Non-napping 2 year old

So, lately Jameson has been ON-THE-GO. He literally never stops and gets into this, that, and everything else. This afternoon, he was just so tired. You could see it in his eyes. he was also very cranky (as we all know crankiness comes with tiredness)!

James tried to put him down for a nap, to no avail. We have tried everything. He now knows how to climb over the gate, kick out the bottom gate if we double gate his door, gets out of his bed, etc, etc, etc. Getting him to bed at night and down for a nap has been a challenge for a while now.

Today, James decided that he just NEEDED his nap, but since he was refusing to cooperate on his own, a little bit of force was needed. ;0) This is how you "wrangle" a very active 2 year old and get him to fall asleep. It took about 10 minutes. He fought for a bit, but pretty soon we were hearing some pretty load little zzzzzzzz's coming from the lil man.

Notice how his lil feet are poking out from between the backs of Jim's legs and how Jim pretty much has him in a locking bear hug. LOL! Love the boy to peices, but boy has he proven to be a handful. Good thing he is so darn cute, especially in peaceful (finally) slumber.

New Goals

So, the purpose of this blog was originally so that I could document our life raising these 6 crazy rascals. I have been so busy lately that I have kind of left that behind. My new goal for the summer (since I dont have school anymore :0) is to be better about documenting.

Jameson is getting so big. I cant believe he is 2 now. He is starting to talk more and more each day. I love it when he grabs a book and sits down, turning pages, and just babbles to himself like he is reading himself a book. Too cute!

A new thing he has started in the last week or 2 is to call me "Mo". I think it is adorable. He has been a daddy's boy from day 1 and has said Daddy, Dada, and the many other forms for that wonderful baldy he loves dearly. However, he has not usually called me anything, which I have been okay with. I know he has been around Dad a lot more since birth just because of our life situation right now. I am okay with that. Well, a few weeks ago, he just started calling me "Mo." Today, I came home from work and he was standing in the living room. He turned and beamed and said "Hello Mo!" I just love that little man.

Anyway, my new goal is to try and post something every few days. (I would say everyday, but I dont want to put too much pressure on myself LOL). Raising 6 kids is not always easy, there are some fun times, but a lot of frustrating times as well. I am sure it will not be too hard to come up with stuff to post about. I would also like to be able to remember these little things when the kids are older, so here goes my trial run at some new goals

So I am a total slacker!!!!

I just cant seem to find the time to blog anymore. Sorry guys. Here are some pics to get you up to speed on our life as of late.

We had a rough go of it for a bit with all the little kids catching a pretty harsh case of pneumonia and RSV. Little Jameson above spent 5 days in the hospital. Daniel and Abi (below) spent 1 night in the hospital. James was with Jameson as he was getting discharged while I was with Daniel and Abi in the ER getting admitted.

Daniel and Abi recovered fast and were out of the hospital the next day. I cant really say they enjoyed being in the same room becuase they were sick and in the hospital. LOL. It was one long week, but they all got healthy and are back to their normal selves. I get nervous at any runny nose or cough now, but they are doing well. We have such wonderful church members who helped with childcare, cleaning, and bringing us meals. Not to mention one great Visiting Teacher who took the top half kids a few times as well as gave me a great shoulder to cry on. Thanks to all who helped out. We really do appreciate it.

Other than the hospital stay, nothing too SHOCKING has been going on at the Snook house. We are just hanging out... Bouncing on the trampoline....

Enjoying hot dogs bigger than our heads....

Getting in touch with the ape inside of each of us....

Jumping for joy at the blessings we see each day....

Reaching for the sky at a higher potential in each one of us...

Spending some family time on hikes outdoors...

And enjoying some great bedtime stories....

I very much enjoy peaking at the world through the eyes of these little guys....

As they strap themselves in tight to me...

With working full time, school full time, and some various other duties (like laundry, kids, etc) I am staying very busy. One thing I am very grateful for is a loving family. I enjoy each moment I spend with these kiddos and thank my Heavenly Father every day for the chance to be their mother. I love them all and have learned a lot from each one.

Our Photo Daddy

To say that the last few years have been rough would be an understatement. We have struggled a lot financially, emotionally, and spiritually. Times have definitely been trying. But through all those trying times, James has been so strong and courageous. I am continually amazed at how these "little" things just dont get him down, or at least he doesnt show it too much. When we were nearing the end of schooling and thinking things were soon going to get better, James started turning in applications for a "permanent" job in photojournalism. 2 years later, he is till looking to find that dream job. FOr now though, he is happy hanging out and taking pictures whenever he gets the chance and he never complains about having to take some pretty crappy jobs to get by.

