Home for the Holidays!

In the morning, we are loading up the kids and heading for Montana!! We are hoping to do it in 2 days this year instead of 3 so pray for the weather to be good, as well as the kids :) You may not hear from me until sometime in January so...

Happy Holidays!

Love, us!

Family Pictures & Christmas Card

WE DID IT!!

I finally got Spencer at a good time and we got our family pictures taken yesterday. I'm not as pleased with them as I had hoped but it's a little tougher when you don't have anyone at the camera to get the kids to look. Here are our best ones.

This is our family Christmas card. I was asking Spencer which of his friends he would like to send one to and he said "I don't know, we don't usually do Christmas cards" Which I responded with "YES we do! I make Christmas cards every year!" Sometimes I don't get them out as quick as I hope or all of them in the mailbox from misplacing addresses, etc but I do make one every year!

(Credits to http://www.freedigitalscrapbooking.com/ for paper and embellishments which I changed the color, hue, and brightness. I downloaded them a couple years ago so I don't know if they are on there anymore.)

This is our family picture. I had to trade Spencer's face out for a different one but this is the best one we got.

I love this one of Spencer and James.

I think Baer looks so cute in this picture but my hair looks sick from all the wind yesterday and I think my pose is lame.

***If you want a Christmas card, I want one from you and I need your addresses! I figure if I have them online I will always know how to find them. Email them to me at: naturallyjackie@gmail.com***

Tagged (Thanks Anne)

Post the 4th picture from your 4th folder.

Mr. Frog

The other night James woke up crying at about midnight. I went in to check on him and he wasn't responding to me very well, he just kept crying. I asked him what was wrong and he didn't say anything. I think he decided he wanted to tell me later because he said (while crying) Tell me "what's wrong?" So I asked him "What's wrong?" He told me he didn't feel good and his tongue hurt (I think he may have had acid reflux...it's common for him at night). It seemed like what I was trying wasn't helping but finally he told me he wanted to take a shower. After his shower I was holding him in his bed. I asked what I could do for him because he was still crying a little. He said "Tell me something". I remembered when I would have bad dreams and my sister would tell me to close my eyes and picture Mom and Dad dressed in white sitting in a peaceful garden. I did that very often as a girl and it really helped me. I asked if he would like to hear a story and he did. I told him a couple stories about a man who fell in love with a woman...they had two boys...(in more detail) and he said he wanted another one...about a frog. I told him the story below and he asked me to tell it again. He's been asking for it at night now so I sketched a few quick drawings that you will see below (unfinished). He went to sleep after the story and was fine the next morning. There are probably spelling and grammer errors just so you know :)

Mr. Frog by Jacquelyn Jones

Once upon a time, there was a little green frog who's name was Mr. Frog. Mr. Frog loved to go to Lily Pad Lake. His very favorite thing to do was to jump on the lily pads and catch flies. One day while doing just that, Mr. Frog discovered a way to jump all the way across the lake on the lily pads alone.

When Mr. Frog got to the other side he was a little confused. The lily pads on this side of the lake looked so much greener from the other side. Mr. Frog looked back to where he came from and was shocked to find that the lily pads were in fact greener over there, so he started jumping back to the other side. Mr. Frog was even more confused now. The lily pads weren't any greener there either. Mr. Frog decided to catch his flies somewhere else. He needed to clear his head. As Mr. Frog made his way through the cattails he ran into Miss Frog. Mr. Frog was very excited to see Miss Frog. He wanted to show her how he had found a way to jump across the lake on the lily pads, so he asked her on a date. Together Mr. Frog and Miss Frog jumped from lily pad to lily pad catching plenty of flies along the way. When they reached the other side Mr. Frog realized the lily pads were GREEN (and I don't mean just a little green). Those lily pads were the greenest he had ever seen! Just for curiosity he told Miss Frog he wanted to go back to the other side to see the lily pads over there. Mr. Frog was delighted to find that they stayed just as green as the lily pads they left on the other side. Mr. and Miss frog continued to go on these dates and to jump across the lake together. Eventually they got married, had little baby frog tadpoles, and lived happily ever after.

The End

I hope you enjoyed it!

James lifted my spirits yesterday by telling me:

"You're the BEST MOMMY, EVER!!"

What's up yours?

A conversation/interaction between James and I 5 minutes ago.

James is the blue and I am the purple.

"Can I see your down things?" (prying at my mouth)
(I stick out my bottom lip)
"No, not your lip."
(I show my teeth)
"Not your teeth." (prying more at my mouth)
(I open my mouth wide like at the dentist)
"WOooW! Those are big!" (looking around in my mouth and then up in my mouth) "Mommy what's up your head?"
"What's up my head?"

