Stephanie and the No Good, Horrible Day....

The past day and a half have been very bad days...

We woke up early Tuesday to head up to North Salt Lake to my aunts funeral. She died last Friday from Stage 4 brain cancer. Kevin is working a swing shift for a few weeks and is working 2-10:30 pm downtown Salt Lake across from the Conference Center so he was able to come to the funeral with me. Mya is TERRIBLE in the car, I mean HORRIBLE... She Screams bloody murder to the point of throwing up and choking on it and me panicking trying to help her while I'm driving. She screams even if I am just driving 2 minutes away. The only way to stop the screaming is if I squeeze between the two kids in the back seat, hold a pacifier in her mouth, hold both her hands and stroke her face while shhhhh-ing her (doing ALL of these at the same time will work about 70% of the time, doing some but not all of these works about 10% of the time, If I'm driving and she's alone- she will scream 99% of the time) Needless to say I do not ever leave the house after Kevin goes to work. It has been really difficult and if I do have to go anywhere I stress like crazy all day about it.
Anyway, me and Kevin drove separately so that he could leave when he needed to and head to work. I was worried about the screaming so I convinced my Dad to meet us in American Fork and drive my car while I sat with Mya. I picked my Dad up and I can honestly say he looked a little scared when I opened the door and he heard the screaming... I know he was thinking of a way to get out of driving me... I calmed her down and she went to sleep! YiPpiE! Kevin was following us in his car and we decided to leave his car off the freeway on 90th South in an empty closed down Lowes lot and all drive together to North Salt Lake. They were burying her in the Sandy City Cemetery on 90th so we figured it would be super easy to pick up his car on the way to the cemetery after the funeral. We went to the funeral, everything was so nice, the speakers were wonderful. Me and Kevin left the funeral, my dad went with my mom, and we headed to the Cemetery. As we pulled up to the parking lot where we left Kevin's car we saw it was in the process of being towed!!! AHHHHH! They had it hooked up and a boot on it, but it wasn't loaded yet. We jumped out of the car and asked if we could get his car off... He replied "yeah, if you'll give me $80 cash" ....... ok
We told him we were sorry, we had no idea you couldn't park there and we didn't see a sign. He motioned over to a sign behind a bush... NO wonder we didn't see it! We got the money, paid our fee and went to the cemetery. Kevin had to leave shortly after and I went to the luncheon. I then begged my mom to come with me because I had a doctors appt.
My mom waited in the car with the kids while Jackson watched a movie. I was getting an ultrasound done to make sure my IUD was in correctly. It wasn't...... They tried to push it further in, SO PAINFUL..... didn't work, they removed it and put a new one in, MORE PAINFUL. I was crampy and in pain. I went back to the car and realized I had taken the diaper bag with me and locked my mom in the back seat with the child locks on the doors. Whoops! Of course Mya had pooped while I was in there so my sweet mother changed her diaper by spitting on Kleenex and wiping her poop (Not the most effective way). I got her changed took my mom to her car and headed home.
I was exhausted from the day and not feeling well. I put Jackson to bed and was holding Mya when about half an hour later I heard Jackson Screaming! I put her down and ran into his room to see his nose was pouring blood. I DO NOT do well with blood, I go into shock and pass out all the time from blood issues. I handled it like a champ! I was so proud of myself, I took care of it and didn't even get faint. Later that night at 3:30 Mya woke up to eat. I put her back to bed at about 3:45 and was drifting off to sleep when Jackson woke up super sick. His temperature was 103 degrees and he couldn't stop coughing really bad. I cuddled him, let him watch a show, and gave him medicine. I got him back to bed about an hour and a half later, just in time for Miss Mya to wake up and decide she was hungry again!!! Then Jackson was up again a bit later as well...
I was SO tired when I woke up wed morning but had a bunch of errands I needed to run before Kevin left for work. I get ready, grab my purse to head out and realize my wallet is totally GONE! It has vanished along with all my credit cards, drivers licence, temple recommend, gift card to Khols, Debit card, a check I hadn't deposited in the bank yet, and all my other stuff! I lost it... I panicked, tore the car apart, tore the house apart, called the Doctors office, called my cousin to go look at the church where the luncheon was, called the cemetery, but no one has it. It is gone.... I cried. I was so tired and just frustrated with the past day. I have cancelled all my credit cards and am now without a drivers licence or any money. What a pain! I have spent two days looking and calling places but it is no where to be found. I last used it to pay the tow truck driver... Such a frustrating thing to lose!
I am so ready for this week to be over!