A few weeks ago we had yet another heartbreaking let down in the job category and I must say that I was crushed. Not for myself or for the lack of money, but I just felt like we had "put our time in" and deserved a break. He deserves a lot more than what he is getting right now and I just thought that maybe our time was up and the blessings should just start pouring in any moment now. I totally believe in enduring to the end and keep on moving and all that, but seriously can we find the end any time soon. That is just what I was feeling. doors kept slamming in our faces, opportunities just kept slipping through our grasps and for what, so we could remain poor and unable to support ourselves, blah, blah, blah. I guess I just had a mental breakdown of sorts and still am fighting my way out of it. but through it all, James has remained happy and strong. He did have some sadness at the lost opportunity of yet another job, but he has not crashed like I have. he even had to give a talk on the importance of prayer the Sunday after hearing he did not get the job and I must say that I dont think I could have done it. I was seriously doubting prayer at that point. I mean we prayed night and day, fasted, attended the temple, all of those things you are supposed to do and still did nto get the job. What more could we do? I would have found it very difficult to get up in front of the church and profess my testimony on prayer because at the moment, my testimony was lacking ALOT!

Anyway, things are looking up. He has struggled to find the job that fits just right and has yet to find it except for the Baseball photography, which is only during the summer. Through it all though, we have been blessed in so many other little ways and i need to remember those little things more often.

This past week he landed a job. Is it his "dream job"? No. But he is still very happy about it. it is an opportunity to be doing something he loves to do, shooting photographs! What can be better. It is also a job that he can "grow" with where moving up is an option. I am continually amazed at his wonderful attitude and his "just ducky" attitude. That is his favorite saying because he says he tries to look at stuff like a duck would and just let the "water run off his back." he doesnt let these things get him down. he just picks himself back up and tries again. I am proud of you hunny. Good luck with the new job and I pray that I may some day have a good attitude about life like you do. I have a lot to learn from you. thanks for putting up with my doldroms lately. LOVE YA!

Better School Pictures

With a built in photographer in our family, we have chosen to not pay for anymore unsuccessful "school" pictures for the kids. Instead, James and I take the kids to the park on a sunny fall afternoon and get new pictures of each one. Here are this years pictures.

Jameson is just growing so fast and getting so big. I cannot believe that he is 20 months, almost 21 months old now. It sure does go fast. He is into EVERYTHING! Climbing all over the place and generally getting himself into all kinds of trouble. Good thing he is so darn cute! LOL. We love his bubbly personality. He has shown his love for music and anytime he hears music from a comercial, the radio, or even his sister singing he will stop what he is doing and do a little baby dancing jig for us. He is a little ham and is always strutting his stuff. If it is not music he is enjoying, it is Elmo! The kid is an Elmo addict! He has few words that he can say, the typical Mama, Dada, Ty-Ty, and of course Elmo. Elmo and music though are nothing compared to his big bro Ty-Ty. Those two are best buds and Ty-Ty is such a wonderful help with his lil brother. Jameson is very fond of Tyler and I think Tyler is pretty darn attached to Jameson.

Jameson at 18 months old

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Daniel is 3-1/2 now and is growing fast as well. He has mastered potty-training (yay) and is showing the usual 3 year old interest in Buzz Lightyear and Woody. Daniel is a goofy little guy who is always making us laugh. He is always coming up with funny little things to entertain everyone. His future career may indeed be the stand up comedian!

Daniel at 3-1/2

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Abi has proven to be a little Princess Diva as we like to call her. She definitely rules the roost most of the time. James is very thankful to only have one melodramatic daughter on his hands. LOL. She can be very dramatic when she doesnt get what she wants, but boy is it fun to have a "shopping buddy!" I look forward to the days when we can go to lunch and get our nails done and do a bit of shopping together. Just her and I chillin as girls whilst the boys are out playing with mud and junk. Those will be fun times. I cannot believe that she is almost 5 and ready to start Kindergarten next year. She is looking forward to being in the same school as her brothers.

Abigail at 4-1/2

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Noah is doing wonderfully! He is learning to read and getting better at writing every day. For Christmas he got a Tag reader and he enjoys using that to build his reading skills. It is so fun to see him do things on his own. He is still very shy and worried about a lot of things, but I see progress every day. He loves being in 1st grade and cant wait to be able to read like the big boys so he can read things like Harry Potter and Fablehaven. He is happy with Geronimo Stilton being read to him for now and working out words with his Tag reading system. It is great to see him learning and growing each and every day.

