So, I guess I'm supposed to post 9 interesting facts about me? Well, since this is our family blog it'll be the family. : )

1. Jayden has the most amazing memory. It's actually quite sickening to Jesse and I. For example, at some point he saw some pictures from the George R Brown/LTC. They have very distinctive carpet there and Jayden said, "That's where I played with Mallory." Ok, it had been MONTHS and he was only 2!!! Sick, sick, sick

2. Jesse is REALLY smart! The things he remembers just blows me away. He can explain almost anything to you. Medical, Cars, How something works. Yeah, it makes me sick!

3. I, am the one with the memory issues! I only wish I could remember half of what I learned in college, or nursing school.

4. We have two laundry rooms in our house. Well, one is the actual laundry room and the other is the empty bedroom I affectionately call the laundry room. There is a section for dirty clothes, a section for clean unfolded clothes, and a section for clean folded clothes. This is the room we also keep the luggage in.

5. We have lived in our house for over a year and a half and the office is still full of boxes. Sad. And only one room in our house is actually "finished" the kitchen.

6. We never put the toilet paper on the roll. We just set it on top of the roller or counter. This started when Jayden was little and would unroll all the paper. It sit stands. The only time you'll find it on the roll is after the housekeeper has come or if we are expecting company.

7. When it comes to work schedules, school schedules, sleep schedules, or just schedules in general we are very strange! The word "normal" in no way applies to us. I work nights - three a week - which vary from week to week. Jesse works on a rotating shift - 24 on - 48 off - oh, unless he has that random day of PTO or has picked up a shift at the Hospital District. Jayden is the only semi-normal one. He goes to school every Tues-Wed-Thurs - only thing is who drops him off or picks him up is very random, also where he sleeps each night - home - my parent's - Jesse's parents - Chris's....

8. Up until lately, we ate out almost every meal. Jesse has been on a diet so he's been cooking up a storm. Good for him, bad for my kitchen. It gets a little messy in there! Jayden and I still eat out a lot. Jayden can tell you names of restaurants, what he wants there, sometimes even where they are located. Like yesterday he wanted to go to the place with the cheese sandwiches, big gumballs, by the movie place. After digging a little deeper I realized he was talking about Skeeters. We also go grocery shopping about once every few months.

9. Jesse and I are really quite opposite. For example, he grew up in the same house his entire childhood, I lived in well, I think 9 maybe, in 7 different cities, and three different states. We hate each other's music selections. Jesse will eat almost anything, I am very picky. He can go on very little sleep, less than 12 hours kills me. So on and so forth.

Mommy Jayden Day

It's been a busy night. It's 2:32am and I am just now caught up! One of my babies has lots of labs and x-rays and they all fell around change of shift/first few hours of shift! Craziness! One more night and then I'm off until Sunday! Even though I have to work Sunday after that I'm off until Thursday! So I'm almost off an entire week! Yay!


Today Jayden played hookey from school. I finally rolled out of bed around 9:45-10am (even though my alarm had been going off for over an hour!), and Jayden didn't get up until around 10-10:30am! So, I made the decision that it was going to be a Mommy Jayden day! We got up picked up the house, made lunch, ate, played outside, put mound ate killer on all the ant beds throughout the entire yard (front and back) and there were lots! Then we sprayed eachother with the hose! Jayden thought it was funny, me, not so much. Actually while I was getting ready to kill the ants Jayden sprayed me and I yelled, but I was laughing within 10 seconds! I tried really hard to hide the laughter, but I quickly gave in! He was just too cute, and I was soaking wet in my pajamas! Oh well!


We saw Molly, Baxter and Grandma (I always forget what they call her) outside and Jayden, Baxter and Molly were all super excited. Well, me too! I know Molly wanted to get in on the "spray eachother" game! Maybe next time!


After that it was shower and nap time. Then we got up and headed off to Red Robin to meet Becky, Chris, Taylor, Brady, Dorothy, Becky, Andrea, Mallory and Chloe. I think I got everyone! Jayden was really excited to see Mallory, it's been a long time. I was glad to see Andrea. She's so sweet, and it's been a long time. I'll see more of her this weekend. Oh, and she's pregnant again! Then I was off to work! Fun, I know!


Oh! I guess while we were eating Jayden told Mallory (who's 5 now) that we were going to have a baby. And I guess she asked what the baby's name was. So, he yells across the table to me, "Mom, what's our baby's name?" Shocked, I said, "Jayden, we don't have a baby." He said, "I know, but when we get one what's it's name?" One of those funny things kids say!
Ok, enough. I've got things I need to do. Have a great day!