"Yeah, in your hair." (tapping on my head)
"My brain."
"Oh, I saw one of those in Spongebob."
"You did??" (Spongebob is not my favorite thing for him to watch)

"Yeah, it was pink, pink, pink!"

Thanksgiving

I love Baer's expression in this one.

We were invited to go to some friends of ours for Thanksgiving but we had plans to have some of our other friends over for Thanksgiving. They ended up going out of town so we had a ton of food for our family of four. Spencer got up with the kids in the morning and I slept in a little. When I got up he and Baer laid down for a nap while I started on dinner. 6 hrs later we had our Thanksgiving dinner and all said what we were thankful for.

Jackie: Such a wonderful family and a wonderful husband who understands me, helps me, and supports me in all that I do (summed up).

Spencer: That we have a house of our own, that we are so blessed to have the opportunity to be here & for him to be able to go to school, a wife who does so much around the house even though he knows it isn't easy (that's really what he said), James who is so smart, and Baer who is so much fun (summed up).

James: "I'm glad that you go to school too." (to Spencer)

Spencer: Why? So you can stay home and be with/play with Mommy every day?

James: Yeah...

Baer: I don't mean to put words in his mouth, but I think he's thankful for yogurt, milk, and a fun family. :)

I had Spencer come help me put the turkey on the serving platter and it was so moist that it was falling off the bone. When we tried to get it onto the platter, the whole rearend came off, so that's how we served it. No carving needed, the meat came right off!

Yes, I did end up going shopping this morning but after I looked through all the ads and decided which was most important to me I decided on just getting up when I woke up. I was pretty sure what I wanted would still be there later.

I have a goal to start running regularly again so this is what I got:

(bear with my cheesiness)

Then I realized that my toenails totally matched my outfit!!

I was SO meant to have this new running outfit! :)

(No comments on the finger-toes)

The End, Thanks for peeking!

The Answer

Click on the link below to see the answer for my last post. If you haven't seen/guessed what it is...go do it before you look at the answer...no cheating!

Click here to see the answer.

Any Guesses?

So...what do you think James got into this time?

(Black on lower lip)

Hint: It's not something you naturally put on your lips

Turn up your volume and pause the music...it's pretty quiet.

I found this video on Spencer's camera when I was uploading the picture on the post below and thought it was pretty cute. Enjoy!

Baer Updates...as promised.

While I was gone in the summer, Spencer gave Baer a bath in the sink and sent me this picture on my phone. I just think he looks so cute sitting and relaxing. He looks like his daddy does in the hot tub.

*Warning: This post is long/journal-like. Read if you want, don't if you don't. Also...grammer will probably be pretty bad, I didn't get much sleep last night.

Okay, where to start...

Well most of you may know parts or all of this but I'm just going to start from the beginning.

When Baer was just brand new we noticed some significant crossing in his eyes. We didn't freak out because James had crossed eyes when he was a baby but his went away after his eyes grew stronger and was able to focus on things better. Baer got older and his eyes didn't uncross so we took him in to see an eye doctor. His doctor confirmed that he does have strabismus (crossing/lazy eye) and nystagmus (shaking/rotating). I'm not sure I spelled those right though :). His doctor told us he'd have to have surgery. We decided to hold off until we had his foot appointment to see if he needed surgery to take off his 6th toe so they could do it at the same time. The foot doctor told us that we needed to wait at least another year because his bones are pretty much cartilage when they are so little and they couldn't tell which toe was the more normal toe. We went into the eye doctor again and she said "I can't explain it" his eyes are changing. Baer's eyes have changed every time we have gone in and are continuing to heal. He may or may not have to have the surgery but at least he doesn't have to right now. He had an MRI to make sure the shaking wasn't from something wrong in his brain and it turned out normal. He had an appointment with CCVI (Children's Center for the Visually Impaired) recently to see if he needed eye therapy and he doesn't qualify so that's good. It means that he can see.

On the other hand, Baer will be 16 months on Monday. He is not crawling, walking, feeding himself, or talking. We were a little concerned but though it might have been because of his vision (which we now know is not true). His pediatrician recommended that we make an appointment with Johnson County Infant/Toddler Service and have them see if he qualified for assistance. When they tested Baer, he was testing anywhere from 3 months to 9 months so he deffinetly qualified. Baer started having an occupational therapist come to our home and she is comming every week now. It sounds like they think he WILL be able to get caught up but that he just needs more attention/help than your average baby at this point in time. I HAVE noticed some progression since he has started the therapy. Johson County Infant/Toddler Service also recommends that Baer sees an early childhood development teacher and a developmental pediatrician. The teacher came for the first time on Monday but pretty much did the same things the OT was doing. We have an appointment for Baer to see the Dev.Ped. but the earliest they could make an appointment for him was in 6 months. I need to call and get him on the waiting list for cancellations.

