Our Family

Here we are all together! Despite the cereal that I sweep off of the floor every morning, the Barbie's that I step on every night, and the poopy diapers all day long, life is great! I love the homemade Halloween art addressed to "Mom" taped up over my bed with electrical tape, the naked kids standing over the heat vent "drying their bums" after the shower, and the smile I get from Jax when I get him out of bed in the morning. I love the bugs and friends that follow Simmy home from school, and the stack of stuffed animals that Oaklie is going to "let me play with for the day". Ofcourse, when I do actually get to see my husband, I love that too!!!

Our New Boy!

Our Jaxton Cohl was born June 12th---9 pounds 11 ounces, 23 inches long. He was in the NICU for the first 2 weeks, because his lungs never opened up to allow gas exchange. He drove the nurses crazy while he was there, but they all loved taking care of him! He is doing just perfectly now, and his Dr. says he is very advanced physically, developmentally, and socially. He is so dang cute! His Mom & Dad absolutely cannot get enough of him!!! He has so much personality, and a smile to die for, not to mention he has the cutest, face, head, and body in the world! So, we are back to poopy diapers, formula, and all the baby parafanelia, but hey---he sleeps 11 hrs at night, so we can handle the rest. No really, he is absolutely HEAVEN!!!! I would venture to say that he is almost as much in love with his mom as she with him. There is nothing better!!! I love the way he looks at me, and goes crazy when he sees me. He has such a cute fauxhawk on the top of his cute round head. He has already had his "hawk" trimmed, since it was so long. I could snuggle him all day, except that he is a burley 16 pounds now & almost 27 inches long, which is not easy on my back! He is at an advantage for grabbing with his long monkey arms. The other day I walked past my dresser with him. He reached out, grabbed a bottle of fingernail polish, and put it right into his mouth. He also pulled the sacrament water tray down on to my dress at church. He is 4 months old now, and I am still enjoying every minute! I love that boy!!!!!!!!

Oaklie Echo Birthday Girl!

Our little Oak turned 17---I mean 5 years old this week! During her birthday spotlight at school, I told the kids about the salt shaker that she flushed down the toilet last week. She informed them that that happened a long time ago when she was only 4. She informed me that "Those salt shakers are much more shinier when they are wet." She is soooo funny and cute! She told me the other day that she wished that "Every child could be as beautiful as her!" She even made her Gammy take her school pictures twice, so that she could have them done in 2 different outfits. Last Sunday she bore her testimony in church, and said that "This church is great, because it has all kinds of way good stuff in it." Oak got to stay in Park City, and ride the Alpine Slide for her birthday. She informed me that Disneyland would have been much better, but that Park City was pretty fun too. She is such a good helper with Jaxton, and even takes the poopy diapers out to the big garbage. Like her Aunt Sands said the other day "There is only one Oaklie!" Love you baby girl!

Simmy "The Man" Jr.

Simmy is back in school and loving it. The other day I went to school lunch with him. I always knew he was quite the popular kid, but not to the extent that he really is. The kids practically sit on laps to get close to him, and the girls can't get enough of him. He gets "high fives" from all the big kids, and kisses from the girls (involuntarily). I would tease him that the girls sucked all his teeth out with kisses, if I hadn't witnessed the dentist pulling them out to allow room for his permanent teeth. His best friend Christian recently gave him a big "cross" necklace that he paraded around in for a few days. It was pretty cute! Christian infomed me that he has already saved up $30 for Sim's birthday present next May (what the crap is he planning on buying?). His friend Anthony said "Hey Sim, who's the Mamacita? Yowzzza!" Sim said "Dude, that's my Mom!" Anthony said "Nice! A pretty lady with a pretty baby!" His friends are a crack up! Sim loves math, science, art, and P.E. best. He is very particular about his clothes and hair, which drives me crazy in the morning, but our very patient bus driver waits for him outside our house while he decides what shoes to wear. He is such a cute, smart, handsome boy. I love you Simmy!

Simmy's Latest Adventure

Poor Sim fell down my mom's porch stairs while carrying Simmy out to the car last Sunday night. Simmy went flying, and was knocked out cold. When we could not get him to wake up we called the paramedics, and he was ambulanced to Primary Childrens Medical Center. When Simmy did start to respond, he was very combative, and pretty funny. He informed the Doctors and nurses in a loud scream that he was "The child with the baddest life ever." This was ofcourse after he had already accused them of trying to kill him, because they had him strapped down to a board with a hard collar on his neck. Here is a picture of him after he became once again our sweet, human child, and started to recognize us. He had a concussion, but is doing great now. The first few days after were like "50 First Dates" at our house. Thank heaven that has resolved. We are just so glad he is ok. Love you Buddy!

Oaklie Echo "Dancing Queen"

Well, Oak has managed to escape without any injuries. Thank goodness. She is loving dance and preschool, and actually writes her name legibly now. She sings through my belly to her baby brother every day, and informed me today that I am "finally getting it" (a belly). She is still a very girlie girl, and addresses her prayers to "Our Heavenly Cutesie Father", and blesses us all that we will be "beautiful" and "handsome", and "love everyone inthe world". She is a crack up.

The other day, a mean old man at the grocery store shoved a basket into me, because he thought I was butting in line. She informed him that her "Papa and Bompa would NEVER do something mean like that", and that he needed to tell me sorry. He apologized, and she continued to point him out until we left the store. She is so cute, and we love her one of a kind personality.

Our New Car

Last month I was in a serious car accident. I hit black ice in the middle of the freeway, and slid into the cement median at over 50MPH. My car spun 3 times across 5 lanes, and into the other cement median. The car impacted 4 times front and back, and then I spun around facing traffic in the middle lane. I had to climb out my window, because the door was pinned. Needless to say, the car was totalled, and I had to go to physical therapy for my neck for several weeks.
Anyway, here is a picture of our new car. We got a Jeep Commander. I love it. It has heated leather seats, stadium seating, a custom lift, custom tires, rims, grill, and well...just about everything else, including 4 different languages for the digital dash (maybe I can learn French).
Most of all, I'm glad everything turned out ok, and that I am here. It was very scary, and I remember thinking that I felt bad that my kids wouldn't have a mom. Glad things turned ou the way they did.