Happy Days

This picture doesn't even do her justice, I got the tail end of her smile, it's usually ten times bigger, but my camera is slow so I'm lucky I got this.

She's so happy & so fat! She's now 10 lbs. 4 oz. Quite the chunk! Lexi decided to dress herself yesterday. It's a little hard to see details, but that is actually her shirt, not her pants. She did put her pants on over her shirt, but she took them off before I could get the picture. It's amazing to see their imaginations!

Update

   We went to our ward Christmas party on Saturday. Ethan was so excited to sit on Santa's lap. Lexi would have nothing to do with him! I wish I could've at least gotten a picture (screaming or not) but as soon as I set her on his lap she screamed as loud as she could & shimmied off his lap.
   Makelle is smiling! My camera isn't fast enough to catch it yet, but when she does it a little more often I'll be able to get one. She's also starting to laugh a little bit. I love to see them progressing & learning. She's 10 lbs. now... quite the chunk! But so adorable!

   Lexi is copying everything that Ethan does... Ethan was saying prayers & Lexi was saying exactly what he was saying. I love watching them learn from each other. Children are such miracles!

   

Happy 50th!

Makelle just after her bath... she has such a long torso & stubby little legs. The complete opposite of my other two.

We celebrated my dad's 50th birthday yesterday. We roasted him & ate pizza & afterwards we took him to Kangaroo Zoo. 

The kids had so much fun bouncing on all the toys. Jackie was such a good sport & took Lexi on the slides that were too big for her 

Ethan had so much fun & wore his daddy out!

Happy 50th birthday Dad. We love you! Even though you're getting old!

The Big 5!

  Me and Jeff are celebrating our 5th anniversary today. Time has sure flown by! Jeff has taught me so much in these short 5 years... he's taught me how to find happiness in every day life. There may be a million and one reasons not to be happy, but there's always something to be happy about & he's taught me to live for that one reason. Jeff is a happy person by nature, which is one reason I was drawn to him. I've trained myself to be more happy, but I still have a ways to go before I'm up to his level.

  Jeff is a wonderful daddy! He comes home from work & gives me a break from playing with the kids. They love their daddy! 

  Jeff shows his love, to anyone, by serving them. He's always asking what he can get for me or what he can do for me & if I do it myself he gives me a hard time. I love and appreciate his service & try to do the same for him... think of him more than I think of myself.

  I'm so thankful that he holds the Priesthood and is always willing to give me or the kids a blessing, what a comfort it is! He's taught me a lot about the gospel & applying certain principles into our lives. Like honesty... he came home from Lowe's one day & noticed that the cashier over paid him by two cents. The next time we went to Lowe's he gave the two cents back to the cashier... she gave him a funny look, but all Jeff had to say was I'm not going to be held accountable for two cents.

  Happy Anniversary babe! Love you! 

In Memory of my Grandma

My Grandma has suffered from dimensia for years & has finally been released from her trial. At first we all laughed when she would tell us the same story 3 or 4 times in 20 minutes. But as her disease progressed we all reminised about how Grandma used to be. I am so grateful to know that she has her mind back, that she is now whole. My Grandpa has been so loving & so good to her! I will miss her, but I am so glad that she isn't suffering anymore.

Pictures

Ethan & Lexi Halloween night, right before trick or treating.
Our three kids! That's weird to say, I'm still not used to it. But I have to say that emotionally I'm having an easier time with three. I don't feel so bad taking the time to nurse Makelle because Ethan & Lexi have each other to play with. After I had Ethan I felt bad taking time away from him because he had no other play mate.

Ethan is such a big helper! He loves to hold her & kiss her & love her! He's always asking to hold her or give her a binki. (Not that she really takes one, but it's the thought that counts) This morning during Makelle's awake time he spent good quality time with her, talking baby talk & sharing toys... making sure she knew who he was

At first Lexi would only hold Makelle for a few seconds, now she doesn't want to give her up. She's jealous of anyone else holding her, when she thinks it's her turn. She loves to touch her & climb in bed with her... naughty, naughty!

Makelle is such a good baby! She usually only cries when she's hungry. So a lot really, but easily fixable. We love Makelle!

Makelle Ellingson

  Makelle joined our family on Nov. 1st. She weighed 6 lbs. 13 oz. and was 19 1/2 in. long. So far she's a very good baby, she rarely cries & loves to cuddle. Ethan and Lexi adore her! Lexi hates me right now, I'm obviously a traitor since I'm holding another baby; but I know This too shall pass. We have so much support from our family & friends it makes adding another child to the family a lot easier. We are very blessed that she is so healthy & came so fast. Don't worry pictures are coming soon!

Halloween Fun

On Saturday we went to the Pumpkin Patch. They had some fun things for the kids. 

Ethan and Kayla went through the hay maze quite a few times and had a blast

Jeff was a good sport to pose too.

