Cruise

Nick and I just got back from an amazing 7 day cruise. It was our first cruise and I doubt it will be our last. We had such a great time with some amazing people. We saw some amazing places, swam at some amazing beaches and even went snorkeling! Well Nick did anyway...I tried it but it wasn't for me. We are so blessed that we had this opportunity and hope that next time we can take the boys because they would love it. If you are even remotely thinking about taking a cruise....do it, you won't regret it.

Checking in...

Obviously a lot has happened since I last wrote anything. Braden turned 5....unbelieveable! I can't believe he is five years old. How is it possible that he is now old enough to go to kindergarten? Where has the time gone? And on top of that Jackson turned 3! How was it already 3 years ago since he entered the world?

Everyone tells me that times goes fast and it is so true. How can my babies be growning up so fast? They do amazing things everyday and it makes me sad to think that I am not going to remember it all. Right now they are so funny, so frustrating and so loving. While they can definitely be challenging at times, how it is possible that this stage of their lives is going to be gone in a blink of an eye?

When I get upset with them, I try to make myself stop and realize that this is part of them growing up to be the amazing men I know that they are going to be. Maybe I need to take a que from Amber and start writing 5 things every day that I appreciate or want to remember. Maybe by doing that I will be able to look back one day and remember these very special times in all of our lives.

Our house is crazy

The boys are growing like weeds....and are driving us crazy! Jackson has been going through the terribled twos for over a year now. Braden never went through them but has apparently decided that he should go through the terrible 4's. They both push us to our limit on a daily basis. We know that it will eventually pass but right now it is frustrating to try to parent in our house.

While the boys are frustrating they are amazing and sweet little boys. The things that come out of their mouths amazes me every day. I swear I don't know where they come up with most of the stuff they say. Braden is smart, funny and loves to make up stories, which he tries to convince us are the truth. Jackson loves to do everything his older brother does and seems to be growing up so fast. Jackson is still the little daredevil. Sometimes I think the only thing he is scared of is dogs.

So we are trying the wrangle these boys to be good kids and get them to listen. Somedays we are pretty sucessful, other days not so much. Needless to say we love them and will keep trying. Wish us luck.

I have posted new pictures finally. You will notice there is a theme with some of the pictures of Jackson--he loves to wear our shoes around the house; mine, Nick's or Braden's, it doesn't matter whose they are.

Long time no see

Ok I know it has been about 8 months since I have posted anything....I am definitely not as consistent as my sister...what else is new.

Well obviously lots have happened since May but I will start in October, because quite honestly, I don't remember back that far.

October started with Amber, Bob, Brianna and Bryce visiting us. We went to the pumpkin patch and the kids got to paint their own pumpkins (see October 09 pictures). They had a lot of fun with it and in the end, they ended up painting themselves as well.

That Sunday Amber and I drove to Mom and Dad's to help them get ready to move. However, at 6:30 Monday morning I was back in the car driving back home because Braden had a high fever. He actually ended up having Influenza A, so instead of my week off being back in Iowa I was instead home with everyone because Nick's company didn't want him to come into work either. After that very long week, things seemed to get back to normal, at least for a while.

Halloween we went to Mom and Dad's to help them move. Braden went as Harry Potter and Jackson went as Pablo from the Backyardigans. We went tricking or treating with the Wolfe family and the Carroll family. The kids seemed to have lots of funny, after the crankiness of no naps finally wore off.

October and November brought lots of sickness to our house. Actually now that I say that December and January have also brought lots of illness as well. Jackson and Nick have occasionally gotten sick but Braden gets sick (usually with a fever) every 2-3 weeks. Apparently Influenza A totally wiped out his immune system and he gets every little bug.

Anyway, the end of November brought Braden's 4th birthday. It is so hard to believe he is 4 already. He is constantly keeping us on our toes with the things he says and does. He is amazing kid and too smart for his own good most of the time! We had a birthday party at the house and Amber made a wonderful Scooby-Doo cake for Braden. See the picture in the November pictures.


December brought Christmas and us making the trip to Iowa in time to avoid yet another winter storm. The kids were thrilled with all their gifts and getting to spend time with their cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and great-grandparents.


