxon as we wanted...him feeding himself meals...etc...parenting him got to be quite easy. So going back to the newborn stage was like "oh yeah...I forgot about all this" :).

I think the hardest part is figuring out how to be able to give one kid my full attention while not being neglectful to the other. There's many times that I'll be feeding Jada and Jaxon will need me for something (potty or food or to clean up a mess or to get him out of the fridge or get the phone [that he so kindly answered for me] out of his hands...). Or vice versa...those days that Jaxon's bedtime routine gets dragged out (a toddler specialty I'm sure!) and poor Jada's crying on the couch waiting to be fed.

I think it will keep getting easier as we adjust to our "new normal". Having a kid is a big deal...it really changes the dynamic in the house and it takes time for everyone to figure things out.

I feel like I was majorly rambling...and I feel like my mind is in major "mommy brain" mode right now so forgive me for being all over the place. Unfortunately I'm not quite as smooth a writer as some of you. :) But I say all this to give my honest perspective on going from 1 kid to 2.

And despite all the adjustments, I am loving being a little family of 4. Well 5, really. Truly there is no better job in the world than being a mom. I am so blessed.










to see more pictures, check out my FB album here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=198876&id=643215447&l=4ab65ebc1a

It's been a hot week around here...so this is where the lucky guy get to hang out :) He loves his little pool. Even though it's tiny, he manages to have lots of fun in there. Today he discovered what I call "butt flops". Pretty funny.



Little Jada about a week ago


canoeing on the lake. We got a great deal on a canoe a few weeks ago which is exciting for us...I love it that Jax can be used to a canoe so young. I'm sure this is just the start of many adventures with his dad.


Jada at 3 weeks.


Things here are going pretty good. I think Jada's working on her 3-week growth spurt right now. I had my first day alone with the kids today and it went okay.....but it seemed like both kids were having meltdowns at the same time, and when I was just about to get to nap, Jaxon woke up (early) from his nap. Plus some other minor things that added up and made me a bit grumpy. So I'm thankful for coffee and hoping tomorrow goes better.

To see more pictures, check out my facebook album by clicking HERE.

Dan's race

At the beginning of June Dan ran his first race...a 5km in Soo Michigan. I was so proud of him for doing it. It was a lot of fun watching and waiting for him to cross the finish line. He did really well...his goal was to make it in 27 minutes and his time was 24:47! Way to go Dan!

Happy Canada Day!

Introducing...

Jada Reese!

born Wednesday June 16th @ 8:53 am

7lbs 14oz 21 inches


(for some reason this picture won't fit in the screen but if you click on it you can see the whole thing. I LOVE the look on Jaxon's face here.)












To see more pictures, click here.

We're home now, and things are going well....Jaxon is getting used to the idea of having a little sister. Breastfeeding is going SUPER and that is such a blessing...breastfeeding Jaxon took a LOT more energy (and pain!) at first so this is so nice!

We are so thankful for these gifts God has given us (or more like is lending us!)