A few random thoughts

Carlee with her barbies she got for being dry at night for 4 nights in a row! Go Carlee

My little super Carlee - Doesn't she look cute?

Jaylee Einstein :)

My Three girls

Dad and Chlo playing Lego Batman - Dave says Chlo is actually really good!

Chlo lost another tooth!!!

I figured I'd consolidate all my thoughs into one post to save time and energy, especially seeing as Dave and Carlee have had nasty food poisoning the last few days so there has been very little sleep... :)

I had to attach the above pictures just to update on what we're doing. Never a dull moment over at our place.

What a week!

Baby Bailey with her Daddy. SO CUTE!!! I can't wait to see her for real!

Big B giving Jaylee Eskimo Kisses

Chlo holding up the poster she and Carlee helped create

Mom and Dad with Elder Bean

My 3 brothers... And Jaylee

Dave and the girls messing around while waiting for Justin to come

Big B and Grandma and Grandpa Jackman

My first hug with Elder Jackman (he actually said he doesn't like all the hugging)

Mom was so overwhelmed with emotion

Can you see how excited we all were?? Better than Christmas that's for sure!

Elder Jackman - don't you just LOVE his dimples?!?!?

So this week has been totally crazy! So many amazing things have happend I don't even know where to start!

This last Tuesday, my most wonderful Sister, Julie, had her little baby! YAHOO! I'm FINALLY an aunt on my side! She was born about 9pm Tuesday night Via emergency c-section. I guess after being in labor for over 6 hours she was only dialated to a 2 and Bailey's heart rate kept dropping. C-section seemed to be the answer. From what I hear she is so cute and has curly brown hair. I'm still waiting for pictures!!! She was 7 pounds 7 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. Congratulations Julie and Dave.
On Wednesday I was able to go shopping with a fabulous friend! She helped me pick out duds for a famliy picture we had this week. It was the first time we've hung out for a long time! We went to 2 different cities looking for a shirt for Dave and even though we drove an hour away to get him a shirt it didn't fit!!! Bummer. We did have a great time, and the kids were awesome! Thanks for the great day Crystal!!!

Also, on Wednesday yet another fabulous thing happened... My baby brother Justin came home from Zimbabwe! He served an amazing mission there for the past two years and it was a tear jerker to see him again. The airport was amazing. We had all my family there (minus Dave, Julie and Bailey) and both sets of grandparents. What a fun group! When he came down and we were all attacking him with hugs I asked him why he wasn't saying anything, he said "I'm a little freaked out right now". Funny kid! Justin, or Bean as he is known to us, is so great and it's fun to listen to him talk. He honestly sounds like a true "black man from Africa". LOVE IT! He pronounces all of this "t"s especially at the end of words. He says the people there actually pause after "t"s. So he'll say, "How old is thaT ... one?" His inflections are also different. He puts the accent on different parts of words and makes all his phrases sound like questions. It actually throws me off a little. SO FUNNY Another great thing he says is, "Thank you, please, sit down." Or he says when children ask adults "How are you?" The adult responds, "I'm fine thanks, Sit down." I think I need to try that one out for sure :)

It has been SO amazing to talk with him again and share funny stories. As a matter of fact he told me today he's ready to start dating again, he won't wear shorts yet, but he's ready to date. I guess at least he has his priorities right :) I'm sure his big brother Brian can help hook him up with some cuties.

This morning we headed out to Alpine to get some family pictures taken with the Nelson family. It was great! The girls were so good - Jaylee even fell asleep! I can't wait to see how they turn out. I hope they're okay.
This afternoon I get to make 2 different salads and watch the Relief Society annual broadcast as well as do some grocery shopping (we're down to 2 - 1/2 rolls of TP...) I've also been craving homeade bread... We'll see if I get to that one.

Thanks all for helping make this week so awesome!

Carlee and her insight

Carlee is such a great kid! She's always coming up with fun things to say and is easily entertained. She loves her sisters SO SO much and wouldn't know what to do without Chlo. This past week we've decided to take her out of pull ups at night and just cross our fingers... She hasn't had a dry bum at night, uh, ever! Needless to say she's been dry 3 out of the last 4 nights! Go Carlee!! I guess the pull ups were just a security blanket for her. Thanks to my friend's advice of just taking the pull ups away Carlee is doing great!

