Out With the Old and In with the New!

A few days ago Kaiden figured out how to climb out of his crib. Darren and I were devasted. It was the end of a beautiful schedule where Kaiden would go to bed at 6 pm and wake up at 7 30 am. Actually Im pretty surprised it lasted this long! So Darren converted his crib into a toddler bed and Kaiden LOVES it! I dont know if its the excitement of the new bed and privlidges or what but he also decided he wanted a later bedtime. So now he's in bed at 7:00 (sometimes 7:30), which isn't the worst part. He's also wants to get out of bed at 5 am and wake us up! So we get up with him and by 7 am he's passed out. Hopefully this limbo won't last long and we can all settle into a comfortable routine. I can't really get Jaxton on a routine until I get Kaiden on one first so the sooner the better!

Sleepy Head!

Kaiden is also continuing to do really well at our 2nd round of potty training. We actually haven't been able to give him as much attention this time because of the new baby and because we spend most of our days at the park. But when we are home he's in pull-ups and uses the potty pretty well. Of course he still has a few accidents but he is a "peeing machine!" Im so proud of him!! This morning he woke up and since he's not in a crib anymore he can just climb out of bed, and he came proudly prancing into our room with smiles, waves and a pull-up! lol. He was ready to start the day. He thinks diapers are a punishment now and that Pull-ups are soooo cool! Haha of course he still prefers to run around naked. Thats our boy!



This kid cracks me up!

Yesterday we, surprise, spent our day at the park! But since Darren doesn't have school on fridays, he was able to join us! And even though it was a little chilly Kaiden wanted to play in the Splash Park. There are very few things I'll miss about Rexburg but this free mini waterpark will absolutley be one of them! I just wish the weather was warmer for more than 2 months of the year here.


Rexburg's Splash Park. We go early when there's almost no one there!

I love my Mei Tai carrier!

Jaxton loves it too! Its his new very favorite place to sleep!

Weeeee!

Splash!!!!!


When we got home we all cuddled down and watched a movie in mom and dad's bed!

My boys! (I've got 3!!!!!)

And when Jaxton started fussing guess who got to him first!? Kaiden has really stepped up and LOVES being the role of "Big Brother." Anytime he says "brudder" it makes my heart melt. I can't wait til Jaxton is old enough and they can really play together. Sometimes I will be holding Jaxton and Kaiden will run up saying "awwwwwww baby! Baby brudder!" and rub his head. haha. I always thought I'd want all girls but I think I would be totally content if we got all boys. =D And I believe I married the right man to make that happen. lol

Kissing his "brudder" to calm him. Awwwww!

Our camera has a really fun feature that takes pictures automatically when it "sees" a smile. So thus the following super cheesy picture!

And like I've said before, Jaxton has been smiling since 6 weeks old (he's now 7 1/2 weeks). And this morning I finally got a picture of it, even if it was on my camera phone and my finger was in the way..... Its still an adorable picture! He is such a happy lil boy!

Also we are proud to announce that we are officially business owners! Its so crazy to say that!!! The company is called Elite Parking and is a business that puts boots on unauthorized vehicles parked in residential parking lots. It will be alot more work added to our plates but we're willing to take up the challenge! Darren definitley has the personality for it! It will be fun to see what the business becomes in 5 years!

I've also begun the countdown to the Michael Reunion that is less than 2 weeks away! It's being held at my grandparents house this year in Coville, Washington! Darren has yet to meet some of my family so I'm excited to show off my lil family! I know Kaiden will have a blast playing outside with one of his favorite people, my dad, and all of my younger cousins. Darren has already called claimsies to the river for fishing. lol. Of course! As for me, I'm just happy enjoying the company of my hysterical family! Gah!! I could explode with excitement! And a few days after we get back is Jaxton's baby blessing so then we get to be surrounded by Darren's family too! This will be the best summer yet!

Kaiden is such a big boy!

