365 days 30-44

 2-13-13
We made Solei a Valentine's Day shirt with freezer paper stenciling!

 2-14-13
Valentine's Day just isn't Valentine's Day without fondue, I think.

 2-15-13
Bedrest is just as awesome as it sounds.

 2-16-13
Jared made a picnic for the kids right next to the bed so we could eat together!

 2-17-13

 2-18-13
Forster's favorite time of day is when Solei is in the bath and he gets to play on my phone.

 2-19-13
That's the artist next to her great work, "Mommy."

 2-20-13
Those letters on the ground are how Forster learned to spell his name!  There's also a catchy jingle, too.

 2-21-13
I couldn't decide between the two.  I love it when Jared jams with the kids.

 2-22-13
F-O-R-S-T-E-R!!!!

 2-23-13
The kids went to a sibling preparation class at the hospital.  There was pizza involved, so it was a wild success.

 2-24-13
We had a friend over for her birthday and there were cupcakes.  We loves us some miniature cakes!

 2-25-13
Nana is here!!!!

 2-26-13
These two become better friends every day.  We love to see them play!

2-27-13
See the family resemblance??

Introducing number 3

March has been quite the whirlwind - it started with little Conrad joining the world and then a few days later Jared was made bishop of our ward.  We have spent the rest of the month trying to recover.  We are still reeling, so please enjoy these few pictures I have thrown up without explanation so my dear mother will get off my back:

Also, the day before Jared was made bishop, we got the whole houseful of family to join us in making a Harlem Shake video.  Because, what else would you do the day before you become a bishop?  Duh!

365 days 22-29

 2-5-13
This is Forster's rallying cry when he sees someone hurt or in need.   I was laying on the couch with typical pregnancy woes and he insisted on kissing it better. I adore this child.  Also, when he leaned down to kiss my stomach, the baby kicked him in the face.

 2-6-13
I was again couch-ridden and Solei was willing to have what we call a "violin snack" while I watched.  If there isn't time or energy for a full on lesson, we still try to have a short practice session in.  She has made some incredible progress the last two years, and even though things have slowed to a crawl since school and my pregnancy have squished our schedule, I love connecting with her musically and inching ahead with her.  Move slowly and don't stop!


 2-7-13
Today was kind of a big deal.  No matter what happens though, the fact that we're in this together makes it all seem doable.

 2-8-13
Have you seen Hotel Transylvania?  We dug it.

 2-9-13
Jared hooked up the Wii and the kids got their wiggles out playing the Nickelodeon Fit game, which is super awesome.  We are so done with winter here!

 2-10-13
I love when she gets lost in a book.  Except at dinnertime, mind you.

 2-11-13
This guy loves his baths.

2-12-13
Forster has to have 28 Valentines for school tomorrow, so I cut out some red hearts and he wrote an F on every single one.  It was a challenge for sure, but he got really good at those Fs!

365 days 15-21

 1-29-13
I failed already!  I somehow missed a picture this day, BUT I did manage to take a picture of dinner (which was delicious and totally instagram worthy) so I'm counting it.  At least it was a picture!  And that's my home-made baguette there too - I LOVE my new bread pan!!

1-30-13
After what felt like weeks - but was probably less than 2 - I finally got a phone call in with my mom who is currently gallivanting all over southern China.  Forster had an extra long conversation with her about how she needed to be happy, one of his favorite topics :)

1-31-13
Forster and I spent a long day snuggling together and never managed to get out of his jammies.  He's here waiting for Solei to come out of school.

 2-1-13
 Solei is so blasted excited about this baby - constantly asking how big he is, trying to talk to him and always, always snuggling the bump.  I am one lucky mama, and he is one lucky brother!

 2-2-13
I was laying sick in bed when Jared took Solei into the bathroom to find some special lotion for her very chapped hands (DARN THIS WINTER!).  It was such a sweet sight of Dady taking care of Solei that I had to snap a picture.

 2-3-13
Jared made dough for pizza and left enough so Solei could make a dough animal as well.  That's a dog (I think) and she used a wasabi pea for his eye.  It was actually quite yummy!

2-4-13
This is our Bishop and home teacher and the kids obviously adore him.  Thankfully he's a devoted grandpa too so he's used to being used as a jungle gym :)

365 days 7-14

 1-21-13
Forster is obsessed with being a superhero lately and this costume Jared's Aunt Pascale made him eons ago has been  his favorite accessory of late.  I'd try to recreate it but my sewing skills are no match for this thing.  I am SO glad I caught them pretending in their room, I love this shot!!

1-22-13

Sometimes after a long, hard day, the only thing that will take the edge off is some good old fashioned Wheel time.

1-23-13

Clean bill of health from the dentist!  It was a lovely little mommy daughter date :)

 1-24-13
Daddy had a meeting in Madison so we tucked in for the night and played game after game until bedtime.  Forster is surprisingly good at Uno.