Noah 7

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Jacob is a big 3rd grader now. He is an amazing reader and is on the 4th Harry Potter book and 3rd Fablehaven and somewhere around the 2nd Percy Jackson. He is very much enjoying reading the same books that Tyler has been reading for the past few years and being able to talk to him about the storyline and so on. It is fun to see this kind of interaction between these two boys. Usually Jacob is in the midst of reading 4 books at one time because as he says "he might get bored with one for a while so he has a back up, or 2, or 3..." LOL. He is a great kid. He is still a challenge at times with his ADHD stuff, but we have learned how to work through things a bit better and as long as he is making such good progress with school, I cannot complain at all. His teacher is amazed at all the ideas he has floating in that head of his and loves to read his daily writting, because he always has such great things to say. Along with reading, he has taken well to math and science and just generally enjoys school alot. I am grateful for this in my children. They have all loved school so much.

Jacob 9

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Tyler is in the 6th grade. Again, I cannot believe how time has gone by so fast. He is just a wonderful child. Always willing to help with the little brothers and sister, eager to play with them, and ready to help us with anything we need. I cannot live my life without Tyler there assisting me in my daily routine. He is truly a blessing to this family. Him and Jameson have developed a special bond and they very much enjoy playing with each other. Anytime we need Jameson out of the room (like when we are doing dishes and he is pulling all the dirty dishes out of the dishwasher faster than we can put them in) Tyler is ready to take him away and keep him occupied. Tyler too is doing wonderfully in school. He has taken a few tests at school and has scored "off the charts" according to his teacher. This year he has a great teacher who encourages these kids at such a critical juncture in their lives. He is trying to prepare them for the crazy world of middle school and I am impressed by his dedication and love for his kids. Tyler is blessed to have a great teacher like him. Tyler enjoys reading, math, science, and sports. He will be starting basketball soon for the school and is very excited about this.

Tyler 11

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This is a picture we tried to get off all of them crossing the bridge together. It is okay, but did not work exactly how I was picturing it. It was very hard to get Jameson to cooperate. It did turn out good though. I like how most all attention is focused on Jameson in the middle.

This is the one that we used for our Christmas Card this year. We tried to get everyone, including Jameson, to hold hands while walking towards the pond. Alas, Jameson proved uncooperative again in regards to holding hands with these guys. They kept pulling him over and such. We decided to let Jameson hang back and see what happened. We sent the big kids off walking towards the pond while holding hands and Jameson turned to look at us (probably checking to see if we were coming, LOL). This is the shot we got and I loved it!

Anyway, those are our school pictures this year. A friend photographer calls them "better school pictures" and takes them every year for her kids and some clients. Jim is interested in starting to do more of this kind of thing as well. We will see how that all pans out. It seems to be a pretty good business, once you get the client base going an so on.

Our Park adventures.

We enjoyed an evening at the Park with some nice weather last night during Jacob's soccer practice. It is always a fun time for the kids since the practice is right next to Shadle Park with lots of fun toys. It is fun to see all the kids have a great time. Abby made good friends with another little sister of the soccer players and they were running around the whole time playing some game. Of course she had her purse with her with all of her most important things.

Daniel had a great time being chased by Tyler and Jameson. They went up and down the slides I don't know how many times. Jameson just had a ball exploring all over the place. He is just not afraid of anything and had so much fun trying all the new things.

This is video of Jameson going up the stairs to the slide.

And this is video of him going down the slide.

He is just too brave for his own good. He had a lot of fun doing this over and over again. Tyler helped out a lot and took him down some of the other slides. If he was not climbing stairs, playing with Tyler, or going down slides, then he was just wondering around taking it all in.

And here is some video of our little Noah. He has recently learned how to swing himself and he spent 90% of the time just swinging and swinging. I am so proud of him and all the growing he has done over these last 6 months or so. He is a totally different child and it is so fun to see him out there interacting and learning and growing and most important of all finally acting like a kid and having fun.

The video clips are from my phone, so they are not the best...

Overall, it was a fun night while Jacob was at soccer practice. It is so nice that we can finally go outside and enjoy ourselves. We have been trying to spend more time outside being active and less time sitting and watching TV or playing Wii. It is great to finally have the opportunity to burn off all this energy these kids keep building up. I hope the weather continues and we can have more and more fun outdoors.

Favorite Spot

Funny how the kids will find their favorite little spots to hang out. Jameson has been so into sitting on the hearth. He first learned to climb on it, then penguin slide off it, then walk around up there, and now that his legs are a bit longer he can finally sit on it. It is so funny to see him back up to it and pop a little tiny squat right there. He will look up at you with a big grin and just sit there and let his feet dangle. So cute. Here is a pic of him at his favorite spot. What a cutie...

