It finally happened

We had a visit from the Tooth Fairy last night!  After 2 months, one of Jadon's loose teeth finally came out while we were eating dinner.

How did it happen?  Well, its been hanging by a thread for days, but he's been too afraid to pull it or let us even touch it.  Last night during dinner, we had Friday night pizza, and he was trying to tear a bite of pizza off of his piece, and it pulled it to wear it was just dangling there, literally.  Scared him to death.  He began sobbing, wouldn't even let us look at it, let alone touch it.  It finally fell out from his tongue and fingers, and fell out to his lap and under his seat.  Thankfully, there was no blood!

He didn't want to look at it, and he just cried.  I had to go sit on the couch and cuddle with him for a few minutes until he calmed down, about 5 minutes, and then he started to get a bit excited, and he was ready to look at the tooth.  And since then, all we've heard about is his tooth, and how proud he is of himself. 

He has another loose tooth that we need to get out of there.  I don't remember if I've told you or not, but he has "shark teeth."  This is where the adult teeth started growing up behind his baby teeth before the baby teeth were lost.  This happened on both of his two bottom front teeth.  I had called his pediatric dentist and they said its very common and not to worry about it, but just have him wiggle his teeth a lot so that the teeth will come out. Since we've always taught him to keep his fingers out of his mouth, eyes and nose, we've had to really harp on him to wiggle that that one tooth.  The tooth he just lost was much looser than the other, so now we need to really focus on the other one since it was the first one to get a shark tooth. Hopefully this wont happen with any of his other teeth, i'd like for the rest of his teeth to just come out normally..... but, seems like nothing with Jadon's teeth ever happens normally.  Remember, he never got one of his baby teeth in the first place?  Not too uncommon says the dentist, but what IS uncommon is that he has a grownup tooth waiting in place.  Usually when a baby tooth is absent, so also is an adult tooth.  So this is a GOOD thing. 

Bottom line though, i'm so proud of him.  I know he is always so scared of new things, things he's unsure of the outcome of, and this is just another stepping stone.  He survived his first lost tooth... WE survived his first lost tooth.  Now, hopefully Avery wasn't too traumatized by watching it all unfold that she will be scared when she looses her first tooth!

So, I have lots of pictures of the "big event!"

 You can really see the "shark tooth" in this picture, and the tiny red spot where the baby tooth was... like I said, it was barely hanging on!

 The silly sister.

 Here he is before bed with the tooth fairy pillow I made for him.  As soon as I found out his tooth was loose, I knew I wanted to make him a pillow, so I searched the internet for just what I was looking for.  Most of them were shaped like teeth, which were cute, but I wanted something a little different.  After all, I think the Tooth Fairy likes variety. ;)  I came across 2 monster pillows that I liked, and combined the two.  (Jen, one of the 2 that I came across was actually the same one you had tagged me on pinterest so clearly we had the same idea!)
I used fleece fabric, and it was really easy.  I had plenty of fabric, because I downsized the pattern so that it wasn't so big, so I made a second one that's a tad different for Avery.  Jadon picked this pillow because he has a set of alien pj's and the alien has the same antennae on his head.  We left a note for the Tooth Fairy to leave the tooth so that I can keep it, and Jadon left a note for the Tooth Fairy- "Hi Tooth Fairy From Jadon"
He was afraid he was going to sleep on his tooth however, so he didnt want the pillow on his bed, so instead he put it on his bookshelf which is by his bedroom door.... that made things easier for the Tooth Fairy. ;)

The Tooth Fairy left him 2 quarters and 2 new STAR WARS tooth brushes!  His newest obsession.  He's never seen Star Wars, but he got a Lego Star Wars sticker book at Costco, and now he thinks Star Wars is the coolest. I told him maybe if he can hurry up and get that other tooth out that maybe the Tooth Fairy will bring him a new tooth paste to go with his new brushes.  

By the way, I have heard that the Tooth Fairy these days is quite generous, and leaves kids $5's, $10's, even $20's.... and I've heard that kids are EXPECTING these amounts now.  Totally ridiculous.  I told Jadon that I think the Tooth Fairy only gives tooth brushes for the first tooth. 

Good weekend

We had a good weekend :)  Its been a long time coming, havent actually had a really good one for a long long time. 