SO...countless appointments and working with Baer he is finally starting to show some improvement.

HALLOWEEN!!

Our plan for Halloween this year was to go to Whole Foods, trick or treat to the different sections of the store then to come home. Spencer then was going keep Baer and hand out treats while I took James trick or treating. This is what we have done every year we have been in Kansas.

I told Spencer I wanted some pictures before we left so he started taking some pictures of me with the boys since he wasn't wearing his costume. Our friend and neighbor Erika and her daughter Lauren came over for a minute so I had Spencer get a couple with just the kids. Erika offered to take one with Spencer in there too, and I said yes but you'll have to ask Spencer. He knew it was important to me so he reluctantly agreed.

Here is the family picture...it turned out GREAT! Thanks, E!

Erika also go a really cute picture of Baer while we were getting ready for the picture.


Here is the picture of the kids.

Just some cute James moments:

James asked me what Daddy was going to be for Halloween this year. Spencer has been really busy with studying since this is his hardest trimester so he wasn't going to dress up. He was wearing a plaid shirt (see picture) so I told James he was going to be a lumberjack. He was content with that.

When someone asked James what HE was going to be for Halloween he'd say... "A GHOST PIRATE with my Mommy!" and then he'd put his arm around my shoulders (I was crouched down).

James: "Mommy, can I have a piece of candy?"
Mom: "No James...you didn't eat your food"
James: "Yeah, I didn't eat my food all gone so I don't deserve some candy."

Yesterday the neighbors had a garage sale and our friends next door had some fun boy toys. James was very interested so I told him he could get his "money ball" (it's a soccor ball bank) and he could pick something out to buy with his own money. He picked out an 8 or so inch Mustang car, a tool belt with tools and a button that made it talk to you, and a stacking rings (but stars instead of rings that light up and make music) for Baer. He paid $2.25 for all.

Mom: "James do you want __(?)__"
James: "Yes, Mom. I certainly do."

Trick or treating was a pleasure this year with James. Last year I told him to say trick or treat at all the houses but he was too shy half the time and I had to say it for him. This year he got it. He knew after I told him one time that we go to the houses with porch lights on, knock and then stand back so they could open the screen, and when they did to say "trick or treat!". He would see a house with a ton of lights on and say "Can we go to THAT Halloween?" I would say "sure" and then he'd say "OKAY, that would be SO nice". He was very polite and would say "thank you" and when his bucket was getting heavy he would ask "Mommy, can you please take a turn?". He loved seeing all the Halloween decorations and would ask "Mommy, why is that pumpkin mad?" or he would say "That's not a scary pumpkin, it's a nice one". He would also say things like "that's not scary, it's just pretend". James also sang/chanted a song from Dora : "Halloween, Halloween, Trick or Treat, Our costumes can't be beat!!" while we were going to the next place. By the time we went around the block and back to our home his "scary jackolantern" was FULL.

Mom: "You are frustruating me today, James"
James: "Yeah, but that's not nice."
Mom: "Then why are you doing it?"
James: "Because it's my favorite job to do."

Comming up next:
Updates on Baer

Trunk or Treat 2008

Well, James smashed my camera so I have my friend Michelle to thank for these pictures.

Thanks, Michelle!


Indian Creek Ward Chili Cook-Off 2008, and guess who won?? Me! I was pretty excited.

Baer was/is a monkey this year for Halloween. He looks so cute in his outfit and he loves it. He just gets a kick out of it. Pretty cute.

After the chili cook-off we started for the parking lot to do some trunk or treating and Sienna was fast on James's heels trying to catch up with him. Sienna (ballerina) and James (ghost pirate) are great friends. I got James's costume a few weeks ago so James has been playing with it. Unfortunately that meant we couldn't find it all for the trunk or treating but oh well. He still looked cute.

I had to leave early from the chili cook-off/trunk or treat because I was asked to do the photography for our stake Green & Gold Masquerade Ball. I took at least 560 pictures so those will have to come later.

Baer and Daddy

Baer is getting at least one molar right now and is having a bit of a hard time with it. I don't think I have many pictures with Spencer in them so I thought I'd share this one of Spencer comforting Baer the other day. I just love how cuddly he is, and what a great daddy Spencer is.

