Aquarium

There is an aquarium in Sandy (South Salt Lake) that has a stingray touch pool. It was very cool. The stingrays felt slimy and soft which was not what I expected at all.
Jackson kept wanting to touch them - see how his sleeves are wet all the way up the shoulder. Maggie would just touch the top of the water.
There way a pretty neat shark tank too. It's a very small aquarium. It would be great if they could get the funding to expand the way they would like.

Hailey smiles

This is what happened during my first attempt to get Hailey to smile for the camera.......

Luckily she cooperated a few days later!!

Fountain

In Salt Lake there is one of those flat fountains. Water comes right up from the "floor". We have tried to take the kids there a few times but it was either not working, or under contruction. So when we went down to meet Matt after some meetings one day I thought we would try again. Well on the way there it was pouring down rain - the kind where the windshield wipers are going as fast as they can and you still can't see very well......... Finally as we got close to Salt Lake it cleared up a little and we got to play at the fountain. The kids loved it. Jackson was soaked in seconds and Maggie managed to stay dry the whole time by dancing around the water and shrieking whenever it spouted close to her.

House swing

This is the swing we ended up hanging in our family room. The kids will enjoy it over the winter I think. I use it fairly often to swing with Hailey when she doesn't want to be put down and a rocking chair just doesn't quite work. It's nice to not have to walk everywhere with her when she's cranky. Her cranky times are getting less and less though. It's called an "air chair".

Airplane Musuem

There is an airforce base near us with an airplane museum. They recently had an open house where the opened up a number of the airplanes for us to explore. The kids really enjoyed it.

Captain Maggie. They would have happily stayed in this cockpit all day if we let them......

Huge airplanes. I think this one is a troop transport plane. Jackson thought they were so cool when they were big enough to drive cars into. That pregnant looking person on the sidewalk is me with Hailey in her pack!!

Siblings

Jackson has really enjoyed having a baby around. He does really well with her. If she cries he will go over and talk to her because "she doesn't like to be alone". In the car, he gives her the pacifier and tells her "it's okay, brother's here" Now Maggie will say the same thing to her in the car "Maggie's here. It's okay".

The kiddos

I was impressed that they posed so well for me...... it was a good day!! We are all still doing great. The transition from 1-2 kids was a lot harder than from 2-3. I think because Maggie and Jackson can entertain each other while I help the baby and we aren't going through as many changes. Jackson had a lot of ear infections and got tubes in his ears right after Maggie was born, and we moved when she was about 3 months, Matt was also still in school so it was a pretty rough start. We are all enjoying Hailey and the calm.......... who knows how long it will last!!


Maggie and Jackson both love Hailey - a little too much sometimes but they are learning.

Pacifier

Hailey is very attached to her pacifier already. She didn't seem to want it at all and then one day I tried a new brand and she latched right on and has loved it ever since. It will be interesting to see what she ends up calling it. To Jackson it was a "bebe" and to Maggie it's a "fie".

Preschool

Jackson's first day of preschool. Hard to believe that he will be in kindergarten next year and it will be Maggie starting preschool!! She is very sad when Jackson goes - she wants to play with him and she misses him.

One month old!!

Hailey is a month old already!! It has gone by very fast. We are all still doing great and she is even starting to sleep a little better. One night she slept 8 hours!! (she woke up once in the middle to eat)
Jackson and Maggie still love having her around and want to hold her as much as I will let them. She loves to be held by Matt and I - so I find myself carrying her around in the baby sling A LOT. Thankfully, a friend (thanks Amy :) ) gave me a Moby wrap - and it's great!!

Hammock swing

I thought it would be great to have somewhere to swing with Hailey when she was cranky - and a hammock swing seemed the cheapest route to go. However, it seems to be great fun for some other little munchkins - it's hard to get my turn!!

Gazillion bubbles!!

Jackson and Maggie love to blow bubbles in their drinks..... so I thought we would try doing it when they wouldn't get in trouble for the mess. It's just water with a little dishsoap. They loved it - "the bubbles are growing" was Jackson's favorite comment.

Maggie, unfortunately, sucked up a little once in awhile - I don't think she will do that again.....

Jackson wanted to experiement. He learned that if you blew inside another bubble it would get bigger.