It all started (for me) on friday, when I organized the bathroom cabinet!!!  Wahoo!!!  I cant tell you the feeling of opening a cabinet that is well organized, streamlined, cleaned, neat, etc.  Its a nice feeling :)  So, that started me off on a good foot!

Saturday morning I went to my first pedicure with my mommy.  Yes, i'm a disgrace to women everywhere that i'm 32 and never had a pedicure in my life!  It was nice!  Relaxing, getting a massage on my feet and lower legs, and on my back from the chair, getting my feet all prettied up, chatting with my mom, and I picked a polish color that I loved!  So much that I bought it. And when I got home, Avery wanted her toenails and fingernails painted right away.  I have a feeling for her 3rd birthday i'll be taking her for a pedicure too, she will LOVE that!

Saturday continued with gorgeous weather, in the low 80's i believe, and a gentle breeze.  We made a trip to the store, and to Home Depot, then Jadon was begging begging begging to go out for dinner. So, we grabbed Arbys to take home.  Apparently a medium sized drink is now actually a large size, and this is true for a medium fry as well.  Too much food. 

While we were at the store we bought one of those games where you have 2 hand paddles with the velcro on them, and the ball that sticks to the velcro.  So after dinner we went outside to play that.  Jadon really likes it! 

Sunday, Fathers day, the grocery store down the road does an annual carshow and theres also helicopter rides.  The helicopter flies right over our house.  Jadon was sooooooooooo excited all morning long about the helicopter.  He was begging us all day to ride it. 
So after lunch we walked over to the carshow.  Jadon was surprisingly really interested in all the old cars. Avery was only interested in the ones that were painted pink or purple, her favorite colors.  Jadon got told by one of the car owners not to lean on the car when he was looking inside it.  Poor child, he was being very very good at barely touching the cars in the first place, a very well behaved kid. He was barely leaning on this car, so he was almost in tears when the guy barked at him.  There was a sign on one of the cars that said something along the lines of "a mans car is like his woman- you can look, but dont touch."  Oh. Brother.  I think thats taking it a little far, but whatever.

So the helicopter was the highlight of the show, taking off in the field right by the cars, so of course we had to go watch it take off and land a few times.  Jadon, still begging to ride it.  Usually its pretty ridiculously priced to ride those things, but it was only $25 per person, which I thought was not too bad, even though it was only like a 5-10 minute ride.  Since none of us has ever been in a heli, and the kids have never flown before, and they were letting Avery fly for free, we decided to go for it.  Unfortunately there was an hour or so wait ahead of us, and they had just left to go get gas.

I was nervous. You know me, I get nervous about things. And helicopters both scare the poo-poo out of me and excite me.  So, my little heart was ticking away. Jadon and I sat in back, and Avery sat on Derek's lap in front.  It was a breezy day, so it was choppy.  I swear, it felt like a rollercoaster ride to me, my stomach was constantly flip flopping.  I cant help but squeal when i'm on rides, it just comes out.  Yes, i'm the weenie who screams on the log ride at Enchanted Forest.
Lets just say, the pilot was rather amused that I was hollering.  He was cracking up in the front.  And Derek thought it was hilarious that the pilot was laughing, so he was laughing too.  I was holding Jadons hand in the back because when we first lifted off, Jadon said "I'm really scared!!!" (he denys that now, by the way), but by the end of the ride, I think I was gripping his hand more for my sake than his.

It was quite an experience, thats for sure!  It pretty much felt how I thought it would.  Would I do it again?  I dont know... maybe yes.  It was one of those things that was both exhilarating and frightening at the same time.... so I dont know if i would go again.  Jadon hasnt stopped talking about it since. 

We finished off the day with Dereks favorite dinner- baked spaghetti.

And the best part- when we were climbing into bed, Derek said it was probably the best fathers day he's had so far. :)  So that was nice to hear. 

Summer!

It cant possibly have been 10 days since I last posted?  Wow!  Well, the last 2 weeks really flew by!

Well, lets see, where do I start?  Well, I came down with an unpleasant cold that I have no idea where I got from.  Had a low grade fever, body aches, sore throat for a week, and a cough that I still have a little.  Knowing that Jadon only had a week and a half left of school, I really did not want to pass it on to him and have him miss the last days of school, so I tried really really hard not to share my germs.  But, colds are very hard not to share, especially when you live in the same house. 

He was the first to come down with it a week later. Fortunately he never had the fever or aches that I had, and even though he was snotty and coughing, I sent him to school anyways.