Oh, and I found out that baby Kylie went home Sunday night around 9:30pm and I got all their meals taken care of this morning! Yay!

Drawings

Tonight I was voted in as a "real" firefighter! So now I'm official! Kinda' scary, huh?

On another note:
This is a picture of Jayden's first people drawing ever awhile back (that was done with prompting).


Tonight, Jayden drew a picture of a man and shocked us all! His drawings are usually just scribbles, but we looked up and there was a man! Here's a picture of his second man drawing:

the first man "went swimming" and was colored over by "water" so I didn't get a picture. The first man even had hair! Much improvement, huh?

They amaze you every step of the way! The camera on my phone does too! If it only had a flash!

Tomorrow, pick up the house for the housekeeper (coming Wednesday - I was wrong) then sleep for work, boo! Only two nights and then our crazy weekend begins. I wish it was more of a restful adventure, but it never is.

Nothing much going on around here. Just work and sleep for me. Thursday night Jayden spent the night with my Dad while everyone else was at work or out of town. He got to drive in with my Dad to work and my Mom and I picked him up on our way home. He was pretty excited to get to go to Pa-Pa's work, although he was very shy while he was there. Imagine that, Jayden shy?!?!

Friday night we had yummy steak and potatoes with the Boyer's. I guess that I can't really address them as just Eddie and Megan anymore! How great! They are finally in the "parenting boat" with us! I held Clarie while the boys got everything ready. Then I helped clean up in the kitchen while Megan took care of Claire and Jayden fell asleep on the couch! After dinner we went to Chili's so Megan could get out of the house for a bit and we could get dessert! Yum! It was Claire's first trip out to eat! I love being a part of their "firsts" just as they were a part of ours!

Saturday we tried to go see Meet the Robbinsons, but the line was REALLY long! So instead we just headed over to the bookstore to buy Babywise for Eddie and Megan. That is the best book. I recommend it to anyone and everyone for helping with those first few months. It has worked so wonderfully for us and so many others I know. Then we headed home for a nap!

Saturday night I got the taxes finished and e-filed. They were accepted so as soon as I get the check we are paying off our Honduras trip (no fund raising this year) and getting the dead tree cut down. Other thoughts on how to spend the extra: new tv for the bedroom (really needed since I have to sleep at weird times and I can't let my 3 year old roam around the house alone), buy the rest of the furniture for the living room (missing two bookcases from IKEA - if they would ever have them in stock!!!) best choice - savings for when I have the next baby and stay home for 12 weeks. So we'll see...

Sunday was church and lunch with friends and family. We saw the O'Neals which was nice. And we also ate with the Jones whom I also love. Fallon is so awesome!

Tomorrow, finish picking up the house for the housekeeper and sleep! Fire department tomorrow night. Then back to work Tuesday and Wednesday night. Then LTC this weekend. No, it never ends - especially in April! Have a great week!

Ok, so what's been going on this week.... Well, I've worked the past two nights and will work tomorrow night so other than that I don't know! Funny how I get so brain zapped when it comes to my life at work. That's because when I work all I do is work, sleep, work, sleep... oh wait... drive, work, sleep, drive, work, sleep... That's more like it! Jesse worked Monday and will work tomorrow. It was a strange evening for childcare. We usually don't have an issue in that area, but alas tomorrow night (actually it's tonight) proved to be a challenge! Jesse's parents will be in Abilene, Chris will be out of town, my Mom is working with me, so on and so forth. So... I think we finally got it worked out that my Dad happens to have the day off (thank God!) so he'll pick up Jayden from school, then he'll spend the night with him and bring him to work in the morning where my Mom and I will pick him up on our way home in the morning. Yeah, that's going to be a long morning! But at least it's worked out!

So, Sunday was our Honduras meeting. We are really excited about going this year and Jesse worked out all his days off! We are going to be able to do medical stuff this year! We have a huge group going this year! 63 people! Mostly adults! I'm sure that we are going to get a lot done for the people there!

Happenings this week

So, as it is with my other blog, the times I post the most are at work! Funny, huh? Anyway, things have been great in the Cox household lately! This week was nice. We had our lifegroup picnic which was a lot of fun. Jayden loved being able to play with his buddies at the park. I enjoyed getting to catch up with friends! Unfortunatly, Jesse had to work. After we left the park we stopped by to see him at the firestation. That made him happy!