We are very excited to welcome Makelle into our family. She will for sure be here on Saturday. But we're hoping for sooner, if she's ready that is. Ethan is very excited for the new baby to come... I hope he still feels the same when she gets here. I'm making progress & having contractions & everybody keeps asking when I'm going to have this baby... apparently I look huge & ready to deliver. I'm sure I do because I am, but it'll be nice to have strangers stop asking me if I'm trying to steal a pumpkin.

Happy Birthday to Jackie!

   Saturday is Jackie's birthday... since I won't have access to the Internet that day I want to wish Jackie a happy birthday! I'll keep it short & sweet so I don't embarss her.. but Jackie is the sweetest! She doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, she's so kind hearted & loving. She's such a good aunt, and always does the best she can when she tries anything new. We love you Jackie! Hope you have a wonderful birthday! 

Happy Birthday Mom!

  I wanted to wish my mom a Happy Birthday! I'll be nice and not announce her age. We'll just say she's a too young to be a grandma. Her birthday is actually tomorrow (the 9th). But I wanted to be the first to say it.

  My mom is so caring of others, she's always seeking for ways to help someone else. She's very talented; she makes a great flower arrangement, she's a wonderful cook. She's been so helpful to me & Jeff. Once a month she has come to tend our kids so we could attend the temple & do sealings. 

  She's a great grandma. My kids absolutely adore her! Lexi doesn't leave her side when she's around. Ethan has come to accept the fact that he has to share Grandma, but he loves to play with her every chance he gets.

  Anyway, Happy Birthday Mom! Hope you have a great day!

Funny kids

  Lexi has started a new trend, before she'll fall asleep she has to go through all the words that she knows how to say, then sing some songs... all the while Ethan is in the next room laughing & joining in. It's cute & I'm trying so hard to treasure these precious moments, but I also have to sit next to Lexi's door or she'll keep getting out of bed... if she sees some part of my body she'll stay in her bed & eventually fall asleep. So it's a little frustrating when it takes 45 minutes for her to do her routine before settling in. 

 Ethan & Lexi are having a blast with each other. Lexi stands outside the bathroom door "talking" to Ethan while he goes potty. He pretends like he knows what she's saying & talks back. They do an awesome job fighting with each other. Lexi is usually the one who is making trouble, she'll take his toys & chase him around the house trying to bite him. But Ethan's pretty fast & is finally learning how to stand up for what he has.  (it's about time! I hate seeing him getting taken advantage of, it's so hard to stand by & watch, hoping he'll learn on his own) Ethan does his share of teasing, it must be the boy in him; he can sure get her screaming!

 My pregnancy is going well. My iron has been low, so I am lacking so much energy! My poor house & my poor kids! Luckily they have a daddy who has all the energy in the world & is so good about playing with them & getting their energies out. I've been having lots of braxton hicks so my doctor is hoping I'll at least make it to 38 weeks. I'm hoping to have everything ready for the baby by the time she gets here, it's gone by too fast. 

State Fair

We took the kids to the State Fair on Monday. They had fun going on all the "kiddie" rides. Jeff's mom was a good sport about taking Lexi on them all. She was too short to go by herself but thanks to Bonnie she got to enjoy herself.

This was the bumper car roller coaster... which she didn't actually get to go on, but at least we got a picture so it looks like she did. She was too small & would've gotten smashed.

We think Lexi enjoyed this one... we couldn't see her face most of the time. It spun too much, but Ethan and his cousin Makailey had lots of fun.

They had some barns we got to walk through & they had tons of animals. This was pretty perfect timing. The cow decided to take a poop as soon as we took the picture. So the kids wouldn't look at the camera, the cow was way too fascinating. They also had goats, sheep, and pigs (which when I took a pic of the pig she also decided to poop). Lexi couldn't stop petting the goats, she loved them! Until they turned around and she saw their faces. Lexi also got to go on her first pony ride, but the people wouldn't let me take a picture, they wanted me to pay. No Deal! 

This was Ethan's first roller coaster ride. Granted it wasn't a big roller coaster. But he had lot fun anyway.

Cabin fun

Well, I'm finally updating. Life has kept us busy. We took another trip to the cabin last weekend. It was our first time going up with just us. Jeff & his friends did some hunting while me & the kids went on four wheeler rides & killed bugs.

Jeff was such a peach and chopped some wood. Here's Ethan helping chop with his hammer

And here's Lexi helping chop with her paint brush

Ethan is such a goof ball... always trying to make us laugh

Lexi was a perfect angel the entire trip. Never cried once. (Just kidding) This is one of the rare occasions she wasn't crying. She did touch the hinge of the door on the fireplace & got a little blister. She learned fast that the fireplace is hot & we didn't have a problem with that again.