Avery and Derek came down with the cold a few days after Jadon.  Avery's is mostly just snot. And Derek seems to have fared the worst of all.  He's also had a lowgrade fever, like me.  He's been totally wiped out, ears totally plugged and hurting.  He stayed home from work a couple of days, went back today but said his head is pounding and his ear is plugged again.  Poor guy. :(

I'm glad my cold is mostly gone and I have my energy back again!

So Jadon's last day of school was on Wednesday, and it was a very bittersweet time.  The teacher does testing with each of the kids at the beginning and again at the end of the year to see about kindergarten readiness.  We met with her on the previous friday to discuss Jadon's results.  He was mostly ready at the beginning of the year, and by the end of the year there was no question about his readiness.  His class was a smart class, said his teacher.  Out of I think 15 kids, 9 of them were ready for reading.  So at the beginning of 2012 they started working on reading, which is when we Jadon mentioned his reading group at school. So he can read things like "Ben can run."
One thing she mentioned is how good Jadon is at sounding out words, and we've noticed this too.  He totally blows me away.  He sounded out the word "Pear" a couple weeks ago.  Thats a hard one with the "ea" in the middle.  And the other day I had a Glad Cling Wrap box on the counter, and he came up and read it and asked why it said Glad.  He's always asking what words say, and we tell him to sound them out, and even big words he has no hesitation trying to tackle them.

Anyways, after his last day, the preschool class traditionally goes to the park afterwards to play and exchange numbers/emails for summer playdates and stuff.  So we went and did this.  Derek could not go since he was stuck at home sick, so he was a little bummed.  Sadly, only one of the kids in his class will be attending the same kindergarten school with Jadon, and I didnt even find out if it will be in the a.m. or p.m. class. Most of the rest of the kids are zoned for another school.  Most of them will be back in the same class again in middle school, so it will be fun to see how they have grown and changed. 

Baby Book

Jadon has just 4 days left of his preschool days, and I can hardly believe its here already!  It really seems like just yesterday we were standing outside in the front yard in front of the house taking his picture before heading off to his very first day of preschool, with me sobbing in the front seat of the car before we even pulled out of the driveway!  That was almost 2 years ago!  In just a few months my baby boy will be heading off to kindergarten every morning.  Then the next year, he will be in school all day in 1st grade, and Avery will go to preschool two mornings a week, and i'll be home alone, and it will be eerily quiet, i'm not sure how i'm going to handle that. It will surely be a bigger transition for mommy than for anyone else i'm afraid!

When Jadon was a baby, I had a baby book for him that I never really liked 100%, but couldnt find one that I fully liked. At some point when I was pregnant with Avery, I decided I was going to make hers scrapbook style, since I couldnt find any that I was happy with.  None of them had everything that I was looking for, or they had things that I felt were irrelevant and just took up space and were left empty.  Plus, i'm a sentimental sap and I saved EVERYTHING from my pregnancies, particularly with Avery, so I needed something that I could have alot of extra space in.  Nothing offered that to me, so making my own scrapbook was the only logical idea.  So I made alot of Avery's up when I was pregnant with her, and then just had to fill it in.  After she was born, I liked hers so much, I decided to redo Jadon's and make his scrapbook style too.  And I'm glad I did. 

So their babybooks go from before birth until kindergarten.  Then when they start kindergarten, i'm making a new book, no longer called a baby book.  It will be a school days book.  I remember having one as a kid growing up, and I looked forward to filling that in every year when I started a new school year.  Of course, that was a "fixed" book.  This will once again be scrapbook.  And i'll be elaborating quite a bit, and adding things into it not only from just school, but things that happen outside of school as well during that entire year. Anyways, those books will go from kindergarten until grade 12.  This way, I will always have their lives documented for them (and me) to get to go and look back at.  Who doesnt enjoy going and looking back at that? 

So this summer, I will be finishing Jadon's babybook (sob!) and starting his school days book.

Time just keeps marching on doesnt it?  I feel like i'm on a treadmill that never gets turned off, and each year someone cranks it up a notch faster. 

I wish I could slow it down just a little.

This n That

I have no idea how to open this post, so i'll just start it by sharing a few pix of the kids. 

Here's a topless moviestar I found in my garage.  She was nice enough to smile for a picture, but I think she was confused that she was at a mall because she had a stack of credit cards in her hand, seemingly ready for a shopping spree!

