Jaxton's 1st swimming lessons!

Today we took Jaxton to have his very first swim lesson class.  It was so much fun and he loved it.  We had our moments of stubborness, but all-in-all I'd say he did really well.  He was the most scared of trying to float on his back.  Eventually though, he did it... with me not letting go, of course.

Blowing Bubbles Together

Trying to float on his back

Float with Dad and having a deep conversation

...and getting obnoxious

Kayla's 1st Steps

A few days ago Kayla took her 1st steps!... June 7, 2010, to be exact.  We were in the backyard and she stood up in the grass and took two very determined steps.  After that, she knew we were watching and wanted her to continue so, of course, she stopped.  Being that she's little miss stubborn, she has refused to do it since.  That's okay though.  It just gives me more time to enjoy the state of babyhood that she's in.  Once she decides to take off running, I have a feeling those moments of cuddling will officially be out the window.  Sad day...

A whirlwind of a month

May seemed to come and go faster than I could keep up with.  I can't believe that we are already in June.  May was an especially good month for me for two reasons:

1. I was able to go visit my sister and her husband, and meet my new little niece, Payton
2. I finally got a cyst removed that has been on my leg since I was pregnant with Jaxton.  It has caused me so much grief and will not be missed!

The kids seem to have grown a lot this past month.  Jaxton seems to be hyperactive and thinks that the world is amazing.  He has come to love the phone and is left feeling incomplete if he does not talk to every single person that we talk to, whether it be something like technical support from the qwest guy, or someone like Grandma or Auntie Brenda.  The kid cracks me up!
Kayla is growing like a weed and has such a personality.  She is so stubborn and refuses to walk, even though we know that if she would just let go of our fingers, she can do it.  She blows kisses now and loves, loves, loves to wrestle with Jaxton on Mitch's and my bed.  It's so cute to watch the two of them together!

Here are a few pics from my visit with Brenda and Eric

A Walk with Uncle Mike

Uncle Mike and Baby Kayla

Daddy, Me, and Kayla

Storytime with Grandpa

Poor Baby Kayla got sick

Eric, Brenda, and little Payton

Bren and Payton

Kayla fell in love with Uncle Eric.  She had a nice little workout with him..

cousins and matching outfits...

Just us girls

Kayla wants a wedding ring too...

patty-cake with Auntie Brenda

Kayla in Baby Payton's flower headband

excited to meet her cousin

kisses for Payton

Me and my new niece, Payton

I love the little baby yawn

swear words and a three year old

Oh my goodness.
Jaxton was in his room playing last night while I was doing dishes and I heard him talking to himself (or maybe his toys, who knows).  I couldn't make out what he was saying but I did think to myself that it was cute he was keeping himself happily amused.  Just then, he comes running into the kitchen to tattle on himself.  I love that he's so little that he tattles on himself.  It makes me laugh.  So I'm standing there washing dishes and he says to me, "Mommy, I say oh shit and dammit!" and then he covered his mouth because he knows these are not nice words.  So I say to him "Buddy, where did you hear those words?"  I kind of  cringed a little inside and half expected him to say me or Mitch but instead he says, "in a song on the radio in the car".  This confused me since we are pretty careful about what he sees and hears.  Putting aside my confusion, I calmly explained that even though we hear these words sometimes, it is not nice to say them and we shouldn't repeat it.  He says to me, "yah ok." and then continues to say "what I say, Mommy?".  I said "Buddy I'm not gonna repeat what you said.  Those are not nice words.".  He said again, "No Mommy, what I say?"  Then it dawned on me that he wanted to know what he should say instead, as if all he ever hears are swear words and he doesn't know of any other options.  So I told him, "Well, you could say, 'oh darn', or 'aw schucks', or 'oh gosh'."  He thought about this for a minute and then gave a nod of approval. He then continued to pace the kitchen for quite a long time, practicing these more appropriate words, as if they were completely new to him.  It killed me and I couldn't help but laugh.

Kayla's 1st Birthday!

I just have to say that I can not believe how fast a whole year has gone by!!!! I feel like I just barely had her.  I had so many mixed emotions about her 1st birthday that I didn't even know how to handle it.  I cried.  On her actual birthday, April 30th, we weren't able to have her party, but we did get her her own little mini cake to dig into.  She loved it, of course, and we couldn't help but laugh at her.  She loves food so much and gets so mad when she sees it and doesn't get the immediate satisfaction of eating right at that moment.  Needless to say, she was not a happy girl when we lit a candle and sang ''Happy Birthday" instead of letting her dig right in.  It was so dang funny!

We had her birthday party a couple days later on May 2nd.  Again, I cried.  All I have to say is, "my poor husband."  I'm sure he thinks that my wishy washy, motherly emotions, are just a little bit crazy...but I can't help it.  Her birthday party was fun; just a little get together at our house.  She loved opening presents and I made her a butterfly cake.  Mom helped me because it is the first cut-out cake that I have ever made.  It turned out to be way cute and I am so proud of it!  Kayla, of course, had so much fun eating it.  It was such a great day.  Happy Birthday my sweet Baby Kayla!

This is the butterfly cake that I made

This is what the tablecloth looked like

Kayla and her Great Grandpa John.  This was a very special moment because this is the first time that he held her without saying no.  He always said that he won't hold babies until they are 1.

And here we are opening presents

I love that they play together

Here she is putting on her new toy lipstick

Kayla loves her butterfly cake

Here she is sharing with Daddy