Thanksgiving Festivities

Thanksgiving lasted three days for us! Yum! Yum! The day of, we were able to go down to Spanish Fork and eat with the Bradford family. That was great like always, but seems to be getting more and more crowded...the family just keeps growing and growing and there's still plenty of room to grow! :) Thanks for letting us share that day with you all!

The day after, we spent the day at Mom's where Richie and Jessica and Sierra "surprised" everyone and played games with us all day! They were supposed to surprise everyone, but really everybody knew before. But it was still fun to see them and be able to spend some time with them while they were here for a few days! And they got to see Jackson for the first time, so that was good, too! Playing games together! Lots and lots of people around this little old table...but it sure makes it cozy! :) J.J. came over too, to spend some time with Jack, Richie, & Mary while they were all here, and before he goes on his mission in January! First time Aunt 'Walter' (aka Jessica) meets Jackson! :o) Natalie, Sierra, Jessica & JacksonKayani, Jaycee, & Sierra playing their own game of 'make a mess with the Domino's!' They're all getting so big! But Jaycee, so far, is the biggest of them all, with Sierra close behind, and Kayani just the same as she was about a year ago! ;-) Cute girls! Aubree wasn't there, but she's not quite as big yet, she's pretty little too, and hasn't hit that growth spurt yet...but she will, just give it time!

Saturday morning, a bunch of the boys got together and played football before our Naylor family Thanksgiving dinner at Aunt Terry's house!!! There wasn't as big of a turn out as last year, but those that did show up, still had fun! Even though it was freezing outside! :) Aunt Terry, Mom, Misti, Jaycee & I stayed at Aunt Terry's and got things ready till the boys were done and everyone else showed up. It was a full house, but I love it! It's always great to be with family for the holidays! Thanks everybody! All the great grand kids sitting at their own table...TOP PHOTO: (right to left) Kayani, Sarah Syre, Lindi, Talon, Ethan, Owen, & Jaycee...BOTTOM PHOTO: (left to right) same as above, just in reverse and missing Sarah & Kayani. (Missing Aubree, Jackson, Sierra, Kirra, baby Naylor, & Dorris) Man we're a large group of people and we just keep getting bigger!

"Bird in dare."

So, Jaycee and I were downstairs watching "Handy Manny" when I heard a bird through the chimney. I've heard birds before, as if they are on the roof by the chimney, so I didn't think anything of it, but then about 10 minutes later, a bird came through the fireplace and into our family room!!! It scared me so bad, that I started yelling Ryan's name, who was upstairs in bed. I finally got his attention, and he came down with his glasses on and our garbage can to catch it. Well, he thought it was a little bird, but nope! It was a blue jay and it was big! So while it was scared and flying around, we both went over to open the window so it could fly out. While we were over there, it disappeared. Awh!! It ended up going upstairs and was going from window to window trying to get out, so we just opened the door and stepped away, and it finally flew out! Jaycee was mostly just laughing the whole time, she thought it was hilarious! But there were a few little squeals that came out of her too, probably because she heard me do the same. :) It was pretty funny, but a little nerve racking too! Pretty interesting morning, I'd say.

Now every few minutes Jaycee will say, "Bird in dare. In ouse (house). Daycee." It's pretty funny. I tried to get her to tell us what she saw, but she wouldn't cooperate too well.

***UPDATE***

As I was sitting here blogging, Ryan heard more noise in the fireplace. We went outside to get up on the roof and see if the netting is not on the chimney anymore, but our ladder is not tall enough to get onto the roof, so we went to the neighbors to see if they had one, but they were not home. So we came home and when we came back downstairs, this is what we saw...What the heck??? Either it's the same dumb bird, or there is more than one! Why would they want to be in our house??? Yuck! Jaycee saw it and got a little scared. I opened the window and Ryan opened the fireplace and it flew to the ledge of the window, but wouldn't fly to the top to actually get out. Ryan wouldn't let me take any pictures of him, but it was pretty funny to watch. He would scream a little and then Jaycee would mimic him, and that went on for a little bit until it finally flew out the window! Hopefully no others come while we are out getting a taller ladder. What a morning! And it's only 10 am!

Mmmm...Cupcakes!