As a second note, Dave got ready for work on Friday and Carlee said he looked like a basketball... I didn't see him so, of coarse, I didn't understand. When I came out in the front room Carlee was laughing and pointing to Dave's shirt, "Look mom, dad's wearing a basketball shirt." I had to laugh with her, he really was wearing a shirt that looked like a Basket ball. She's so smart.

Is this normal???

This year Chlo is having a great time in school. She's made lots of new friends, which actually doesn't surprise me. She's such a friendly person who likes everyone. On the first day of school she saw who she called "A cute boy" on the bus. Since then we've heard new stories almost daily about him. From what I can gather he's pretty much the class clown, he likes to make people laugh and see them smile. This past week Chlo has found herself sitting with him now on the bus. She brought home her birthday poster on Tuesday and I guess her new "Friend" kindly kissed it :) I guess he also kissed her arms with what he called "fishy kisses". I guess he's going to be a fish for Halloween. Yesterday when I picked her up from the bus he looked out the window and blew her a kiss... Is it normal for 6 year olds to be like this??? I do have to admit though, he's a WAY cute kid, she did choose well, and if he's nice too - that's even better! :) Maybe because I'm such a hopeless romantic it's rubbed off on her?? Dave and I have even come to calling her "Brock lover" and she smiles every time. Even kids at school are asking her if she likes him. Funny thing is, he's not even in her class. She just met him on the bus. I think Dave and I may have our hands full! (And then you ask, "who is the crazy mother on the bus taking pictures of the whole thing"??? Alas, I am a crazy blogging fool who has to document everything :) )

A night to remember

Family Photo after Halftime

Heather and uh, me :)

Carlee with Queen Rachel - Wearing the actual crown!

The girls with "The Queen"

Crazy Sheri Looking very Royal!

We girls with Princess Heather

Big B Driving the Crazy sweet car!

Heather and Dad out on the 50 yard line

Heather being driven onto the field by Big B

Carlee Cheering for the T-Wolves

Nate, Becca and the girls trying to stay warm!

Last night was SO SO fun! It was a lot of firsts for my little family. My sister, Heather, was nominated for homecoming royalty!!! Yes, I think my sisters got progressively more beautiful as we came :) Heather is such an amazing person too - she's so nice to everyone and just loves to hang out and be herself. I love being with her because her happiness and quirky personality make her a dream! I know her personality is contagious which is why she was nominated I’m sure. Way to go Hez! Anyway, I decided to brave taking the two older girls to the football game to watch Heather be presented as Royalty. We had a BLAST! It was hilarious, the girls kept cheering – GO KORVER! – I did tell them it was the wrong game and wrong team but they continued to chant until I told them we were cheering for the T-wolves. Then they cheered right. J They ate popcorn and licorice thanks to G&G Jackman and snuggled with Nate and Becca too. Brian was able to drive the fancy car that held Heather and her “partner in royalty”. I think Heather was pleasantly surprised to see that Brian was her driver. I guess Brian has a connection with the dealership that allowed him to do it. Nice! Heather’s best friend Rachel won Homecoming queen!!! We were all SO SO excited for her. She is a lot like Heather (they’ve been friends since birth) so it’s no surprise they were in the royalty together. My girls said next time they see Rachel they’re going to call her “Your Highness”. They even got their picture taken with her and Carlee got to wear the crown!!! My mom’s cute neighbor, Sheri has always wanted to be royalty so Rachel let her wear the “gear”. Sheri is such a spaz! She did look like a queen though. J My girls loved watching this whole thing go down too. Dad, you looked amazing too at Heather’s side! Heather, he’s a great accessory to take with you! The girls did great at the football game and enjoyed watching the boys throw and catch the ball – especially since that’s what dad does with them. I think Dave will be impressed when we watch some college football today how much the girls have learned. (Dave stayed home with Jaylee so we could enjoy the game – and to keep track of hurricane Ike in TX since my other sister is there right now and 9 months pregnant!!! Yikes! As a side note – she’s okay but has no power!) Chlo asked if she can go to a Jazz game now – I think she proved herself ready. It was also a treat to see my baby sister have such a great night!!! She really deserved such a special night. I love you Hez! Thanks for being an awesome little sister I can look up to!

What to do on a Rainy Day

Today was AWESOME!!! As you may or may not know, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the rain! (this is not because of the Twilight series - just so you know, I think I've loved the rain from birth - I think it's because it reminds me of my dad:) ) I think I'd be a happy camper living in a place like Seattle, WA. For some odd reason I get in the BEST mood when it's raining outside.

