Eight Years of Happiness and Fun

I am so lucky to have been married to my best friend, the love of my life, my soul mate for the past eight years. I know that lots of people think they have the best husband in the world, but I truly do. He is so good to me and is such a totally awesome father. He takes such good care of us and I am so appreciative of the sacrifices he makes so that I can stay at home with our babies. He's hard-working, thoughtful, smart, very handy and resourceful, kind, so funny, patient, handsome... I could go on and on. We have had so many really great times over the past eight years and I know we have many, many more to come! Here are some of my favorite pictures of us that haven't been on the blog already (at least since 2004 when we started putting our pics on the computer. We don't have a scanner, so any pics older than that will have to wait until I can upload them).

Out to dinner just the other night to celebrate our day...


On the Golden Gate bridge while biking from San Fran to Sausalito...


Posing in Phil's jet in Alaska... the two green stars mean that that jet has shot down two MiGs (enemy jets). Phil didn't do it, but someone flying in that jet did.


Pregnant with Emmett...


All dressed up for an 80's party...


Our first and last attempt at snowboarding in Alaska...


One of our first trips out on our boat. We had so much fun with it. It's now sold. :(


Hiking Bird Ridge in Alaska... Phil had to carry Heidi most of the way down. At one point she just laid down and absolutely would. not. move anymore.


Outside of Seven Glaciers restaurant in Girdwood, AK...


Memphis, Tennessee... (just kidding - of course this is on our bike trip in San Fran - duh)...


95th Fighter Squadron flight suit party in Florida...


Camping in AK... right before the men threw a can of bug spray in the fire (just to see what would happen) and we had to take refuge in our tent from the swarms of mosquitoes...


Last flight in the jet in AK... (it was SO. COLD. that day)...


Lake Michigan... (just kidding again - of course this is Mt. Rushmore - duh)...


Reuniting after Phil's deployment to Japan, I think?


Having a beer on our way from AK to FL in Whitehorse, Yukon (Canada) - in the middle of nowhere...


Jackson's birthday...


Phil's last flight in the jet in FL...


One of the things I love most about Phil is his sense of humor and ability to make me laugh. We laugh every day, about everything from random movie lines quoted at the perfect moment, to shared funny memories, to things our kids do, to chasing each other around the house and being goofy. Here are some pictures of us that made me laugh...

Right before we left Alaska my friend, Christy, and I had a girl's night out with some of our friends from the squadron. Phil and his BFF, Merrick, (who is also Christy's hubby) volunteered to be our designated drivers for the night. When they arrived to pick us up, we saw that they had rented an old blue van to cart us around in and dressed up in these polyester clothes, wigs, and crazy foam hats. They had thought of fake names for each other (Rico and D-Wayne) and even went into bars with us like that. We all thought it was hysterical.


This is Phil and I on New Year's Eve. I wanted a nice picture of us and suggested that Phil open his mouth a little when he smiled (since I've heard that smiling with your mouth open slightly makes it look like you're having a really good time). This is how the picture came out...


Here we are trying to get a nice picture of us with the Golden Gate bridge in the background. Phil thought it would be more fun to tickle me than pose. We took about five pictures like this before we got a good one. :)


And this is probably one of my all-time favorite pictures. My parents came to visit us in Alaska and we took them to a really nice restaurant on top of a mountain (Seven Glaciers in Girdwood). After we ate we posed for many pictures because the scenery is so beautiful. My mom was taking this picture and she counted, "One... Two... Three," before she took it. At exactly the same moment that she said "Three", Phil let out a loud toot. It was so unexpected and funny! My dad and I just cracked up - as you can see. I love my dad's face in this picture. You can click on the picture to see it closer up.


Thank you, Phil, for choosing me to be your wife and being so wonderful. You make me so happy! I love you!

Four Months

I can't believe my littlest boy is already four months old! Actually, by now he's four and a half months old. Time is just flying by. It seems to be moving faster with Emmett than it did with Jackson, maybe because we're busier. Here are some fun facts about Emmett at this stage:

1. He's still a chunker. Weighs 17-1/2 pounds and is a little over 24 inches long.

2. He has unusually small feet and hands for his size. Phil and I have quite a chuckle when he's in his exersaucer because you can really see then how small his feet look compared to his huge calves. This is so different from Jackson, who had unusually large feet and hands for his size. Go figure!

3. He is so very smiley all the time. It is incredibly easy to get a huge, gummy grin out of him.


4. He's extremely ticklish. If you press on his side, neck, thighs, etc. he instantly lets out low, husky giggle. Phil says it sounds almost like he's clearing his throat. I think it's adorable!

5. He is an expert at rolling from his stomach to his back, but still hasn't figured out how to go the other way. This is causing him to take shorter naps and wake up several times at night needing to be flipped back over. Phil and I have been trying to teach him how to go back-to-stomach, but he's not quite ready for that yet. I'm hoping for any day now! He also almost crawls around his crib. I'll put him down at one end of the crib and go in to get him later to find that he's at the other end of the crib and facing the opposite direction! Phil went to get him yesterday and he had wiggled out of one arm of his shirt.


