Last night Jadon had swimming again. We are not sure what level he is in. He was signed up for level 2 (the same level he has been doing for 3 sessions now). On tuesday evening, we thought they moved him back to level 1, but we are not so sure now.
In order to move up to level 3, he has to be able to: <children must be able to float unassisted on their front and their back for 5 seconds; they must also be able to float with assistance on each side for 5 seconds> Jadon doesnt do any of that... he will barely stick his face in the water.
However, his new class is 2 older kids.... probably 7 year olds.... and they are doing more advanced things. Jadon is supposed to do those things too, but the teacher assisted him to his "level" of confidence. This teacher seems really nice and encouraging (I guess I should mention that every 5 weeks he gets a new teacher, which is terribly unfortunate since just as he is beginning to feel confortable with one, they change it on him again.) Last night they worked in the deep end of the kiddy pool (which is 4.5 feet deep, and too deep for Jadon to touch the bottom.) We were very encouraged by this new teacher, as she gentley made him do the things he was supposed to do (like dunking his head!) He had to float on his tummy by himself on a pool noodle, and the teacher only held his hand, although he was panicking a little. When he does his back floats, he typically will start panicking when the teachers try to let go of him. This teacher somehow managed to let go of him for a second, and even though he panicked, it was progress. He had to jump in the pool onto a noodle, unassisted by the teacher, and he did it!!! He even fell in the pool after losing his balance standing on the side, but he didnt freak out, although we could see on his face that he was bewildered and had we said anything to him he would have burst into tears. Instead we sat there smiling big at him. She seems to be pushing him more, which is exactly what he needs!!!!!!!!!!!
I really hope he doesnt have to change teachers again this session (last session they switched the teacher halfway through the session, and this session he started out with a boy teacher then moved him.) If he continues at this pace with this teacher, he may actually get somewhere instead of digressing.
Avery... well, shes just a fish! She had swimming this morning, and I feel like i'm just a big pain to her. She doesnt want me to hold her, she just wants to go on her own! She was full of energy and so happy in the pool! She participated 100% in the class, had a blast jumping into the pool, and followed directions very well!
I cant help but feel guilty for Jadon's fear of swimming. I feel like if I had continued waterbabies and waterkids with him, he would also have been like Avery- loving the water and swimming, and not afraid.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
An end and a beginning
We are concluding a very busy last few months, and it feels good! Since April things have been really busy here.... as Derek said yesterday- its too busy and doesnt fit his lifestyle! :)
On Sunday we had the honor of watching Derek's baby sister get married....it was a beautiful wedding at Postlewaits Country Weddings. The setting could not have been any more gorgeous! Everything was carefully landscaped, complete with a waterfall and bridge, sunflowers dancing in the background, and a view of snow covered Mt. Hood in the distance. It was breathtaking!
The bride herself was also breathtaking!
Derek and I had back stage passes for the event.... Derek was a groomsman, and I was Maid of Honor, which truly was an honor for me! And it was probably the first and last wedding that i'll be in where wasnt a candle lighter!
Jadon got to sit in the front row aisle seat, and after the ceremony when the bride and groom were announced and walking back down the aisle to the song "Another one bites the dust," Jadon jumped up and started dancing! This was just the beginning of his wild night! (Pictures to follow soon!)
During the reception, he was tearin' up the dance floor! He had alot of fun dancing the night away.... he was even dancing with the ladies!
There were lots of little kids for him to play with, and he easily makes friends now with EVERYone. One thing that I love about him! He doesnt care who someone is or what they look like, he'll befriend them immediately! I hope this is a character quality that he keeps through his life.
We just started a new session of swimming lessons last night for Jadon..... it didnt go well. They dropped him back into level 1. Why? Because he wont do his dunks. He says it scares him to put his face in the water because he thinks he's going to sink. But, when he was in level 1 several months ago, he did his dunks just fine. But since he's been in level 2, they havent pushed him to complete his dunks, so he realized he can get away with barely sticking his face in and they count it. Last night that finally backfired on him though.
Its frustrating to Derek and I since we are paying for it, and we mentioned to each other last night that he might do better in a private lesson. Something i might have to look into. I think its important for him to learn how to swim. I took swimming lessons off and on as a kid, and I know how to keep myself alive in the water if I needed to, but one thing that has always bothered me is that I have to plug my nose to go under water. I hope that with consistent lessons both he and Avery will learn to swim for safety reasons, and so they will have more fun in the water.
On Sunday we had the honor of watching Derek's baby sister get married....it was a beautiful wedding at Postlewaits Country Weddings. The setting could not have been any more gorgeous! Everything was carefully landscaped, complete with a waterfall and bridge, sunflowers dancing in the background, and a view of snow covered Mt. Hood in the distance. It was breathtaking!
The bride herself was also breathtaking!
Derek and I had back stage passes for the event.... Derek was a groomsman, and I was Maid of Honor, which truly was an honor for me! And it was probably the first and last wedding that i'll be in where wasnt a candle lighter!
Jadon got to sit in the front row aisle seat, and after the ceremony when the bride and groom were announced and walking back down the aisle to the song "Another one bites the dust," Jadon jumped up and started dancing! This was just the beginning of his wild night! (Pictures to follow soon!)
During the reception, he was tearin' up the dance floor! He had alot of fun dancing the night away.... he was even dancing with the ladies!
There were lots of little kids for him to play with, and he easily makes friends now with EVERYone. One thing that I love about him! He doesnt care who someone is or what they look like, he'll befriend them immediately! I hope this is a character quality that he keeps through his life.
We just started a new session of swimming lessons last night for Jadon..... it didnt go well. They dropped him back into level 1. Why? Because he wont do his dunks. He says it scares him to put his face in the water because he thinks he's going to sink. But, when he was in level 1 several months ago, he did his dunks just fine. But since he's been in level 2, they havent pushed him to complete his dunks, so he realized he can get away with barely sticking his face in and they count it. Last night that finally backfired on him though.
