THE EXERSAUCER!

Cici and Big Daddy (or was it Santa!?) sent us an exersaucer for Christmas! It came early so that we could use it before we leave for Atlanta, and Jax is in heaven! Eli is convinced that it has so many features that we no longer have to raise our child or ever pay a babysitter... I didn't really think that was funny, but it does have a lot of features. Here are some videos of him enjoying his new gift... I sort of sound like an idiot, but he's cute!:)

We practice sitting up

It seems that Jax is trying to become more and more independent... sometimes I think he forgets that he is only 3 1/2 months old!! He doesn't really enjoy laying for very long periods of time.

Rather, he is wanting to be such a busy bee. Lately he has really enjoyed the fact that, if propped up just right, he can sit up by himself, especially during our story time. Here are a few pictures of his new trick! :)

Cereal goes in, Everything comes out!

I set up Jax's high chair in an effort to regain my freedom while I eat lunch! I figured that if he had somewhere to sit then I would have both of my hands free again :) I set him up and put him in it and he really enjoyed playing for about two minutes. Then he got bored. The doctor had suggested adding some rice cereal to his diet to help his tummy, so I took this opportunity to feed him some. What an experience! He thought it was pretty funny to grab the spoon and fling it around... then spit it out all over my hair. In the end, I'm not sure how much got in his stomach but I really had a great time!

Let it Snow! A Night with the Saumwebers

We had about a minute of snowfall last night, and that was pretty cool. We bundled Jax up in his snow coat to try to keep him warm while we headed for dinner with Joe and Mary Saumweber. It was pretty cute! Here's a quick pic:

"I can't put my arms down!!"

Jax had a great time, and it was fun to see him and David Saumweber (who is 3 weeks older) finally start to notice one another. They weren't interested for very long, but they did have fun pulling at one another's shirts and batting at eachother's faces. After a while, though, enough was enough and it was time for the boys to go to bed. Jax fell asleep sucking on Daddy's thumb... Mommy's not so sure she likes that, but Dad thinks its pretty funny!

A Date with Grandma & Grandpa Great!

My Grandparents from the Wilcox side took a spontaneous trip down here from Magrath, Canada, and we were able to enjoy some great time with them! Jax is their first Great Grandson, and I think they had a really fun time getting to know him (as it was the first time they had met the little guy!!). They treated us to a great dinner at Chili's, and we enjoyed an evening together. It was something really special for me to see them interact with Jax and to realize what a great legacy is being built because of their faithfulness. How wonderful it is to have family, and what a blessing it is to know that the same associations we have here on Earth will follow us to the next life. We had a great time!

Getting so big!

I'm 14 Weeks old!

Happy Thanksgiving!

After our quick retreat in Midway we joined most of the family on my mother's side in Saratoga for a Thanksgiving Extravaganza!! In true Newton Family Form, the relatives got up early to run their own version of the Turkey Trot- a self-proclaimed 5K race where they run with homemade "turkey feathers" on their bums!

We joined them for a wonderful breakfast- eggs, pancakes, bacon, and egg nog!

Jax got to know some of his aunts...

While the rest of us headed to a field to play football. I missed out, because no one told me the girls got to play this year! :(

Afterward we all washed up and enjoyed a fabulous Thanksgiving meal. We toasted to our hapiness and basked in our gratitude as we downed mini Martinellis. It was great!

Mini Vacation at the Johnson Mill

We gave one another our Christmas presents early and took a mid-week vacation to the Johnson Mill Bed & Breakfast in Midway, UT. It was such a great break! We checked in on Tuesday night to find a freshly baked chocolate cake and a cute little name tag welcoming us to our room.

We had fun relaxing in front of our private fire place, watching movies, and playing games. I enjoyed the oversized jetted tub!! Then we went to sleep in our large pillow-top bed... or so we thought.

Jax had a different scenerio in mind for us that night, one that included hours of walking the floor and fussing. He finally got to sleep and we all settled in for a long winter's nap! The next morning we awoke to homemade biscuits and gravy, sausage, fruit, hot chocolate, and more. It was delicious! Eli decided to go fishing while I took Jax upstairs for a nap! Eli caught one small trout and joined us for naptime and some pleasure reading in the loft. After naps we were much happier! We decided to take a walk around the property. It was FREEZING! So we didn't get very far, but we enjoyed some of the grounds. Eli stopped at every little lake and stream to fish, and got pretty lucky catching some beautiful Rainbow Trout.

We passed by the waterfall that was just outside of our room...

...Ran into quite a few deer that were grazing...

...And enjoyed some of the other features of the beautiful place.

When we got back up to our room I snatched a few photos of the view from our balcony

After all the walking we decided to take a drive through town to see what there was to see. We visited some cute shops (window shopping the whole while!) and eventually wound our way up to the Wasatch Veterans Memorial Hill... it was neat to see the names of all the brave men and women from the Wasatch area that have fought for our country in so many different wars. It was humbling to see all the names right in front of us, and we so appreciate the men and women who continue to fight today to keep our country free and protect our freedoms. On memorial Hill

All in all we had a wonderful couple of days at the Johnson Mill Bed and Breakfast!!

I got tagged! 6 Facts about ME...