Spencer almost refuses to look at the camera or acknowledge that I'm taking his picture. He hates his picture being taken. I'm thinking it's gunna take some smooth talking to get an updated family photo.

Ajna Photo

Hello Friends,

I don't know how many of you have noticed the link to my photosite on the left. It has been under construction but is close to being finished. Check it out if you would like.

Ajna Photo: Jacquelyn Jones

Thanks!

Tagged...thrice :)

I don't have many pictures of me since I cut my hair so I thought I'd share this one. In this picture I am at my parent's house working on an afghan on the loom (which I still haven't finished). This was taken April of 2006.

Okay, I was tagged at least 3 times for 2 different tags and I better get on it!

The First Tag

I AM


I am: Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother, Friend, Crazy, Crafty, Outgoing, Shy, Outdoorsy, Ever-Changing...
I think: I can!
I know: I am loved
I want: too much
I have: so much
I dislike: poor communication
I miss: the mountains and my family.
I fear: losing a loved one
I feel: hungry
I hear: Baer's toy playing music
I smell: caramel corn cakes
I crave: what I am not supposed to eat...italian, baguettes, pie, etc...
I cry: when I am hormonal
I usually: have too many projects.
I wonder: if James is going to wake up soon.
I regret: nothing
I love: all of God's creations (sky, earth, mountains, water, animals, man)
I care: about what people think.
I always: love my family
I worry: I am not a good enough friend, mother, wife
I am not: who I was when I got married
I remember: old times
I believe: "in God the eternal father and in his son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost."
I dance: when I am happy (okay I LOVE to dance but need to more)
I sing: instead of talking to my children often
I don’t always: keep a clean house
I argue: because I am stubborn
I write: when I am feeling nostalgic
I win: at nothing (well, not much anyway)
I lose: my mind occasionally
I wish: I was more organized
I listen: inadiquately
I don't understand: politics
I can usually be found: at home with my children
I am scared: of losing a loved one (didn't I do that one already?)
I am happy: when I remember I am.


The Second Tag


8 TV SHOWS I LIKE TO WATCH

1. Chuck
2. Project Runway
3. America's Next Top Model
4. Top Chef
5. What Not to Wear
6. Martha Stewart (I used to watch)
7. NFL games with Spencer
8. How I Met Your Mother
Wow, that was actually pretty difficult. I don't actually watch those all anymore but are ones I'll watch when I do watch. Does that makes sense? lol


8 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS (today)

1. Cinzetti's
2. Olive Garden
3. Johnny Carino's
4. Ted's Montana Grill
5. Macaroni Grill
6. Tequila Harry's
7. Mi Ranchitos
8. Most Sushi places
Think I might be craving Italian and Mexican??


8 THINGS THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY

1. Slept in
2. Watched the kids so Spencer could take a nap
3. Went to Church
4. Taught Sunday School
5. Ate some buffalo steak that Spencer grilled
6. Chatted with the neighbors
7. Knitted
8. Went to bed early
*For some reason it sounds more relaxed than it was. Hmmm...


8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO

1. Dinner
2. Photo Shoots
3. Chili Cook Off/Trunk or Treat
4. Baer's OT
5. Baer's Vision Therapy
6. Kansas City Rocks: Spook Run
7. Trick or Treating
8. Halloween at Whole Foods


8 THINGS ON MY WISH LIST

1. Ipod Nano with accessories so that I can run with it (Can't run with a classic)
2. Updated music
3. New Clothes
4. Audiobooks
5. Sewing Machine
6. Running Shoes & Vibram Five Finger Shoes (no I haven't got them...yet)
7. LG Rage (or whatever that new verizon phone is)
8. Another healthy baby

2 Cute Boys

I haven't updated my blog in a while, sorry guys!

Here is James with MY pants on.

And here is Baer playing tetris on Spencer's phone, lol. He likes the song and lights.

Here lies Kim

Our friend Kim has gone and left us and we will all miss her! Before she left, we had a 27 dresses going away party. Here's to you, Kim!

I had Spencer take a picture before I left.

These were before we got the camera centered. They ended up being the ones that had the best expressions, too. Sorry some of you are cropped out...It would've been easier if I brought a big tripod. Oh well, they are basically just snapshots anyway.
I think this one is cute even though...
Well everyone barely made it in this one.
This one is cute but in this lighting the smallest movements made us blurred.

It was a fun party.

Here lies Kim.
Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother, and Friend
Kim was adventurous, spunky, creative, fun, and generous.
We love you, Kim!
















*Kim has only left us for Texas, but we will still miss her :)

Montana Skies

I used to love when my brother would play Malaguena on the piano. I just love that song. I stumbled across "Montana Skies" as I was looking up some cello music (I adore cello music). Their webpage had a link to YouTube so I thought I'd share.

