Photo Shoot

I've finally managed to get some cute photos of the kids. Our first attempt wasn't so successful. Ehlana was not happy about it. It would have looked better if I'd cleaned up the house also....



This time Jaxson wouldn't hold her but the pictures still turned out cute. I really wish I had a really nice camera. I hope to find someone to take some family photos of us soon. We're due for a good family portrait.

This past week we had Company. Some we'd invited and some we didn't...

My sister came into town Tuesday night and we had a lot of fun together. The first day she was here we decided to take it easy and hang out at home. At about 10:30am there was a knock at the door. I looked out the window and didn't recognize the man there so we pretended like we weren't home. Within a couple minutes he walked to the back of our house, jumped over our wooden privacy fence, and tried to enter the house through our back door! Luckily we still had the alarm set and when he opened the locked screen door it triggered the alarm and scared him away. I immediately called the police and they searched the area, took a report, and got some fingerprints. I'm glad they took it so seriously. I'm so glad nothing more serious happened. We were really blessed. We were pretty nervous and stayed inside the rest of the day. My sister got a true taste of living in the Ghetto!

Thursday we went and did a little shopping and went out to lunch. I just wanted to show her some of the area, it was her first time to the East Coast. We also went letter boxing which is like a treasure hunt. All you need is a rubber stamp, ink pad, and a notebook. You look up the website, find some in your area, and follow the clues to a park or something and you can find a hidden rubber stamp and a notebook. You then stamp your notebook and the hidden notebook. The clues were pretty hard so we only found one of 3 at that park. We could have found at least one more but the kids were falling apart. Jaxson didn't get into it as much as I thought.

Friday we hung out at home again. Steve rented us a chick flick, P.S. I Love You. It was really cute! I definitely recommend it, but watch it with a box of tissues. One minute we were crying and the next minute we were laughing. That's what I call a good movie!

Saturday we went to the Beach! Yeah! I've been wanting to go so bad. It was really sunny and pretty warm, but the wind made it a little cold. We mostly just played in the sand. It was great to have my sister here. I love to just sit and visit with her. I forgot to bring my camera to all our events, so we didn't get any pictures. As soon as I get some cute ones of the kids I'll post them.

I Can Do This!

I've been on my own with two kids for 3 days! I've successfully gotten two children and myself ready and out the door on time two mornings in a row! I get diaper bags packed, clothes laid out, and my hair washed the night before. A little organization goes a long way! Steve is home today so we're taking it easy. Ehlana has been sleeping great! We thought Jaxson was a great sleeper, but, not compared to her. She usually goes to bed at about 11pm and wakes up to eat only once at night and sleeps until 7 or 7:30am. Last night she went to bed at 10:30 ate at 4:30am (That's 6 hours of sleep!) And she didn't wake up again until almost 8am! When people used to tell me their newborns slept like this I didn't believe them. Jaxson didn't do just one feeding at night until he was like 6 months old!
Jaxson has settled down a little more this week. He's been throwing tantrums a lot and being really wild around the baby. Now he's playing by himself more and I'm making sure I give him more individual attention.
Elle eats and sleeps great but if she's awake and not being held and bounced she's usually screaming. She's so opposite of Jaxson. Even if I'm holding her she not happy unless I'm bouncing her. When we had Jaxson Steve's sister's gave us an exercise ball to sit and bounce the baby on. It works so much better than a rocking chair! We call it the Baby Charmer!

Rotations!

Steve has started his rotations! Yeah, no more class work! His goal was to not get a B during his Med School career but sadly this last semester he got one B+. He was kinda disappointed but I was so proud of him! He now is in his rotations where he works with a different Doctor every 6 weeks. His first one is Family Practice and he's really enjoying it so far. We are still trying to set up his last four rotations in Washington. He just has two more to finalize. He really wants to do a Cardiac Surgery Rotations there because that's what he wants to do, but, that's one he's having trouble setting up. We're moving out there for sure in December, but we'd like to go in October. We'll keep you all posted!

I've been tagged so here goes...