Happy Birthday Jameson

And you thought the birthday wishes were over. LOL. Not quite. Jameson turned the Big #1 on April 11. There has been so much going on this last year with graduating from school, moving back to Spokane, and welcoming this wonderful little man into our family. He has been a great addition and it seems like this is the way it has always been with the 6 of them.This little guy is a definite go getter and has added some spunk and activity to this already boisterous household. He is so determited to keep up with all the other little people he sees around him. Jameson has such a sweet disposition about him. He is usually very happy and is always on the go.Albertsons gives out a free first birthday cake, so here is the one that Daniel and Abby chose for him. It was very cute. We give this cake to the birthday child for their own cake to mess with and play in and sometimes actually eat.

That is Tyle holding down his hands. He just wanted to grab that thing. If you look closely he alread grabbed the Oreo cookie ears off the cake and started muncin on those. He is a fast one.
He was pretty tentative at first. Mostly justed wanted the cookies, but he soon got into the fun of making a mess and eating some yummy frosting.Of course some actually did make it in his mouth, but mostly it just went all over his face, budda belly, and highchair tray.

To be able to play with your food again. Oh what a life.

Showing off his goopy hands.


YEAH CAKE!!

And of course a bath to end the day. Happy Birthday baby. We love ya. Jameson has grown so big and fits into this family just perfectly. I cannot wait to see what this next year holds for our little J.

Crazy J

It has been so nice since last Friday. The kids have really enjoyed being able to play out in the backyard. Of course, whatever the big kids can do, Jameson can do even better, right. Here is his no fear side. He is just a crazy little guy and is all over the places. This one definitely keeps us on our toes.

Jameson in a tie

I just thought he looked especially cute in his tie this past Sunday, so I snapped some pictures. What a cutie-patootie my little guy is....

He is an official WALKER

Okay, so all of the kids (minus 1) have been early walkers, walking before 1 year old. Tyler was probably the earliest at about 10-1/2 months old. Well, that is before now. Jameson started taking his first steps just a week or so after he turned 9 months old. By 10 months old he is just walking all over the place and getting into everything. HE IS CRAZY!!!!!!

He definitely keeps us all on our toes. It is so cute seeing such a little guy toddling all over the place. He has the Frankenstien stiff leg walk down pat and enjoys chasing after all his brothers and sister. I am convinced that he thinks he has to keep up with them all, so that is why he has been so fast at all this stuff. He is determined to do everything they are doing. LOL. Here is some video of his walking from just the other day. Enjoy.

FEED ME!!!!

This little man of ours is just way to active. I had just gotten home from the store and was putting groceries away, thus the fridge door was open. I turned around to get something and when I turned back, I found this....

9 Months old. I just cant believe him sometimes. My mom and I were laughing so hard. It was just too cute. Apparently he was hungry and I was just not fast enough for him, so he had to take matters into his own hands.

Jameson Firsts

Jameson is growing way to fast. It always happens doesn't it. We just go through each day and they get bigger and bigger and progress so fast.

I just thought I would document a few of his firsts for memory sake. He is now officially 9 months old (as of a few days ago) and is just getting into everything and keeping us on our toes. He climbs the stairs, gets into the bathroom, loves to pull drawers open and empty them of their contents, and has officially taken his first steps. WOW! He is an amazing little man. I am so proud of him.

Here are some pictures of some of the fun times with Jameson.

This is actually one of the first times he was able to pull himself up on the hearth. It was about at 6 months or so. He has now moved on to climbing onto it and cruising along the fireplace. He will also lean over the edge to get something off the floor and kind of belly slide (like a seal) to get off. It is very comical to watch.

This is actually the very first time he stood up on his own. It was just a bit before Christmas so he was about 8-1/2 months old. I just thought I would snap a shot and text to Jim at work to say hi. I stood him up thinking he would fall down and he didnt. I quickly took the shot. Now, he is all over the place. LOL. What was I thinking teaching him a new trick. He has enough in his arsenal. LOL.

And here is his lovely drawer emptying abilities. He loves to pull open these drawers and pull out all the towels and rags. The drawer below has all the "kids" cups and he loves to play around with those as well. Fun times.

Here he is with his first sucker. Boy it really pays to have older siblings!!!!! He loved this one. I couldnt help it, I had to take a picture before I took the sucker away from him. LOL. Look at those chubby little cheeks. He was really sucking hard on that one.

I love this one as well. Notice the binky upside down. He loves to put it in this way. He is just TOO COOL FOR THE BINKY!!!!

Our growing baby

Any excuse to post pictures of the cutest little baby in the world. LOL. I cant believe he is getting so big already. Enjoy the photos.

Yes he is really always this happy.

This next one was actually taken by Tyler. Their favorite thing to do is bury the poor kid with all the pillows from the couch. He is crawling out and peeking around one pillow here and I thought it was a great capture by big brother.