Our Halloween

Happy Halloween! We had a great Halloween. Here is how our day went....Jaxson woke up and I gave him our Halloween gift---- a toothbrush (it's green with a train on it) and cotton candy. I figured since he now has a tooth and he giggles and gets the biggest smile on his face when he sees me brush my teeth that a toothbrush was the perfect gift. He loved it he played with his toothbrush, the cotton candy tub and the sack for a while.

We then had our breakfast together. Jaxson sat in his new highchair that his dad put together the night before. My mom gave me a highchair for my shower gift but I had her keep it at her house since we live in an apartment and space is limited and we finally got around to getting it. It was so nice to have a highchair to feed him and to have him play in while I did odds and ends in the kitchen.

We went out to lunch, did some shopping and got ready for Halloween. We visited my two grandma's with cousin Brianna. When we got home Brett was finished with work and had dressed up. He was Kramer from Seinfeld. We went to Brett's grandma's where his family and his extended family was as well.We then went to a few more places and ended at my parents house with my family. It was only missing 5 things (Greg, Jen, Lexie, Gracie, and Kole----we missed you guys). While at my parents I thought I had left my camera at Brett's grandma's house so I don' t have any pictures at that destination which makes me sad because Braden, Dylan, Halle and Carston were fantastic in their costumes. I did find my camera later on it was in Jaxson's candy bag.

Jaxson fell asleep on the way home he was soooo tired. He got woken up from his nap this afternoon and I found out that on Halloween that is not good. Next year we'll have to try harder to get that nap in. He was falling asleep from house to house as we drove but all in all I think he had a fantastic Halloween.

This Halloween broke me in a little bit with knowledge about candy. I only bought and gave out candy that Jaxson can have someday. Might sound strange but it made me feel so at peace and insanely happy. In fact all the candy I gave is considered "free" for him meaning he can have as much as he wants which is a HUGE deal because there aren't very many "free" things. So for those of you who are curious here is the "free" candy we gave out: cotton candy, Sweetish Fish, Sour Patch Kids, Dots, Dum Dum Suckers, Air Heads, and Gatorade . Not a bad selection if you ask me.

Here's Jaxson's Halloween "loot". He got such great things. I can't publish this post without talking about our great family. Everyone had planned ahead for Jaxson and had tried their very hardest to have things he could have..thank you..thank you..thank you! I couldn't help but to think back to the past as I went through his stuff. I remember shortly after Jaxson was diagnosed thinking about Halloween and just crying and crying. I know a little nuts since he was only a week old but as a mom you have dreams for your kids and you assume since you have a kid that you are going to get to do certain things with them, like Halloween and at that time I didn't know how on earth we were going to do Halloween with Jaxson. Well with great family like we have we did give Jaxson Halloween this year and a very FANTASTIC one at that. I know this year will probably be our very easiest one for a long time since from here on out he'll notice other candy that's being offered that he can't have but at least I found hope with this 1st Halloween.

Pumpkins

Tonight we carved our pumpkins. Jaxson "carved" a bat, I did a pumpkin castle, and Brett did Jaxson's initials.

Jaxson picked a bat to match what he's being for Halloween.

Wow that's pretty neat!

Another year of pumpkin carving completed!

Newspaper

Only when your little can you get away with making this kind of mess and having your mom want to take a picture of it. Today I was reading the newspaper while Jaxson was napping. It was still on my bed when he woke up so of coarse he found it and thought he would do some reading of his own. At least he is working on his fine motor skills and is being exposed to a new genre.

First off I want to thank all of you who gave me suggestions with teething, the advise was great. Just goes to show that I blog with some "with-it" awesome mommies out there!



Well I can't believe October is almost over with it's so crazy. I know the end of the week will be filled with pictures and posts about Halloween (I can't wait to see and read yours) so I figured today I better post my 10 things I'm Loving About Jaxson in October.

10 THINGS I'M LOVING ABOUT YOU IN OCTOBER.....

#10 I love that when we go to the mail you just know that there is mail in the mailbox for you. It's the first time I'm so thankful for daily junk mail. I love handing you a piece of mail and watching you hold it and of coarse taste it while we walk back into the house. You're like me you love receiving mail.

#9 I love how easily you smile especially when the camera is out. All I have to do is say Jax-a-roo in an excited voice and out comes the smile that lights up your whole face.

#8 I love that this month you have learned how to roll from your tummy to your back and how to sit up by yourself...way to go those are BIG milestones Jaxson!

#7 I love that I can see you remembering common things.

#6 I love that you hair is getting thicker. Who would have thought that Brett and I would have a Blondie but then again I was a Blondie till around age 2. For some strange reason I've wanted you to have a full set of hair since the day you were born so it's fun to have it growing. Keep working on it your doing a great job.

#5 I love that you have really taken to your Gerber baby food. This month you've really taken off in liking to eat. It makes it so enjoyable to me and makes counting and keeping track of your phes not so bad.

#4 I love your sloppy kisses. You've learned how to give your version of a kiss and I must say they are ones that melt my heart every time.