So last friday Kaiden used the potty 3 times! Well on saturday we spent the WHOLE day at the park and Sunday we woke up and went to church etc, so we hadn't done much potty training. So I was SHOCKED last night when I was getting Kaiden ready for bed I left him naked to get him a night time diaper and his jammies and I came downstairs and he was USING his potty! Wow! ALL on his own! I was so excited! And 10 minutes after that he ASKED to use the potty and went! He is so smart! Im hoping and praying this potty training thing will be fast. Its times like this where you can look back and really realize how awesome and rewarding parenting is!

Today Darren left early to take the LSATs! He has studied a TON and will definitley get a good, competitive score! Hopefully a good enough score to get lots of scholarships and get into a nice Texas law school! Haha, actually his top choice is in Omaha, but I won't stop suggesting Texas....... or Utah! I know we'll be happy wherever we move to, but some long decent summers, with a decent zoo and water park would be nice!
Since Darren left early to drive to Pocatello to take his test, I decided to take the boys to the park. We've been spending alot of time there and making lots of friends with the other "regulars" of the park. They also have this free, mini waterpark right there and Kaiden LOVES it! For some reason they have the water FREEZING, but even that wont keep him from playing! I even ordered an awesome new baby carrier for Jaxton! Taking walks is easy since both boys are strapped in our double stroller, but its kinda hard to chase Kaiden when he wants to play on the jungle gym. Im pretty excited about it! I never neede to use a carrier with Kaiden and was pretty surprised at all the choices out there. I got myslef a Mei Tai style carrier and will be stalking babysteals.com for a good priced Ergo for when he gets bigger. I can't wait to use it!

May Flowers!!!

This month has been so much fun! Mostly becuase the weather is starting to get nice, but its still been pretty rainy most days. You really have to take advantage of the nice days here in Rexburg because most likely it will be a few days before you get another one. So the boys and I have been going to the park quite frequently. I usually just meet up with friends and play groups but on the lucky days we get Darren and/or sno-cones! Haha! Kaiden LOVES him some sno-cones! We usually get him the flavors of Cotton Candy. Its great because half of it gets all over his shirt and I throw it in the dirty laundry and then my laundry room smells like Cotton Candy.

This month we also went to Utah TWICE!
The first trip we went down and saw my Grandma Nonie and she got to meet Jaxton for the first time! Also my Aunt Stacie, Uncle John and Cousins Whitney and Hannah, my Brother Derek and Niece Mercedes got to meet our lil man. Everyone LOVED him! How could they not!?

Grandma Nonie and Sadie Bug!

Sadie and Kaiden were hilarious together! She's about 3 1/2. Sometimes they got along and sometimes they didnt. They were pretty funny to watch!

Cousins blowing bubbles!

On a really nice day we went to the zoo with Derek, Sadie, Hannah and her beau Dan. Kaiden loved the zoo! The zoo has a new theme of dinosaurs, so all throughout the park they had huge dinosaurs that moved and blinked and some even shot out water. Kaiden thought the dinosaurs were the coolest thing there!

We got tickets to ride the carousel and the whole time we were in line Kaiden was exclaiming "Oh Boy! Oh Boy!" This is his new favorite saying and we crack up everytime he says it.

Derek and Mercedes!

We also got tickets for Kaiden and Darren to ride the train!

Later that day my grnadma Nonie cooked us all a BIG family dinner which is so nice becuase its not very often we get to taste her fine cuisine! One night my mom watched Kaiden while Darren, Jaxton and I went to eat at the Cheesecake Factory!!! MY FAVORITE! What a surprise! And as usual it was delicious! All in all it was a great weekend even if Darren had to work a little by hanging up pictures in my mom's new place. (We still hadnt even hung up our own pictures! lol)

THe view from my mom's plce! BEAUTIFUL!

Well 2 weeks go by and one lazy thursday afternoon Kaiden and I decided that Daddy had been working pretty hard at school so we better surprise him with a delicious treat! So we whipped up a batch of his favorite cookies, Grandma Gae's sugar cookies!

Momma's little baker!

