Lately

Lately it seems like things have been crazy busy and everything is changing.  The other day Jordan reminded me that I need to be better about keeping a journal.   When I was younger I was really good at writing in my journal but the last few years I’ve been horrible!  My grandma is an amazing journal writer she writes ever single night.  A couple years ago she put together a book with her journal entries from days that were important in each of her grandkids lives like births, baptisms, etc.  Each grandkid got a book that was specific to them.  I loved it!  I want to do that for my kids someday.  Her journals are and will always be a blessing to her posterity.  I recognize the value of keeping a journal and I am going to try to do better.  Here is what we’ve all been up to lately.

Jordan

Jordan has been so busy lately!  He finished his MBA last June and since then he has been studying for the CPA exam.  He’s taken and passed 3 of the 4 tests.  He’s taking the last test April 1.  After that he just has to take a couple more little tests required by the state of Utah but they’re not a big deal and he won’t have to study much for them.  We’re hoping that he can take them in April but he might have to wait for his score from his final CPA test which takes 5 weeks to get.  I’m so excited to have him home at night and on Saturday mornings.  He hasn’t been home on Saturday mornings for 2 ½ years between his MBA program and studying.  We’re all really excited for him to be done.  I’m so proud of him!  If he passes his final test it will have taken him less than a year to get his CPA.  That is a huge accomplishment!  Becoming a CPA is not easy he has worked so hard getting through school really fast and now studying a ton for the tests all while working full time as an Accountant for SF city. 

Jordan still plays basketball.  He plays in a city league every year with his friends, tries to play with the elder’s quorum as often as he can, and even coached the young men’s bball team in our ward this year.  The kids and I only made it to 3 or 4 of his city league games this year.   Watching Jordan play is really fun, Jackson loved it this year!  It’s kind of hard to take 2 crazy kids who want to run around all the time but I’m glad we made it to a few before the season ended in February.   He still loves watching sports.  He hasn’t had a ton of time because he’s been studying but we’ve watched a little March Madness.  Hopefully once he’s done with the CPA he’ll have a little more time for hobbies.  The CPA and the kids much take up all his time right now.

  Jordan and I recently got braces.   Jordan has an under bite which was fixed by braces as a teenager but then he grew on his mission and it came back.  Unfortunately, braces alone won’t fix his under bite.  He has to have jaw surgery!  He’ll be in braces for about a year then have surgery and then have braces for about another 6 months.  We went to a surgeon to get everything preauthorized and learn more about the surgery about a month ago.  The surgery might be a little scary.  He will have to stay overnight at the hospital and then be on a liquid diet for 6 weeks!  The surgeon said it’s actually not that painful because they work next to a nerve and the nerve just temporarily shuts down.  It’s good he won’t be in pain but he won’t be able to feel part of his face for anywhere from a couple of weeks to a few months!  Being on a liquid diet for 6 weeks is going to be really hard!  It’s going to be really hard for him to get enough calories and he doesn’t exactly have any weight to lose!  I’m a little worried about his surgery but we feel the benefits outweigh the risks.  Right now the way he bites down hardly any of his teeth meet and they’re starting to wear down.  If he doesn’t have surgery he’ll probably have some problems with those teeth in the future.  The doctor also said that jaw surgery would improve his breathing.  Jordan has tons of problems with breathing he can’t breathe out of his nose very well.  He’s already had surgery for a deviated septum, sinus surgery, and he’s doing allergy shots right now.  It’s helped a little but he still can’t breathe very well.  We’re hoping surgery helps a lot.  Jordan just doesn’t like the way his under bite feels either so hopefully getting it fixed will be a little more comfortable for him.

Braces buddies

           

Karen

I also had braces as a teenager.  My teeth are just really small and the orthodontist I was going to thought that vaneers would be a better option for me so he spaced my teeth on purpose planning to but vaneers on.  I didn’t end up getting vaneers and my teeth have had spaces ever since and I hate it!  I’m so excited to finally get my teeth fixed.  The orthodontist said I’d only need them for about a year maybe less. 

I’m still a stay at home mom.  I’ve started looking for a PRN or very part-time RN job.  I’m not very excited about going back to work.  It’s just been a couple years since I graduate and the longer I wait the harder it will be for me to find a job.  I’m just looking for something very part-time so I can still stay home with my kids most of the time but still get some nursing experience.  

