Easter Peace

We had a wonderful Easter Sunday. We started the day with Easter baskets and getting ready for church. Then we headed to Stake Conference. They did a special Primary program as part of Stake Conference and it was beautiful. Jon translated in Spanish for the meeting so I had to wrangle the boys on my own. They did great but it is exhausting. After an hour I decided to let them get out some wiggles since Andrew was starting to hit and kick some. So sadly we didn't hear much of the last hour. Then, we headed to an awesome park in the area and had a picnic and then played. The weather was perfect. They boys both napped on the way home. We were able to rest a bit while we waited for the boys to wake up. Then we played, called family, ate dinner, and went outside. It was a very simple day but it was perfect. Jon and I both felt the spirit a lot and it was a wonderful day together with our boys.

I feel like prior to Easter I had been feeling stressed. We went camping on Good Friday to Saturday and it was fun but it is also hard to relax when camping with 2 toddlers. By the time we got home, did all the laundry, and unpacking, and go ready for adult Stake Conference, I was exhausted. Easter Sunday was a much needed day of rest and simple family time.

The boys are growing so fast. To be honest, a lot of days are hard and just so exhausting. But there is also so much fun and sweetness in each day as well. Andrew is talking so much and is a little copycat. He is understanding more and more. He recently has taken an interest in the color blue. He also likes to try to sing and read. He says the letter A. He loves his blue puppy and it is his sleeping buddy. He is becoming a picky eater and mostly lives on fruit, mac and cheese, yogurt, cheese, and crackers. He will not try bread of any kind, even pizza or muffins.

Jackson says the most hilarious things all of the time. He is so smart and so chatty. He has ideas running through his mind constantly. He frequently says, "I have a great idea!' or "I have another great idea." The other day when we were camping he yelled out the window. "Somebody rescue me from this camper!" He absorbs everything and has the best memory. If you say or do something one time he will repeat it and never forget it. He is still into cars, especially police cars. He loves to guess/ask what letters different words start with and he knows a lot of them. He is still a daddy's boy but also is clingy to mommy sometimes. He can be the sweetest boy in the world and will tell you he loves you and hugs you, completely unsolicited. He also has a bit of a temper and has a hard time when he doesn't get his way or has to wait. He has gotten really sweet with Andrew and also bossy. But the boys are really starting to play together well. His favorite song is "I Kneel to Pray" and we sing it for every FHE and every night before bed. His other favorite song is"All About that Bass" ooops. He heard it once on the radio and loves it- we do the radio Disney versions so it is clean.

The boys love to pretend swim on our living room rug. They splash, jump, and even get into swim gear. Jackson often stops to tell me, "mommy, you're beautiful" when we are leaving somewhere. It gets me every time,  it's so sweet. He also loves picking me flowers. He often says, "mommy I need to tell you something" and has hard time waiting for his turn to talk if Jon and I are having a conversation. Jackson is really into the shows Blaze, Paw Patrol, Super Why, and Goldie and Bear.

It's too much of a hassle to post pictures on here so I am just going to save time and focus on adding the pictures to our photo book that I am way behind on. But I love typing out the things my boys say and do because they are changing constantly.

Jackson

I have been emotional about Jackson turning 3 today. Even though he has been a little bit tough lately (giving up naps, being bossy, etc...) he is the best and sweetest boy. I look back on the process of giving birth to him with such bittersweet feelings.  It was the hardest thing I had ever done but I would do it again a million times to have that boy in my life. He is so smart and loving and he cares about other's feelings. He frequently asks, "are you happy?" If he sees someone who is sad he notices and comments on it. He loves to Facetime (when in the right mood). He loves to ride his bike and is so fast and good on it. Jackson says the funniest things like "of course we need to brush my teeth." or "of course we have to..." He also says actually, and probably. He has such a big vocabulary and understands so much. There are so many silly things he says that I can never remember them all.

He is really into fighting fires and running from the police/being a policeman. Anything rescue related is his favorite. He also loves paw patrol- he hardly ever watches it but he knows all the songs and loves to reenact it, especially with his buddy Reeves. His favorite color is red. He loves the movie Frozen right now, we never watch it all though. He went through a Dory and Minion/Despicable Me stage too recently. He loves all things vehicle related. He loves treats and they work as a great incentive for him to eat healthy. He has been eating really well over all lately.

Jackson is really shy around others but a chatterbox at home. He is really scared of others, even kids and I am trying to work with him on this. He does fine at church in nursery/primary when I am not there. But if I am there he tends to cling and be quiet. Speaking of nursery- since Jackson turns 3 in January, that means he stays in nursery until next year. It is hard because all of his friends have moved to primary and the nursery group is really young. Since he talks and understands so much, we felt he would be bored in nursery but maybe isn't ready for primary all the way. So he is going to do 1/2 and 1/2, He will do nursery 2nd hour and primary (singing time and sharing time) 3rd hour. Hopefully this will be the best for him but if not, we and his teachers are flexible.

I have been doing a mom and tot preschool with him since September. It is one day a week for about 1.5 hours. It has been really fun for us all and Jackson is learning his letter sounds and can write his letters some. They have story, craft, show and tell, lesson, and snack. It is all Bible related and really well done.

Christmas Eve, Jackson kept talking about mice for some reason so we found a video telling the story of "The Night Before Christmas." Jackson said: "I like mice! They are really soft! When the mouse wakes up it's Christmas time!"

This boy has my heart. He has been coming in our bed in the middle of the night for weeks recently but I am soaking it up. He isn't always cuddly so I will take it. He still wakes up at 5 am most days, no matter when he goes to sleep. It's always hard for me, but I have mostly embraced that as part of him. He is everything to us and we feel so grateful for such a healthy and happy boy. I can't wait to see what the year has in store for him!