Wednesday Jesse and I played tennis. It was fun. Jesse is actually starting to enjoy it! It's nice to have something that we can do together outdoors. And, as a plus he's getting better! This means less running and chasing the ball for me!

Tomorrow is Laporte fire training day. This is where they go and practice with live fire. I am bummed that I don't get to go since I work tonite and tomorrow nite. But I know that Jesse and Jayden will have a blast and come back pooped!

Sunday, Honduras meeting! I'm really excited to be able to return for my third year. I really love it there!

Ok, gotta' get back to work! It's time for my one o'clock vital signs and pump checks then lunch! I'm hungry!

The Good Life

So, nothing major going on this week...

WAIT!!!

Yes, major happenings! What was I thinking? Our best friends, Eddie and Megan welcomed a new member to their family! Claire Peyton was born early Thursday morning. She is a healthy beautiful baby girl! They are doing really well thus far. I am quite impressed with them both but especially Megan. She was awesome during her labor with all the visitors and kiddos around and she's been awesome so far with Claire and all the visitors and goings on that come with a new baby!

Congratulations!

Other than that... We went to our neighbor's and friend's first birthday party. I can't believe Molly is already one! She was so precious! We rested on Sunday and Monday, and now we are back to work!

So far, the week for us holds a BBQ with friends and going back to school after spring break. Nothing else that I can think of at the moment.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Family Vacation March 2007

Friday we started out driving to Galveston. Jayden was really excited! We were on our way to "bacation, bacation, bacation!" We arrived at Moody Gardens and started at the aquarium. When we walked in Jayden immediately said, "It stinks in here!" The smell of fish was a little overpowering at first! We went around and looked at all the fish, etc. Jayden's favorite was the penguins. They would play back with him through the glass! It was really cute! The other thing Jayden was really excited about was the "giant straw." We were trying to explain to him before we left about the area where you "walk under water" and the fish swim over you. The best explanation we had, "it's like a giant straw that you walk through." Jayden was not overly impressed with it. Oh well! We finished the aquarium and headed over to the IMAX. It was a 3D show about life under the sea. It was good, and as with all 3D shows things jumped out at you. Jayden decided he didn't want to wear his glasses about half way through. It freaked him out. There were fish eating other fish, you know regular under the sea stuff, but for a three year old it was a little overwhelming! After the show we headed over to the rainforest pyramid. We did not spend a lot of time here because it's just not as interesting to a 3 year old as the fish. It was really fun though. Jayden got up close to a ... iguana? And his favorite thing there was the ducks. Yes, the ordinary! The bats, little monkeys, cool birds, plants didn't interest him as much as the ducks! After the rainforest we went to discover! The discovery pyramid was all about music. It was ok. Not my favorite and I'm a musical person. Lots of the exhibits were broken. The discovery pyramid is all hands on fun. There were things to change you voice, instruments to discover how they worked, drums to play, etc. (Sorry no pictures!) That night we went to Mario's Italian! It was yummy! It took awhile to get our food and Jayden slept through almost the entire meal! He fell asleep in the car and didn't wake up until we were finished! We called it an early night so we would be good and rested for Schlitterbaun the next day! That night I didn't sleep well. Going from a king size bed to a double is always an adjustment, plus we were on the wrong sides of the bed! So, the next day we got up and ate breakfast at the hotel and then walked over to Schlitterbaun. We got a locker and then went to explore! It's an indoor waterpark! They have heaters around and the water is warm! This is my type of place! I hate being cold! We went around the lazy river, which really isn't lazy! It was a wave river! Fun! Then Jayden played in the kiddo area for awhile. Then it was lunch time and nap time Jayden was starting to have major meltdowns! Low blood sugar and tiredness, not a good combination! I neglected to mention that Jayden woke up that morning at 6:45am! He walked up to me and said, "Mom! The sun's up!" During breakfast I noted that on the weather channel it said that sunrise was at 6:25am! Yes, the sun have just gotten up! So we walked back over to the hotel restaurant. Jesse ended up carrying Jayden, which is part of the reason we drove from then on out, and Jayden fell asleep waiting for the food. We ate outside by the pool. The weather was nice! After lunch was nap time! Then we headed back over to the park for a few hours. It was really nice to have a two day pass and a hotel so close. We didn't worry about getting our money's worth. We could go back and forth quickly! That night we asked Jayden what he wanted for dinner and he wanted, "Enchiladas, beans and chips" so mexican it was! We ate at a place called Salsa's. It was also good! Back to bed at a decent time and wake up late Sunday because of Daylight Savings time. Yes, we forgot to change the clock. Oh well! No rush! Back to the waterpark for more fun and a repeat of the day before! (almost exactly, but no nap today! check out instead.) Then we were off to home, but wait a quick stop by the fire station, as usual. Jayden and I slept the entire way home and then went to bed once we got home. Jesse was really sweet and unloaded the car and picked up the house! How nice! Jayden and I got up around 10 or 11pm and then stayed up until probably 4am for him and 7am for me! Monday we go up and played around the house. We played tennis outside and Jayden played on his swingset! We also had a novelty! We cooked dinner at home!!! Then we headed off to the fire station to do this:
Well, kinda. We practiced with the hoses. We played water polo and it was fun. I don't think I've been that hot and sweaty since Honduras last summer! It was my first time to use the hose so I'm pretty sore today! I was wiped out by the end of training! We stayed up late again last night and I slept in until... well, I don't want to make anyone angry...late. Tonight we are meeting Jesse's family and brother and SIL for dinner and I'm starving!