Since I graduated from college I’ve finally had some time for hobbies.  While I was in school it was my life and I didn’t really have a ton of time to have any fun.  I’m kind of like a 90 year old I have old lady hobbies.  I love crafting, reading, and gardening.  I love to make seasonal wreaths and décor for the table in my front entry way.  I’ve started making quiet books for the boys and started sewing a little.  I’m not very good at sewing but I enjoy it and I made a couple maxi skirts. I love to crochet and knit during the winter.  I’ve made the boys tons of hats, a blessing blanket for Link, sweater for Jackson, scarves, and a couple baby blankets.

Link's awesome hat I made!

I made these! Shocking I know!

I’m trying to start my garden from seed this year.  I’ve already planted a ton outside and inside.  I enjoy it and hopefully it will work and save us a little money on plants.  Jackson loves helping me with the garden.  We put the plants in his room during the day because he gets the best sun and he gets really excited.  He gets mad when I move them at night.  He’s a really good helper he helped me do all the planting inside and outside and helps with watering.  Link likes to destroy our plants.  He’s gotten a hold of a couple and ripped them out.   

Mostly I just stay home and play with the kiddos.  So my day usually includes watching Disney movies, playing outside and trying to get some cleaning done while chasing the kids.  

Jackson

Jackson will be 3 in June and he’s getting so big!  In the last couple of weeks it seems like he’s matured a lot.  He just decided that he wants to be a big boy.  He’s finally stopped making me cut up his food for him and he drinks from a normal cup. He should have done this a long time ago but for some reason just refused until recently.  He can finally eat most things without making a mess of himself and the house.  He is doing a lot better with potty training.  When he first turned 2 he was really interested in potty training and we have been working on it ever since.  Sometimes he is really excited about it but most the time he just refuses so I don’t push him because he’s still young.  The last few weeks he’s started doing a lot better.  He still doesn’t have a lot of interest in peeing on the toilet but almost always he poops on the toilet.  I’m hoping he’ll be fully potty trained at least by fall.   

Jackson absolutely loves kids.  We go to the park a lot and he always tries to make friends with the other kids.  He always wants to play with our neighbors kids who unfortunately for him are a lot older so he can’t really play with them.   I don’t know where he got being social from!  I’m probably the most antisocial person alive and Jordan isn’t exactly outgoing.  Jackson isn’t really shy at all.   Jackson loves nursery he looks forward to it all week. 

In the fall Jackson is going to Preschool and he can’t wait.  I wasn’t going to send him this year because it’s super expensive and I don’t really think he needs 2 years of preschool but I found someone amazing who is only doing it this year so I signed him up.  I think he’ll learn a lot and have a lot of fun with the other kids.  I think he’s kind of a smarty pants and he likes to learn so he’ll love it. 

Jackson talks really well and is easy for me to understand usually but he has a few things he needs to work on.  He can’t say L’s he always says them as W’s.  It’s kind of funny to hear him say his names is Jackson Hawes and call Lincoln Wink, Winky Pooh, Wincoln Wog, and Winkster.  Hopefully he’ll grow out of it soon.  He can count to 10.  He knows all the numbers and even the order they go in but he still jumps around in his counting sometimes.  I don’t think he really understand numbers  other than 1 and 2.  He knows all the simple shapes: circle, square, triangle, heart, and star.  For some reason he has been really struggling with colors.  He says that everything is blue.  I’m seriously starting to wonder if he’s color blind.    

Jackson has starting having nightmares he wakes up almost every night.  He never wants to go to bed he begs me to sleep in his room every night.  I feel bad for the poor guy.  He says he’s scared of pirates and monsters.  He is going through a phase right now where he is kind of scared of a lot of things.  He is terrified of being abandoned.  He tells me 30 times a day “Mom, don’t leave me.”  He’s really clingy.  I can’t even shower or get ready in morning without him coming in screaming “Mom, don’t leave me!”  He always wants to know where I am.  I he ever loses sight of me at the park he has a huge melt down and starts screaming and running around looking for me.  It’s weird because he doesn’t mind being left with his grandparents or in nursery.  He just thinks that I’m going to leave him alone at our house or at the store or wherever.  He’s always needed a wing man but lately he’s gotten even worse.  He doesn’t like to be alone he always wants someone around to play with him.

Jacks is a HUGE daddy’s boy.  He tells me all day long “I want daddy.” “Where’s daddy.”  “I miss daddy.”  When Jordan is around he always wants to sit in his lap and play with him.  He just pretty much acts like I don’t exist when his dad is around.  When he has to go out into the foyer at church Jordan always has to take him because if I do he just screams “I want my daddy!”  So I don’t even bother Jordan is just in charge of Jackson pretty much everywhere we go.  He just never wants me when Jordan is around.