I had made cupcakes for a friends birthday to take to work, and so after dinner, we let Jaycee have one because she ate all her dinner. She was so tired while eating, that she was falling asleep, but as soon as we told her she could have a cupcake, she sat straight up and grinned, but was still super tired. The following will show you how hard she was trying to stay awake just so that she could eat her cupcake! :) She's so silly!

18 months...stats

Jaycee went to the doctor yesterday and is growing just great! She is getting so big, and there's proof in her stats...

• 23.8 lbs (42%)
• 31.8 inches (53%)
• 18 cm (26%)

Her head is still a little small, but she is finally in the 50th percentile!!! We finally have an average sized child! :o) Before going in, I thought she may finally have caught up a little bit, because she has grown SO much in the last few months! I swear she sprouted like 2 inches in October, her legs are so long!

She runs around, laughs, dances and sings ALL the time. She loves going up and down stairs and is now learning how to use the railing rather than going down on her belly all the time. There is no sitting down with Jayce around! She's so smart, she talks all time! Some examples of cute things she says are:

• “mik is dwicious!” - milk is delicious
• “owla” - hola
• “ados” or “ba bye” - adios
• “jacke” - Jacket-which she uses in sentence form now like, “Daycee jacke on peez.”
• "Daycee" - Jaycee
• "Dauddy" - daddy (Ryan LOVES when she calls him daddy, rather than dad!)
• “Rah Rah” - Sierra
• “Ani” - Kayani, just the last part of her name
• “Ownan” - Owen, which is also sometimes “Owa” & Ethan, but sometimes Ethan is just “Eee”
• “Townan” - Talon
• “Mamma” - Grandma, the first ‘a’ sounding like the 'a' in can
• “Bampa” - Grandpa
• “Mimi” - Misti
• “Mauy” - Mary
• “Nadwee” - Natalie
• “Jack” - Jack
• “Jacka or Jackee” - Jackson
• “Oni” - Ronnie
• “Uca” - Uncle
• “Ody” - Cody
• “Taycee” - Stacy, although she never says it to Stacy, little stinker :)
• “Aubwee” - Aubree
• "Venji" - Benji
• “Sica” - Jessica
• “Itchy” - Richie
• “Broopy” - Brookie
• “Mew” - Mel
• “Nae Nae” - Nathan
• “Mamby” - Mandy
• “Yef” - Jeff
• "nak" - snack
• "do" - go
• "nandy" - candy
• "cacka" - cracker
• "toodl" - turtle
• "Jeeda" - Derek Jetter (Ryan's teaching her his favorite ball players)
• "eecee" - C.C. Sabathia
• “own” - phone
• “hwo” - hello
• Thank you and shoes for some reason she kind of hums with her mouth, although a couple of times she has slipped up and actually said the words, then hurried to see our reactions and promptly hummed them again, like she was trying to hurry and cover it up so we didn’t know she CAN actually say the word! :) She’s too funny!

Those were mostly for my own journaling purposes, so sorry if that was boring to you, but I think it's cute, and I want to remember them as best as I can! :)

She is sooooo fun! I absolutely LOVE being a mommy!!! :-) It's too fun to watch her learn and grow! I can't believe she's already 18 months old! Love you baby girl!

Halloween Pictures from Shootz Photography

We finally got the copies of the pictures we had taken so I scanned them in for all to see!

Our little "Doca!" Isn't she cute? And she looks so big in this picture, it's weird.All of Jaycee's cousins, with the exception of Sierra & Jackson...Top Row: Owen, Brooklyn, Talon, Kayani, Ethan. Bottom Row: Jaycee & Aubree.

Thanks for going with us, everyone! That was fun! And thanks to Jan for doing them!! :)

Cody's 31st Birthday

We had a birthday dinner for on Cody Sunday, even though his birthday was Saturday! It was quite fun. Ryan couldn't come because it was also his Dad's birthday dinner Sunday, even though his birthday is Tuesday! But it was still fun with everyone else.

I tell him to smile, and this is what I get....classic Cody! :)Talon's whispering to Cody telling him what to wish for before he blows out his candles! :)Blowing out his....I think 4 candles....which I'm pretty sure is NOT the right amount at all! ;)

Just Watchin' A Movie

Thought this was cute...