Its frustrating to Derek and I since we are paying for it, and we mentioned to each other last night that he might do better in a private lesson. Something i might have to look into. I think its important for him to learn how to swim. I took swimming lessons off and on as a kid, and I know how to keep myself alive in the water if I needed to, but one thing that has always bothered me is that I have to plug my nose to go under water. I hope that with consistent lessons both he and Avery will learn to swim for safety reasons, and so they will have more fun in the water.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Fashionless
Yup, thats me! Fashionless! Usually the fact that 90% of my shirts are t-shirts and tank tops doesnt bother me. Every once in awhile it bothers me for a few minutes, then I get over it. But this time i'm REALLY bothered by it.
Lots of people do cute things on their blog posts, like "Wordless Wednesday", or "Thankful Thursday", or they do 365 day challenges where they take a picture every day and post about it every day. Lots of things like that, where the posts are centered around that theme for that day.
Anywho, I read a blog (yes, one of the many that I read weekly), of a mom who has two adopted kids... one is 2 I believe and the newest addition to their family is a newborn that they just adopted.
So anyways, once you become a mom (particularly stay-at-home-moms), especially when the kids are younger, its so easy to get into a rut of not getting dressed and presentable every day.... sweat pants, not doing your hair, and no makeup become your daily attire. Why? because its easy, fast, and when you're just chasing kids around all day, you dont want to be stuck in uncomfortable clothes that dont let you move, and everything gets stained from dirty little fingers touching you, or when the toddler starts flinging food all over!
So on her blog, this girl started doing "What I Wore Wednesday." And what she does is take a picture of her outfit that she's wearing each day of the week, and then on the following Wednesday she posts those pictures of her in her outfit on her blog. The point of this is to try to encourage her to look more presentable every day, instead of the sweatpants/t-shirt/no makeup/hair not done.
So where am I going with this? Well, her outfits are so dang cute! She is so much more stylish than me... in fact, it feels weird to even put "me" in the sentence with the word "stylish." I have no fashion sense whatsoever. Its sad.
Typically the new styles that come out each year do not appeal to me until either a year or so down the road, or after seeing someone else where it. I cannot imagine an outfit in my head when i'm shopping. (Thats why mannequins are good for the fashionally challenged people like me ;) )
Another reason i'm fashionally challenged is because I cant fathom spending more than $10 on any one item. However, these days the only thing you can find for that cheap are- you guessed it!- t-shirts and tank tops!
My hair also presents quite a challenge for me in a fashion sense. Curly, thin, frizzy, flat... those are words that describe my hair. I cant think of anything positive about it. Whenever i get my hair cut, the hairdressers always try to put some height on top by having me hang my head upside down while they dry. It doesnt work for my hair. When they do this (or i've even tried doing it at home), the first 2 inches of hair from my scalp always create like a flat table topish nonsense, but then the rest poofs out in an unruly, frizzy mess. And different cuts and layers do not help this... .so i'm doomed to having flat hair forever!
Also, the front of my hair, where bangs are when i have them, always hangs right into my face, hangs in my eyeballs, drives me nuts.... so i do what i've done pretty much every day for the last 4 years... pin the bangs back. I'm soooooo sick of looking at this though! Bangs arent an option for me.... its just too time consuming, and my bangs tend to have a mind of their own.
So, as you can see, I need help! I would love to hear input from anyone about what styles they think would look good on me- hair and clothes! Send links too if you want to help! Visuals are always good! -TIA!!
Lots of people do cute things on their blog posts, like "Wordless Wednesday", or "Thankful Thursday", or they do 365 day challenges where they take a picture every day and post about it every day. Lots of things like that, where the posts are centered around that theme for that day.
Anywho, I read a blog (yes, one of the many that I read weekly), of a mom who has two adopted kids... one is 2 I believe and the newest addition to their family is a newborn that they just adopted.
So anyways, once you become a mom (particularly stay-at-home-moms), especially when the kids are younger, its so easy to get into a rut of not getting dressed and presentable every day.... sweat pants, not doing your hair, and no makeup become your daily attire. Why? because its easy, fast, and when you're just chasing kids around all day, you dont want to be stuck in uncomfortable clothes that dont let you move, and everything gets stained from dirty little fingers touching you, or when the toddler starts flinging food all over!
So on her blog, this girl started doing "What I Wore Wednesday." And what she does is take a picture of her outfit that she's wearing each day of the week, and then on the following Wednesday she posts those pictures of her in her outfit on her blog. The point of this is to try to encourage her to look more presentable every day, instead of the sweatpants/t-shirt/no makeup/hair not done.
So where am I going with this? Well, her outfits are so dang cute! She is so much more stylish than me... in fact, it feels weird to even put "me" in the sentence with the word "stylish." I have no fashion sense whatsoever. Its sad.
Typically the new styles that come out each year do not appeal to me until either a year or so down the road, or after seeing someone else where it. I cannot imagine an outfit in my head when i'm shopping. (Thats why mannequins are good for the fashionally challenged people like me ;) )
Another reason i'm fashionally challenged is because I cant fathom spending more than $10 on any one item. However, these days the only thing you can find for that cheap are- you guessed it!- t-shirts and tank tops!
My hair also presents quite a challenge for me in a fashion sense. Curly, thin, frizzy, flat... those are words that describe my hair. I cant think of anything positive about it. Whenever i get my hair cut, the hairdressers always try to put some height on top by having me hang my head upside down while they dry. It doesnt work for my hair. When they do this (or i've even tried doing it at home), the first 2 inches of hair from my scalp always create like a flat table topish nonsense, but then the rest poofs out in an unruly, frizzy mess. And different cuts and layers do not help this... .so i'm doomed to having flat hair forever!
Also, the front of my hair, where bangs are when i have them, always hangs right into my face, hangs in my eyeballs, drives me nuts.... so i do what i've done pretty much every day for the last 4 years... pin the bangs back. I'm soooooo sick of looking at this though! Bangs arent an option for me.... its just too time consuming, and my bangs tend to have a mind of their own.