What I love about you...

Kevin... I Love you! I Love that you are my best friend. I Love that you make me laugh so hard and that I can make you laugh. I Love that you want to be a good husband and father. I Love that you are a worthy Priesthood holder. I Love that you are so easy to forgive, easy to love, and easy to get along with. I Love that you take criticism from people so well, that is such a good trait. I Love that you constantly want to better yourself. I Love that you have given me two beautiful children. I Love that our family is sealed together for time and all eternity! I Love you more and more all the time.
Happy Valentines Day!

What I love about you...

My Darling Mya... I Love you so much. I Love that you are the noisiest little thing, making grunting, squeaking, and snorting noises when you are waking up.

I Love that you let me dress you up in girly pink outfits with cute accessories.

I Love that you smile at me all the time with the biggest gummy grin. It melts my heart and makes me so happy! I Love that you have started Cooing at me.

I Love how pretty you are. I Love that your eyes are just like mine and you have sweet blond hair. I Love that you follow me with your eyes when I walk in a room. I Love you so much baby girl!

What I love about you...

Oh my Sweet Jackson... I Love you so much. I Love that you let me dress you up in a silly Cupid costume and had so much fun running around in your "Cupid Diaper" shooting arrows!

I Love that you and me have the same sense of humor. Some nights when I put you to bed we end up giggling and playing and teasing each other for way too long, usually Daddy has to come in and tell me to stop so you can get some sleep.

I Love that you can sit and play for hours- you have a wonderful imagination and you come up with the funniest games.

I Love that you tell me stories that you have made up.

I Love to see how much you love your baby sister, she is your little sweetheart.

I Love your freckles. I Love your red hair. I Love that you are a clone of your Daddy.

I Love you "All the way around the Moon!"

What the sky looked like today... I Love overcast gloomy days, they remind me of Seattle, home.

Our Valentine's Day lunch at Red Lobster where you announced loudly when the food was delivered "You're eating a DEAD lobster? eeew! Disgusting!"

Happy Valentines Day Jackson! I Love you!

Mya's First Sacrament Meeting

Thank you auntie Angie for such a beautiful dress, she looked so cute. Perfect for Valentines Day eve.

We made it to sacrament meeting this morning! Me and Mya haven't been since she was born and it felt so great to be able to go and partake of the sacrament, listen to the speakers, and feel the spirit. I feel a new renewal today that I badly needed. Mya did great, she just napped and me and her walked home in the warmest sunny weather we've had in months! Great day...

Fancy Jack

Where did this kid come from! A few days ago we needed to get some fresh air, so me and Jackson bundled up, put Mya to sleep in her bed, took out the monitor and played outside. As we're headed out the door he says "Oh, I forgot something" and runs into his room and emerged wearing his church tie on top of his coat. He thinks wearing a tie is so cool and was so happy to wear it outside riding his trike. What a cutie.

Miss Mya awoke and joined us in her snow suit and fell asleep again all snuggled up in her blanket while I held her.

Noah's Ark

This is the Noah's ark set that Grandma Dianne (My Mom) made for Jackson for Christmas of 2009. She cut the whole set by hand out of wood and painted them all by hand. He loves it and plays with it all the time. It took so much time to make and is done so beautifully. He was playing with it the other night so I decided to take pictures of it.

It has been a much loved gift and means a lot to me because it was made with so much love by my mom. She is an incredible artist and I'm grateful for the paintings and items in our home that she has done!

Attacked!!!

The little sister..... I know how you feel, Uncle Matt and Uncle Chris loved to tease me too!

The attacker! He walked up to Mya, licked a dart, and stuck it to her forehead... then he did me, and himself. He then decided we were a unicorn family!

The Unicorns

Jackson Funnies

Some of the funny things he has done to keep us laughing...

~Jackson asked me a few weeks ago: "Mom, is Mya nocturnal?"

hmmmm... yes, she kind of is right now!