#3 I love how this month you grew your 1st tooth. Wow that makes you big and starts you towards the toddler stage.

#2 I love that you are in that 1st busy stage where you want to explore everything and insist that you can "help" me with anything I'm doing at the moment. I can see you not only taking in your world but wanting to use your senses to explore your world. You no longer are satisfied with just looking at your world but you want to hold it, touch it, taste it, etc.

#1 I love about you in October is that you're starting to show that sometimes you just need your mommy. I love it Jaxson. I love how this month there have been times where you just needed your mom to hold you or to feed you your bottle. It makes me feel so connected to you when there are moments that you are ONLY satisfied if you have your mommy.

Today (Oct. 24) is my oldest brother David's birthday. Dave is the BEST big brother ever! He is so funny, caring, has the biggest heart, hard working, and is just an all around great guy not to mention he has connections with the Naples Firetruck. Happy Birthday David!

We've had something BIG happen....Jaxson is teething!!! Jaxson is an excellent sleeper (we've been so lucky) and Wednesday night was anything but excellent. Thursday morning he was still fussy which was sooooo abnormal. I was wondering what was going on when it hit me....maybe he has a tooth. So I stuck my finger in his mouth and to my amazement I felt a sharp little "razor" on the bottom gum right in the front. I can't believe my little guy has a tooth. Any great teething advise out there???

Birthday's

Today (Oct 22) was birthday day for us. It was my Grandma Caldwell's birthday and my nephew, Kylen (Leif and Roxanna's son) 1st birthday. We went from one party to another. It was lots of fun! We love celebrating!

My Grandma is so wonderful. She has helped us out so much with Jaxson. She is one of the most giving people I know. She is a wonderful example to me.

On a side note.... look at my niece Halle isn't she gorgeous!

4 Generations!

I've been wanting this shot for a while I'm so glad I finally got it!

Here are some pictures from our second birthday party of the night....Kylen's 1st birthday!

Cousin shot!

Kylen and Jaxson. I love this shot! I just know that down the road these two are going to be best buds! Kylen and Jaxson are 4 months apart. I remember the day Kylen was born it made me so excited for Jaxson. It's been fun watching Kylen grow and develop knowing Jaxson was just a little bit behind him. Kylen is such a sweetie we couldn't ask for a better buddy for Jaxson.

Kylen, Kaysia, and Jaxson playing with Kylen's new toys. New toys are soooo much fun! Thanks for having us over Kylen we had a great time!

Family Fun

The last few days have been filled with so much family fun! Greg (my brother), Jen and the kids came out for a few days and we had tons of fun at Grandma's with all the cousins. We played in the yard, iced gingerbread cookies (Jaxson pretty much just ate his), went to three parks, had wagon rides, went to the Jensen Pumpkin Walk, visited, laughed alot, and even Uncle David brought down the Naples Firetruck for us to see. Wow it was soooo much fun!

Brett, Jaxson and I even managed to squeeze in a trip to the corn maze on Saturday night with our friends Matt and Kalli--thanks for calling us I really wanted to go to the corn maze sometime this season. Jaxson enjoyed it until it got dark and we were stuck in corn. Thank goodness Matt and Brett were excellent at finding the right way to go and got us out of there in a jiffy.

Aunt Jen had read on our blog that Jaxson enjoys dum dum suckers and brought in a BIG and I mean BIG bag for Jaxson for Halloween. We put it on top of him and he just enjoyed playing with it for a good 10 minutes. He is in that stage where anything can be a great and new toy for a few minutes.

It was so much fun to have all the kids together. Thanks fam for such a wonderful weekend! I hope you all enjoy the few pictures that captured this great family weekend!

Getting My Feet Wet...

Yesterday with the help of a very patient Jaxson I made 3 different low phe cookies that I can someday have in a cookie jar for Jaxson. I made two different sugar cookies (to see if I like one recipe over another) and a gingerbread cookie. They all tasted so yummy!!! It was such an exciting day to find a sugar cookie that is not only low in phe but taste sooooo delicious not to mention it's one that I can easily make at home! Thanks Mom for letting me cook in your kitchen (I hate my apartment oven).

Jaxson doing some sampling of his own. I think he agrees that this cookie is yummy! His cookie has mini M&M's in it. The mom that sent this recipe mentioned that she put a small amount of M&M's in the sugar cookies for her son and he loves to take them for lunch. So we of coarse had to try that out too.

Blog Help part 2

Thanks to those of you who are trying to help me with my blog. I'm so new at this! I'm still confused though on how to get what I want. I have your names on my blog and they are linked so I can click on them and see your blog however I want it to post underneath your name what your last post was. Does that make sense. How did you get that to happen?