So Heather Hess just tagged me and said that I have to post 6 facts about myself, then tag someone else:) While I'm deciding who to tag, I guess I'll come up with my facts:

1. I absolutely love everything to do with the subject of "Criminal Justice." Not only do I love the Law & Order, CSI, etc. shows (like so many others) but I even check books out of the library for "pleasure reading" that go into details about different aspects of the criminal justice system. If I wasn't so small and didn't want a family I would for sure go into the criminal justice field.

2. I am constantly thinking about cheerleading. Let me clarify-- I don't live in the past (although it was great to be a cheerleader for 13 years and to have the opportunity to coach) and I have no intention of striving to "be a cheerleader" again, but I cannot ride in the car without thinking whether or not the song on the radio could be incorporated into a routine. I have dreams that I am making up new stunts (most of them completely unrealistic but pretty cool!). I think all the time about how I would run my own squad, and usually envision myself creating routines for a high-school level all-girls squad. I also watch "Cheerleader U" on TV... a documentary series on Kentucky University.

3. I love my family. I have an absolutely wonderful husband who works really hard at work and school and stresses enough about our future for the both of us! He is handsome and witty (albeit quite sassy!) and is always giving me a run for my money, but there isn't anyone else that I could possibly want to hang out with for eternity. We are now finding out how amazing it is to be parents to Jax, who also gives us a run for our money! There is nothing more I'd rather do than be a mom.

4. I desperately want to live in the south. I want a brick house with a wrap-around porch with two old rocking chairs just overlooking the yard. I must have two hound dogs (preferably redbone or walker) and I will name them "Mason" and "Dixon." We will grow old all together, hopefully watching my grandbabies play, just rocking in our chairs out on the porch while drinking some lemonade.

5. I don't think that I would ever buy a Mercedes. No offense to anyone that has one, and I certainly would not reject one if it was given to me as a gift, but I would never buy one. I'm simply a BMW kind of girl.

I would, however, buy a Jaguar.

6. I WILL attend the Kentucky Derby one day, and I will absolutely wear a fancy new hat. I don't want to go unless I can afford one of the best seats in the house, where I can sit my fancy hatted-self down with a cool glass of lemonade while I smooth my new sun dress and clap ever so politely. It is one of the most "grown up" things that I can think of, and it seems like it would be really fun to be so fancy.

Now I think I'll tag Kandis Barlow and Ginny Butler!

Playin... then watchin football!

It is amazing how quickly Jax is growing and learning. I love being able to be home with him to watch all the fun things he does! He has really learned how to use his hands in the last week or so, and when he isn't sucking on his entire fist at once he is usually batting furiously at his toys in front of him! He has started to squeal and talk at his toys, and this is usually followed by him wacking them as hard as he can. He thinks it is hilarious, and so do we!

I try to really limit the amount of TV that Jax watches, and how hard should that be?!? He's only 12 weeks old!......... except for one problem: He LOVES the TV. Anytime we have it on he tries to find a way to watch it. He will roll up on a shoulder, turn his head, or roll on his side to watch it if possible. Saturday at our house is Football day. We were watching the Michigan game and put Jax in this little "Exersaucer" thing to keep him entertained while I folded some laundry. I had it facing the opposite way of the TV in the hopes that he would find the toys entertaining... not a chance! I left for about a minute and when I came back, this is what I saw: He had swiveled his body around in his seat to watch the game! He managed an (almost complete) 180 degree turn so that he could watch football. It was hilarious! And the funniest part was probably that his body wasn't completely rotated, so he had to watch over his shoulder (as shown below!).

What a funny kid!!

A Fun Family Day

Eli's latest district at the MTC left yesterday, and he doesn't get another one until next week. This has freed up his schedule at least a little bit, and we took the time to spend today as a family. We had a great time as we took Jax to his first movie... we saw "Stardust" at the dollar movie theater and Jax did a pretty good job. We weren't too worried about taking him to the movie since it was a matinee and there were only about four other people in the theater!Afterward, we took Cosmo and Jax on a walk to a local park. We had a really nice time! Here are a few fun pics :) Jax sure loves it when his dad can hang out!

We are still looking forward to a quiet dinner and just spending some quality time together. Enjoy!

A Happy Halloween!

We had a wonderful Halloween! It was made all the more better having Jax with us this year. For his first Halloween, Jax dressed up as a "pea in a pod!" Eli dressed up as a (big suprise!) dentist, and I was "G Unit" (inspired only by the fact that I needed a quick costume and my brother had a ghetto-looking shirt that says G Unit on it!) Maybe next year we'll coordinate our costumes a little better! We had a great time getting together with some good friends and eating homemade cornbread and chili... it was a lot of fun. Here is a picture of us with Brad (a "bum") and his wife Erica (hot jailbird!). Enjoy!

S'more fun videos

Growing up!

Jax will be 10 weeks tomorrow and I swear the time keeps going faster and faster. I was looking at pictures from the day that he was born, and I cannot believe how much he has grown. He is now 23.5 inches long and weighs just over 11 lbs. Funnily, his height and weight are in the 40-45th percentile but his head is in the 60th percentile! He is talking (coos), laughing, and smiling all the time which makes for such a fun time. We are trying to soak up every minute of time we spend with him, as everyone keeps telling me (and I'm beginning to realize) that it all just goes by way too fast.