(One day I hope to put the pictures in that go with this post...)

The Week Thus Far

-Monday - Jesse: worked; Becky: got things done!; Jayden: played with his friends and loved every min of it!

---Monday night at fire department training we went to the SCBA (self contained breathing apparatus) house at The Woodlands Fire Department's main station. Basically, you put on all your gear and your SCBA and go through this maze. You have to crawl on your belly the entire way because it's such a tight squeeze. You go over, under, through, down, and at the end kick the door open. It was really fun and I kicked booty! Some of the other new people freaked out, or took a really long time, or ran out of air, but not me! Does this make me want to go into a burning building anymore than I wanted to before? Heck NO! It was just a fun experience and I was proud that I made it through!

-Tuesday - Jesse & Becky: we went to the mall to go see the new museum exhibit, but it wasn't open yet so instead we shopped! We also did surveys for a marketing company and made $20!; Jayden: school; Family: We went to Marco's for dinner and then to lifegroup. We have a great lifegroup!

-Wednesday - Jesse: took Jayden to school, went to Fry's, went to the movies; Becky: Slept; Jayden: school; Family: after school we made pizza and went over to the park to have a picnic and play tennis together as a family. It was fun! Jesse still stinks! Jayden hit the ball a few times and well, I'm actually pretty good at tennis! We then came home and I got ready for work while the boys played in the front yard. We went and got ice cream and then it was off to work for me.

---Tonight I only have one baby. He got here about the time I did and he's really sick. He is doing better so lets hope that keeps up!

We are all really excited about our trip this weekend! Or our "bacation" as Jayden calls it! He knows that tomorrow is Cowboy day at school and the next day is "bacation, bacation, baction." To give you the visual he is jumping around with his arms up in the air as he says that! Too cute! Have a great week!

Our First "Family" Post

Well, I decied that I wanted to start a blog for our family. I have a personal blog, but I don't always want everyone reading it. Plus it's a Xanga account and it's protected. So... you have to be a Xanga member to be able to read it. This causes a problem for my non-Xanga friends and bloggers. So... all that said... here is our family blog.

I think it's so neat to be able to chronicle your life in this manner. Our generation is such a technologicaly driven generation that this is a perfect way to "journal" without "journaling." I enjoy reading back over my posts that I have written over the past few years. I really try to force myself to post in every season of life for this reason.

So... Family stuff. Jayden is growing, growing, growing! He'll be four in May! I can't believe that! He's just so big! He's so smart. It's amazing how they change so quickly! Here is a pretty sad reflection of Jayden's intellegence and our family's eating habits:
While trying to decide where to eat lunch yesterday, I asked Jayden if he would like to eat at Fazoli's or Popeye's. He said Fazoli's and that was fine. Then I started thinking, "Does he even know what's at Fazoli's or Popeye's? We haven't eaten at either place in a few months." So I ask him what he's going to get at Fazoli's. He looks at me a says, "They have good breadsticks! I want three breadsticks!" Then I ask him what he would get at Popeye's. He said, "Biscuts!" So smart, but we eat out WAY too much!

Jesse is working Full time at the fire department, and part time on the ambulance. He's loving it.

I am working full time as an RN in a NICU in the Texas Medical Center. The drive is long, but it's worth the experience! I get to see some of the sickest babies in the area.

Ok. I guess that's all for now. It's taken quite a while to write this post since I'm at work!