Prayers

I'm asking everyone to please pray for my friend Tiffany. She was a surrogate for a couple that couldnt have kids, and today she gave birth to the twins at 34 weeks. Babies are fine, but they couldnt stop the bleeding and in the end my friend had to have a hysterectomy to save her life. She's my age, 30. In fact, we share the same birthday, year and all.
She did a beautiful thing by carrying those twins for that couple, and God will bless her for it. I am so blessed to have such a great friend in Tiffany.

It Snowed!!!!

It really snowed!! Still cant believe it! Wasnt a whole heck of a lot of snow, we got just over 2 inches, but i'm happy with anything over an inch!!! :) Considering we only get about that much snow once every few years, i'll take what I can get!

Jadon was so excited when he got up to snow that he tripped on the stairs. I was laying in bed and I heard him get up, and then I heard a loud stomp sound, so I got up to check on him and he was sitting on the stairs looking out the window excitedly and said "mommy it snowed!!" Then he said "I tripped on the stairs." Just as I thought.

Amazingly, Albany didnt close schools for the snow... every other school in the valley was closed, but not the Albany schools, so Jadon had to go to preschool. He did manage to get to play in the snow for just a bit before going to preschool. And only 3 kids including Jadon showed up for school today.

And, as is usual for snowdays here, the snow was almost all melted by the time we were done eating lunch. It snowed on and off the rest of the day, but nothing was sticking until around 4pm-ish it started snowing and sticking again, so we've got another dusting of snow on the ground. Supposed to snow a bit more again tonight, we'll see though.

Swimming lessons for Avery were cancelled today, so Avery and I took a nice long walk in the snow. Ok, I walked and pulled her on the sled. She was happy as a clam though! She took a few spills and ended up with her face in the snow, and was not happy with that.

I didnt get any great pictures of either of the kids today, which is a bummer considering the next time we get a decent snow, they will probably be 3 years older. But, here's what I did get.

Snow????

There's a chance for some snow in the near forecast... i'm keeping my fingers crossed! I just want one good snow day, thats all. Then the kids and I can go outside and play without getting all muddy. Plus, I just love when everything is blanketed in snow.

We were told that we were going to have a cold, wild winter this year, but so far, its been pretty normal. Seems like we've had alot more sunny days than normal, and temps have not been abnormal for this time of year... so, it almost feels like we were jipped on the snow. So, since theres the potential over the next couple of days, my fingers are crossed!!!! After that, bring on the spring and summer, i'm ready for nice weather!!

I've got the cutest video of Avery saying "banana". That girl, I tell you, she can repeat ANY word... doesnt always come out very understandable, but she says everything nonetheless. The video cracks me up... she's so charming when she's happy. And the look on her face when Jadon asks if she can say "paint" is so funny!
Then I've got a second video of Jadon helping me vacuum the couches. Both my kids love the vacuum cleaner for whatever reason. So its a cute video... he's growing up so fast. :(

Tonight I had one of those "hoooooly crap!" moments.

I was working on the kids baby/scrap books, and I was looking back at pictures of when they were younger, and it just hit me how fast they have grown up already! Jadon's 4th birthday is in less than a month now.... 4!!!! 4 years old!!!! When did this happen???? And Avery is approaching 1.5!

Life has been so incredible (and exhausting) with these 2 beautiful children in it! And they've grown and changed so much this year! 6 months ago, Jadon was still wearing diapers fulltime. 6 months ago, Avery was still crawling. But now, Jadon is fully potty trained, and Avery is running, jumping, spinning, climbing, etc! Life just keeps charging ahead so quickly, that I dont feel like I have time to treasure every second of their growing lives! My babies are no longer babies. :(


Since the last couple months we've been stuck in the house alot due to illnesses, the kids seem a little restless. Jadon longs for the sunshine, and anytime we have a nice day, you can bet that he will be outside playing!
Anyways, since they've been restless, I signed Jadon up again for soccer, and Avery for waterbabies. Gives us all a chance to get out of the house, and gives the kids a chance to do something that will release some energy!
Jadon enjoys soccer, and since his little friend Elijah isnt in his class this time, he is much more focused! Phew!
Avery is doing extremely well in swimming! She's only been to 3 classes (30 minutes each), and already the teacher said she's progressing really quickly, and we will be able to move at a faster pace with her than with the other kids! Already she knows how to put her face down into the water when she gets dunked and holds her breath well! Right now she does 2 dunks a day, but we will work up to 6 dunks and some free floating. She blows bubbles in the water, and has no problem sticking her face in the water! She really just wants to GO when she's in the water... by the end of class, she seems like she wants me to stop holding on to her so she can be free to move on her own... however, that wont be happening until she's older and much more advanced!
I'm planning on putting Jadon in swimming lessons also in the spring.... that could be interesting, because now he's old enough to do swimming lessons without mommy or daddy.

We're still sick... well, Jadon and I are still getting over this naggy, annoying cough. Seems like its hanging on FOREVER! Poor Jadon has been up the last 2 nights for a couple hours coughing.... and then the following days he woke up early, so he is lacking in good, quality sleep. Poor guy! :(
Actually, none of us has gotten good, quality sleep since we've been constantly sick... of course, it doesnt help that its 11pm, and i'm still up blogging when I should have gone to bed already! ;)

Random pictures

Thought i'd post some recent pictures of my beautiful kids for Valentines day.