Hubby Tagg
What is his name? Stephen James Cox
How old is he? 27
How long have we been married? 4 years
How long did we date? Um dated... only a month and a half but we were engaged 6 months
Who said I love you first? He did after just a week of dating
Who is taller? Steve, of course
Who sings better? I do, but we both really like to sing
Who is smarter? He definitely is!
Whose temper is worse? He loses his temper more often, but I'm scarier
Who pays the bills? He does
Who does the laundry? I do
Who cooks dinner? I do. (We could have been a Married Couple in the 50's!)
Who drives when we are together? Steve, unless I'm picking him up
Who is more stubborn? Him
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Usually me, but he's quick to follow
Whose family do you see more? His I guess because his sister is only 3 hours away
Who has more friends? I probably do, he's usually just friends with my friends husbands
Who wears the pants in the family? Depends on what it is. Finances: him, Making plans: me
Who eats more sweets? For sure, Steve. Some women find women's phone number's in thier husbands backpacks, I find candy bar wrappers! :)
Who mows the lawn? Steve does
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does
Who asked who out first? I did.
Who kissed who first? He did.
What is my favorite thing about him? His passion for his family. He's really passionate about providing for us spiritually and financially. He puts nothing above taking care of us!

Tag
I've read this one on a few people's blogs so if you're reading this on May 13th and you haven't done it, consider yourself tagged.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful women who inspire me to be the best mother I Can be!
Mother's Day is a great Holiday to reflect on the wonderful women we love. My mother just left this morning to go back home. I'm so sad she had to leave, I love having her here.
I'm so blessed to be a Mother! Today Jaxson came home with a book his teacher a church had made for the children's Mother's. She asked the children questions about their mother's and they had some really funny answers.

Jaxson's Mother's Day Book:
Q. I know my Mother loves me because
A. She goes in her bed and lays down
(In my defense I just had a baby! But, he is more observant than I thought!)
Q. I love my Mommy because
A. She fixes me pancakes
Q. A Funny thing my Mommy does
A. She chases me with a cushion
Q. My favorite story my Mommy tells me is
A. Reindeer
(I don't know what he was talking about!?...)
Q. A movie character my Mommy looks like is
A. Alvin
(Who!?...Well one kid said Shrek so I guess this Alvin isn't too bad.)
Q. My Mommy's Favorite food is
A. Pancakes
Q. An animal my Mommy looks like is
A. A lion
Q. I like it when my Mommy sings
A. E-I-E-I-O
Q. My favorite thing to do with my Mommy is
A. Peek-a-boo
Q. My Mommy makes me feel better by
A. Coloring a pizza with a marker
(Your guess is as good as mine!)
Q. My Mommy looks the prettiest
A. At Christmas
Q. My favorite food that my Mommy makes is
A. Pancakes
(I do make him pancakes almost every morning, I guess he really appreciates it!)

Steve and I laughed and laughed about his cute answers. Oh, the joys of Motherhood. Here's some pictures of him wearing my Mom's reading glasses and reading her scriptures. So Cute!


The little pleasures of being a Mother! I'm so grateful for my adorable children!

Growing Girl

Here's some updated pictures. As you can tell I'm loving dressing a girl and doing her hair!

I love Taggs!

I mostly love to read other people's taggs and learn things I never knew about them. This one is a challenge but I'll do my best!

8 things I’m passionate about
1) My kids
2) My marriage
3) Family
4) Choosing good Friends
5) Decorating and organizing
6) Living a healthy life
7) Education and finances
8) The Gospel

8 Songs I can listen to over and over again and never get sick of
1) Thankful-Josh Groban
2) ABC-Jackson 5
3) Almost any Celine Dion song (poor Steve!)
4) Jaxson singing I'm a Child of God
5) Jaxson singing The Farmer in the Dell
6) Over the Rainbow-IZ
7) Sometimes- Dixie Chicks
8) Hold My Hand- Hootie and the Blowfish

The past 8 books I’ve read
I'm going to have to skip this one because I don't like to read so all I read is Church manuals and the Scriptures....

8 Things I say often
1) I'm tired!
2) That's Funny
3) No Way
4) I love you!
5) Use your talking words, not your whining words
6) Turn off your tears (I stole that one from you, Amy!)
7) Baby Cakes
8) Jaxson James

8 Things that attract me to a friend
1) a sense of Humor, I can't be taken too seriously
2) someone who likes to hang out and has us over
3) someone who likes to talk about intellectual things or sometimes just nothing of any importance
4) someone who's sincere
5) someone who has basic interest in common with me
6) someone who gives good advice
7) you can't be scared of seeing me cry!
8) confidence is a must!

