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Some friends from our Ward, Justin and Amelia Low invited us to come check out the Circus with them and their son (Jackson's buddy), Zac. None of us had ever been, so we thought it would be a fun thing to do. We left our babies with a sitter so we could focus our time on just Jackson and Zac. It was so fun to see them excited about something they had no clue about. We kept talking about "elephants" and Dumbo to keep them interested.
Unfortunately, they started a half hour behind schedule, so by the time we hurried to our seats, we got to sit through a very boring parade. I thought the old men on bikes were cute though.
By the time the lights went out and the actual circus was about to begin, we had a very tired and bored Jax. Check out the heavy blinks. It was either we attend at 1pm (nap time) or 7pm (bedtime). 
It had only been two acts when Jackson was literally trying to crawl away. I guess the circus isn't his thing?
Here we are at the intermission. Yeah, ...the first half was already two and a half hours long so I was surprised to hear the word "intermission" at all. And since we kept talking about elephants, we thought we'd let the boys at least come down and get a closer look while watching other kids take a ride. I think Dumbo's ears shrunk.
Here are our awesome friends; Amelia, Zac and Justin. 
I think the funnest part for the boys was attacking me with snowballs while walking back to the car. Who needs elephants?
And the funnest part for everyone else was the drive home. Sigh.
Hurray for being 28! I think I'll start feeling old when I have wrinkles and sag everywhere it and feel achy all the time (...oh wait. I do!). For now, I feel like a 16 year old (in mind) with some number attatched to me, ...oh, and two kids and a husband. I really don't feel 28. Maybe I will really feel 30. But, I can wait for that. For now, let's talk about this year's bash! It started in LaCombe with Joe's family. Matt's birthday is on the 24th, so we all spent the weekend down there and celebrated our birthdays together the week before my actual birthday. During the day on Saturday, several of us went on a walk to JJ Collette (which is always Rob's idea, and which I always enjoy). Jackson and Grandpa B really have a sweet and tender connection that I can't explain. Maybe just the love of a grandparent and grandson, but it's always so fun to see them interact with each other. Well, he especially bought two sleds for Jax and Madilyn that weekend so we could go on this walk. Right before we were about to leave, Joe decided he wanted to test out this super sweet sled with Jackson and spin him around. Well, as you can see by this picture, it didn't turn out so well and Jax got a fat lip from falling off the sled.
However, we still went on the walk and enjoyed the journey.
Madi was all about the sled.
Jax on the other hand was not.
It was so fun to watch him jumping up and down on this bridge. It was pretty creeky and was making some interesting noises, so I think he must have felt like it was like the one at the park, ...except this one was about to fall apart!
We thought he was in a better mood by this point and tried to put him back in the sled, ...and this is the reaction we got. Woops.
The Birthday singing begins!
On my actual birthday, Sarah and Jenny (as per tradition) took me out to lunch. We ate at one of my favourite restaurants, "Milestones." Then did a little shopping. Fun times!
The day before my birthday was the day that Joe and I celebrated. We went to the Moose Factory because I LOVE steak and then went to a silly chick flick! But before we went out I got to spend the whole afternoon in the hospital with Jackson! I love spending time over at Sarah's and the kids always play so well together, so I drove over to her house with Jax and just before we were about to go inside, he was getting upset because I would only let him take two toy cars inside, instead of the five that were in his hands. I placed the remaining three on his car seat, and just as I was sliding the van door shut, he lunged for his cars and caught his hand in the door. At first when I realized that the door wasn't shut, I just about went into shock! I had the worst pit in my stomach as I looked at Jackson and he burst out crying! I rushed inside Sarah's to have a look at it and, after calling Joe, came to the conclusion that I'd better get it checked out at the Grey Nuns Hospital since it was right by Sarah's house. It was so bruised and swollen, I knew that that door had done some damage. Sure enough there was a crack in his right hand (first medicarpel). He was terrified of the X-ray machine, and we ended up having to go to another area in the hosptial where there were more techs to help pin him down. It was so sad! They made me wait in another room, so I couldn't even be there to sooth him! I was so close to breaking down many times. It is the worst feeling when you know your child is in pain, and even worse when you know it was your fault! Thankfully, Jackson was a super sport about it. He got around with it just fine and didn't seem to be in any real pain once we got home. They made him a split instead of a full cast to wear for three weeks, so we could take it off for bathing and such. But once Jax got the hang of that, he decided it would be a fun game to take his cast off during nap time and bed time. Not so fun for me though! Needless to say, my Birthday weekend was ...eventful.Slurpees make everything better, right?
Another HUGE event that took place last year that I wanted to touch on was the birth of my second son, Noah James on May 24th, 2008. My pregnancy was much harder than Jackson's in the sense that I was far more sick and was throwing up practically everyday until about the four and a half to five-month mark. And on top of that I was having contractions up to three weeks before the actual due date. I kept thinking I was going into labour and was sent home from the hospital twice! My contractions would be five minutes apart but I wasn't dilating. Many tears were shed both times. With my third hospital visit, I KNEW this just had to be it. I was two days over due already and my contractions were two minutes apart, however, I still wasn't dilating. The nurse told me I could stay and walk around the hospital for two hours and if I came back with any change in dilation, she would keep me there. So, ...needless to say the next two hours were SUPER fun! No, ...no they were not at all. Joe and I made sure to do as many stairs as possible. I wanted this baby to come so bad! If I had to be sent home again, ...I am quite certain I would have lost it! I was already overdue, how could they not keep me? Well, I advanced from 2 and a half cm to 3. Though the change was small, the kind, kind nurse let me stay! I got an epidural right away (I don't play around with that kind of thing), and was able to relax for the rest of the night. At that point it was about midnight. My water broke around 4 am and Noah was born at 6:15am. Right before I was ready to push, the doctor on call, Dr. Chua, had two other women ahead of me to deliver, so I had to try not push until he came. It was so neat, because with each contraction, his head started popping in and out all by himself. And this time I asked for a mirror so I could see the whole thing, which I think I might do with every baby now. It was so neat to see the progression. It kind of gave me a little more hope with each push. And thankfull it was only three pushes before Noah came into our lives! Awful pregnancy, short delivery! Jackson loves having a little buddy! And of course, Joe and I are overjoyed to have two beautiful healthy boys in our lives.
This is Noah's sonogram picture when I was 22 weeks pregnant.
Right after Noah was born, my first thought was that he looked JUST like Jackson! After holding him for a few moments the nurse had to do some tests on him because his back was arching so much and was pretty rigid coming out. She thought it might be viral menegitus. Thankfully after all the tests, I could hold him again and you he was just fine and healthy! 
Noah's grandma Burnham was there pretty early on before Noah was born, so I invited her to stay and help with the delivery and take pictures. It was nice to have that extra support. I love my Momma bear!
Our first family shot together
I thought it was really neat that Noah came right on his Grandpa Burnham's Birthday, so the very next day after coming home from the hospital we celebrated both of their birthdays at our place. It was a little overwhelming, but mostly it was nice to be surrounded by people that I love. 
My boys! The first picture of all the boys together.
Jackson was 17 months old, and the day we came home he decided to get his two year molars in! That night he was fevered and cranky. What a crazy first few days coming home from the hospital. Thankfully Joe was able to help out and Joe's Mom stuck around for a few days as well. It was serioiusly SO nice to have that extra help. She cleaned my house, made me high-fiber meals and took care of my kids. My Mom also came over almost everyday to help out and visit.I am seriously so lucky to have family so close!
This is Noah the first day being home. What a beautiful baby. I'm lucky!