Homeless

Okay, most of you know I don't like talking about politics...This story is actually my friend speaking...I just thought it was pretty funny.

I was talking to a friend of mine's little girl, and she said she wanted to be President some day. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked her, "If you were President what would be the first thing you would do? She replied, "I'd give houses to all the homeless people." "Wow - what a worthy goal," I told her, "But you don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I 'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward a new house." She thought that over for a few seconds 'cause she's only 6. And while her Mom glared at me, she looked me straight in the eye and asked, "Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?" And I said, "Welcome to the Republican Party." Her folks still aren't talking to me.

Snip, snip...snip, snip...and off it goes!

Okay...I'm reluctantly posting this picture I took yesterday of my hair AFTER I did some adjustments to it (thinning out the sides so it's not quite so mushroom-like). It doesn't take 30 minutes JUST to WASH my hair anymore (because of all the knots I would get). It's more like 3 now! A friend of mine told me that it makes me look older. I'm good with that because whenever people find out I have 2 kids they ask if I had them when I was 13...now they can see that I was clearly 15 when I had them ;) Just kidding!

It actually looks a lot like a haircut I had in high school (that I did myself) if I would've styled it differently. This is my freshman year I believe. Look at those pencil thin eyebrows and butterfly clips!

20 Years Ago...[Thanks...several of you :)]

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:20 years ago:

20 years ago: 1988- This is a well known story amongst my family: I was 4 years old and living in Sheridan, Montana. My mom would lay down with us for naptime and she'd fall asleep. We would sneak out and go to the store across the street where they had "Need a penny? Take one" cups and we'd take those and buy penny candies. I remember army crawling/sneaking to get them. I blame my older siblings...they are bad examples :) (just kidding guys!)



We also had a dog we named Jungle Bear that I would go exploring with. I remember crossing paths with a snake one time and Jungle Bear was barking to warn me. He let me get on his back and he carried me away. He was my protector.



I also remember there was a stream that pooled by the fence next to our house in Sheridan that some kind of greenery would grow on top of. I wanted to get across and I thought if I stepped on the greenery it would hold me up but I was wrong. I stepped in and almost fell in. Luckily the fence was there for me to hold on to.


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:10 years ago:



10 years ago: 1998-I was a freshman and still pretty innocent. Most of you know that the outdoor sports are very important to me and I love & miss having mountains. I loved going rapelling with my parents and teaching friends & scouts. I was probably a freshman when I went "aussie style" for the first time (head first). *see photo above of my sister Brenda and me


I had 2 "boyfriends" that only lasted about a week. The first: we both mutually decided that we'd rather be friends and the second: asked me to go out with him...I am not good at saying no so I said yes. I tried to avoid him wherever I was and then when he called I told him that my Dad wouldn't let me have a boyfriend-lame excuse even though I did know that he wouldn't want me to have one.

I tried out and qualified to make Chamber Choir & had higher scores than most of the upperclassmen (along with my friend Jamie Kern) but our choir teacher told us she had decided not to put us in until the next year because she didn't want to have to kick out the older kids. The next year a freshman or two got in and we were mad. There was more room after all the seniors from the previous year had left.

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:5 years ago:

5 years ago: 2003-I had just graduated from Myotherapy College of Utah. I consider it the one thing I am actually very good at and I accept that. I have a lot of talents that I'm pretty good at or I may not be very good at but enjoy. Massage is my one pure talent. I also had family that had cancer- I shaved my hair and donated it to locks of love in their honor.

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:1 year ago:

1 year ago: 2007- Just after Baer was born we went to Montana to show him off to the grandparents and so Spencer could go on his annual father-son motorcycle trip. I was there for over a month. Everyday life, I was pretty much doing what I am now...staying at home with the boys and trying to keep up with motherhood responsibilites. James was 2 and Baer was a little over a month old.

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:1 month ago:

1 month ago: Beginning of August 2008-I was on my girl's trip-which I still need to post pictures of. My mom shared some great journal entries from when she was our age and going through motherhood. It was really cool. We also threw a bridal shower for my newest sister-in-law Mindy.

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:1 week ago:

^The ONLY picture I made it into last week...lol. At least it's my good side (haha...totally not).

1 week ago: End of August 2008- My mother-in-law was here and was helping me organize my basement.

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:1 day ago:

1 day ago: September 2nd, 2008- I got my hair cut and it turned out shorter than I wanted it to be. I think I look like a mushroom!! I also gave a friend of mine a massage.

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