Now as many of you know, our boys have never been small kids but apparently we don't feed them enough. Take a look at the December pictures and you will see what I mean. Apparently Jackson was absolutely starving because he decided that markers might make a good snack. I guess we need to feed him more often.


Jackson definitely keeps us constantly going. He is the daredevil in the family. He is not afraid of anything and that means that the name Felton, as in Jackson Felton!, gets used in our house a lot. Needless to say, he is such a sweetheart and even we you are so mad at him all he has to do is look at you with those big brown eyes and you can't stay mad for long. He is talking constantly and his vocabulary gets bigger every day.

New Year's day we had Christmas with Nick's family. Again the boys got way to many toys but everyone had a great time.

Well that pretty much brings us up to date. Tomorrow is a dentist appointment for Braden and since he is now at the 2 week mark since he has been sick, we are just waiting for the next round.

Well we are getting ready to watch the Backyardigans Might Knights for the third time today and I would hate to miss it. Check out the new pictures if you get a chance (October - January).

Now that I have a laptop I am going to try to be better about posting more often but I am not promising anything since the 3 boys in the house seems to use it more than me...go figure!

They grow up so fast...

Ok I know it has been more than 3 months since I have updated pictures and the Blog site but honestly I just don't have a lot of free time these days.

The biggest note over the last 3 months is that Jackson turned 1 on March 25. I can't believe the little guy is 1 already. Jackson truly has his own personality, completely different from Braden. While Braden was always content to just sit in a room and play while Jackson is constantly on the go, getting into to absolutely everything. To add to the constant getting into everything, Jackson is starting to walk so it will only be a matter of time before he is running after Braden. It amazing that with only 2 years and 4 months between them and being raised in the same environment that they could be so different. But I guess that it what makes it great.....they are each their own person.

This was our Mother's Day to spend with Nick's family but his parents went to the Lake for the weekend so it is just a relaxing weekend here at the house. In fact I even got to so some shopping by myself while Nick stayed home with the boys. When I got home all three were taking a nap. 2 of them are up now so I better get going.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there.

Relay For Life

I know, I know, two posts in one day but I thought this should really be separate from my previous posts. Some of you may not know but I am on the planning committee for the Relay for Life here in town. I know most of your participate/contribute to the Relay in Dyserville but I thought I would give you the link to my website for our Relay. Please don't feel obligated to give but if you would like to it would be very much appreciated. Relay for Life is a great cause that helps with cancer research, helps people going through cancer among many other things. For more information please check out my personal website. Thank you for any support you might be able to give.

http://main.acsevents.org/goto/angiecreech

3 months later...

Ok I know it has been a really long time since I updated this so I will try to fill everyone in on what has been happening the last 3 months.

Well right after my last post in October, we had just gotten back from San Francisco, Jackson said 'dada' for the first time. Nick was absolutely thrilled. Of course it took Jackson quite a while before he said 'mama' but he finally is. We took Braden trick or treating door-to-door for the first time and Jackson went along for the ride. Braden had a great time and got lots of candy. In fact, we probably have over half of it left!

At the beginning of November we had Nick's family over for Terry's birthday. I think everyone had a good time. All of the cousins (Austin, Emma, McKenzie, Braden and Jackson) had a great time playing together. I think it was about a week after that that I got a call at daycare that Braden had either run into a tree or treehouse (never found that part out) and had a huge goose egg on his forehead. If you look at the November pictures you can see just how big it got. Luckily he was ok but I have to say that both of the boys are klutzes and they got it from me. They both constantly have bruises on their heads from running into things or just falling on their head (that is more Jackson). Good thing they have tough skulls!

Jackson got his first tooth the day before Braden's birthday. We had Nick's family over for Braden's birthday. Of course he had a wonderful time and as always got way too much stuff. We gave Braden a GeoTrax train set which he loves. If you don't know, GeoTrax is a very durable kid friendly remote control train or plane track set. Perfect for little kids who can be tough on stuff.