So, as you can see, I need help! I would love to hear input from anyone about what styles they think would look good on me- hair and clothes! Send links too if you want to help! Visuals are always good! -TIA!!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Summer??? What's summer?
Summer apparently does not exist in the great northwest this year. We had a whole week a week ago where it was nice and sunny, and in the 70's and low 80's... that was our summer. We are back to clouds, rain, colder, and even fog! And yes, I am complaining and whining! You'd complain and whine too if the only 3 months out of the year that you get to see sunshine was instead filled with more clouds and rain!
Yesterday evening we were driving home and Jadon said "what's that smoke over there?" Someone was using their fireplace. IN JULY FOR PETE'S SAKE!!! I mean seriously, it can't get much worse than this in July! The weathermen have seriously screwed with us too. Last week they predicted it to be partly to mostly sunny and 70's for temps. They were completely wrong, and it has since changed to rain. Of course. Yesterday they were predicting that today, Monday, would be our nice day for the week- a lonely sunny 80+degree day smashed between 2 days of rain. Last night when I went to bed, the weather widget on my computer was still saying that today was going to be sunny and 80 degrees.....woke up this morning to clouds, and the weather is now supposed to be thunderstorms.
I read a blog of a girl who lives in Vancouver, WA, and they are having the same weather as us, and this is what she said (she puts it into words much better than I do!):
I wonder how much longer we are all going to be able to take this. It's getting pretty darn rough. Earlier this week we were told that the weather was going to be sunny and mid 70's today. It was a lie. I think it's just a conspiracy now to keep people from jumping off bridges and moving away. Luckily we knew that we could look forward to tomorrow's sunny 80 degree forecast. Wait. They've changed that too. More rain. Hopefully next weekend will be better... I mean really, it can't get much worse than pouring rain, roaring wind and pea soup thick fog. In July. And yes, I *did* just knock on wood after typing that!
I especially like the part where she said that the weathermen are just teasing us with promises of sunshine to keep people from moving away and jumping off bridges. SO TRUE!
Its also pretty sad that I can write an entire post based only on the crappy "summer" weather that we are having! I feel like we are running out of time for summer! Everyone in Oregon knows that once September hits, the rain starts coming back again... July and August are typically our most reliable summer months.
If I sound like i'm starting to go a little nuts, its probably because I am! I was hoping to put my jeans and sweaters away for a couple months and give them a break.
Dont get me wrong, i'm extremely glad its not in the 100's here like elsewhere in the country.... i'd even be happy with just 70 and sunny... but the raaaaaaain is really getting OLD!!!
Any guesses what the forecast for wednesday, thursday and friday is???? Sunny and 70's. Anyone wanna bet that it will change???? OH! And the funny thing is that the weather seems to be mocking me now! As if on cue, it just started raining!
Yesterday evening we were driving home and Jadon said "what's that smoke over there?" Someone was using their fireplace. IN JULY FOR PETE'S SAKE!!! I mean seriously, it can't get much worse than this in July! The weathermen have seriously screwed with us too. Last week they predicted it to be partly to mostly sunny and 70's for temps. They were completely wrong, and it has since changed to rain. Of course. Yesterday they were predicting that today, Monday, would be our nice day for the week- a lonely sunny 80+degree day smashed between 2 days of rain. Last night when I went to bed, the weather widget on my computer was still saying that today was going to be sunny and 80 degrees.....woke up this morning to clouds, and the weather is now supposed to be thunderstorms.
I read a blog of a girl who lives in Vancouver, WA, and they are having the same weather as us, and this is what she said (she puts it into words much better than I do!):
I wonder how much longer we are all going to be able to take this. It's getting pretty darn rough. Earlier this week we were told that the weather was going to be sunny and mid 70's today. It was a lie. I think it's just a conspiracy now to keep people from jumping off bridges and moving away. Luckily we knew that we could look forward to tomorrow's sunny 80 degree forecast. Wait. They've changed that too. More rain. Hopefully next weekend will be better... I mean really, it can't get much worse than pouring rain, roaring wind and pea soup thick fog. In July. And yes, I *did* just knock on wood after typing that!
I especially like the part where she said that the weathermen are just teasing us with promises of sunshine to keep people from moving away and jumping off bridges. SO TRUE!
Its also pretty sad that I can write an entire post based only on the crappy "summer" weather that we are having! I feel like we are running out of time for summer! Everyone in Oregon knows that once September hits, the rain starts coming back again... July and August are typically our most reliable summer months.
If I sound like i'm starting to go a little nuts, its probably because I am! I was hoping to put my jeans and sweaters away for a couple months and give them a break.
Dont get me wrong, i'm extremely glad its not in the 100's here like elsewhere in the country.... i'd even be happy with just 70 and sunny... but the raaaaaaain is really getting OLD!!!
Any guesses what the forecast for wednesday, thursday and friday is???? Sunny and 70's. Anyone wanna bet that it will change???? OH! And the funny thing is that the weather seems to be mocking me now! As if on cue, it just started raining!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Randoms
I still havent decided yet whether to keep Blogger or Wordpress. Supposedly with Wordpress I have quite a bit more space for storing pictures than I do with Blogger, however, after looking at the space i've used already with each, i'm quite confused.
After 3.5 years on Blogger, i've only used 14% of the space.... with Wordpress i've already used more than 5% in just a month! I'm trying to figure out why i've already used that much space up in Wordpress, and if I cant figure it out, then i'll be sticking with Blogger for sure, since a good point of me blogging is for the pictures anyways!
On a different subject, one of my friends on Facebook had mentioned this website that she was just loving, so I went and checked it out, and oh my goodness, I LOVE it! Its called Pinterest, and bascially people just submit pictures of things that they find on the internet that they like that they share with the rest of the Pinterest users. Sounds lame, but its sooo not! I've found so many ideas for gifts, kids projects, and home decorating ideas, etc. Things that I never would have found otherwise! Its great!
Take a peak! Go to www.pinterest.com and browse the categories they have. I started by looking under the "kids" category, and it brings up everything from picture ideas, to craft ideas, to room ideas, (all kid related) etc.