 And then one minute later I spotted an awesome basketball player showing off his moves on the court!

 The kids love the cats.  They love to decorate THIS cat with flowers and leaves, and this cat takes it.

When they're not showering the cat with petals, they're chasing them around trying to scare them.

And...... it was bound to happen eventually, and Avery WOULD be the one it would happen to, since she's the incredibly curious child.  After dinner last night, the kids went into the garage (the playroom) to play, and in a matter of minutes, we hear Avery start crying.  We sit here waiting for her to come running in to tell us she "bonked" something and needed it kissed better.  She's so dramatic and cries about all her "bonks."  Only she didnt come running in like usual, so Derek went to the garage to see what was going on, and he came back in and said that she'd been stung by a bee and asked me to take her.  Poor gal, she was not a happy camper, and Jadon was pretty worried as well (the Worrier), but after washing it with some soap and water, putting it on some ice, and getting a little tylenol to dull the pain, she was a happy camper again.  And here she is, holding up her finger where she got stung.  And you probably wonder how she got stung on the tip of her finger?  She tried to pick the bee up. Yes, after warning her many times to leave bees alone and not touch them, she apparently has to learn some things on her own. 

And theres the little bugar that stung her.

 Here's my Shark.  See the extra tooth growing behind the other one?  The tooth next door to that one is now getting a tooth growing behind that one too.  When I called Jadon's pediatric dentist office, they said its completely normal, happens all the time and not to worry.  Just have him wiggle his teeth alot!  Well, this is so much easier said than done, but we've taught him to keep his hands out of his mouth, so getting him to wiggle his teeth is out of the ordinary for him. I dont think he likes doing it.  I think he's a little worried (surprise surprise) about the fact that his teeth are moving and new ones are growing in, and things are changing in him.  So, wiggling his teeth??? It isnt happening much at all.  One tooth is lose, the other WAS a tiny bit lose, but now feels not lose at all.  I'm afraid its going to have to be pulled in the end.... but please dont say anything to him.

Have you ever had this happen to a rose that you've received?  I got this rose for Mothers Day, (sadly not from my family or friends or anyone I know, but from a restaurant we went to at the coast...) and it before it died it started sprouting new growth, so I kept it.  I cut the rose bud off and put it in some fresh water to see what would happen, and the new growth keeps growing.  I'm interested to see what happens because i've never had this happen before. 

And isnt this a thing of beauty???!!!!  Its my new monthly menu planner!  I found many different plans on PINTEREST, and decided what I liked best, what I needed most. And I kindof combined a couple that I liked best.  Anyways, I found this magnetic dry erase board at Staples, and some magnetic printer paper.  I made a document with color coded meals- Green for veggies; Yellow for bread/grain/potatoes; Blue for Misc. dishes; Red for casseroles; etc, etc, etc.  and I typed out all foods we typically eat on it, plus many duplicates of things we eat alot of, like Jadon's favs- burritos and spaghetti.  And I printed it all out on the magnetic paper. 

Plus I printed a few "Leftovers" and i've also kept scraps of the paper to add foods that i've come up with.  You'll notice that 2 of the days have a questoin mark.  Those days Jadon has counselling in the afternoon, and I dont know what time until the previous week, so those meals are to be determined.  And I apparently forgot a day also, but thats ok, when I do the shopping I will buy for 2 weeks at a time so that things wont go bad. 

 For now, all the extras that are not being used for the month, I keep on my refrigerator, but it would be nice to eventually get another magnetic board of some sort to put them on to make things easier.

The goal is to attempt 1 new recipe a month, but we'll see how that actually goes.  When you're busy, sometimes its just easier to stick with what you already know! 

So today starts the first day of the new menu calendar, and the family is very excited... ok, the parents are very excited!  Jadon a little.  Avery had no clue.  Nothing makes the mommy happier than ORGANIZATION!!!!!!!!!!! :):):):):):):):):):)

***Oh my gosh, I forgot to mention the best part!!  So you'll see in the first picture of the menu that I have recipes hanging down, those are all my recipes that I have printed out on the magnet paper, so that I dont have to go hunting to find them when I need them, they are all right there for me! I just hole punched them in the corner, and I had 2 of these clippy things that open and close and I can get the recipe that I need, and then just hang them back up on the tack that is hanging on the cork board part of the calendar!  So easy and simple and again.... ORGANIZED!!!!  I love it!!!!