The Turtle Tales

Playing catch up... and catch as well.

2012-01-28T21:38:00.000-07:00

Things continue to be chaos here. I didn't get any pictures from Christmas- but the kids had a great time. Jaxon got the smart cycle that he wanted so so badly from Santa the kids definitely were spoiled by family and friends!

Jaxon continues to do great in school. He continues to impress everyone with how incredibly smart he is and his memory is phenomenal.

Alexa is running everywhere and talking up a storm. Her favourite words are daddy, hi and owwwww. She likes to hurt herself or others and then say ow. We are working on stopping her but I do have to admit that when she looks up with her big blue eyes and whispers "owie".... it's really stinking cute.

Braxton is walking around now as well. He still crawls occasionally but it's hard to get into everything when you're on all fours! He likes to play catch, make vroom sounds while playing with toy cars and his newest trick- Baby Sign Language.

Homeschooling- Dev isn't big on the idea of homeschooling but we both agree that the public school systems are not ideal for our children... The preschool Jaxon is in is great but once he hits kindergarden and is in the actual "system"- I lose faith. Our compromise, and help to my sanity, is to compliment their education at home.

Currently we are working on languages, handwriting and reading. Jaxon and Braxton are doing great with ASL and I imagine if we could get Lexie to care about it- she would too. we also watch Spanish and french videos but I think focusing on them would be a bit of overkill.

Reading- we read to our kids... and i'm allowed to count that!

Writing- a friend of mine gave us some handwriting without tears and we are going to do that with Jaxon. His school is working on this as well so I hope that if Jaxon decides to be a doctor (and not batman) then at least his handwriting will legible. :)

Devan was recently terminated from his job... it has made things very stressful and because this is a public blog- I can't go into a lot of detail.

Things are crazy around here and hopefully when I get a phone (I currently don't have one) I can update from there a bit more.

Zoo Lights and Gingerbread

2011-12-10T23:20:00.000-07:00

My relief society made gingerbread houses for our enrichment night and I brought Jaxon with me so we could spend time together.


Doesn't Jaxon have AMAZING eyes?

Our house was... special. The houses were supposed to be put on display during the RS dinner but to be honest- I was a little worried that it would get made fun of and it's mine and Jaxon's! Jaxon enjoyed squishing my snowmen... and randomly sticking gumdrops everywhere.

Tonight was supposed to be the Relief Society dinner and I had plans to go until Devan told me that he had made plans with Newton and Cheryl to go see the zoo lights. We had a great time and took lots of pictures!

"There is a spider! But just one...."

Super Troopers anyone?

The lights

Aliya, Jaxon and Kanye

Cold and tired. He was in a jacket, the Boba and inside my sweater

Dad and Daughter

Kanye and Aliya

Not happy to be cold

Sweet girl

Grandpa's Visit

2011-12-07T00:52:00.000-07:00

My Grandpa is pretty awesome. He came down to visit us for a few days and bestow an awesome, greatly appreciated present. He was here during Jaxon's school parade and the local mommies trunk or treat. The kids LOVE him and he is so good with them!

Thank you Grandpa! Jaxon still asks when you are coming back. :)

Twins turn ONE!

2011-12-05T00:48:00.000-07:00

You didn't think I mean LAST Monday...did you? Cause that would mean I would be updating regularly. :D In all honesty- I really did mean that day though.

The twin's first birthday happened to be the day of Devans gallbladder surgery. This meant that they were woken up early and dragged crying to my friends house so that I can get Devan to the hospital. Happy Birthday Kids!!!!!
THEN they went to Candy's and from there to my mom's. I am grateful that so many people were willing to help us out and love on them. Our goal next year is to not have anyone in our family in the hospital on November 18th. Two years to many.

Devan declared that the twins birthday party would continue as planned for November 19th at my mom's and we managed to arrive 45 minutes late for the twins own party. Devan's family was already there and had been for... 45 minutes. LOL

It was a great party. We had the most important people around us to celebrate the twins birth. Here are some photos and at the bottom is the FB status I posted for them. It sums it up quite well!