The first 4 were taken last night. Avery figured out how to climb onto the couches and chair now, so thats what was going on here... she had climbed up on the chair, and Jadon got in the chair with her, and they were rocking the chair together. Trying to get them both to look at the camera and smile at the same time is next to impossible.

I can finally put Avery's hair in piggies! I've been waiting for a very long time for this moment! The only problem is, she looks so much older with pigtails. :( She loves getting into the cupboards, pulling everything out, and sitting in the things that are big enough for her tush. I dont think this mixing bowl is quite big enough for her, but that didnt stop her. Notice the top shelf, i've got my glass casserole dishes..... well, 2 weeks ago, those had been on the bottom shelf and she never messed with them, but my cupboard was getting full, so i had to do some rearranging of the dishes, so the casserole dishes fit better up top. Well, one particularly bad day when Jadon was being extremely 3, and was in timeout, not staying in timeout... Avery kept going over to him, so in an effort to keep her away, i told her to come get into the cupboard to play with the dishes, forgetting that i'd moved the glass dishes up top. Well, she'd only been there for a second, and pulled all the glass casserole dishes down onto the floor, the bottom dish shatter into thousands of pieces all around her, and all over the kitchen. I'm lucky she didnt get a cut on her foot, or even just smash her toe! So, now she's not allowed into the cupboard unsupervised.

See the little dishes she's got??? The first thing she does every day is get out those little play dishes, and she just carries those things around ALL DAY LONG. Its so cute and funny that she has taken such a liking to those dishes!

Not sure if I posted this one a little while ago or not... I dont think I did. But here they were sitting on the heater together.... it doesnt get much cuter than that! :)

Opposites

Derek and I marvel all the time about how different our kids are from each other. When it comes to food, they can both be really picky. However, Jadon loves his veggies. He blows us away with the veggies that seem to be his favorites- carrots (both raw and cooked), broccolli, lima beans, and the other day he had brussel sprouts for the first time, which he ate just fine, although I dont think they would be qualified as one of his favorites. He also eats peas really well. Corn and green beans he eats also, although sometimes it takes a little encouragement on his parents part. He loves lettuce, and will eat it plain too. Potatoes he likes...actually, he reeeeeally likes mashed potatoes. For dinner a few nights ago, we had mashed potatoes, and he had 2nds, and then 3rds, and then wanted 4ths but we cut him off after 3rds.

Avery, on the other hand, will only eat a very select few vegetables.... and even with those, its hit or miss. She will eat corn, peas, mashed potatoes and lima beans. (Yes, lima beans for her too! Weird kids!) But, like I said, one day she'll eat those veggies, then the next day she wants nothing to do with them.

Strangely, Avery loves pancakes, but wont touch waffles. Jadon is the opposite, he loves waffles, but does not care for pancakes.

As far as fruit goes, Avery will eat any fruit, any time. Jadon used to love all fruits too, but is starting to become selective with the ones he'll eat.

A couple foods they both really love- pickles, and blueberries.

The one with the ninnies

Jadon is so cute! He was drawing on the doodlepro today, and so i asked him to draw a picture of him and Avery. So he first drew Avery's head (in the middle), then off of her head he drew her arms with hands and her legs. She sortof resembles a spider. He drew himself on the right. Then he decided to draw mommy too. So, when he finished and showed me, I noticed he had put 2 dots on me, so I asked him what the dots were, and he said "those are your ninnies, for feeding Avery." Its funny because I have not nursed Avery in 2 months.

I also noticed that i'm pretty skinny! :) ... except I have no arms or legs!

I love that kid!

Kindergarten

It seems so unreal that in just a year and a half, Jadon will be a kindergartener! Even though its still a year and a half way, we are starting to think about what to do for kindergarten- public school, private school, homeschool... you get the point.

One of the reasons why we wanted to buy a house in North Albany was because the schools are good. The North Albany schools have high ratings. But the other day I read an article in the local newspaper about the possibility of closing 3 elementary schools in Albany. 2 of which are in North Albany. This would mean all the students from those 2 schools would be moved to the remaining 2 North Albany elementary schools. On top of that, the article says "Classroom populations likely will increase across the district by an average of two or three students, Delapoer said; not because of the closures but because she has proposed cutting 17 teaching positions." So not only is it a possibility that the schools will close making larger classes to begin with, but since they are cutting teacher positions, the classes are going to grow by 2-3 students as well. And, of course, this happens just a year and a half before Jadon goes to school.

Now, I grew up with smaller classes all my life, but i've heard that larger class sizes are getting out of hand. We want our children to have a good education.
So, we've been thinking about alternatives.
Homeschooling is an option, but I really dont think its for us. Jadon needs that time away from home and around other children. Not to mention, I just dont know if I could do the whole homeschooling thing every day.
Private school, is not really an option. Much too expensive to fit our budget. Thats fine, we can teach him about Jesus and biblical principles at home and at church, and kids at private schools have their issues just as much as public schools. Remember, I went to school for 9 years at a christian school, and learned all about snobs.

