Special Sibling Sentiments

I thought you might enjoy seeing how Jayden interacts with Ava on a daily basis. I captured a few seconds on video the other day and it has a little bit of everything in it. I feel like the way Jayden has been with Ava and accepted her into the family has just been perfect. He's not so aware of her that he's jealous of the time that I spend with her and yet he's not completely oblivious either. For example, when I pick him up from "school" he will point at the car and say "Ava?" as we walk towards the car. (I leave Ava in the car while I go in to get Jayden and before you judge me, remember we live in Laramie where the crime rate is like 1% so I feel like it's very safe to leave her for a few minutes, but I digress...) Another example is when he was holding both pairs of sunglasses  -Jayden's and Ava's -- and he dropped Ava's pair on the ground and exclaims "Oh Ava's!!!" It's so cute because he's come to expect seeing her around and he's usually very sweet with his interactions with her (he does have his moments of possessiveness so it's not all puppies and rainbows all the time but that possessive streak is rare albeit very normal for a toddler). I just pray that they always have a special bond and that I am able to foster that caring spirit in Jayden so he'll always watch out for his little sister!

Swim Lessons

One of the fun things that DJ decided to do with Jayden this summer was enroll in swim lessons. Both DJ and Jayden have loved the swimming experience together and Jayden has gotten so confident in the water. Swim lessons seemed like a good idea to give DJ more ideas on how to help Jayden become even more confident in the water. I went to watch Jayden at the pool the other day and it had been a few months since I had last seen him in the water. I was so surprised to see him dunk under the water, run in the water by himself and go down the slide by himself several times! He would cling to us when I last saw him in the pool and there was no way he would have even come close to doing the things I watched him do this week. My little baby is getting so big!

Enjoy these clips of DJ and Jayden playing together in the pool!

Summertime Joys and the Choo Choo

We have been having a fantastic summer this year and I can't get enough of the outdoors and making new memories with my kids. As a result this blog has been pushed to the wayside but I do have a lot of pictures and videos to share so I will try to catch you up eventually!


A couple weeks ago Jayden, Ava and I went to Rapid City for two weeks and DJ met us there for the last few days over the 4th of July. It was very memorable because not only was this Ava's first road trip at just 5 weeks old (it was a successful first trip!), it was also the first trip where Jayden was old enough to have a lot of fun with. I had so much fun taking him to all my favorite places in the Black Hills and he made it so very enjoyable. 


This video is from our experience on the 1880 train which is a ride on an old-fashioned train (like from the 1800s maybe??) through the hills between Hill City and Keystone (best known for Mt. Rushmore). It takes about 1 hour in each direction which in hindsight is a bit long when traveling with small children so next time we'll probably just take the one way trip. But given the heat of the day and the longevity of the ride both kids did awesome! Nana and Papa went along to help and I think we will always remember Jayden's first train ride and his absolute thrill every time the train whistle blew (which happened about 56 times during the ride, give or take)!

Happy Independence Day

Click here to view these pictures larger

One Month - Photo

I didn't get a chance to include a picture of Ava as a one month old on the post the other day so here it is! Plus I love this outfit so an even better reason to take pictures!

Water Park

This week has been really nice so I decided to take Jayden to the water park. He seemed to have a good enough time that I think I'll probably try it again when we have another hot day. Ava hung out in the wrap and got to run through the water with us as a result! She didn't seem to care one way or another; she slept the whole time we were there.

Jayden spent a lot of time watching the other kids running around and holding his tummy. Ha ha

This is where he waited while I nursed Ava; he would only run through the water if I did it with him so I got wet too!

A Moment in the Life

...Of Jayden...


(I swear I will make a better attempt with my videographer skills in the future! Also I would advise not watching this video if you've ever had equilibrium or vertigo issues. Seriously it's bad; I don't know why I thought swinging the camera around was better than turning my body around...)

 Playing with homemade playdough

Reading his book

Learning how to take turns sharing momma's lap with this little girl