YAYYYY ME!

"It's my birthday!"

Chubber chins

"It's my what?"

Beautiful girl

Need more cake

Happy Birthday to me!

A year ago today, our family witnessed a miracle with the birth of our premature twins. I am so incredible grateful for the resilience of the human body, the expertise of the doctors and nurses as well as the family and friends that stood by to support us while we went through our own personal hell.

Happy Happy First Birthday Alexa Joyce and Braxton James...You have kept us on our toes since day one and have blessed us in ways we never thought possible. Mommy loves you!


Lexie and Braxton as Preemies

Alexa and Braxton today

Overwhelmed

2011-11-24T23:49:00.002-07:00

Im going to be honest here... The reason that there aren't a lot of updates lately is because sooo much is going on. I sit down to blog and I don't even know where to start! As I think of whats gone on i'll put it in but this post won't be flowing well and there will be tons of photos that wont be in any order.

Halloween was pretty bad. All the kids were cranky, wanted me and I'll admit that I lost my temper which pretty much ruined all hope of a good evening. I apologized for yelling and we went out to trick or treat but the twins were clingier then usual (can't blame em). Jaxon was batman, Lexie was supergirl and Braxton was robin. I loveeed doing the theme and will definitely be doing it next year.

Jaxon's preschool had a parade. He was so so so cute holding hands with his buddy and after the parade, they all stood at the front of the school and sang. A little girl kept shoving kids out of the way to stand by Jaxon and was sitting next to him when I picked him up. I think she has a crush on him.

My mom and Jaxon were riding mom's new horse, Cutems. Cutems decided being ridden was overrated and started acting up. My mom and Jaxon fell and as my mom twisted to save Jaxon she hit the ground. She ended up in the ER with a possible broken hip and after several xrays/cat scans it was determined that she had some massive bruising and a crack in the little pokey bone part (technical term ;)) off of L1. She is doing lots better- she was told that she would not be able to walk around for about 10 days and she was back at work in 3!!

Devan had some training down by Provo and we decided to go and stay at a hotel. The firstt day Devan was hurting and went to an instacare to be told that he had an intestinal blockage. He was sent home and told he would be miserable for three days. On the third day, Dev woke up in agony. We ran him to IMC ER and found out that he had been misdiagnosed and had gallstones. He had it removed and is doing much much much better as long as he doesn't sneeze. He had an asthma attack, went into shock and didn't handle the anesthesia very well (although he was hilarious coming off it). It was scary but i'm glad he is home and healthy.

My grandpa came to visit and it was so nice to see him. This gets its own post so I will put up in the next few days. :D

The twins turned one! I feel they deserve their own post on this so I will update by Monday!

Braxton and Great Grandpa waiting for the parade.

Now for photos!

Jaxon is the batman in front

Super Lexie flying

Tooele Mommy Trunk or Treat!!

My friends little girls. They went as Sushi and Wasabi Sauce

practicing for halloween

2011-10-17T13:40:00.000-06:00

Last year we got gypped out of Halloween...I was on bedrest and so Jaxon barely had a holiday. This year I feel the desire to over compensate and so we've been celebrating since October 1!

This past weekend we went to the local pumpkin walk. The the theme was Dr. Suess. Jaxon is IN LOVE with The Cat in the Hat and I knew he would love it. I was disappointed with the amount of pumpkins but we still had a good time.

The photos are a little out of order with the costumes.

The Grinch!

The Cat in the Hat!

We also went and got costumes for Noah, Jaxon and Braxton. I haven't found anything I like yet for Lexie Lou.

Noah is a creepy skeleton

Braxton is Robin

Batman is a nose picker.

Jaxon ran off screaming when we tried to get a family photo

A Month Later

2011-10-14T23:29:00.001-06:00

Its been since I last did an update. I wish I could say that it's because we've been busy but that's not completely true... I just haven't updated!