If you sign up for the website, you will have to first request an invite, and then you'll likely have to wait a few days or so to get accepted. Or, i can send you an invite, just let me know! I dont know if getting an invite from me would speed the process up or not?
On another different subject, another friend on Facebook was talking about how her stepdaughter had just lost a tooth, and how at the daughters biological mom's house, the daughter gets $20 from the tooth fairy everytime she looses a tooth, which I thought was completely RIDICULOUS!!!! I think I remember getting like a quarter... and I dont know if that was even for every tooth, or just for the first few teeth. I dont remember getting anything for losing teeth once I got a little older. So I was curious, what do you think is an acceptable $$$ amount for losing a tooth??
My poor kids will certainly NOT be getting a $20 for each tooth!
After 3.5 years on Blogger, i've only used 14% of the space.... with Wordpress i've already used more than 5% in just a month! I'm trying to figure out why i've already used that much space up in Wordpress, and if I cant figure it out, then i'll be sticking with Blogger for sure, since a good point of me blogging is for the pictures anyways!
On a different subject, one of my friends on Facebook had mentioned this website that she was just loving, so I went and checked it out, and oh my goodness, I LOVE it! Its called Pinterest, and bascially people just submit pictures of things that they find on the internet that they like that they share with the rest of the Pinterest users. Sounds lame, but its sooo not! I've found so many ideas for gifts, kids projects, and home decorating ideas, etc. Things that I never would have found otherwise! Its great!
Take a peak! Go to www.pinterest.com and browse the categories they have. I started by looking under the "kids" category, and it brings up everything from picture ideas, to craft ideas, to room ideas, (all kid related) etc.
If you sign up for the website, you will have to first request an invite, and then you'll likely have to wait a few days or so to get accepted. Or, i can send you an invite, just let me know! I dont know if getting an invite from me would speed the process up or not?
On another different subject, another friend on Facebook was talking about how her stepdaughter had just lost a tooth, and how at the daughters biological mom's house, the daughter gets $20 from the tooth fairy everytime she looses a tooth, which I thought was completely RIDICULOUS!!!! I think I remember getting like a quarter... and I dont know if that was even for every tooth, or just for the first few teeth. I dont remember getting anything for losing teeth once I got a little older. So I was curious, what do you think is an acceptable $$$ amount for losing a tooth??
My poor kids will certainly NOT be getting a $20 for each tooth!
Monday, July 11, 2011
Beach day
We had a really fun day at the beach with our friends and their son on Sunday! We had a picnic lunch on the beach and stayed there for about 4 hours, then went to the Hatfield Marine Science Center, then to dinner and we really enjoyed the day!
Jadon and Joshua were so good, we barely heard a peep from them the whole time! They are very similar in personalities... very laidback, easy going, timid in trying new things... so they just get along great! They are like two peas in a pod!
Avery had a really good time "playing" frisbie... as did Derek and I! It was nice relaxing in the sun too! :) We couldnt have asked for better weather, it was perfect!
We didnt get home until about 8pm, and both kids had passed out on the way home, they were EXHAUSTED. Lucky for us, they got into bed about 9:30pm after we'd given them showers and did their usual bedtime routine, and they had no problems going to sleep! Phew!
The only glitch to the day was that Avery only got about a 15 minute nap after we left the beach, so she was not real pleasant at the restaurant. (not like she usually is anyways, but it was worse this time.)
[gallery]
Jadon and Joshua were so good, we barely heard a peep from them the whole time! They are very similar in personalities... very laidback, easy going, timid in trying new things... so they just get along great! They are like two peas in a pod!
Avery had a really good time "playing" frisbie... as did Derek and I! It was nice relaxing in the sun too! :) We couldnt have asked for better weather, it was perfect!
We didnt get home until about 8pm, and both kids had passed out on the way home, they were EXHAUSTED. Lucky for us, they got into bed about 9:30pm after we'd given them showers and did their usual bedtime routine, and they had no problems going to sleep! Phew!
The only glitch to the day was that Avery only got about a 15 minute nap after we left the beach, so she was not real pleasant at the restaurant. (not like she usually is anyways, but it was worse this time.)
[gallery]
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Poll results
Here are the results of the poll I posted a couple weeks back:
The one that says "Other answer..." was from Derek, and it said: "i like the one that you like best"- typical answer from him!
I havent yet decided which one i'm going to stick with yet.... on one hand, i hate to give up the old one because i've been blogging on it since before Jadon's first birthday. But on the other hand, I like the change and have not been quite as annoyed with Wordpress so far as I get with Blogger.
Blogger is extremely simple to use, whereas i'm still trying to figure Wordpress out.... i'm having to go through alot of the tutorials on Wordpress, something I didnt need to do on Blogger because it was so easy.
One of the reasons I wanted to get away from Blogger was because its a pain to put pictures into the posts. Wordpress has made that much easier! However, i cant upload my videos into either, so thats annoying. Not sure why my videos wont upload.
It seems that each has its pro's and con's, and i just have to decide which pro's are better, and which con's are more annoying!
| Give me some more time | 2 | 33.33% |
I'm indifferent | 2 | 33.33% |
The new one, hands down! | 1 | 16.67% |
Other answer... | 1 | 16.67% |
The old one | 0 | 0% |
Undecided | 0 | 0% |
The one that says "Other answer..." was from Derek, and it said: "i like the one that you like best"- typical answer from him!
I havent yet decided which one i'm going to stick with yet.... on one hand, i hate to give up the old one because i've been blogging on it since before Jadon's first birthday. But on the other hand, I like the change and have not been quite as annoyed with Wordpress so far as I get with Blogger.
Blogger is extremely simple to use, whereas i'm still trying to figure Wordpress out.... i'm having to go through alot of the tutorials on Wordpress, something I didnt need to do on Blogger because it was so easy.
One of the reasons I wanted to get away from Blogger was because its a pain to put pictures into the posts. Wordpress has made that much easier! However, i cant upload my videos into either, so thats annoying. Not sure why my videos wont upload.