Jacks is a really good eater.  He loves fruits and vegetables.  I’ve never seen a 2 year old eat as healthy as him.  He loves salad and most other veggies and most fruit.  We get bountiful baskets on Saturday morning and he loves it!  (I highly recommend bountiful baskets!  We love them 6 kinds of fruit 6 kinds of vegetables for 15 bucks.  Saves us tons of money and makes us eat healthier.  Buy them at boutifulbaskets.org pick them up Saturday morning at site of your choice)  I bring them home and he immediately starts searching the basket pulling things out that he wants to eat.  He asks for healthy food all the time.  The other day he threw a little fit because he wanted salad and we didn’t have any lettuce.  What kind of a 2 year old does that!  Getting him to eat anything other than fruits and vegetables is a lot harder he is picky with everything else.  He’s not a huge meat guy and he LOVES junk food.

Link

Link is 13 months.  He is so wild he just wanders around all day getting into everything and exploring.  He always wants to be outside.  He stands next to our back door and pounds on it saying go.  He loves to go to the park to swing and slide.  He is starting to like toys a little more.  He likes cars he’ll push them on the ground through the whole house.  He likes any toy that he can use while he’s moving.  We have a push lawn mower, a vacuum, and a little ball popper push toy that he loves.  He just always wants to move and explore.  He is so sweet.  He loves to give hugs and kisses.  He can wave and give high fives.         

Link is still tiny.  He’s getting tall but he’s so skinny!  At his 1 year well baby appointment he was only 3 %tile for weight and 75^th for height.  He only weighs about 17 ½ pounds!  He is so skinny it’s hard to buy clothes for him.  He needs 18 month for the length but they’re huge on him and all his pants fall off!  12 or even 9 months cloths are a little tighter and fit him better but they’re too short!  Poor guy will probably always have problems buys clothes just like Jordan. 

Link tries to talk like crazy!  He says yeah, no, mom, dad, uh-oh, go, mama, dada, nana, thank you, drink and tries to say Jackson it sounds more like Jacko.  He tries to talk to Jackson a lot and they usually just end up screaming in each other’s faces.  Link says Yeah a lot and Jackson thinks it’s funny to say no back to him.  So they get in little yelling matches where Link yells yeah in Jackson face and Jacks yells no back at him.

Link is a pretty good sleeper.   He always takes a morning nap and usually takes an afternoon nap then still goes to bed around 8 until between 7 and 8.  He still wakes up sometimes during the night I just give him a drink of milk and then he’ll usually go right back to sleep. 

Link is a terrible eater!  He is really picky.  The only things he’ll consistently eat are banana, oatmeal, yogurt, toast, fries, chicken nuggets, crackers, candy, ice cream, and basically any kind of junk food.  It is so frustrating! I try really hard to feed my family healthy and he just won’t eat a lot of fruit or veggies.  I’m really hoping when he gets a few more teeth it will be easier for him to chew things and he’ll start eating a little better.  I really want my kids to learn healthy eating habits now so they can stay healthy throughout their lives.  Unfortunately, Link might be my junk food kid; he’s just lucky he got his dad’s metabolism.         

Link is really hard to take places now.  He tries to climb out of the cart at the grocery store and grabs everything that he can reach.  He grabs things off shelves and out of the cart and throws it on the floor.  Taking Link to church is a nightmare!  He runs everywhere!  We are counting the weeks to nursery, 5 months seems like a really really really really long time!  He is everywhere running up the aisles and trying to get on the stand.  We spend most of our time in the foyer.  By 3^rd hour he is just done so we spend almost the whole time out in the hall with him.  Jordan and I have to switch off who takes him because whoever has him doesn’t hear a thing.  By the time we get home we’re both exhausted from chasing the kids!  Link is hard to take to anyone’s house.  He just wanders around and gets into all their stuff.  He won’t stay in one room and just wanders throughout their house.  He’s so fast it’s hard to contain him.  It’s just a good thing I’m not social because it would be impossible to take him to friends houses.  Link is at a tough age but he is so fun.  I love watching him grow and change each day.  He’s a cute sweet guy and we love him.

 

Okay so this is the longest post ever!  Anyone who actually made it through the whole thing I applaud you because I know it’s really boring for everyone but me!  I hope that someday Jackson and Link will read this and appreciate the time I spend documenting what is going on in our lives.