Jaxon just got over a horrible cold. I kept him home from school for over a week and he wasn't disappointed. Its hard to get him to school but he LOVES it once he is there. Every school day he comes home with a new art project, an assignment and a treat.
We suspect that Jaxon made have SPD- or Sensory Processing Disorder. He has likes and aversions that are not normal- and while doing the research we discovered that I probably have it too. He comes by it honestly. His official testing will be the first week in November. It essentially shows up in activities like cutting his hair, trimming nails, tags, walking on grass... very touchy things. It doesn't effect his intelligence- he is still scary smart. Jaxon is 29lbs.

Lexie has two teeth and can crawl, cruise, stand up on her own and says DADA. She is very much attached to her mommy and daddy- when we pick her up from the gym daycare, she cries and cries. However- she is fine when she is in there. Alexa is also getting gorgeous curly strawberry blonde hair. Alexa is 15lbs.

Braxton has three teeth and can crawl. He hasn't mastered standing up but can cruise.. he loves to talk and can also say DADA. He is pretty easy going and does this cute (and oh so annoying) whine when he wants something. He is a very tricky little boy and is quite a handful. Braxton is 18.8lbs.

Ducky face

Braxton has the cutest wrinkle nose when he gets excited

Mama's little redhead

Noah

Ism

2011-09-10T22:47:00.001-06:00

Time for an updated ism post!

Jaxon:

Devan: Jaxon- do you want to watch teenage mutant ninja turtles?
Jaxon: Where are teeny meeny turtles?

Jaxon:Grandpa bought me a fossil. He is a good grandpa.

Wes bought Jaxon a fossil of a fish/shell/thingy. We told him it was a Me:dinosaur(better then expecting him to remember a long scientific name). When we got home he threw his fossil. In shock I asked him what he was doing and he looked and me and goes "getting my dinosaur out of that rock". (the fossil survived)

Also related to the fossil (this fossil has had some awesome moments).
Jaxon:mommy- when I get home I am going to play with my fossil.
Me:What can you do with a fossil?
Jaxon: (pause) lots of things.

Me: Great Jump!
Jaxon: That was a fly not a jump

Jaxon is in school!! He says he" likes it and I played hide n seek and I said thank you when I got my sandals back."
Alexa: Alexa is a spaz. Always moving and completly devoted to mommy. She is a great crawler and puller upper and lovees to be where the action is.

Devan was in the shower and I was getting Jaxon into jammies when Lexie crawled down the hall looking for people. She headbutted the bathroom door, crawled in and then pulled herself up onto the tub and peeked in the bathtub for Devan. He said it was so cute to look down and see this little face peeking up at him.

Braxton is becoming good at waving. at everything. and not waving back. But hey! he is waving! He is a good army crawler, pulls himself up quite well and is always so. so. so incredibly happy now. He is in love with the vacuum and will chase it all over the room anytime someone is vacuuming. I sure wish he was old enough to push it himself!!

Devan got a snake, a ton of work training and a stomach bug. I got mastitis, a rat and a new semester of school. Thats about all thats new with us.

Getting big before our eyes.

2011-08-28T02:08:00.000-06:00

Today Braxton started clapping and pulling himself up and supporting himself with one hand.

Don't believe me? Check it out HERE!

Alexa

2011-08-23T11:58:00.002-06:00

Here is Alexa crawling! (Sorta)

Thrush

2011-08-22T01:20:00.000-06:00

Braxton has thrush and has passed it to me. This means neither of us are very pleasant to be around. I took him into the doctor and found out that he is 17.4lbs. Such a little piggy man. While we were there I threw Lexie on the scale. Little Miss is 14lbs even. My tiny tiny princess.

Even superheroes need naps

2011-08-19T21:54:00.001-06:00

I hear a thunk coming from the other room and jaxon comes in shaking his head wearing only a cape and a pull up. I ask him what he is doing and in a totally dejected voice he goes " I jumped and did not fly"

ism

2011-08-12T15:40:00.001-06:00

Lexieism... lexie is doing her version of army crawling. She is so cute!