Blog Help

Okay so I get on here and check my email and family and friends blogs while Jaxson is taking his afternoon nap. I've realized that some of you have a thing on your Friends and Family list that inform you of what and when they have posted something and I would love to have that it would cut down on a lot of time and clicking. I'm new to this blog thing and I don't know how to do that so can anyone help me? Thanks you smarty pants! =)

It feels like it's been a while since I posted anything new, even though it really hasn't I posted something on Tuesday. I usually post while Jaxson is taking his afternoon nap but for some reason or another I haven't done anything this week. I like posting new things because I love going to other blogs and reading/seeing new things. So I figured I should at least put up a new picture of our Jaxaroo that I took this morning .

Jaxson has really gotten into rolling. However he only rolls from his back to his tummy. We are working on getting hm to roll from his tummy to his back. Danielle gave me a great idea Friday night to get above him and talk to him and I did that last night and it worked he rolled back over I was such a proud mom. After he rolled from his tummy to his back I tried again and he screamed like, "Mom I did the trick now wont you pick me up".

This is a picture I snapped today I put him down to watch Brett and I as we were brushing our teeth and I thought he looked so adorable. He has started positioning himself high with his arms. It makes for fun photo shots.

Here is a little bit of what we have been up to the last few days:

Visiting my Grandma Olsen in the hospital she has been really sick and has taken a big decline with her health it's so sad to watch. My Grandma is such an inspiring women to me and it's so sad to watch her heath decline. It's so hard to watch your love ones get old and witnessing the process makes you a little worried about what you have coming your way.

Visiting teaching we only got 2 of our 4 sisters so we will have to go another day.

Football games we won one game and lost one this week.

I also worked and I mean WORKED at the Galleries this Saturday. It's time to get that place ready for the Christmas season. I love seeing it decorated for Christmas but getting it there is so much work. I was so tuckered out from work on Saturday and bless Brett's heart he had fixed our dripped shower that we went to Wingers Saturday night it was yummy but very slow. Luckily I had enough toys and other things like Bath and Body Works chapsticks to keep Jaxson busy and happy.

Tagged

I was tagged by Heather and I have been working on come up with 5 little known facts about me. My conclusion: it's so much easier to blog about Jaxson.

5 Things about me!

1.) When I find a song that I love I will listen to it over and over again until I'm so sick of it I really could care less if I hear it again.

2.) I love throwing things away and getting rid of the "junk" in my home. Very few things hold such great sentimental value to me that I could never get rid of it. I take after my dad.

3.) I love trying out new recipes. I try anywhere from 1-4 new recipes a week. I find it so fascinating to look at recipes and to try new things that look yummy. I usually get my new recipes from Good Things Utah (love that show--I'm a daily watcher) and the Kraft magazine or website.

4.) If you could spy on me when I'm alone you would probably hear me talking to myself. I don't know why or when this started but I typically talk out loud when I'm all alone. Thank goodness I now have Jaxson because now it just appears that I'm talking to my baby.

5.) In the last six months I've lost 39 pounds. It was my goal to take off all my baby weight and I've not only done that but went beyond. I'm 7 pound lighter then before I even had Jaxson. I'm the type of person that once I truly make something a goal I will succeed. It might take some time, energy, and lots of effort but I'm a very determined girl.

I'm tagging Jesenia, Amy and Stephaine.

The rules: List the person(s) who tagged you. Mention the rules on your blog. Share 5 things that others probably don’t know about you. Tag fellow bloggers. Visit their blogs to see what they put! Enjoy…

The Weekend

Wow another weekend has come and gone. I think I took too long of a nap today it's past 11pm and I'm still going strong...so rare for me I'm usually in bed by 10 asleep by 10:30. So since I still have energy I thought I might as well post about our weekend. Since it was conference weekend we spent some time down at my mom's while the boys went to the Priesthood session and I thought I would share some pictures of our evening.

Feeding Jaxson! This week Sharon increased Jaxson's food exchanges to 4 we were at 1 so we have been eating away. So far his favorite seems to be bananas.

Jaxson and Brianna playing with the farm. Brianna has been away for a few days and we missed her like crazy. When she came in Jaxson screamed and gave her his best sloppy kisses. Brianna had the cutest shirt on that night. It was a T-shirt that said: I'm going to be a BIG SISTER! We are so excited for their family!!!!

Braden and Jaxson rolling around. Braden is one of the best kids I've ever seen with babies he takes after his mom. Jaxson almost rolled from his tummy to his back for Braden. So far we've just seen rolls from his back to his tummy but maybe soon he'll be rolling a different way.

Carston, Jaxson and Brianna hang out together!

You're So FUN!!

Jaxson doing his latest trick...drinking water from a straw!

Hey Mr. Bug Eyes you look so fabulous!

Back to the water he just can't get enough!

I've been waiting...

Yesterday was an excited day for me...I got Nicholas Sparks new book, The Lucky One! Nicholas Sparks is my very favorite author (his most popular books are The Notebook and Message In a Bottle) I think he writes the best love stories even if most of his stories end sad I still think they are amazing reads. I love having something new to read since Bella and Edward are a finished story.=( I only allowed myself to read one chapter last night that way it will last a little bit longer then if I did my normal and read it within days. So if anyone else out there loves Nicholas Sparks the way I do and is reading The Lucky One let me know so we can chat about it.