Sisters

We took the two girls to the zoo, and while Lena mostly slept and didn't have a clue where she was, Michelle had a fabulous time and really enjoyed looking at and playing with the animals. (And she discovered how disgusting the food is they let you feed them at the zoo, because she thought it was for her to eat too!)

Michelle loves her sister! Now that doesn't mean she knows exactly how to SHOW her she loves her, because sometimes she is very rough when she gets excited, and she usually gets excited to see Lena. However, sometimes she does it right, and it is pretty cute!

Getting Settled

We are starting to get settled into an apartment in Idaho Falls. It is a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom with vaulted ceilings. It has less storage than our house, so we are storing some things until we buy a house here. We are still hopeful that we will be able to sell the house in Show Low this summer! Anyway, as we have been getting settled I have neglected a few things, like phone calls and mail and blog updates. Having TWO babies has contributed, and not getting more than 3 hours of sleep at a time also has something to do with it I suppose. They keep us busy, but they are sweet and we love them very much. I will share a few more photos with you all. Most of them were taken with my phone as it was easily accessible.

Michelle played with old toys in her new room as we unpacked (as you can see, so did Jim!)

Lena enjoyed her new crib.

Michelle had a good time driving the "truck" when we went to Toys R Us to buy Lena's crib. I had to work hard to keep Jim from buying more toys we don't have room for!

Michelle got VERY tired during the long trip from Show Low to Idaho Falls.

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Welcome Lena Mae!

Thursday night I woke up around midnight with a pretty painful contraction. By 3:00 they were coming 5 minutes apart and I knew we had to get to the hospital. We called our friend Miss Tee to watch Michelle, dropped her off and headed in. By the time we were checked in the contractions were 3 minutes apart and I was dilated to a 6. Unfortunately the baby was transverse. They called the doctor and gave me a shot of something in my arm to slow down the labor. It slowed alright. It basically stopped! By the time the doctor came in, my contractions were 30 minutes apart! The good news was, with the slowing of labor, the baby was able to move into the correct position on her own--that was good news, since I was not looking forward to a c-section. Once she was in a good position they put me on other drugs to get labor going again, then I got the epidural (which was 100% better than my last one, by they way). Then we waited for her to come. Near the end there was one more complication . . . she didn't seem to want to drop down all the way. With some serious pushing and some help from the "vacuum" though, she finally came, healthy and beautiful, at 1:36 pm on Friday, April 23. She weighed 8 lbs 10 oz and was 22 inches long. We named her Lena Mae Jackson.

Michelle spent some quality time with Grandma Moore, and got to pose for a lot of pictures! We couldn't have made it through this weekend without my mom's help! We are still enjoying the pre-made dinners Mom, thanks!

We brought Lena home Saturday afternoon and Michelle loved her!

Easter

We had a really fun Easter with Michelle this year and I thought I would share some of the pictures with you (the few of you there are out there).

These are from Friday before Easter, at the park.

Sunday afternoon Easter Egg Hunt in the backyard (ignore the growing pile of "stuff" getting ready to be loaded up for our big move)

Easter morning with her Easter "basket". It's a hat too--an idea from Jim's childhood that I thought was both practical AND adorable!

Her favorite part was hitting the plastic eggs together, and opening and closing them too.

She dumped the grass out so she could put on the hat.

Reading the Tale of Peter Rabbit.

Dying Easter Eggs Saturday night--this was the best part. She LOVED it!

More About Michelle

Michelle is doing so many new, exciting, funny things. She is discovering what she likes (and what she doesn't like too!)

She likes climbing, and she likes sliding. She enjoyed this trip to the McDonald's playland while I was on Spring Break and we met Jim for lunch one day.

More than any food, Michelle loves CHEESE! Cheese, by the way, was her first word. She loves almost all kinds, even the spicy cheeses. We have found a few types of swiss she doesn't care for.

Michelle already loves shoes. She likes to put them on. Once she gets on two, she tries to put on a third, realizes she can't, and kicks off the two she has on so she can start over again. It is quite adorable and she will sit and do this for 30 minutes or more. It doesn't really matter whose shoes they are, either.

Michelle also likes being outside, though I think she likes it better when she is wearing play clothes than when she is dressed for church! She has finally started standing on her own, and we are hopeful that very soon she will be walking on her own too!

I think she didn't like the taste of dirt very much, but most kids learn that one the hard way . . . and learn it again and again! So I am sure this is not the last time I will have to help her get the dirt out of her mouth! Luckily Dad saved the day by running in the house and getting her a drink to wash it out with.

We are still getting prepared for our big move to Idaho Falls. We have packed up some of our house and next week Jim is taking a trip up there to haul some stuff which we will store at my mom and stepdad's house. They have been a lot of help to us and we appreciate it! Let us all just hope I don't go into labor while he is gone!

We don't know for sure where we are going to live once we get there. If I were not pregnant this would be easier, but we would still have the issue of needing to sell our house in Show Low. Still, it is early in the home buying season and we are hopeful that something good will happen. Until then, maybe we will set up our camping stuff somewhere and live at a campground for the summer! :) That would be exciting with a newborn! No, really, we may stay with my mom and stepdad for a few days until we locate a place for sure. We may rent, we may buy. I guess we will know in about a month (depending on when Lena decides to come).

Some good times

Michelle loves the park! The weather was finally nice enough (barely) to take her the other day, and when it was time to leave, she started screaming! She really was having such a good time, so we took her back again Saturday. The ground is quite wet still, but she doesn't seem to mind.

Also on Saturday, Gary came for a visit. He will be here until Wednesday! We are so excited to have him and Michelle just LOVES her Uncle Gary!

We were lucky he was here because the Bishop called us Sunday morning (45 minutes before church) and asked us to speak to fill in for someone who was sick! So Gary watched her while we spoke! She was really great for him! And he was pretty good too!

Way to go, Idaho!

Well, most of you who read this blog already know, but there are a few of you who don't (sorry, Jacqui, I do plan on returning your phone call, things are just REALLY crazy right now) . . . We are moving to Idaho Falls. After more than a year of applying for jobs all over the country, Jim got THREE, yes THREE job offers in one month. He got an offer in Las Vegas, an offer in Idaho Falls, and then just last week, another in Tacoma. The job in Idaho Falls is BY FAR the best career move for Jim, and therefore for our little family. They really wanted him, paid his way up there AND per diem for the time he spent up there for an "interview". They also don't want him to leave his pregnant wife alone, so they told him he could start anytime between now and May 17. We are really hoping we can sell the house by then. Honestly, we have felt good about this job in Idaho from the moment they called and so we feel that is where we are supposed to be next. Heavenly Father has blessed us so much in our marriage and we have tried to do as he has directed. I just have to have faith that things will work out with the house. Someone out there wants to buy my cute little starter home! (Hopefully sooner than later so we can get moving on a house in Idaho Falls.) Anyway, it is a big move, a big change for us in a lot of ways. But we feel good about it and are very excited.

Poor Michelle is going to have her entire world turned upside down in a couple of months . . . new home, new little sister, new routines. Good thing kids are so resiliant! She isn't walking yet, but we keep thinking, any day now! Maybe if Jim would stop picking her up every time she bats her big brown eyes, gives a little smile, and holds out her hands . . . :) To be fair, it is pretty tough to resist when she is so dang CUTE!

Look how cute she was playing with her cousin Maya when we went to visit for Cousin Andrew's baby blessing this past weekend!