Braxtonism... braxton has figured out how to give kisses and "hugs"... hugs by laying his head down.

Jaxonism... we went to feed the ducks yesterday. Jaxon looks at me and goes " thank you for feeding duckies with me."

I love these kids!

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Toofers

2011-08-09T00:37:00.000-06:00

Braxton woke up on Sunday (the 7th) sporting his very first shiny tooth. He has already sharpened it on his mommy and only has about a third of the amount of drool on his face as usual.

Flash Mob

2011-08-07T00:06:00.000-06:00

Today Alexa, Braxton and I participated in a flash mob at the Downtown main library. It was incredibly fun! Here are the pictures! You can also view us if you click here!

lexie lou

2011-08-02T23:26:00.001-06:00

Today Alexa learned to clap!

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Early Intervention

2011-08-02T02:12:00.000-06:00

I made an appointment with early intervention to get the twins looked at; as they are preemies they are at a very high risk for delays. Here is what we found.

Alexa: Beautiful girl has some abnormal muscle tone. She likes to hold one arm behind her and keep her legs stiff, however- since she has full range of motion in all limbs they are not worried and have asked us to call if range of motion becomes a problem.

Braxton: The Moose man is a bit behind on his vocab. He makes sounds and talks but does not make baba, dada, babble. He is not delayed enough to warrant treatment.

How do we feel about it? I am frustrated that the early intervention folks want to wait until the few issues become serious problems. Why wait?! Why not give me some things to do to prevent a problem!? So we are going to do things on our own. With Braxton we are working on getting him to babble- its hard because he is not at a repeater point but what else can we do? Alexa is getting massages for muscle tone. Poor girl. massages are awesome.

We aren't worried about the twins intelligence. Einstien didn't talk until he was four! I just focus on this so intensely because its not the twins fault that they were preemies. I don't want them to be at a disadvantage.

It wasn't a total frustration though. The EI folks couldn't stop talking about what a well behaved boy Jaxon is and how sweet Alexa is (Braxton was being a cranky boots). Silly EI. We all already knew what amazing kids we have.

Look What We're Starting!!

2011-07-25T19:20:00.000-06:00

It dawned on me today that Braxton and Alexa are easily at the point of having Braxtonisms and Alexaisms, So here we go,

Braxton: Everytime he sees Brack Obama on the tv- he cracks up.

Alexa: Lexie has discovered how to throw as well as splash. They went to the pool for the first time on Friday and every time Alexa would splash she would announce it with a huge scream.

funny boy

2011-07-25T15:20:00.001-06:00

Me:jaxon if you don't start behaving then you wont get to go to grandmas.

Jaxon:no.... I will get my very own little little car and drive to grandma's by myself!

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Our News

2011-07-24T01:09:00.000-06:00

I don't know if you saw/remember a few posts back where I posted that Devan had some news but that we couldn't share it yet??? Well here it is...

Devan no longer works with Metro Protective. He is now employed at ATI. This is what we wanted- better pay, better benefits, etc; they even give him a gas allowance!

There is a downside to this and that is while Devan is in training- we don't see him but for a few minutes here and there. He will work a rotating schedule so we will have weeks where he is home every day and weeks where we only see him right before bed.

Since Devans job hours vary so much- I am no longer employed either. I suppose I will have to go to more local playdates in order to maintain my sanity... or maybe i'll just redecorate the house how I want! ;-)

Monkey T-shirt review

2011-07-21T17:32:00.000-06:00

I was accepted to review a shirt fromhttp://www.tshirtprinting.net/personalised-t-shirts/. It arrived in the mail incredibly quick and the colours were so bright and the t-shirt was made of heavy good quality material. I wore the shirt running and then washed it.. not only did the shirt not shrink but the colour didn't fade either. I checked out the website to see what else they offered since I really was impressed by the shirt and noticed that they not only sell shirts, but also hoodies, vests and shirts for kids. You also get to choose as many as you want (min of 12) and they do company promotional silk screen printing as well. If you are in the market for something along these lines- you NEEEED to check out http://www.tshirtprinting.net/personalised-t-shirts/... they are phenomenal!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

2011-07-13T00:00:00.001-06:00

Three years ago you stole our hearts... now you spend every day filling them with you. I love you so much sweet boy and I hope you never forget that.