I love when Jaycee lays like this and she does it so often lately! The TV wasn't working so I put a movie in on the computer instead and they decided it would be easiest to watch laying on their bellies with their feet up, I guess! :)

Feeling empty…

So, I haven’t been able to attend all of my church meetings for a while now, either because of a child who is just too rambunctious to sit with me in class, and cannot quite go to nursery yet; or because I worked the night before, got home at 7:30 am and church started at 9:00 am so I’d go home to sleep after sacrament meeting.

Well, this last Sunday, I was able to go to ALL of church because a guy at work was kind enough to switch me days off this week for Halloween. Therefore, I did not work Saturday night, and didn’t have to nap on Sunday to go to work that night, either! It was fabulous! :) And, Jaycee went to nursery for the first time, so that helped immensely! I had such an overwhelming feeling of the Spirit during sacrament meeting and in Relief Society and I was SOOOOO happy to be there!

You see, I am one who has always gone to church, my whole life, and felt bad if I missed a week for whatever reason. I have also always committed to never work on Sunday, so that I can go to church. Well, on day shift here, I have been able to work that out, but when on graves, I do work Sunday, but since it’s so late in the evening, I figure it’s okay. But I do also work Saturday night, which is what makes it so hard, and that is not a night you can just ask off…lots of people fight for that. It really frustrates me that I work in a place like that where we have to work certain days and shifts, but at the same time I am grateful to have a job, since we went for so long without a second income and that REALLY put us in the hole. It’s kind of a lose-lose situation. :)

Anyway, my point is, I have been feeling empty, worthless, unproductive, and like I was falling farther and farther away from the Lord. I’ve decided there’s not a whole lot I can do about getting work off, since it’s kind of a necessity that I work right now, but there are things I can do to feel closer to the Lord and have the spirit with me all the time. I will read/study the scriptures more often, go to the temple more often, and pray more often. Hopefully those things will help me to feel better. It so far has helped and I’ve only been more adamant about it for the last 3 days!

I had a feeling of joy when I was able to go to all 3 hours of church this week, and then today, Ryan and I were able to go to the temple and there I felt that same overwhelming feeling! I LOVE that feeling! I felt like I was going to burst with excitement or either burst into tears! Happy tears that is. :) I am so glad I have this gospel to learn from, to lean on, to help guide me! I don’t even want to know where I would be without it. I KNOW without a doubt that this is the true church! I KNOW that the atonement is real and can and will help all of us through ANYTHING big or small. I know that Satan will try whatever he can to pull us away, even stupid things like not going to all of church, or working on Sunday even if it’s not during church time, or making us embarrassed or frustrated with our children when we really shouldn’t be, ‘cause almost all people know exactly what you are going through and at least 95% of them don’t mind your child being in that class! I know that if we do ALL that we can to fight Satan’s temptations and be obedient to the Lord in ALL things then we will be blessed and be able to stand strong wherever we may go! I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Our Nursery Girl

Jaycee's 1st day of nursery...well, technically. Ryan took her in last week when I went home to sleep after sacrament meeting, but this was supposed to be her first day! :) She is getting so big! Last week she came home with a blotchy face (which happens when she cries when she's really sad), but the teachers said that only happened at the end when another little girl got up set, and Jaycee decided maybe she should be worried too.

This week, we opened the door, and she let go of my hand and ran into the room. So we figured she was excited to be there, and left. Well, about fifteen minutes later, Brother Davenport came and got me saying she was upset. When I got in there, she was sitting on Sister Davenport's lap trying to settle down from crying real hard, and started crying more when she saw me. So, I stayed in there and played for awhile and calmed her down. When I thought she was ready, I told her I was going to go to my class, and she needed to stay and be a good girl, and before I could finish talking, she said, "ba bye!" and ran off. I figured that meant she was ready now. Which ended up being the case, except they said she was kind of on and off the rest of the time.

There was one particular baby she had to hold onto the whole time she was in there, so when I told her we had to leave it so she could play with it next time, she got pretty upset and kept saying, "Daycee baby, Daycee baby." So I'm sure she'll find it again next week. I'm hoping as long as we tell her goodbye each time, then she'll be okay enough to stay the whole time without them having to come get us. We shall see.