Rolling out the cookie dough (with an eat tucked in) lol

And right when we were about to mix up the frosting, Darren came home with a "treat" for us! "You guys wanna go to Salt Lake this weekend? I have 4 days off." Well of course! lol. And he was adamant about us leaving THAT night. So I quickly got ready, tidied up the house, and packed all of us up. Yes, its only a 3 1/2 trip (without kids) but it was pretty exciting what with Kaiden throwing up in the car not 45 minutes into the trek. We cleaned it up but we were stuck with the barf smell the rest of the trip. lol. The best part was helping Darren stay awake the whole time. We were both pretty tired but a few rounds of "The Alphabet Game" kept us up and laughing the whole way! We arrived around midnight but of course Kaiden wasn't done being sick. The poor kid didnt even go to bed until 2 am and then decided 6 am was an appropriate wake up time for all of us. Haha. Derek had Mercedes again this weekend so her and Kaiden got to play again. She taught him words like "mine" and he would steal food right out of her hand. And they both fought over the rocketship ride on toy. lol. They are pretty funny! This trip was more relaxing and we even ordered pizza from the legendary Pie Pizzeria, my favorite un Utah! Hooray!


When we got back we decided we'd give potty training another go with Kaiden. We bought ourselves a Sam's Club Membership and stocked up on Pull-Ups. (Well that wasnt the only reason we got it but the diapers in bulk sure are nice!) In the mornings he would wake up and I'd put him in a Pull-Up and ask him every 30 mins or so if he wanted to use the potty, to which he always got excited and said " Essssssss!" He would sit on the potty and make a "pssssssssssssssss" sound and then would say "All Done!" and I'd take him off and praise him for sitting on the potty like a big boy. We only did this from the time he woke up until his nap time. On the THIRD day he decided he would go in the potty on his own!!! This for me was SUPER exciting and rewarding! Later I sat him on his potty while we watched Sesame Street and he went 2 more times! His incentive: Otter Pops! This boy LOVES Otter Pops! lol We'll see if this method continues to work well. I hope to have him PT by the end of summer.


Jaxton has also passed some awesome milestones! He has been sleeping by himself in his bassinett. He use to sleep in my arms, so progress! He also hasnt been much of a binky baby and successfully slept through the night without the need for his binky! He still sleeps away most of the day and sleeps through the night with only 2 quick, 5 min feedings. I feel so blessed to have 2 great kids who have slept so well, becuase I LOVE my sleep. He also gave us his first, true smile! He is so adorable! I can't wait for the rest of the family to meet him at his baby blessing!

From Easter to Mother's Day!

Well I have a 2 week gap to cover! I guess we'll start with Easter! Since Jaxton was born so close to Easter we just HAD to buy him an Easter hat!

Our Lil' Easter Bunny! Arrived cute, cuddly safe and early!!

Also my mom was still in town so she was lucky enough to enjoy Easter with us! Kaiden scored big from the Easter Bunny, with candy, no spill bubbles and a tie his mommy made him! It was so fun to see his eyes light up when he walked into the kitchen and saw his basket on the table! He really is the happiest kid ever! His laugh makes everyone laugh with him. =D And I hope Kaiden doesn't hold this against me, but I most assuredly helped him with his Easter candy! ;)

Do ya like the "blind effect"? haha.

Darren made me change him into his Easter outfit for pictures. Haha.

Jaxton Easter Morn'.

Later, Darren took pictures of the boys! Darren loves the new camera we got and any chance he gets he tries to take pictures of the boys. He's good at it right!?

Alright lets talk about that LOVABLE Jaxton! Its only been 3 weeks but we can't imagine life without him! He is the sweetest, most huggable, absolutley lovable baby ever!

The first week we only heard him cry once! He still doesnt cry often, only when he gets antsy about eating. He sleeps ALL the time, and is barely awake for an hour a day, although he is more alert every day. This makes the adjustment to 2 kids super easy. I seriously dont know how he sleeps through half of the noise Kaiden makes!

This is where he sleeps most of the day.

This, however, is his favorite place to sleep! In your arms!

Darren and I can't get enough of the lil guy and cuddle him as often as we can. Jaxton loves to sleep vertically, tummy to tummy!

My super excited, very happy face!