It seems that each has its pro's and con's, and i just have to decide which pro's are better, and which con's are more annoying!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Neighbors
Yesterday was quite a day. We spent the morning out in the front yard, the kids played and I was doing some yard work/getting sunburned. I didnt wear sunscreen because I was trying to get rid of the t-shirt suntan that I had gotten 2 days earlier. I dont want any silly tan lines for my sister-in-laws wedding in 2.5 weeks! However I ended up with a new tan line instead and sunburned shoulders instead.
So the kids were kindof being pains yesterday... they had gone to bed late late late the night before since they stayed up watching fireworks, so they were both a little out of sorts and testing my patience. After lunch I set up the sprinkler in the front yard for them to play in, got myself settled in a lawn chair with my ice water and a crossword book... I was prepared to relax while the kids played in the sprinkler. Neither one wanted to go in it though. I dont know why Avery didn't want to go in, and Jadon didnt want to go in because Avery wasn't going in. So, 10 minutes later we were heading back inside. At that point, I called it a day and put Avery down for nap earlier and Jadon in quiet time, and I was completely exhausted so I also went and took a little 30 minute snooze.
Around 3:30pm, Jadon and I went back out in the front yard to play and clean up my mess from earlier. Our neighbor a couple houses down came home and was hitching his boat to his truck, and I heard him make a noise that sounded like he'd hurt himself, looked up, and he was keeled over grabbing his hand. He yelled over to me that he needed help, he had just gotten a really bad injury. So I ran over, and sure enough, he's sliced his palm up BADLY. He was dripping blood all over his driveway, but luckily he had applied pressure right away and the bleeding did stop. I called 911 and asked them to send an ambulance for him, and grabbed a towel for him to wrap his hand in. He said he didnt want to look at his hand because he was afraid he'd go into shock after looking at it.... I got a glimpse of it when he removed his hand to put the towel on it.... it was mangled.
I had to stay there with him until the ambulance got there, while Jadon sat in our driveway watching at a distance. I told him to stay there, not come over. I didnt want him to see the hand for one thing... he's kindof a weenie when it comes to blood and injuries!
While we waited for the ambulance, the guy started saying things about how he needed to move his boat, then went over to try moving it with his good hand, to which i told him to stop because we didnt want anymore injuries. Then he said his truck was in the road and it should be moved, and I said we'd just wait until the ambulance got there, it'd be fine until then. (the paramedics did end up moving his boat and truck for him and closed up his garage.) Then he said that he could probably walk to the E.R. faster... he was not being sarcastic at this point, so I was afraid he was starting to lose it, so I said that the ambulance would be here any time now. It did get there quickly, but for us waiting there it seemed like a year. From the time I went over to assess the damage to the time the ambulance left his house couldnt have been more than 15 minutes.
I'm still curious to find out what the damage to his hand is..... if he broke any bones... he was certainly going to have to have lots of stitches, thats for sure! So that was the second time so far this year that ive had to call 911 for one of our neighbors. Do I just have really clumsy neighbors? Or have I just been in the right place at the right time???
Anyways, hoping today is a better day!
So the kids were kindof being pains yesterday... they had gone to bed late late late the night before since they stayed up watching fireworks, so they were both a little out of sorts and testing my patience. After lunch I set up the sprinkler in the front yard for them to play in, got myself settled in a lawn chair with my ice water and a crossword book... I was prepared to relax while the kids played in the sprinkler. Neither one wanted to go in it though. I dont know why Avery didn't want to go in, and Jadon didnt want to go in because Avery wasn't going in. So, 10 minutes later we were heading back inside. At that point, I called it a day and put Avery down for nap earlier and Jadon in quiet time, and I was completely exhausted so I also went and took a little 30 minute snooze.
Around 3:30pm, Jadon and I went back out in the front yard to play and clean up my mess from earlier. Our neighbor a couple houses down came home and was hitching his boat to his truck, and I heard him make a noise that sounded like he'd hurt himself, looked up, and he was keeled over grabbing his hand. He yelled over to me that he needed help, he had just gotten a really bad injury. So I ran over, and sure enough, he's sliced his palm up BADLY. He was dripping blood all over his driveway, but luckily he had applied pressure right away and the bleeding did stop. I called 911 and asked them to send an ambulance for him, and grabbed a towel for him to wrap his hand in. He said he didnt want to look at his hand because he was afraid he'd go into shock after looking at it.... I got a glimpse of it when he removed his hand to put the towel on it.... it was mangled.
I had to stay there with him until the ambulance got there, while Jadon sat in our driveway watching at a distance. I told him to stay there, not come over. I didnt want him to see the hand for one thing... he's kindof a weenie when it comes to blood and injuries!
While we waited for the ambulance, the guy started saying things about how he needed to move his boat, then went over to try moving it with his good hand, to which i told him to stop because we didnt want anymore injuries. Then he said his truck was in the road and it should be moved, and I said we'd just wait until the ambulance got there, it'd be fine until then. (the paramedics did end up moving his boat and truck for him and closed up his garage.) Then he said that he could probably walk to the E.R. faster... he was not being sarcastic at this point, so I was afraid he was starting to lose it, so I said that the ambulance would be here any time now. It did get there quickly, but for us waiting there it seemed like a year. From the time I went over to assess the damage to the time the ambulance left his house couldnt have been more than 15 minutes.
I'm still curious to find out what the damage to his hand is..... if he broke any bones... he was certainly going to have to have lots of stitches, thats for sure! So that was the second time so far this year that ive had to call 911 for one of our neighbors. Do I just have really clumsy neighbors? Or have I just been in the right place at the right time???
Anyways, hoping today is a better day!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Weekend festivities
We had a busy weekend, and it went too fast! Just like Christmas, the 4th of July comes so fast packed with excitement, then before you blink its done and everyones tiredly crawling into the bed.