Lexi and Ethan played very good together. They got a little too roudy & Lexi hit her forehead into the table that's in the middle of the living room. There was blood everywhere! I felt so bad for her, it was her first big owie. She somehow hit her chin at the same time, but she didn't even notice that one- the other one hurt too bad.

Thanks to my kids for making my birthday so wonderful! I didn't have to deal with poopy diapers or fighting kids, no tantrums... it was the perfect day! Well, I did have to deal with all that fun stuff... but it was still a good day. Jeff took me to dinner & a movie, something we don't do much of. It was a real treat!

Lexi's new bed

  We moved Lexi to a big girl bed. She's only 15 months, but I wanted to give her time to adjust to a toddler bed before the baby comes. Needless to say she was not ready! I've spent many nights sitting by her bed waiting for her to fall asleep so I can sneak out. We're finally to the point where I don't need to be in there at all I just have to put her back into her bed a couple times before she gets the point that it's time for bed.

  Last week I heard her whine a little bit, so I went to check on her to make sure she hadn't fallen out. I peeked in her room & didn't see a lump on the floor so I went to make sure she wasn't cold. I pulled up her blankets, but I couldn't find her. I thought I was dreaming, I was still half asleep. So I woke myself up a little bit more & looked in her bed. She wasn't there. I looked on the floor, she wasn't there. I heard her whine again, but I couldn't see her. I was frantic!! I woke Jeff up & we went searching throughout the house. Obviously she could be anywhere, she knows she can get out whenever she wants. We could hear her but couldn't pinpoint where she was. Finally I looked under her bed (yeah right, there's no chance!) But there she was, asleep, lying on her tummy. I don't know how she did it, there's not much space under those toddler beds. But she managed it... we lifted the bed up & put her back to bed without waking her up.

Memories

1. Leave a comment and write a memory you have of me

2. Be kind! If you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all!

3. Do this on your blog so we can all share the joy!

4. If you write one of me I'll be sure to write one of you! 

Weekend away

I'm sure all of you Coons girls remember our excursions to the cabin. Oh the memories we made! Building forts, catching frogs, & oh our walks with Grandma! If it wasn't for her I don't know what I'd do if I had to go to the bathroom when I was in the middle of no where! She taught me so much! We took our kids up there this last weekend. They had so much fun! Although the frog pond is dried up we went to Mirror Lake & took the kids on the raft & we did some four wheeling.

Jeff caught a bird and as soon as I took the picture it flew onto my dad's head.

Ethan and his cousin Kayla "fishing" with their sticks. 

Hanging out on the raft at Mirror Lake

Grandma was Lexi's best friend the entire weekend. She didn't want to have much to do with me or her daddy. But that's ok... she had fun with Gramma Jann

The whole clan at Mirror Lake. It was windy so Lexi's hair looks funny, but who cares we were camping.

There's the bird Jeff caught, it was just sitting on the deck of the cabin. It was very friendly.

The boys took the kids to the shooting range. Ethan watched as they shot the clay pigeons. Today Ethan found me his toy wrench & a penny & told me to put it in there & throw it in the air so he could shoot it... what an imagination!

This is the Place

The hour long wait in the hot hot sun was worth the wait for Ethan. He got to ride a pony for a minute & he loved every bit of it.

I'm a little slow on this update, but a couple weekends ago we went to This Is The Place Heritage park. Everything they had going was free. They had a petting zoo, pony rides, crafts, pizza & ice cream. They had these cute little houses for the kids to play in. We had a hard time getting Ethan out of the pretend store.

Ethan at the fire station

Lexi and her cousin Carson right outside the Indian teepee. She doesn't look too happy, but it's only cause I made her hold still to take her picture. She really enjoyed herself

Ethan is actually touching the cow with that one finger. He was very brave!

I heard Lexi actually pet the animals too. But she liked them better from a distance. 

  

Turn that frown upside down

  To eliminate some of Ethan's tantrums I started singing the Primary song If You Chance To Meet A Frown. I've been doing this now for a couple of weeks & have had a pretty good turn around. I can usually get him to smile about whatever he was crying about (usually something stupid). The other day I had a frown on my face, I was having a really bad day and Ethan started singing the song. Of course I couldn't help but smile & forget my troubles. It was so sweet how he was concerned about me & wanted to make sure I was happy.

   Ethan is constantly asking questions... "what do crabs eat?" "Why?" what does this mean? Questions I should certainly know the answers to, they're easy... but I don't know how to answer them, I know some of the answers but don't know how to phrase it so he can understand. And sometimes I tell him I just don't know... that doesn't satisfy him at all. Mommy should know everything!  I wish I could satisfy his questions. I'm so glad that he is curious & wants to learn, if only I knew everything!