At night he usually only wakes up 1 time, rarely he wakes up 2 times. He wakes up just famished and he eats for about 5-10 minutes and then is passed out again. He is a VERY good eater! While most kids loose weight the first week or 2, our lil chunk packed on a whole pound by the time he was 2 weeks old!

He also has the best head of hair that curls so cute when its a little bit wet! Darren keeps warning me that if I keep playing with it, it will all fall out.

Darren is brushing his hair! Too cute!

Jaxton was bitten by the stork 2 times! On the back of his neck and on that part above the nose. Darren has stork bites in the same spots. lol.

The one on the back of his neck.

This is showing the one above his nose. Its super light, but you should be able to see it if you make the picture bigger.

Jaxton's least favorite part about his day, is bathtime. He really dislikes being naked and cold! Can ya blame the kid!?

We call Kaiden "Our Sour Patch Kid" because as you know from the commercials, "first they're sour then they're sweet". We think he's adjusted to the baby well. The first week he was a little rough on the guy, pointing out his eyes and hair (aka poking his eyes and pulling his hair). Kaiden was also pretty fussy that week so we took him to the Dr and it turns out he had a sinus infection and an ear infection. No wonder! Since he's been on antibiotics he's been alot better. Now he points out Jaxton's fingers and toes more than his eyes and rubs his hair more than he pulls it. When Jaxton cries, Kaiden says "Uh Oh" or "MAAAAAMAAAAAA" (Mama) and runs over to him and tries to put Jaxtons binky in his mouth. Its so cute! I really think Kaiden likes being a big brother! <3 Kaiden also got a taste of his first sno cone! The flavor of choice was Tiger's Blood and he LOVED it! Kaiden and his momma will be at the sno cone shacks all summer!!! YUM!

Kaiden making messes. As usual! The silly boy!

Darren and I moved again! I know! We've both got the Gypsy blood in us! Actually when we moved last time their were only 2 options at very small apartments and we thought we could make it work. But once Darren started talking about living in Rexburg a little longer, it got me to start searching craigslist. lol. And we found a steal on a 3 bedroom townhome that was ready immediatly. So we moved........... with a 10 day old! lol. My dad even flew out for a few days to help! Which was so nice since Kaiden and Grampa Mark are Best Buds! Grampa even took Kaiden out for ice cream! And of course Grampa fell in love with Jaxton! (Thanks dad for all the help!)

Kaiden LOVES the new place. It is big enough for him to run around in and has stairs for him to climb. We have a miniature backyard and live in a community with lots of other kids and a playground! Kaiden just loves the outside! We got a double stroller and on nice days I take the boys for a walk around the block. Spring is a big tease to Kaiden becuase we get in a habit of playing outside and then it gets cold and rainy and we have to stay indoors, which he hates. Our new windows are just his height and the poor kid just sits there looking out the window. One day we will live in a place thats nice and warm year round! =D

Fast forward to today, MOTHER'S DAY! Darren let me sleep in with Jaxton and he and Kaiden surprised me with breakfast in bed! Darren surprised me with the Bare Minerals make-up I've been needing and some Scentsy bars! Hooray! Since Darren is on his "Cave Man Diet" we eat BBQ Chicken or Steak and Potatoes every night. So when he asked me what I wanted for Dinner I told him pizza and wings! He had a good laugh out of that. For dessert we made Cookie Monsters. I make them the Provo way! You put Nestle Tollhouse cookie dough in a bowl and warm it in the microwave for 10 seconds, then you top it with cookie dough ice cream (my personal fave!) and hot fudge and whipped cream! Yumm! Of course we were out of fudge so we whipped up a batch. And if anyone needs some hot fudge sauce we have about 3 cups worth in my fridge. lol. Later we put Kaiden down and Darren watched Jaxton so I could finish up a sewing project my friend Laura Toone got me hooked on. Its a nursing cover also referred to as a Hooter Hider, there are other names I've heard it be referred to, but I wont list them here. lol. And since I'm Chelsea and I MUST go there, I had to use owl fabric! My goal was to have it finished before our trip to Utah this weekend! Wahoo!


Major props to the light switch for posing the Hooter Hider!

Well that's all for now! TTFN!!