Saturday I spent a good portion of the day at Sunnypatch for the artisans boutique. It was VERY slow, probably since it was a holiday weekend, so I ended up leaving early, and didnt have any luck selling anything. Pretty much all few people that came through didnt buy anything.
Sunday we had friends over for the afternoon, so Jadon and their son Joshua spent the afternoon in our little pool, coloring on the porch with chalk, and throwing "Pop-its" that we had bought from the fireworks stand.
Someone threw quite a display of illegal fireworks at our neighborhood park last night. It went on for a couple hours, and i'm not sure how they managed to not get caught. It was pretty though, i'm just glad our house was a block down, and not one of the houses right across from the park! Jadon really enjoyed the fireworks. Its nice that he is getting older and can stay up for those special occasions like that. Avery was very tired about halfway through doing our own fireworks, and by the time i took her inside to go to bed at about 10pm, she was just moaning with exhaustion. It was hard for her to go to sleep with all the loud fireworks outside though. She did manage to sleep until about 7:45 this morning, and Jadon slept until 8:45. So far today she's pretty whiny, so i think she'll be going down for her nap a little early this afternoon!
And here are some pictures from the weekend:
[gallery]
Saturday I spent a good portion of the day at Sunnypatch for the artisans boutique. It was VERY slow, probably since it was a holiday weekend, so I ended up leaving early, and didnt have any luck selling anything. Pretty much all few people that came through didnt buy anything.
Sunday we had friends over for the afternoon, so Jadon and their son Joshua spent the afternoon in our little pool, coloring on the porch with chalk, and throwing "Pop-its" that we had bought from the fireworks stand.
Someone threw quite a display of illegal fireworks at our neighborhood park last night. It went on for a couple hours, and i'm not sure how they managed to not get caught. It was pretty though, i'm just glad our house was a block down, and not one of the houses right across from the park! Jadon really enjoyed the fireworks. Its nice that he is getting older and can stay up for those special occasions like that. Avery was very tired about halfway through doing our own fireworks, and by the time i took her inside to go to bed at about 10pm, she was just moaning with exhaustion. It was hard for her to go to sleep with all the loud fireworks outside though. She did manage to sleep until about 7:45 this morning, and Jadon slept until 8:45. So far today she's pretty whiny, so i think she'll be going down for her nap a little early this afternoon!
And here are some pictures from the weekend:
[gallery]
Friday, July 1, 2011
Artisan Boutique
Tonight and tomorrow (friday/saturday) i'll be at Sunnypatch selling my things! I've been terribly busy trying to get things done in time, and while I have a few things, its not nearly enough as i had hoped to have done.
Here's a preview of some items... some need a little tweaking before i'll be satisfied with them, but you get the idea! Sorry, the picture of Avery is crooked but i'm too lazy to go fix it right now!
[gallery]
Here's a preview of some items... some need a little tweaking before i'll be satisfied with them, but you get the idea! Sorry, the picture of Avery is crooked but i'm too lazy to go fix it right now!
[gallery]
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Breaking Point
I dont know how many of you have seen "Me, Myself, and Irene"... its a pretty vulgar movie. Its a comedy. I dont know if i'd recommend it to anyone at this point.... in my younger days, that vulgarity (is that a word?) did not botherme, but it does now.
Anyways, the movie is about a small town cop, who is a "nice guy," so nice that everyone takes advantage of him, and although he knows this, he turns the other cheek and doesnt say anything. Until one day, he finds out that his wife is leaving him and their 3 kids for a midget that she has been cheating on him with.
After this, he reaches his breaking point, and after a few more incidents where people take advantage of him, he finally snaps. He suddenly develops a second personality, one that doesnt take being taken advantage of, and goes on a rampage getting people back when they do things to him.
Anyways, sometimes I feel like i'm at my breaking point. Some people in my life just make me want to scream profanity and put my head through the wall! Instead, I keep my mouth shut. I know lashing out at these people will not make the situation any better, even though i think it would feel sooooooooooo good to just go off on them!!!
James 1:2-4 says: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
Then later in verse 12 it says: "12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. "
I cannot tell you how often I am reminding myself of this! Its strange that the people who make me go the craziest are actually in my life to make me a better person. Seems like a cruel joke, but then again, would I really be able to learn and grow in a perfect world? Probably not. God knows what He's doing.
Lord, please help me to remember that these impossible people you have placed in my life have been hand picked by You to help me grow as a person and in my faith. Help me to learn from these situations and persevere, for a day will come when they will have to answer to You. Amen.
Anyways, the movie is about a small town cop, who is a "nice guy," so nice that everyone takes advantage of him, and although he knows this, he turns the other cheek and doesnt say anything. Until one day, he finds out that his wife is leaving him and their 3 kids for a midget that she has been cheating on him with.
After this, he reaches his breaking point, and after a few more incidents where people take advantage of him, he finally snaps. He suddenly develops a second personality, one that doesnt take being taken advantage of, and goes on a rampage getting people back when they do things to him.
Anyways, sometimes I feel like i'm at my breaking point. Some people in my life just make me want to scream profanity and put my head through the wall! Instead, I keep my mouth shut. I know lashing out at these people will not make the situation any better, even though i think it would feel sooooooooooo good to just go off on them!!!
James 1:2-4 says: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
Then later in verse 12 it says: "12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. "
I cannot tell you how often I am reminding myself of this! Its strange that the people who make me go the craziest are actually in my life to make me a better person. Seems like a cruel joke, but then again, would I really be able to learn and grow in a perfect world? Probably not. God knows what He's doing.
Lord, please help me to remember that these impossible people you have placed in my life have been hand picked by You to help me grow as a person and in my faith. Help me to learn from these situations and persevere, for a day will come when they will have to answer to You. Amen.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Hair today; crazy mommy tomorrow!
Avery's hair keeps on growing, and fast.... but its not getting any longer. Its just getting more curly and unruly. (I have unfortunately passed along my annoying, curly hair gene.) Its so difficult to manage because its still so soft and fine, and not quite long enough to put it all in a ponytail. Its always hanging down her face in her eyes and it drives me nuts, but she wont keep a clip in. When i put it in little pigtails (which is a chore! she wont sit still for nothin'!), when she's eating lunch or dinner, she'll play with them with her jelly covered hands. Then it just turns into a mess of sticky snarls.
