good sleep begets good sleep...

...unfortunately, the opposite is also true. ever since the boys got sick in february, they've been working on getting back to their normal sleep schedule. it seems like they're getting close. last week they started falling asleep well, sleeping until at least 7am (often until 8 or later!), and they took their normal naps (2+ hours for jackson and 3+ hours for carter). before this, jackson would wake up anytime between 4:45am and 6:00am (if he slept until 6:30, i

was excited). and when jackson would wake up, so would his brother. they would then take short, disrupted naps and have a hard time falling asleep. it was becoming a vicious cycle. i'm not really sure what changed...maybe they just got so overtired, they finally slept well. it sure has been nice to get more sleep myself, but even better is how much happier and well behaved they are when they get the sleep they need.

a perfect example is what happened yesterday and today. for some reason, jackson didn't nap well. he woke up early and woke carter up, they had a hard time falling asleep last night and then woke up by 6 this morning. those couple hours of lost sleep have really effected their behavior today. i had a couple little grumpies all morning (including myself!). i'm just hoping that they take good naps today and get back to how they were sleeping last week.

*this is what happens when they don't sleep well. i took this a couple weeks ago. it was only 9:25am and jackson was fast asleep in the car.

what's in a name?

we've decided on a name for our baby boy. we are going to name him after my dad...david. and here's why:
the other day i was rolling up a sleeping bag and i had to get it really tight so it would fit into the bag it came with. i had no problem getting it to fit, because many years ago my dad taught me how to properly roll up a sleeping bag. that got me to thinking about other things my dad has taught me.
he taught me how to open a box of cereal. don't you hate it when it doesn't pour out of the bag correctly and you end up with cereal floating around in the bottom of the box? well, that doesn't happen at my home...i know how to open it right! when i was learning to drive, i remember him saying, "if you're going to pull out in front of a car like that...you better step on it." that's come in handy a time or two. the first time he took my brother, sister and i backpacking, he quickly figured out that jen and i didn't know how to pee in the woods. he gave us great tips and i've never had any issues since. he's taught me to finish what i start, to work hard, to be honest, and many, many other important life lessons.
but the most important thing my dad has taught me (and continues to) is the unconditional love of my father in heaven. dad has been the biggest example in my life of this truth. through thick and thin, dad has accepted me and loved me for me. he's always been available to listen to my joys and sorrows. he always has just the right advice for anything i'm dealing with...even if it's hard for me to hear. he's able to be honest and share truth in love.
dad, i have never once doubted that you love my unconditionally...thank you for being such an awesome example of how God loves me. my prayer is that our little david will possess your love for God, his family and those around him.

we're looking forward to the end of may when we'll get to meet our david michael!

sick

We've all been sick the last few days. It started last wednesday when carter threw up. It was a one time thing, so we didn't think too much of it. Then he threw up the next day. Other than that, he seemed normal, so we still didn't think to much of it. Fast forward to saturday at noon...we were on our way home from the store and jackson started crying, then threw up. Okay, now we think something must be up. Jackson continued to throw up that day and by 9pm, eric and I were both sick. Seriously not fun. Jackson and eric slept on the couch, I slept in the lazy boy. Carter slept in his crib and was really the only one that slept much saturday night. Sunday was more of the same. Jackson wasn't keeping anything down all day, so after talking with the on-call nurse, we took him to the ER. Thankfully, he wasn't dehydrated. They gave him some anti-nausea meds and a popcycle. After he was able to keep that down, we went home. Carter was at eric's parents' while we were at the ER and although we thought he was getting better, he threw up all over his oma (so sorry vicky). Thankfully, we all got some decent sleep sunday night. Monday was a good day for jackson, but carter was throwing up some and was just really miserable. We woke up this morning at 4:30am to crying from jack's room...more sheets and pjs to wash. After giving him some pepto and little bits of juice at a time, he hasn't thrown up since about 6am, and carter has kept the very little he's had in too! Carter's going to the doc this afternoon and I think we've figured out how to keep jack's tummy not so upset. Hopefully, they'll both be feeling better really soon (thankfully, eric and I started feeling better by sunday night/monday morning). So...that's what we've been up to. Hopefully we'll be having better days here soon.