Darren's Labor Story

Chelsea wanted me to write my side of the labor story so here it is:

At 35 weeks Chelsea and I had a date night planned, but the entire day she had been feeling sick. Around 2 o'clock she started getting really dizzy so she lied down on the coach, and after 2 hours she was still dizzy. We decided to go to the hospital because I was sure she was just dehydrated, so the baby sitter we had lined up for the date watched Kaiden for us so we could go. When we checked in at the hospital I was thinking we were only going to be there for a few hours but it turned out she was having contractions and they kept her there the whole night, the end result being a bad night sleep and a hurt neck for me, and no baby.
After that experience, she continued to have random contractions, they would come and go, some stronger than others but they would always fizzle out and go away. On Sunday the 17th Chelsea started having contractions around 6 O'clock pm, nothing new there, so we went on with our evening. We put Kaiden down for bed and started patching some jeans I had torn. The whole time she had contractions but nothing too strong or painful, I mean she was talking and smiling the whole time we were working on my jeans. After fixing my pants all up she was still having contractions about 6 minutes apart so we decided to sit on the coach and relax and try and get the contractions to fizzle out. Around midnight she was still having them so she wanted to go to the hospital. I told her I didn't think the hospital would let her check in because her contractions were too far apart and not strong enough but to call and see what they thought. So she called up to labor and delivery and told them what was going on and they told her to wait until the contractions got closer and stronger. Well she didn't like that answer because any body who knows Chelsea knows she hates waiting, but that's all we could do. I convinced her to come to bed and we could try and sleep and see if they got stronger during the night or if they would go away like they had for the past four weeks. Well we had only been in bed for 20 minutes when Chelsea announced she was going to the hospital because she couldn't sleep and at least they could give her something for the pain and to help her sleep. Since Kaiden was already asleep we decided I would just stay home and when she knew what was going on she would call me and we would decide what to do from there. So Chelsea got up grabbed her wallet and was off to the hospital (side note: we only live two blocks away from the hospital so I wasn't worried about her driving to the hospital by herself and she didn't act like the contractions were too painful.) So I went to sleep and at 2:30 am I got woke up by my phone ringing. I answered it half asleep, and really out of it, and I ask Chelsea how she's doing and what's going on and she says "they're giving me my epidural" and I think, what the heck I must be dreaming, "they're giving you an epidural" whats going on up there. So she tells me her contractions have gotten closer and stronger and she's in labor. So my mind set goes from thinking Chelsea is having some annoying contractions again to holy crap we're going to have a baby. So Chelsea calls a friend, the Toone's, to see if we can bring Kaiden over for the rest of the night and they say yes that would be fine. So I get up and put on the pants Chelsea had just fixed, get Kaiden's overnight bag ready, get his pack'n'play loaded in the car, throw the rest of the stuff we want for the hospital in the car, go back and get Kaiden, put him in the car and I'm off to the Toone's. I get there in pretty good time but I have go the speed limit and stop completely at every stop sign because it's Rexburg and the only people out at 2:30 am are the police, and I actually passed one the way there thank goodness I wasn't speeding. Any ways I get to the Toone's get the pack'n'play set up and get Kaiden back to sleep and I'm off to the hospital, making sure I don't speed. I get to the hospital and the doors are locked of course so I have to wait five minuets for some lady to come let me in. I use the stairs instead of the elevator and make it up to Chelsea's room at 3:00 am. When I get there she already has the epidural so she's feeling good and she's all excited cause after four weeks of contractions she's finally in labor. So at this point I'm still kind of asleep and not really sure how long this is going to take. Well at 5:00 am the Nurse comes and checks Chelsea and she's like at an 8 so I'm like "wow I've only been in this labor 2 hours and it's almost over." At 5:55 Chelsea does a little cough/sneeze that wouldn't have scared a mouse but it broke her water and after that it just got crazy. At 6 am there was a shift change so we had another nurse in our room and the overnight nurse was catching her up to whats going on. The new nurse checked Chelsea and noticed the baby was crowning and that Chelsea was ready to push. Right then Dr. Watson walks in and is trying to throw on his shoe booties and he gets both those on and only one glove. The nurses are telling Chelsea not to push, sneeze, or cough since this baby is coming out! I'm coaching Chelsea and she's doing great breathing and not pushing and I look down and Dr. Watson is catching Jaxton one gloved hand and all! Jaxton just slipped right out, it was crazy! Chelsea just breathed through the whole thing no pushing. It all happened so fast (I was only at the hospital for 3 hours!) I really didn't have time to mentally prepare for it but it was exciting and I was just glad Chelsea made it up to the hospital before things got too crazy.