1-24-13

They were all riled up so I turned on a dance game and let them go at it.  They gots some moves, yo!

 1-25-13
Jared found a bass for cheap in Madison so he trekked out to get it, and set to work fixing a few issues it has.  While he was loosening the strings, we heard a clunk and knew the soundpost had fallen down.  Ever the resourceful Boy Scout, he got a fondue fork and a crowbar and set it into place again.  How cool is that?!?!

 1-26-13
Solei's new job is the dishes, and she has fabulously.  We had some time to kill before church and she finished up the breakfast plates for us.  Score!!

1-27-13

Solei's school had a 2 hour snow delay and Forster's was cancelled all together so we attempted some home school time.  After some consternation, I got him to write the letter F!  Also, he thinks the word "rat" is high-larious.

8 whole years

I forgot to post the annual anniversary video here!  If you haven't seen it yet, enjoy!

365 days 1-6

My 365 self-portrait project is over, so my next years project - the FAMILY 365 is just getting started!  And of course, I've already messed up and took 2 that I liked for one day, but the more the merrier!  

 1-15-13
WG propped up the two sides of the mattress on her old bed and created a reading couch for her to read to Forster on.  I found them like this :)

1-16-13
I was tired and grouchy, sitting on my computer after Solei's music lessons when Forster (who had just woken up) came to me with those doe-like eyes and begged "Please have a violin lesson?  Please play Quiet 'inja?"  How could I refuse??  He's doing a lovely little job and it might have something to do with the Halloween candy he earns after a lesson...

 1-17-13
We went to Math Night at Solei's school and Jared was on Keep Forster From Doing Massive Property Damage duty.

 1-18-13
One of our friend's daughter's played a wee recital and they kids were very dutiful audience members.  She's my student and just graduated from book 2, so I was a proud audience member!

1-19-13
We got some nifty toys from a babysitter who was cleaning out her room and Solei took to it like a duck to water.  Forster turned all the magnets into a choo choo train and dragged it all over the floor.

 1-20-13
Saturday night movie night was the Lorax, but I think I was the only one watching.  Daddy was knee-deep in doing some recording and Solei had to finish up her homework.

1-21-13
Sunday was a VERY rare Sunday where we actually got a chance to rest.  There was much lounging and napping.

Merry Christmas letter from the Pagets as told by the MATRIARCH

My parents put out a notoriously epic Christmas card every year.  I've never felt the need because 1) I'm in my parent's card anyway and they send it EVERYWHERE, I mean every single continent.  Probably.  Also, 2) sending Christmas cards would involve my nemesis, the US postal service, 3) I already make an anniversary video, so the nostalgia is taken care of, and 4) ugh.

But now that I'm a grown-up technically, and my parents are busy slaving away in China hence no card this year, I figure I'll take up a teeny part of the slack and write something.  Except I really hate those Christmas letters, so I challenged Jared to a card-off in the hopes that we'll end up with something representative of our family.  And since I'm using the computer with access to our photos, mine will be shinier.  So I'm already ahead!

Life in the Paget family has been super awesome this year.  There has been a minimal amount of vomit, almost all the family members now regularly eliminate in the toilet, and the kids are still willing to eat the same breakfast every.single.day.  

Reason 1 the year was awesome:  There was like, no winter.  It was FABULOUS.  This was taken in March, but it could have been January.  

 Do you notice the absence of snow pants?  I DO.

  Reason 2:  You see all these people?  All these people are awesome, and more importantly - fit into our house at the same time.  I've only been married 7 years (8 next month!) but to me it is astounding I had enough towels to accommodate this many guests.  And this many people spent the majority of time in our house because it was a kajillion degrees all summer long and being outside was a terrible idea. 

 And then when we did venture outside, this face happened.  So that was awesome.

 Reason 3: We got a slip n' slide.

 Reason 4: Solei got to go to kindergarten FINALLY.

 Reason 5: I got Forster to sit still long enough to get a picture of him next to a sign that said Knuckle Head.

 Reason 6: We survived yet another birthday party for Solei where I lost my head and invited every female in town.  The screaming.  OH THE SCREAMING.

Reason 7: I have a decent reason for getting to eat an entire meal of condiments and call it a "craving."

 Reason 8: Jared got me a remote for the camera so this picture could happen:

 And these kids continue to astound us with their massive brains and ability to embarrass us in public.

Just you wait until you are teenagers.  JUST YOU WAIT.