8 Random things about me
1) I can roll my stomach well not right now I just had a c-section but it'll come back!
2) I love the beach and being on the water. We really want a boat someday!
3) I think my husband is the best looking guy I've ever dated, and I've dated a lot of guys.....
4) I'm not a perfectionist, just hardworking and organized
5) I'm writing a cookbook that I'd love to have published one day
7) I'm really passionate about how my kids are raised, I'm glad my Husband is the same
8) I don't love to travel, especially not to big cities. I like to see new places and experience new things but I love coming back home!

8 Things I want to do before I die
1) Get Steve through school, only 1 year left!
2) Buy a house with a big kitchen and big back yard
3) Watch my kids grow into happy adults and parents, get married in the temple, go on missions, have babies.... I'm only having kids so one day I can have grandkids, Just Kidding!
4) Go to Culinary Arts school
5) Learn to Sew
6) Be less judgmental and more Christ-like
7) Go on a mission with Steve, he wants to go back to Japan and I'd love to go too
8) Do some thing with all the pictures I need to scrap book, I don't like scrap booking, I think I'm missing some kind of "Mormon Gene" or something

8 Things I’ve learned this past year
1) I was truly born to be a Mother, and I really love it!
2) The Lincoln Memorial is HUGE
3) I hate humidity
4) Steve and I make really cute kids!
5) I love being in Young Women's!
6) That I can have friends who are really different than me and truly enjoy than for who they are
7) My husband is my best friend, we are a great team
8) I've grown really close to my Heavenly Father this past year, I know He loves me and is proud of me. I know what I need to do to return to live with Him.

8 people I'm tagging
Amy
Heather
Diane
Mala
Neil
Dean
Carl
Kathy

Night & Day

We've been home from the hospital now for 3 days. The first night was horrible, Elle had her night and day mixed up and was up all night. My mom came into town that night and was supposed to get in at 10:10 but her flight was delayed until almost midnight. Elle went down at 10:30 and cried at 11pm and then again at 12:15. I fed her and then my came in at 1am and got to hold her for a little while. Elle would not fall asleep for anything! She cried unless she was being bounced. Finally at 3am I put her down and let her cry because I didn't know what else to do. Steve took a turn and rocked her for a half an hour and than she slept until 4am and cried again. I got out of bed after only an hour of sleep and tried to feed her again. She ate on on one side fell asleep and slept until 8am. I heard Jaxson at 7:30 and got up with him at 7:45. I couldn't believe I was functioning. I was so exhausted from three nights of no sleep and my body trying to heal from surgery. It's amazing the strength Heavenly Father gives a mother. There is no other way to put it. Luckily with my mom and Steve were home Saturday so I took a couple naps and last night she did great! She slept for 2 and a half hours at a time and fell asleep with no problem after each feeding. I was really happy, I hope we have another good night!
Steve's sister and her family made the 3 hour drive from Northern Virginia to visit us today. It was really fun. Alyssa and Kate loved Ehlana and Jaxson had a blast playing with them.

The girls loved holding Elle. Kate was especially cute with her little smile.



Tim and Laurie got Jaxson a bike and he loves it! Thank-you for the fun day Uncle Tim and Aunt Laurie!

Our Growing Family

I'm still here in the hospital. Steve is home with Jaxson and they come and visit a couple times a day. Jaxson likes the new baby and smiles when he holds her but is other wise more interested in the food I have around the hospital room. He is the typical 2 1/2 year old boy! My mom said he would have been more excited to have a puppy than a new baby, I would have to agree! The baby is pretty uneventful in his eyes. He'd rather push the buttons on my hospital bed.
Steve is a great second time dad. With Jaxson he was so nervous but this time around he's a pro. The Nurses even compliment him on his diaper changing skills. The day she was born he couldn't stop smiling and he really enjoys just sitting and holding her. She's already Daddy's Little Girl. He also brought me flowers and rented me a movie for our anniversary yesterday. He's been so thoughtful and a great help. I couldn't do it without him!
I'm hanging in there due to the frequent pain killers. The first day I thought healing was going to be a breeze but it was just because the good drugs were still in effect. Otherwise I'm fine. I can get up and move around with out assistance, the contractions while breast feeding are the biggest discomfort.
Little Elle is just a joy! She's eating well and sleeping at night in 3-4 hour stretches, yeah! I've had many nurses offer to take her home but I think we'll keep her! It's nice to just sit in bed and be with her. I'm excited to see her grow and change. Here's a little video of her yesterday morning at about 5am. She's just a doll.