~Jackson was talking to Mya laying on my bed next to her and Said to her:
"Mya do you think you're still in heaven?"

(then he turned to me) "Mom- Mya thinks she's in heaven!"

(talking to Mya again) You're not in heaven you silly girl, you're in Orem Utah, in mom and dads room... It looks like heaven though... (aww, thanks bud, I try to make it feel like heaven in our home)

~Jackson asked me what gold fish crackers were made of (ask's often when he's eating something) and I told him flour, sugar, and eggs (what I always say) and he said "What?! There's not even gold in them!!! But they're called GOLD fish crackers"



~He walked into the kitchen while I was toasting some cheese bread to make a sandwich and asked casually "Mom did you burp, because I smell macaroni and cheese" This little observation made me smile.



~We were at my parents one night and were explaining that grandma and grandpa were my mom and dad and he was asking if I loved them so I told him yes, I love both of them. He then said "Well I love you and grandma, and grandpa" I said "what about dad?" (Kevin was sitting by us) and he thought for a second and said "I almost love dad..." poor Kevin ;)



~The brady bunch show comes on after Curious George ends so sometimes Jackson would start watching it if I didn't turn it off and one day while watching it he came out to me and said "Mom's on TV aren't sick all the time and dad's on t.v. don't hurt their ankles..." Kevin sprained his ankle a while back so he is no good anymore apparently... I sure got the point- I'm so sorry Jackson that mommy has had morning sickness for 8 months! ;) If only we could all be Carol Brady!



~The other morning he woke up and came in to say good morning. Normally Kevin gets up with him and lets me catch up on sleep but this morning Kevin was exhausted too so he didn't get up with him. Jackson decided to make himself breakfast so he pushed his chair up to our freezer and got the tub of cookies and cream ice cream out, climbed the shelves in the pantry, got the ice cream cones out, got one of his kid spoons out and filled his cone. Kevin walked in on him standing on a chair at the counter in his underwear eating ice cream. So Funny! He has become so independent lately!



~One night I went in to check on Jackson and found his room super hot. I was sure I had turned down his little heater after saying prayers but it was on full blast. I asked Kevin if he had turned it back up but he said no, so I went to bed thinking I had just forgot to turn it off. The next morning I mentioned something about it and Jackson heard me and said "I sneaked out of my bed real quietly and turned it on without you seeing or hearing me." I said "You did? that was sneaky of you!" he said "well I was cold" so I said "good, I'm glad you turned it on then." Then Jackson walked over to the space heater and patted it and said "yeah, its a good thing we buyed this baby!" It was so funny to us that he called it "Baby"

~Pet names he calls Mya: And No, he hasn't heard me call her half of these...
Baby Girl (pronounced Gurl)
Pumpkin
Sweetie Pie
Sweetheart
ladybug
buggie bug (one of my fav's)
my little sweetie

Babe-ah

~He received a Doctor's kit for Christmas and when he opened it he responded "Now I can play Evil Doctor!"

Ummm... ok...

~During Christmas we listened to Christmas songs a lot on the radio and when "Do you hear what I hear" would come on he would sing along and say "Do you hear what she hears?"

~He has a great ability to memorize songs and conversations he's heard and sings along to the radio and repeats back song lyrics days later. During the holidays 97.1 zht had a prize giveaway called dirty money and after hearing them talk about it he said really excitedly
"Mom, they're giving us a chance to win dirty money when they come back after these commercials! I'm so excited!!!"
hmmm..... I have to be careful what he hears now...

The Karate Kid

Jackson had his first Karate class today at Bobby Lawrence Karate. We signed up for a one month, 8 session package through UVU continuing education program for a really discounted price. He was so shy and timid and was so nervous to do something wrong. He shed a few tears because he didn't have an attendance card like all the other kids and felt out of place. Once he got the hang of things he had a lot of fun.

Defending himself against an attacker...

He was trying so hard to do everything right... He even folded his arms as if he were in church :)

He was the last one to do this exercise so all the kids in the class chanted "Jackson, Jackson, Jackson..." to encourage him.

At the end he got a Karate dollar! I am so proud of him. It was hard to see him struggle and feel out of place but in the end he was so happy and had fun. Good Job Jackson!!!