I've kindof given up. I say kindof, because once in awhile it will drive me nuts to the point that i'll put it in pigtails.
Then of course, when she wakes up in the morning, her hair is a mess, and will stay a mess until her next headwash.
Between her filthy, stained clothes from playing hard outside, and the mess on her head, people probably think she's either homeless, or not cared for very well!
Sometimes it feels like her hair is a completely separate kid that i have to take care of! Ok, thats a little dramatic, but you get the point: her hair is a lot of work! I dont know if all little girls hair is this difficult to manage, but i sure hope its something that will eventually be easier to take care of!
I've kindof given up. I say kindof, because once in awhile it will drive me nuts to the point that i'll put it in pigtails.
Then of course, when she wakes up in the morning, her hair is a mess, and will stay a mess until her next headwash.
Between her filthy, stained clothes from playing hard outside, and the mess on her head, people probably think she's either homeless, or not cared for very well!
Sometimes it feels like her hair is a completely separate kid that i have to take care of! Ok, thats a little dramatic, but you get the point: her hair is a lot of work! I dont know if all little girls hair is this difficult to manage, but i sure hope its something that will eventually be easier to take care of!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Ouch....
Just found out that our house value has dropped to almost what we paid for it, so we definitely wont be selling for now. Its depressing.... not the fact that we cant move, but the fact that the value of our house keeps dropping like a rock in the water. I really hate this economy.
Bottom line though, I feel very blessed to have our house, regardless.
Bottom line though, I feel very blessed to have our house, regardless.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Making a switch
So i've grown quite tired of blogger because of errors, or issues that are always going on. I tried to post my previous post with the dad video several times after i'd typed it up, and retyped it, and id get an error message when i'd try to publish. When i post pictures, i end up having to go through the whole post again to move the pictures where they need to be, and i can never upload my own videos, this is a problem that i've had forever. So, bottom line, it takes me much too long to do things- time that i dont have for things like that. So, i created a Wordpress blog that i'm going to try out for a bit to see if i like it any better. So far, its taken some getting used to, but posting pictures was simple and so much faster!
So, here's that address Loveless Family (click on Loveless Family)
I'll add a poll to see what you all 3 of you think. If you like that one better, then i'll probably stay with that from now on.... if you like this one better, then i might stay with this one. ;)
So, here's that address Loveless Family (click on Loveless Family)
I'll add a poll to see what you all 3 of you think. If you like that one better, then i'll probably stay with that from now on.... if you like this one better, then i might stay with this one. ;)
Jadon's 3rd Dentist appt.
Jadon had his 3rd dentist appointment today, and he did great! He was super nervous, I felt bad for him. If you remember back, his first appt was pretty much a bomb, he wouldnt even let the hygenist near him. The second one, he actually got in the chair and let her look around in his mouth. Today, he got all his teeth cleaned, looked at by the dentist, and even did the xrays!!
I dont know if i've mentioned it before, but one of Jadon's lower baby teeth never grew in, so the xrays were important so we could see if there was a baby tooth even in there, and if there was an adult tooth or not. We got really good news from the xrays! He has a perfect set of adult teeth in there, so when he loses his teeth, a new one will grow in where there is no baby tooth! So, no missing teeth as an adult! The doctor was REALLY pleased by this, and said only about 10% of the time is there an adult tooth there. The dentist also said his teeth looked really really good and clean and no cavities, and told us to keep up the good work. :) I'm happy to hear that! We try hard to make sure his teeth are clean, we brush his teeth every night, and let him brush in the mornings so he can learn how to do it. He drinks mostly water with the exception of milk and occasional juice or tea. And we dont eat alot of candy, so thats not an issue.
So, overall, a good appointment all around! Time to go vacuum the house before lunch![gallery]
I dont know if i've mentioned it before, but one of Jadon's lower baby teeth never grew in, so the xrays were important so we could see if there was a baby tooth even in there, and if there was an adult tooth or not. We got really good news from the xrays! He has a perfect set of adult teeth in there, so when he loses his teeth, a new one will grow in where there is no baby tooth! So, no missing teeth as an adult! The doctor was REALLY pleased by this, and said only about 10% of the time is there an adult tooth there. The dentist also said his teeth looked really really good and clean and no cavities, and told us to keep up the good work. :) I'm happy to hear that! We try hard to make sure his teeth are clean, we brush his teeth every night, and let him brush in the mornings so he can learn how to do it. He drinks mostly water with the exception of milk and occasional juice or tea. And we dont eat alot of candy, so thats not an issue.
So, overall, a good appointment all around! Time to go vacuum the house before lunch![gallery]
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Dad life
In honor of father’s day- Love this video!! Hilariously accurate!!
Derek mentioned a while back about how father’s day is a very insignificant holiday in comparison with mother’s day. I think the reason for it is because back in the day, fathers went to work and mothers stayed home and raised kids all day.
Time’s they are a-changin’ though! Today’s dad’s show much more involvement. Today, parents share equally the responsibility of parenting. I am so glad to live in THIS era where I get to share the parenting experience WITH my husband!
Speaking of his involvement in parenting…. My children are SO blessed, and I hope that when they are older they will see just how lucky they have it. Derek is such a great father! He is as involved at work as he possibly can be with the kids… taking time off to go watch them at swimming when work allows, or other events that they are involved in. When he works in Albany, he does everything he can to try to take Jadon to preschool and pick him up from preschool. He makes it a point to sit down and play with his kids frequently, and it’s obvious how much they enjoy this! One of his greatest joys is making his children laugh.
He works hard to provide for his family. Much of his hard earned income goes towards the children’s lessons, school, and events. He is very caring and loving when his children are sick. He comforts Jadon when he has bad dreams and night terrors. He changes Avery’s poopy diapers without me even asking him to, and doesn’t complain about it.