Baby Jaxton is Here!!!

I like to think he has Darren's scowl! lol

Curly hair! This was an adorable surprise!

I like to think Jaxton is imagining himself jamming out on a guitar! Rock on!

Darren's Mini Me!

My little Moon Baby!

Birth Announcement:

Name: Jaxton Tripp

DOB: April 18th

TOB: 6:09 am

Height: 18 inches

Weight: 6 lbs 14 oz.

Gestational age: 38 weeks and 6 days, or 8 days early!

So as you all know at 35 weeks I was admitted to the hospital for pre-term labor. It was March 19th and a full moon, so I had a feeling the full moon in April would put me into labor. And I was right!!! Since I was induced with Kaiden I wasn't sure what to expect this time around! It also didnt help that since 35 weeks I've had constant contractions, some coming 3-5 minutes apart for several hours only to fizzle out. We had scheduled an induction for tuesday but our lil man just couldn't wait! So Sunday evening at about 6 pm I started getting contractions that were 6 mins apart. Nothing unusual there, but I was hoping!! They weren't that strong yet so I thought I'd help them out, or at least try to. I ran around the house chasing Kaiden and when he went to bed, I busted out the sewing machine and mended 2 pairs of Darren's pants through contractions, lol! After all that, my contractions were still coming every 6 mins so I decided to jump in the shower. (So glad I shaved!!) They stayed 6 minutes apart but were the strongest contractions I had felt yet, but still bareable. At 12 am (6 hours of 6 min apart contractions!) I called the L&D unit to see what they'd suggest since I'd never had consistent contractions last this long. Of course they told me that 6 mins was too far apart and that I should wait, especially since I could talk through the contractions, but seriously they were starting to get uncomfortable! I hung up the phone a little discouraged and Darren and I hopped into bed hoping that things would either progress or fizzle out while I slept. After timing 4 of them, at this point they were starting to get painful, I told Darren I was going to the hospital so that I could at least get some pain meds and sleeping meds cause there was no way I was sleeping through these! lol. (I really didnt think I was in labor. haha. I must have been in denial!) As soon as I got to the hospital and was strapped to a computer to monitor my contractions, my contractions picked up to every 5 mins, then every 3 mins, and finally at 2:30 am I called Darren and told him he better get Kaiden off to our good friends the Toone's (a BIG shout out thank you by the way!) because this was it and I was getting the epidural right then. Darren got to the hospital around 3 am and I was so happy to have him there. He is the BEST labor coach ever! The epidural was amazing and I felt nothing! At this point Darren and I weren't sure how long this event was going to be so we TRIED to get some sleep. I of course was running on excitement and adrenaline and didn't get much. =) Around 5:55 am, I sneezed and my water broke! Haha. And thats when I started to feel the pressure to push. My nurse just happened to be in the room at that time and immediatley called my Doctor. She instructed me not to sneeze, cough, move, sit up anything because this baby was crowning and FAST! Well, its a good thing we live in a small town because my Dr barely had time to drive the 10 mins across town, walk in the door, throw only ONE glove on, and catch him at 6:09 am (only 14 minutes after my water broke!) I was so shocked it all happened so fast I didnt even have to push! He just slid right on out with no tearing what so ever! I feel so great! We are so in love with our new addition and to be a family of 4! Jaxton is so mellow and took to breastfeeding right away! At 20 minutes old, he ate for a solid hour! He is so beautiful I cant stop looking at him! =D I am sooo in love!! <3 I always imagined he would look like Kaiden's twin, but Jaxton looks just like his handsome daddy with lots of beautiful curly hair!