Newborn Jaxon Turtle

My Sweet Boy

PARTY! Toddler style!

2011-07-11T01:19:00.001-06:00

This picture was actually taken in April but I just found it so I'm including it here.

On Sunday July 10th, Jaxon celebrated his third birthday (a little early). We gathered at Grammy's and Grandpa's Wes's house and played outside with sprinklers, bubbles and chalk. We also had pizza and a cars cake! We are so lucky and blessed to have these people in our lives.

Add caption

Who couldn't help but love this man

all these people who love Jaxon!

Allison, Steven and Katie

Desiree of http://dalbylife.blogspot.com

Mary Emma

Future Braxton?

Braxton was sooo tired at the end

Desiree's chapstick holder is THE GREATEST THING EVER

Lexie and Grammy

The Saunders

Kanye

I dont WANT MRES! I WANT nursers!

Dev crashing the picture

Bethany siging Jaxons card

Kozaks

Cheryl always looks so pretty

Beautiful Aliya

Pictures

2011-06-27T21:46:00.000-06:00

We are going to be having a busy summer. Devan has some stuff going on (I will post when he can go public) that will cause him to be spending a lot of time gone... I am only a week or two away from turning in my two week notice. We signed Jaxon up for free bowling, lots of playdates and the utah kids club. Between that and some of the activities around the valley (Breastfeeding Cafe Flash Mob for example), Jaxon's birthday,fixing the yard, swim lessons and getting him (as in Jaxon) ready for pre-school... things are actually going to be overwhelming.We are all excited for it though.

We are having the twins evaluated by Early Intervention. They are at such a high risk for problems that I want them caught ASAP IF they develop any. Noone is worried though.

That is about it for updates... My computer has been mostly fixed (waiting on one more piece) so hopefully I can post more often. I did find a Jaxonism written down the other day from when I was in the hospital...

Jaxon: Yuv mommy.... Yuv Daddy. Mommy HOME not Mommy hokipal.

Now for pictures!!!

Catching Up

2011-05-25T17:12:00.000-06:00

I need to pull pictures from the camera and facebook for here but to be honest- I don't see it happening anytime soon and so i'll just post the verbal updates.

I've gone back to work part time with Metro. Devan and I are playing soccer- he is really good and i really suck but its fun and it's exerciser. I have also been going running at night with a friend of mine but the weight loss isn't working like I would like and I am hoping to get my metformin back to help again.

We are going to do bankruptcy... we should be able to keep our house since we are upside down.. but the bills NOT covered by insurance are approximately 700,000. It makes me wish that the U.S was more like Canada... although I usually wish that anyways.

Braxton is around 15lbs and has rolls on his rolls. I LOVE that chubby monster. He can roll from his front to back, sit up with help and is either smiling or crying. LOVES to give big giggles and he loves to blow spit bubbles and play with his feet.

Jaxon is still my brilliant little boy. He is amazingly smart.... enough that it is almost scary somethings. I need to do a Jaxonism post soon since I get new material daily. Yesterday I got coffee samples in the mail and he told me that coffee is bad for people. Then he went and got keys and told me that he had to drive to church. =)

Alexa can roll from tummy to back and can sit up with help. She sucks on everything- blankets, feet, thumb, wall, dog, other people... and more. She likes to stick her tongue out and is so good natured. She only cries when hungry or scared. And she is a bit of a scaredy cat. Loud noises, the vacuum, etc. She is our princess and knows it.

things are going well. They are a bit busy (this post keeps getting interrupted to take care of little people) but none of us could be happier