jackson at the ER eating his popcycle

A few days ago I mentioned that Carter got 2 new teeth, but I lied. The 2 new ones I was talking about were the top two next to each of the top front teeth. I thought it was a little strange that the top ones came in before the bottom ones (but maybe that's how it usually goes, I can't remember.). Anyway, I was feeling around in his mouth to see if the bottom ones felt like they might come through and I felt something towards the back of his mouth...could it really be a molar already? Sure enough, he has 3 of his one-year molars. I had NO idea he was getting those teeth...it sure does explain the extra fussiness we've been experiencing. Now, is it me, or do babies usually get more of their regular, front teeth before molars? I can't remember how Jackson's came in. Anyway, I'm glad he has them, it'll make it a lot easier for him to eat all kinds of food.

P.S. Side note: Why does Jackson call me daddy a lot? I'll tell him I'm not daddy and then he'll say mommy...what's up with that?

what's been going on...

i keep getting online and wanting to blog about something, but it seems like there haven't been too many exciting things going on in our lives right now. i decided i'd update you all on all the not-super-exciting-things that we've been up to.
carter and jackson have both been sick for over a week now. carter seems like he's just about better, but jackson is still coughing a lot. i feel bad for them, but also fortunate that this is the first time they've been sick in quite awhile.
a few weeks ago we transitioned jackson from his crib to a "big boy" bed. we're happy to report this has been an easy move for all involved. moving jackson out of the crib also means that carter finally gets to move from the pack-n-play he's been sleeping in. he really seems to enjoy the extra room (and more comfortable mattress). the next transition will be moving carter into jackson's room. i like that they both sleep so well, and i'm nervous about upsetting that by having them share a room. since we have another little one on the way, it's something that we're going to have to do eventually. we're thinking about having all 3 boys share a room, then they'll have a separate room that's just for playing in (and it'll be our guest room).
eric has been busy remodeling the bath house here at camp. it was in desperate need of an update, and i'm sure the work he's putting into it will be well received by our campers this summer.
pregnancy #3 has been going fairly well for me. so far, my midwife says everything looks as it should...which is always nice to hear. it does look like the hernia i got while pregnant with carter is showing up again. so far i've had minimal pain from that, and i'm just really trying not to lift too much (including our kiddos...unfortunately carter's not walking well enough to not be carried some, but i'm doing the best i can). hopefully, this will be my only "complication". also, we're pretty sure we've settled on a name for him and we're also pretty sure we're going to keep it a secret (until he's born, of course). when we decide for sure on his name, we'll make the final decision on whether or not we're going to tell people before the birth, but until then, mums the word. (is that the correct expression???)
like i said, not too exciting...

walking (and other stuff)

carter took his 1st step on January 26th and since then he's been gaining more confidence in his "walking". he's walked across the living room a number of times now (probably 10-15 steps). he definitely prefers crawling still, but i'm not worried that he'll be walking well by the time his little brother is born.
in other news:
*carter got 2 new teeth last week, making a grand total of 6! his little teeth take so long to come through, that we're always glad when they finally do.
*jackson has enjoyed playing outside A LOT these days. we've been fortunate to have a mild winter this year, so he has been able to enjoy the back deck quite a bit.

(i have some cute pictures that i tried to upload, but my internet connection is too slow...i will try to upload them on facebook)

Oregon Zoo

we were in newberg last weekend for some meetings i had to attend. eric was able to come with the boys and me, so we stayed a couple extra days to visit family and to go to the zoo! i've been wanting to take the boys for awhile, but it hadn't worked out on any of our previous visits. the weather was decent, so we took the boys and our niece and nephew (kiah and micah). jackson LOVED it. carter seemed to be somewhat interested in the animals, but i think mostly enjoyed being pushed around in the stroller outside.