6. He can go from about 10:00 P.M. until 6:00 A.M. without eating. Unfortunately, he's still not completely sleeping through the night, though, due to that crazy flipping!

7. He loves his bath. He kicks his chubby legs like crazy in the water and can completely soak my front and the counter around the tub. I have to hold his legs down while I wash him to avoid getting totally wet. The entire time he's in the tub he looks up at me (or whoever is bathing him) with a huge smile on his face. I love it!

8. He loves being in the Baby Bjorn (front-carrier). He will hang out in there for hours if we need him to.

9. He also loves the exersaucer and will hang out in there for quite a while, too. He likes to watch Jackson play and me do whatever I'm doing while he's in there. I'll be busy doing something and look up at him and see that he's staring at me and smiling.


10. Phil and I are happy to report that he actually seems to like (or at least not hate) being in the car seat! He barely fusses at all now when we stick him in there and loves to look out the window. The toughest thing about the car seat now is trying to keep him from falling asleep in there when it's close to nap time.

11. He is just a doll-baby and we love him so much!

Just because I love seeing them together and looking at their similarities and differences, here's Jackson and Emmett in the jump-a-roo at four months old.

Easy Baby Award

And the winner is... Emmett! He wins the Easy Baby Award for last Monday. We took a trip to Medford for the day and he was such a good boy! He slept in the car seat on the way there (not the whole way, but didn't fuss hardly at all when he was awake), tolerated going in and out of his car seat many times, and sat in the stroller without fussing while we were shopping. He even almost fell asleep in there as we were leaving the mall. This may sound pretty normal to some people, but for our boys it's a huge accomplishment.

We bought a new stroller for me to take on my trip to Florida and it seems to have received the seal of approval from both boys. It's much easier to steer through stores, too. With this stroller, Jackson has the option to either stand behind Emmett and look out ahead or sit on a little bench seat. Which do you think he likes better?

Almost asleep... sweet baby...

There was some screaming on the way home, though, after being stopped due to construction for about 20 minutes. Phil and I just had to look at each other and chuckle at one point when both boys were having fits in the back seat. That's one thing the minivan doesn't have that it should... a slide-up chauffeur's window to drown out the noise from the back.

Jackson had a great day, too. He got to run around the mall and spend some time in the indoor play area, which he loved. He was plum tuckered out on the way home (at first). Here he is about 5 minutes into our drive (until we had to stop for construction... grrrr)...

Here are just a few more sweet pictures of the boys. Even though we love our new stroller, we still adore our BOB! Emmett will actually let me get in a pretty good run nowadays without fussing. At least, I don't think he fusses. I listen to my iPod now, so I can't tell what's going on ahead of me. (Just kidding - I'm aware.)

Here are the boys watching George together. I just can't get enough of them. I feel as though my heart might burst sometimes and feel bad for ever hoping (while I was newly pregnant) that Emmett was a girl. God sure knows what is best for each of us. I adore having two boys. And I especially love them in matching shirts. I'm kind of obsessed with it.

Nana and Papa Visit

We had a really fun weekend with Nana and Papa Swoop (Phil's dad and stepmom) here. They were only able to stay for two days, but we made the most of them. Jackson loved playing with them and was saying "Nana" and "Papa" just as much as he says "Mommy" and "Daddy" by the end of the weekend.

We went back to Lake of the Woods on Saturday and had a blast. It was a beautiful day, and Jackson got to play in the water while the adults just hung out on shore with some lunch and a beer or two. Emmett was there, too, but he only got milk and a nap. :)

Nana bought Jackson a push-up ice cream treat and he loved it! A big chunk of it fell off into the rocks when he was almost finished with it. He picked it up and plunked it right back onto the stick and resumed licking. A little dirt never hurt, right?

Check out Emmett's gut in these pictures. We were cracking up... he is so chunky!

He was a good baby and fell asleep in the Baby Bjorn so that we could stay a little longer. What a sweetie!

The rest of the visit we spent just hanging out together and playing with the boys. Charlene gave me quite a break from having to hold Emmett all the time! He likes to be held much more than Jackson did, which is good for grandparents. :)

Jackson had fun playing outside all weekend. He learned two new things (besides how to say Nana and Papa). He is now an expert at blowing bubbles, and Nana got him to drive his "jeep" all over the place. He calls his ATV ride-on toy a jeep (I think) because he loves Phil's jeep so much and he wants to be just like Daddy! I've tried and tried to get him to drive that thing outside, but he never would for me. Nana must have the magic touch. Now he just needs to learn how to steer. He'll run right into something and just keep pressing the ignition button and letting the wheels spin until you come over and reposition him.

Here are some more "hat backwards" pictures. What a cool dude!

We got a babysitter on Friday night and were able to go out for sushi without the kiddos. Yum!
We may not have much in this town, but at least we have a great sushi place.

Here's a cute pic of Phil and his dad. Thanks for coming, Charlene and Chris! We had a great time!