Announcing Baby Jackson #4

I know I made the announcement on Facebook, however I thought maybe I should make the announcement here as well for those friends and family who don't get on Facebook. As the picture above suggests, we are expecting. At my appt yesterday, the doctor surprised us and told us that he is pretty certain we are having another boy. From the looks of it, I would have to agree with his assessment. However, we will have a for sure confirmation in a few weeks. We are so excited and look forward to February 2011.

Recent pics and activities....

Ian just relaxing on our bed watching Toy Story...just preparing for when Toy Story 3 comes out.
Spencer relaxing...
Bryce giving me an awesome smile!
All three boys relaxing after bath time, watching Toy Story.
We can't wait to see Toy Story 3.
We took the boys on the Front Runner train down to Temple Square. We had lunch at the Lion House and saw the new Temple display at the Visitors Center. All in all it was a fun day! On the way on home on the train, Bryce asked me "Mommy, how does Jesus put people together?" I'm all for answering my children honestly and giving them just the right amount of correct information for their age, but I have to admit, I didn't see that question coming and all I could say was "Very carefully." Then after a little more thought I explained a bit more and he seemed satisfied. At the end, he asked me if babies come out their mommies noses....LOL!
I took the boys to Krispey Kremes (sp) because they were giving away free donuts. It was fun and who doesn't like "FREE"? I really am enjoying being able to do fun things with the boys! They are always game for something and even though sometimes I feel like I'm herding cats, I'm always so glad that I put in the extra effort.
Bryce with his Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Behrens.
Bryce singing with his class at his Kindergarten graduation....I had to laugh when I received the invite to his "kindergarten graduation". It was fun and exciting though and the kids all did such a nice job! There were four kindergarten classes and Bryce's class wore yellow caps. I'm just so proud of Bryce and all he has learned this year. He did a great job! Bryce is so friendly, enthusiastic, funny, intelligent, kind, and clever! I really enjoy him!
Bryce standing in from of his school on the last day of school! I took a similar picture him on the first day of school. My how he has grown!

Season Passes to Lagoon

So we broke down and bought season passes to Lagoon. We have family and friends coming to town this summer and determined that by the time we paid for each visit individually, we would have paid for a season pass and then some. We are soooooo glad we did it. The boys had a blast! I think there are more things for the boys to do here than there were at Disney World. We took lots of pics yesterday, unfortunately none of them were with our actual camera...for some reason we left it in the van and had to use our phones to take pics. The thing I like about the kiddie rides is that even Spencer could ride on most everything. What a blast the boys had. The other nice thing about Lagoon is that you can bring your own food. Next time we go, we are bringing a cooler of food. Spencer loved the freedom to walk around and he even found several good sized puddles to jump and splash in. We let him do it and enjoyed watching the pleasure he derived from it! Next time we go, I'm going to have to remember the sun block. The boys got a little color on their faces and I am fried on my face, neck and arms! No fun!

Spencer giggled the entire time he was on this ride!
The boys rocking out on their guitars. Not sure I'm ready for the real thing yet...could get noisy!
I think they have watched one too many episodes of Imagination Movers.
Bryce and Ian loved this roller coaster ride! Just before they left above and below when the ride was done. Their faces say it all!

On a train ride around the park. It takes you through the zoo part of Lagoon... and Bryce's reaction was priceless....he couldn't stand the smell of the animals. He said they stink!
Notice Spencer's shorts and shoes...they are soaking wet.... I took this pic after his first puddle jumping session. Other families passed us on the paths and laughed when they saw him jumping in the puddles. I'm sure they must have thought we were crazy to let him jump in the puddles like that. But Mike and I decided that we wanted him to have a little freedom and if jumping in puddles and having to be wet and dirty the rest of the day made him happy, then we were happy!
Bryce in the back...
Ian and Spencer

Brothers...

I asked the boys if I could take a picture of them together and they agreed. Of course, Ian had to put them in a head lock. Have I mentioned that Ian is VERY strong! ? It melts my heart to see the boys love one another. With as much as they wrestle and argue, they would rather spend time together than with any other person. While Bryce is in school, Ian and Spencer patiently wait till it's time to go pick him up. On Sundays, Ian refuses to go to Sunbeams, instead opting to go to class with Bryce. It's the only way we can convince Ian to attend Primary. We are working on that of course! They share toys, laugh together, hatch plans to take over the house, and pretty much are in collusion with each other on plans to make my hair turn grayer faster! I wouldn't have it any other way! I love these little boys more than anything in this world. They are smart, funny, loving, kind, talented, generous, forgiving, energetic, rambunctious, and with out a doubt the best thing I've ever done in my life! How eternally grateful I am to be their mother. Though I know I'm not perfect, I hope they grow up knowing just how much I love them!

Pictures

Bryce showing off his injured arm.

I love taking pics of the boys in the van,because they can't run away from me. Ian is usually willing to give me a good smile.
My sweet Spencer! Notice his bucket of toys!
Me and my cousin Rosie. We had dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Rosie and I share the same great grandma. My grandma and her grandma are sisters.
Rosie and Spencer. Walking to the building where Rosie was to be set apart.
Couldn't resist this pic! Nothing like a sleeping baby!
Happy Ian!
Bryce wanted to hold his "baby" brother. Spencer sure was a good sport.
The demented Easter Bunny. This was at the Make A Wish Easter Egg Hunt! So much fun!!!!
Spider-Man Ian!

So it's that time again...what time is that you ask??? Time to catch up on blogging. To be truthful, I've felt uninspired. I think most of you lead much more interesting lives than I do! For the most part, life is fairly calm around here. Of course, the boys do and say funny things, but by the time I think to blog about it I can't really remember what it was that I wanted to share...Anybody else have that problem?