And the final reason is that we got to survive this crazy year together.  Jared changed jobs, sold his motorcycle and jeep and then bought another jeep and ensured the Paget name will live on in at least two male heirs.  I recorded and produced an entire album with my band in 24 hours and I now own enough yoga pants to not have to wear any jeans at all.  But the yoga pants are all the same brand so it looks like I'm wearing the same pants every day and this does not bother me in the slightest.  I am now of the age where this matters little.  In fact, some mornings I drop Solei off at school and have to check to make sure I'm wearing a shirt.  So far so good!

All in all, we feel very blessed, tired, and sometimes gassy.  We hope you have a marvelous Christmas!!

Okay Jared, whatCHUgot???

added: Okay, he officially wins.

Merry Christmas from the Pagets

(The ones that are in rural Wisconsin, remember us?)

As the year comes to a close and letters and cards come from all over the world in various shades of Christmas red and green, our thoughts have turned to how we also have done things that we feel are marginally better than everyone else.  Therefore I have chosen to conquer the annual Christmas letter (adding this conquest to homemade bread, homemade pizza, large messes, spreadsheets, snarky facebooks comments, and drinking milk.)  Strap on your “I care” cape and hold on for the ride:

When Reva and I were married, we both wanted to have four kids.  After our first was born, we both thought that maybe that was a little aggressive and we should maybe only have 3.  After our second was born, that number dropped to two.  We were happy and loved our kids (for the record both children are still loved.)  After some powerful amnesia and celestial prodding we made the decision to try for a third.  We were wildly successful and are expecting numero 3 sometime in late February.  It’s a BOY!!!  I’d love to name him Guy Incognito Paget - but Reva’s not on board... yet.  I’m pretty sure that all the internal kidney kicking he’s doing is a result of her refusal to accept the name.

Now for the post-utero offspring: Child #1 - aka Solei - had a spectacular year.  After some small effort, Solei finished 4-K with a bang!  For a girl who learned her alphabet and numbers at 16 months, 4-K was not so challenging.  She has a great love of science and reading.  Kindergarten has been a lot of fun for Solei, who loves nothing more than to go to school.  Solei loves to fight with the neighbors bears and even beat a pack of wolves with her bare hands.  She’s a beautiful little girl who is a great joy to our family.

Child #2 - aka  Forster - has made leaps and bounds this year.  He went from being a loud, energetic toddler to being a loud, energetic little boy.  He is all boy - he loves trucks, tractors, and trying to seriously injure his father.  His favorite greeting is ramming his whole body, full force, into the crotch of the person he is greeting.  Not so bad for the lady folk, but for us guys he needs an education - “That’s My Purse!”  Forster is nearly potty trained.  He loves wearing underpants, but not actually going potty in the potty.  Those are mutually exclusive in our home.  Reva’s been working on using the hours upon hours she has him sitting on the potty to teach him to read.  He’s getting pretty good with sight words, but phonetic pronunciation is as awkward and infrequent as emotion coming from Kristen Stewart.  Forster is not the bear wrestler his sister is, they are too easy an opponent for him.  He’s enjoyed wrestling dump trucks.

Reva’s had a great year.  She spent the majority of the year as a Pinterest missionary.  Her conversions have been many.  She’s also taken on a challenge in which she takes a photo every day for a year - the only trick is that she has to be in said picture.  It’s been an interesting challenge for her - that has produced literally thousands of photos of her appendages.  She spent the year as the President of the Young Womens organization in our congregation.  Reva and her trio, The Blarney Girls, played the N. GA Scottish Games in June.  They, of course, were awesome and were invited back for an unprecedented 7th year next year.  Reva was also impregnated by an attractive gentleman with whom she shares a marriage.  

Jared’s year has been spectacular and disappointing at the same time.  Our hearts were broken on election night when Jared only garnered 6 votes for president.  In other news, Jared received 6 votes for president of the USA!  How impressive is that?  We have 4 years to perfect the message before the next election.  While waiting to move into the oval office, Jared took a new position with a Dairy Equipment Company in Madison - not stereotypical at all, is it?  We lost two members of our family this year when Jared had to sell is CJ7 and Motorcycle.  It was a sad parting on both parts.  They’ve been replaced (just yesterday) with a Jeep Grand Cherokee.  You can’t ever really replace a family member, but it’s nice to not have something with 4x4 to drive in the winter.  

Our pet monkey still has not arrived, so we can imagine what he did this year:  Furious George was quite the handful this year.  His penchant for excrement diffusion would be useful on a farm, but not in a home.  The carpets are not enjoying our friendly little pet either.  When he got loose this summer he bit the mailman, so our mail is not delivered to our home anymore.  This winter he got out and stole Reva’s brown jacket before a trip which apparently ended at an Ikea in Toronto.  Maybe it’s not so bad that our pet monkey hasn’t shown up yet.

We hope that all your lives are wonderful and you have a wonderful 2013.

Love,

The Pagets:

Jared, Reva, Solei, Forster, Guy, and Spaghetti Cat.