So, we've been toying with the idea of moving to Corvallis. Obviously thats just talk right now and nothing more. We do most of our activities in Corvallis anyhow, because we strongly dislike Albany. And we always talked about moving to Corvallis... maybe that time is now!

Anyways, whatever we decide is going to be based on thoroughly examining all our options, and lots and lots of prayer!!

Tough

It was a mentally draining week in our house this week. Jadon decided to be particularly 3 all week, and was nothing but trouble. We fought him on everything. For example, we've been giving Jadon little chores to start doing around the house. Right now, he has to take his plate to the sink after meals, and feed the cats every day. At first, he really loved feeding the cats, and I think it made him feel like he was important and a big boy. But, the excitement has worn off, and usually he throws a fit about feeding the cats and does anything he can to get out of it. Usually all it takes is a warning that if he doesn't do as he is asked he will go in timeout, and he usually does as told then... once in awhile he'll end up in timeout. And then there's weeks like this week, when he gets a warning for everything, and ends up in timeout for everything, and fights it like crazy- kicking, screaming- and wont stay in timeout.
So, my example is, yesterday I asked him to feed the cats, and he refused. He got his warning and still refused. So he went in timeout. And it just went downhill from there. All because he didnt want to feed the cats.

We dont have weeks like this very often with him, but when we do, Derek and I constantly wonder if its something we did/didnt do to set him off... like he didnt get as much play time with us and so he was taking it out on us or something. But, when I think back over the days, I cant think of a thing to set him off, so it reminds me that its just his age. He will grow out of it eventually (and i cant wait!!!!)
This week however, I cant help but wonder if he's trying to "regain control" after the week of potty training and he felt like it was all out of his control. Kids his age like to be in control... which is why its always good to offer choices when possible, because then they still feel like they are "in control" (even though they arent ;) )

On top of that, the drama was on again at our weird neighbors house on thursday. The man living there was not home at the time of the incident, but his "girlfriend" or whatever she is who lives a block away, went to his house, and was up on his garbage cans trying to climb over his fence into his backyard. I dont know if you remember me mentioning it, but he's got big spikes on the top of his fence, obviously to keep people from going back there, as well as nails sticking out the front of the fence. Weird. I know. So, the girlfriend is frail, i'm sure she weighs no more than 90 pounds, and she looks like she's on drugs all the time, or drunk. So here she is trying to climb over the fence. She couldnt get her leg up high enough though, but tried and tried and tried.... i even saw her looking over the side of his fence into the other neighbors yard to see if she could climb in from there! She wanted in that back yard in a bad way! So, eventually she got her leg up high enough, and managed to get herself on top of the fence, and then put her other leg over so she was sitting on the top of the fence, then over she went- backwards. Yes, I watched her fall backwards off the fence. Now, his fence has another fence in front of it to hide the garbage cans, so I couldnt see much after that. So all I could see really was the arm of her jacket stuck on one of the spikes on the fence. And she never moved. And I waited for a bit, and never saw her move... so then I went to look upstairs out the window to see if I could see better. I noticed her hand sticking out of the coat hanging limply, she was facing the fence, and her head was down and she was not moving. So, i was worried that maybe she had slit her wrist on the spikes or nails and was bleeding out or something! So, I called 911. And the dispatcher told me that the girlfriend was on the phone with them now, she was somehow caught up on the fence. The dispatcher asked if I thought the cops should come along with the paramedics, and I said maybe. Shortly after I hung up the phone, the guy came home, but he didnt pull into his driveway, he just honked loudly and at there in the street for a minute, then sped off and didnt come back until 5pm. A few minutes later, the ambulance came, and shortly after that the cops showed up as well. Now, I am speculating that when the guy came home and saw her there, she motioned for him somehow to get the heck out of dodge because the cops were coming, and thats why he sped off. Just my guess, since some weird stuff goes on there.
She walked away with no apparent injuries, other than a little scratch i'm guessing. So after awhile, the cops left and she walked home. And about 30 minutes later, she came back to his house to get her car.
I'm telling you, there's something in his backyard that people want. That is not the first time people have tried hard to get into his backyard. Plus, with the cops coming over all the time, and people spray painting things on his house, and the fact that he has a surveilance camera on the front of his house... I dunno. I'm just sick of this garbage though, and I hate living next door to it.

More poop

I'm happy to announce that Jadon is mostly poop trained now! Its only been a week and a half since we used his last diaper for pooping in, and he's gone from holding it for 3 days, to actually liking going on the potty. It really only took about 3 days of pooping in the potty for him to get it. But once he overcame that fear, it was nothin'. The only thing that he needs help with is wiping, although we let him do it first, and then just clean up what he missed.

It seems that pooping on the potty gave him a little boost of confidence, and you can tell that he's proud of himself. I just cant believe that it happened so fast, and that it happened at all!! I was really starting to worry that he would never be poop trained! I was reeeeally hoping he'd be fully trained before his 4th birthday, I just didnt think it would actually happen! :)

Great Job Jadon!!! We are sooooo proud of you!!