At the beginning of December Jackson had his surgery. For those that don't know, he had an undescended testicle. We took him to Children's Hospital where he had laparoscopic surgery. The surgery went perfectly, turns out the testicle was in his abdomen. He recovered quickly and I am happy to report everything is now where it should be :o) The recovery from surgery, while obviously painful, didn't last long because Jackson started crawling the next week. Unlike Braden, who really wasn't mobile until after he was 12 months old and never really got into anything, Jackson started crawling at 8 months and is into absolutely everything. We can't turn our back on him for even a second because we don't know where he will be. Luckily Braden is a great big brother and helps us keep an eye on him once in a while.

The beginning of December brought a new addition to our extended family. Amber and Bob welcomed baby Bryce Robert into the world. Though born early and small he is growing like a weed and Brianna is a very proud big sister.

The end of December brought Christmas and for the first year Braden really got the concept. We did a count down to Santa-he loved taking the rings off the chain knowing that we were one day closer. Of course, once again the boys got way too much! Boy they sure are spoiled. Santa brought Braden the GeoTrax plane set. Now all of the GeoTrax are set up together in our basement....in fact it is kind of taking over the basement. Both Braden and Jackson love it. Braden loves to play with it and Little Godzilla (otherwise known as Jackson) loves to rip the train off the track!

Well now we are in January. Nick started a new job and loves it. I am completely swamped at my job but I enjoy what I do. Braden is 3 and Jackson is 10 months old today. It just doesn't seem possible that time has gone that quickly. These two boys are pretty much running us ragged but it is a lot of fun, rewarding and sometimes a little frustrating---but I guess that is what parenting is all about.

Well that pretty much wraps up that last 3 months. I have added 3 months of pictures so you can see how much the boys have changed. Hope everyone is well. I really will try to update more often, but I can't make any promises :o)

A great week

Well Nick and I left for San Francisco on Oct. 4th, our anniversary. We were out there for five days and had a great time. We were able to go to Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz, Muir Woods, drove Highway 1 along the coast and went to Napa Valley twice (by far my favorite part). We really enjoyed the trip but missed the boys terribly. Nick's mom watched the boys for us. We are very greatful that she did that and I know the boys had a good time. Thursday afternoon and Friday we spent with the boys, playing games and playing outside. On Saturday we took Braden to see Backyardigans Live. My co-worker, Donna, watched Jackson for us. Braden loved the Backyardigans show and wanted to go back the next day and see it again. The rest of the weekend we just enjoyed being with the boys. It was a wonderful week.

Tomorrow I am taking Jackson to the doctor for a follow-up for his ear infection. I actually think he still has it. He has also had a kind of diaper rash for about 6 weeks so we are going to get that checked out too. I also had to move up Jackson's surgery to December because I found out today that our out-of-pocket for health insurance is going up quite a bit next year so we wanted to get it in before the new cost hits.

This weekend we are off to visit Bob, Amber and Brianna. I think we are going to the pumpkin patch so the kids should have a good time with that. We have so much going on the next couple of months we are just taking it one week at a time.

Well I better get going. I have posted new pictures for anyone who wants to take a look.

Growing boys

Things are going well here. Jackson just turned 6 months old, hard to believe. He can roll over in both directions-definitely quicker than Braden was. He is also sitting up. He loves playing with his toys and any attention he gets from Braden. We took him for his 6 month check-up last week and he is 18 pounds, so he is definitely a growing boy. I picked the boys up early on Friday to go to Mom and Dad's for the weekend and found out Jackson was running a fever. He ended up running a fever the entire weekend so Nick took him to the doctor on Monday and found out he has an ear infection. I have to say though, Jackson was not crabby at all even though he was sick-what a trooper. Braden woke up this morning with a touch of croup so he might be going to the doctor yet this week to get some medicine. I guess sickness is never ending when you have 2 kids in daycare.

The weekend at Mom and Dad's was fun but too short. We just hung out at Mom and Dad's and went to Bluff Lake for Dad's birthday/Mom and Dad's anniversary. I think everyone had a good time.

Nick and I are taking off on Saturday to go to San Francisco for our 5th anniversary. We haven't been on vacation in 4 years so thought we were due. Terry is watching the boys at our house so we don't have to drag all their stuff up to their house. We are really appreciative of her watching the boys especially since Terry and Gerald's 35 wedding anniversary is on Monday.

Well I better get going. Hope everyone is well and enjoying the nice weather. I have added new pictures if you are interested.