It's just too fun raising her! We love her so much and she is getting so smart! I love how she loves people, which is why I thought she'd love nursery, and I love the way she talks (kind of like a Chinaman) but it's getting so much clearer each day. I love to watch her learn and grow, but some days it just seems like it's happening WAY too fast! One day she'll be so big won't WANT to sit on my lap anymore, or give me hugs and kisses, or play with her dolls, BUT we're not there yet, and I will take it while it lasts! :) Love you baby girl!

With Daddy's scriptures ready to go! She loves to carry these around the house, and it's like she's carrying a suitcase...she's funny!Showing off her "pwibby" (pretty) hair.Saying 'cheese' for the camera...notice she has to use her WHOLE body to do this, she can't just stand there and be nice and cute...she has to lean into it! What a nut!

The many things of Halloween

So Friday night, we went to Gardner's Village on 78th South to see their life size witches. Jaycee loves Halloween decorations, so we thought she'd enjoy it! Every time we ask her what a witch says she says, "ha ha ha." It's pretty fun! Jaycee didn't want to sit by the witch by herself, so Daddy sat with her.I thought these ones were pretty cute playing baseball!It was a little too dark to see this one, but it was pretty cute too, flying on her bicycle in the air.The classic witch pose crashing into a building!

So for Halloween, I was able to trade my shift and not go to work that night, so we were able to go visit everyone we wanted to throughout the day and it was loads of fun!

First we went to Shootz Photography and got pictures taken of all the kids that we could...Talon, Owen, Kayani, Ethan, Aubree, Brooklyn & Jaycee! They were free and it was fun! Thanks Jan! After pictures, since we were already in Kaysville, Cody's family and Benji's family came with us to visit Grandma and Grandpa Whicker and then Sister Heywood, too! It was good to see them all.

Owen, the Snake Dragon; Ethan, Black Spiderman; Talon, the Storm trooper; Jaycee, the "Doca" as she would say; Aubree, the monkey; and Kayani, the ladybug!

Talon, age 6

Owen, age 4 and 3/4 (as he likes to say)

Kayani, age 21 monthsEthan, age 4 1/2Aubree, age 1Jaycee, age 18 monthsWith Grandma & Grandpa...apparently Jaycee wanted to show off her hat? That or she was too tired to cooperate! :)

After visiting, we went home to get Jaycee a nap, which didn't happen, and to get into our costumes before running around to show off to Grandpa & Anita, Grandpa & Grandma Hatch.

There was one thing we forgot to have her say and that was "nandy" as in candy. She's our giant Jaycee! I can't believe how fast time flies!!! It's too much fun!

Daddy and Jaycee trick or treating to our neighborhood grandparents, The Barbers! Jaycee calls them mama and papa every week at church.

After that, we went to Diana's to trick or treat to her neighbors and show her granddaughters off, and then ate dinner. Then we went to see Ben & Tanelle's costume 'cause they told us it was great and they wanted us to see it. And finally we went to mom's where we saw Mom, Misti, Mary, Benji's family, Jack's family and Aunt Terry (who wasn't dressed up, but it's always great to see her)!

Brookie let Jaycee borrow one of her pumpkins to go trick or treating. Thanks Brooke.Brooklyn as Little Red Riding Hood.Admiring each other's costumes!Finally looking toward the camera...this always takes so much effort to get them both to look.The medical family! Ryan kept telling people that Jaycee, the doctor, needed a nurse! I made his costume for him, and without a pattern! I was pretty proud of that, since I'm not known for my sewing. Isn't he the ugliest woman you've ever seen?!?!?! :)Trying to be pretty...Nacho & Encarnacion from "Nacho Libre" Ben and Tanelle love Nacho, as does Ryan, that's why they wanted us to see them! They looked AWESOME!!! Thanks for sharing guys!On the way to my mom's, Jaycee fell asleep after a long, fun day, but notice what's in her hands, yes hands, not just hand....candy! She couldn't let go even after falling asleep! :)Jack's cute little family!Jackson is the cutest little pee pod I have ever seen!!!Aubree, Natalie, Jaycee, Jack, Jackson, & EthanMisti, the candy corn. Isn't she adorable? I love it!Grandma, the nurse, holding the little pee pod!The very UN-ladylike nurse man!Jaycee holding and seeing Jackson for the first time!Teeny Jackson is his huge car seat!