Anyway, since it was raining today we decided to make sugar cookies and watch a movie. I was going to make the cookies for a YW activity anyway so the girls decided to join in. We had a BLAST! The toppings got pretty out of hand after a while, but it was so fun! My girls also got to watch the movie "Annie" for the first time. We watched the re-make which I like a lot better than the origional. Can I tell you how amazing my girls are?!?! Carlee kept calling me in the room to tell me how awesome songs were and Chlo was so worried about the Orphans. She didn't know what one was before today. I told her an orphan was someone who didn't have parents. She teared up and said how lucky she was to have hers. CUTE! She is such a sensitive person too because as the movie was getting towards the end she was full out crying because she thought Annie was going to end up with the "bad people". She was thrilled to see that she got to stay with "Daddy Warbucks" and all the other orphans were going to be adopted. I'm so glad we had some time to hang out and play together. I sure love my girls!

Chlo celebrates her birthday at School

Today Chlo got to celebrate her birthday at school. She was so excited to share her birthday poster and treats with the kids in her class. I think we had over 35 pictures on her poster! Talk about crazy trying to get them all to fit. It ended up working out great! We also put together a little birthday treat bag for all the kids in her class. The bags had a small hershey's bar - smarties - cheese and crackers and a blue balloon (her favorite color). Yes, I'm over the top and out of control :) Dave was an ANGEL and helped her take all her things to school. He even teased Chlo saying she needed to talk to the cute boy in class. It embarrassed her, but I think she loved it! Thanks Dave for being so involved with the girls!

She was able to wear a birthday crown and get up in front of class to talk about her poster. She loved the attention and had a great day!

The picture of Dave was him watching Chlo get her picture taken this morning - funny how he looks bored :) - - Love you Dave! :)

My three girls

Jaylee this afternoon


Carlee at 3 months

Chloé at 3 months - matching Jaylee

Seeing as Carlee is going to be 3 months old this week I began to reflect on being a mother - again... I started going through old pictures of the girls and seeing what they looked like at the same age. I just had to post one of each of them at 3 months. The crazy thing is Chloé and Jaylee are wearing the exact same outfit, all the way down to the bracelet! I'm bummed I didn't take a picture of Carlee in the same outfit too. Bummer. Oh well, it will still show how similar the girls look. I'm so lucky to have 3 such beautiful daughters!

They can be taught!

I just got this email from my buddy. I thought it was hillarious! I had to post the picture :) You'll probably have to click on the piture to make it bigger so you can read the text, it's really creative! So next time you come to my house and see a fly in the toilet, you'll know why!

Becca - Bread and Baby!

Today was such a great day! I was so lucky to have Becca come and visit. She was here just in time to go with me to get Chlo from the bus. Chlo had the biggest smile on her face when she saw her and ran right to her to give her a big hug. Becca also went with me to get Carlee and even to decorate a YW door for her birthday.

We decided to chill and make bread while watching Highschool musical and eating chocolate shakes with brownies and carmel. Sounds fun huh??? Needless to say, the bread actually turned out great and the company was fantastic! She even helped me fold my mountain of laundry!

Becca-thank you SO SO much for coming over. It was amazing! I'm so lucky to have you in my life! You truly are an inspiration in so many ways! Love you tons!

Just a few thoughts

You know, things happen day to day that I'd never guess possible. For example, today while in preschool, Carlee cut her own hair. The teacher felt terrible and thought one of the girls next to her had done it. Nope - it wasn't Carlee, but Carlee's hand... What in the??? She did get to hold the flag and lead the class in the pledge of allegiance though... Go figure.

I went to Chloé's school today to drop off some paper work and to visit Chlo's class. I guess one of the kids asked Chloé if I was her grandma... What??? To be honest I was quite taken back. I guess I have some work to do. Dave...Maybe I need to do some more wardrobe shopping :)

Jaylee just continues to grow and grow! I can't believe she's all but out of the 0-3 month clothes, I'm SO not ready to have her out of the cute little things I have for her. I guess that's why it's important to take advantage of all the time you have with your kids when they're little.

Bring on the fun! I love you girls :) I did have to attach one cute picture of Jaylee from this Saturday. Yes, we are bringing our kids up right - as UTE fans! Go Utah :)

To add to the greatness of the day, I have this most amazing friend who brought me the most spectacular gift I could have ever asked for. A whole scrapbook filled with breathtaking pages for me to fill in with pictures of Jaylee! I was floored with the amout of work and time she put into this project. Thanks SO much Jen for being, uh... Words just can't describe!