   Lexi is learning songs... we were riding in the car one day and Ethan started singing Do As I'm Doing... Lexi started doing what Ethan was doing. It was so cute! We then started singing Popcorn Popping... she did the actions to that song too and whenever I ask her to sing me a song she'll start "singing" (I can't understand anything but pop pppp) and doing the actions to Popcorn Popping. I love to see them learn... they always surprise me with how much they know.

Herriman Days

We took the kids to the carnival at Herriman Days. Ethan had the most fun. He got to go on the "train" ride. It was a tractor that was pulling these little cars around. He had a blast.
The kids had fun on the blow up bouncy thing (whatever it's called)
We had a hard time getting Lexi off it. The worker had to jump in there and grab her because she kept running away.
Ethan's first ride on a ferris wheel. Jeff got him to lift his arms above his head going down...but he wouldn't do it again. He seemed to have fun, but towards the end he said "Dad, I want to get off." They had a pretty long ride & Lexi was jealous, she kept trying to sneak in the gate everytime somebody went in or out.
This is Ethan on the "bouncy thing" but this one had a huge gorilla on it & a castle you got to climb through to go down the slide. He didn't want to get off that either.

I went to the doctor for my eye. He said it's oil that has solidified and cause a lump. All I can do right now is put a hot wash cloth on it to try & melt the oil & then massage it. My dad thinks it looks better. I can't really tell, I can only hope & pray that it works; otherwise I'll have to have surgery after I have the baby to remove it. I'm just grateful it wasn't anything worse. In a way it's a blessing. Thanks for everyone's support!

Zoo

Ethan was invited to go to the zoo with his cousin yesterday. It appears that they had a pretty good time

This is Kesley & Ethan-they're so cute together

Ethan got to pet a snake while he was there. He thought that was pretty cool. Too bad they didn't get a picture of that, but some pics are better than none. It's weird to send my little boy off on his own & not be there with him all the time. He's growing up so fast! In September he starts pre-school.

Drum Roll Please...

  We're having a girl!! The ultra sound went really well, everything looks good, the baby looks healthy, yeah!

  I'll write more later, but Ethan got stung on his nose, by a bee. So I gotta go pick him up at his cousin's house. Thanks for all your support!

Life

  We find out on Friday June 20th if we're having a boy or a girl. We're very excited & hope that the baby is healthy. So far my pregnancy is going well, no morning sickness-just tiredness & orneryness. Now that I'm in my 2nd trimester things are getting better- not so tired, not so ornery. Ethan always talks about the baby & "after the baby comes." He thinks it's coming soon, kids have no sense of time- the poor kid has a long time to wait for the baby to come. He's been such a good big brother, him & Lexi are playing well together (actually not right now, they're fighting) but normally they get along.

   We get our sprinklers tomorrow & hopefully our grass will come this weekend. The kids get so dirty playing in our dirt... they sure have a lot of fun & a lot of baths! I'm so excited to finish our yard so we can actually play outside without too much dirt trampled in the house. 

  I'm actually going to the eye doctor next Tuesday to talk about a lump underneath my eye. It started out small & now is pretty big... let's hope it's nothing serious. But I could definately use faith right now... sometimes I feel like mine is all used up. I'm sure it's nothing, but let's hope for the best!

In Loving Memory of Duane Moyes

Today is Memorial Day, the day we remember those who have passed on. So this is for Duane. Not many people know, but Duane was like a second father to me. We hung out together, he gave me advice. He was always so sweet & caring. It struck me hard when I found out he had cancer. I remember on his death bed, he wasn't speaking to anyone; but when I walked up to him and grabbed his hand- he didn't even open his eyes- he just said I love you Aubrey. He knew me so well & was always willing to be there for me. I miss him so much! But even now I know he is with me. I have felt of his presence and know that he is doing God's work, but every once in a while he gets to spend some time with me. I know he was with me in Spirit when I received my endowments & he was there when me & Jeff were sealed in the temple. What a special experience it is to feel of his love! I love you Duane!

Girls are fun!

So I gave Lexi my mascara today to keep her busy while I got ready. Somehow she opened it and tried to put it on herself. She did a pretty good job for a first timer! She is a very high maintence girl! She loves shoes! If you're not wearing them she will! She loves her pretty's! Necklaces, bracelets, nail polish, make up. My mom gave her some necklaces and bracelets for her birthday, she hasn't taken them off since. But she can't wear just one, she has to wear them all! Please pray that I'll have a boy next, or a low maintence girl. I think two high maintence girls will push me over the edge.

Lexi's 1st Birthday

Lexi had a fun birthday. She loved opening presents! She loved the noisy toys. She hated her cake. She wouldn't touch it. She kinda dug into it when we gave her a fork & a spoon. She got her feet in her cake when she tried to stand up and run away from it, she hated that! The BBQ was REALLY windy! Our food kept blowing away. But the kids had fun playing at the park. Good times.