Since I last blogged, quite a bit has happened. Let's see how much I can recall...hopefully without boring all of you to death! This month we've gone back down to Provo a couple times. We went down to support my cousin Rosie when she was set apart for her mission. We were so happy we could be there with her and what a neat experience she is embarking on! She will be serving in the Mesa Arizona Mission and we could possibly see her ( with mission president permission of course ) when we go to visit Mike's family in AZ. Maybe take her and her companion out for lunch!

Last weekend, we went down to Provo to go bowling at BYU. Why BYU you may ask...well we had two free bowling passes and of course we have fun exploring campus and letting the boys run around. As we were walking across campus, Bryce discovered the emergency boxes with the BIG red buttons that should only be pushed in an emergency. Fortunately, the campus police were a lot more patient and friendly about it than the 911 people...but that's a whole other story. I digress.... While there, we picked up some BYU creamery ice cream. Have any of you tried the Graham Canyon ice cream!????? Really it should be illegal it's so YUMMY! That's saying a lot too because I don't generally care for ice cream! We'll probably head back down to BYU sometime soon to try and hike the Y with the boys, hopefully before it gets too hot out!

Bryce has been doing well in school and having a good time. He is so close to being able to read. He can sound things out and knows tons of words by sight...We were on our way to the store and on the way we passed a Red Lobster...well Bryce shouts out "Red Lobster". I know he knows the word Red but we've never eaten at Red Lobster (Mike HATES seafood!)...so clearly he had figured it out on his own...I wonder how many signs he is reading along the road and just not saying anything. I'm sure none of this means a whole lot to you moms out there whose kids are geniuses and were reading as soon as they exited the womb...but I'm so proud of him...he's my first baby and I'm fascinated by the things that he is discovering and learning! Bryce is learning more and more primary songs and I LOVE to hear him singing them. Spencer is also learning them and singing along. SO fun to listen to them! Lately, Bryce has been having a hard time falling asleep at night... even though I know he is exhausted! He came into our room a couple nights ago and said to Mike and me "It's not easy to be a kid...it's not fair" . I sat there staring at him...I wanted to burst out laughing, but I didn't, I contained myself and calmly said to Mike " It's not easy being an adult...it's not fair"...of course the humor was lost on Bryce. I wish, that I could impress upon Bryce right now, the importance of enjoying childhood...he has the rest of his mortal existence to be an adult...some of us weren't even fortunate enough to have a childhood. Childhood is something I want my kids to enjoy! One more story about Bryce and I'll move on...we have started taking family walks...On Sunday after church and after dinner we decided to head out. Bryce begged us to let him ride his bike. We said ok and put his helmet on and we were off...we didn't even make it off our street before Bryce used his body to stop himself from breaking the sound barrier...did I mention that Hill AFB is full of hills...flat it is not....So Mike took him into the Wee Care because Bryce was favoring his left arm...he came home with a splint and a sling....tonight we were able to take it off and see how his arm is doing...he seems to be a little tender but much better! I wonder how long it will take us to talk him back onto his bike???...

Spencer and Ian are doing GREAT! Ian goes to primary, BUT he won't go to his class. He will only go if he can stay with Bryce's class. Yeah ....ummmm....Bryce's teacher is less than thrilled...Not sure what to do...the time I tried to make him go to Sunbeams and I stayed with him, he was hysterical and NOT amused! Ian has pretty definite opinions about what he wants and doesn't want, what he likes and doesn't like. Ian is such a neat kid. I look at him and can't believe he's the same kid who nearly two years ago was a very sick little guy! Ian is truly a walking miracle! He is smart, funny, warm, loving, happy, and opinionated! He is really looking forward to preschool this coming fall! I was going to enroll him this last year, but he didn't get his immunizations started up again until the end of October and then the swine flu thing was going around. I decided to keep him with me. Spencer continues to be the sweetest baby! Ok so maybe he isn't exactly a baby anymore, but he's still my baby. He loves to sing, play outside, walk around with a bucket full of toys...if he is on my lap he still likes to put his hand down my shirt and does the nursing motion with his little mouth! So funny! He sometimes crawls into our bed late at night, well after we have all gone to bed. He snuggles in with me and falls asleep instantly! He's so tender! Overall, I have some pretty neat little boys! They are all so unique and yet so similar.

Mike has been doing well! Keeping busy with work and school! He just finished up his first semester at Weber State. He took and English class and a Math class and got A's in both classes! I'm pretty pleased with him. It was a bit of a challenge to have him in school 3 nights a week...especially when I had to take the boys with me to Mutual. Fortunately, this coming semester he doesn't have class on Tuesday nights! YAY! For my part, well I'm doing alright! I don't really feel like I have anything to complain about and yet I feel like life is just passing me by! Not quite sure what I need to do about it...the truth is that I have many interests and many opportunities...and yet I sometimes feel like I'm living Ground Hog Day...perhaps it's just a phase! No doubt I'm not the only person to feel this way...this too shall soon pass...right???

Trip to Provo, Bowling and Time with Cousin Rosie.

BYU bowling alley. Rose, Me, Spencer, Mike, Bryce and Ian. So fun spending time with Rose!

Me with my cousin Rose. We invited a friend of ours and her children to join us. Rose is holding her baby.
Me and Spencer. Just finished bowling his frame...
Rose with Spencer at the Wilkonson Center. We had lunch before we went bowling.
Bryce and Rose.
Mike and Rose. I love the look on Bryce's face...I didn't even notice him in the picture until posted this picture...so funny!


So we took a trip down to Provo. We were able to spend some time with my cousin Rosie. It was so much fun! It's fun to spend time with family and also to spend time on BYU campus. I have so many fond memories of my time there as student! First, I hope my boys will choose to attend college, and then I hope that they will choose BYU! GO COUGARS!