Wikipedia says this about a father: Involved fathers offer developmentally specific provisions to their sons and daughters throughout the life cycle and are impacted themselves by their doing so. Active father figures have a key role to play in reducing behavior problems in boys and psychological problems in young women. For example, children who experience significant father involvement tend to exhibit higher scores on assessments of cognitive development, enhanced social skills and fewer behavior problems. An increased amount of father–child involvement has also proven to increase a child's social stability, educational achievement, and even their potential to have a solid marriage as an adult. The children are also more curious about the world around them and develop greater problem solving skills.
My children and I are blessed to have such a wonderful man in our lives. Even though we don’t often get a chance to tell him or show him. Derek, you are the glue that holds this family together! Without you, mommy would lose her sanity! ;)
Happy Fathers day! We love you so much!
Derek mentioned a while back about how father’s day is a very insignificant holiday in comparison with mother’s day. I think the reason for it is because back in the day, fathers went to work and mothers stayed home and raised kids all day.
Time’s they are a-changin’ though! Today’s dad’s show much more involvement. Today, parents share equally the responsibility of parenting. I am so glad to live in THIS era where I get to share the parenting experience WITH my husband!
Speaking of his involvement in parenting…. My children are SO blessed, and I hope that when they are older they will see just how lucky they have it. Derek is such a great father! He is as involved at work as he possibly can be with the kids… taking time off to go watch them at swimming when work allows, or other events that they are involved in. When he works in Albany, he does everything he can to try to take Jadon to preschool and pick him up from preschool. He makes it a point to sit down and play with his kids frequently, and it’s obvious how much they enjoy this! One of his greatest joys is making his children laugh.
He works hard to provide for his family. Much of his hard earned income goes towards the children’s lessons, school, and events. He is very caring and loving when his children are sick. He comforts Jadon when he has bad dreams and night terrors. He changes Avery’s poopy diapers without me even asking him to, and doesn’t complain about it.
Wikipedia says this about a father: Involved fathers offer developmentally specific provisions to their sons and daughters throughout the life cycle and are impacted themselves by their doing so. Active father figures have a key role to play in reducing behavior problems in boys and psychological problems in young women. For example, children who experience significant father involvement tend to exhibit higher scores on assessments of cognitive development, enhanced social skills and fewer behavior problems. An increased amount of father–child involvement has also proven to increase a child's social stability, educational achievement, and even their potential to have a solid marriage as an adult. The children are also more curious about the world around them and develop greater problem solving skills.
My children and I are blessed to have such a wonderful man in our lives. Even though we don’t often get a chance to tell him or show him. Derek, you are the glue that holds this family together! Without you, mommy would lose her sanity! ;)
Happy Fathers day! We love you so much!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
No more pencils! No more books! No more teachers dirty looks!
Jadon's last day of preschool was today! I felt a little emotional dropping him off for his last day, because it literally feels like just yesterday we were dropping him off for his first day! I suppose i'm going to turn into an emotional sap for everything with my kids.
It was also his snack day today, so he got to be line leader, prayer person for before snack, got to take a toy for show and tell, and all the other perks that come along with it being his snack day.
After preschool was over, the class and the teachers went down the road to the park for lunch and some play (and chatting for the parents.) The kids had a BLAST! The boys were all throwing sand at each other, and Jadon came home with enough sand in his pockets and Avery had enough in her shoes to fill the sand box! It was fun to see Jadon with his friends, and it was nice chatting with their moms. Avery ran. Pretty much thats all she did was ran. From one end of the park to the other end, every once in awhile she'd stop to go down a slide or something, but for the most part she just ran. I meant to take pictures, but completely forgot!
When we left and were saying goodbye to Jadon's teachers, his "head" teacher told me that Jadon never says the word "no", he's always got a big smile on his face, and he's the happiest kid shes seen! Hopefully this means we're doing something right! :)
So now its officially summer break! Jadon gets to go to a friends house for a couple hours tomorrow to kick it off.... it will be his first time at a friends house by himself without Derek or I present and he'll have a blast!
It was also his snack day today, so he got to be line leader, prayer person for before snack, got to take a toy for show and tell, and all the other perks that come along with it being his snack day.
After preschool was over, the class and the teachers went down the road to the park for lunch and some play (and chatting for the parents.) The kids had a BLAST! The boys were all throwing sand at each other, and Jadon came home with enough sand in his pockets and Avery had enough in her shoes to fill the sand box! It was fun to see Jadon with his friends, and it was nice chatting with their moms. Avery ran. Pretty much thats all she did was ran. From one end of the park to the other end, every once in awhile she'd stop to go down a slide or something, but for the most part she just ran. I meant to take pictures, but completely forgot!
When we left and were saying goodbye to Jadon's teachers, his "head" teacher told me that Jadon never says the word "no", he's always got a big smile on his face, and he's the happiest kid shes seen! Hopefully this means we're doing something right! :)
So now its officially summer break! Jadon gets to go to a friends house for a couple hours tomorrow to kick it off.... it will be his first time at a friends house by himself without Derek or I present and he'll have a blast!
Friday, June 10, 2011
Hi!
I took some time off of blogging. Not on purpose, it just happened that way as things once again were busy.
My wonderful grandparents from Florida were here for a couple weeks, so we tried to spend as much time as possible with them, which wasn't enough time, but its tough working around our activities schedule and naptimes. I'm thankful that we got to see them though, and that they got to see the kids and vice versa.
Swimming lessons ended last week, so this week has been free of swimming, which has been really nice! 4 less trips driving to and from Corvallis this week! Swimming wont start again until towards the end of the month, so we have a couple weeks off from it. And when we resume, Avery will only be going once a week. Jadon will still go twice, but it will be evenings instead.
Jadon's last day of preschool is on tuesday, and I can hardly believe its here! Seems like just yesterday we were dropping him off for his first day, me balling before we even left the driveway! I am very pleased with his growth this year. He is finally FULLY potty trained, something I started to worry would never happen, he's made some friends, and is slowly learning how to write and draw- at his own pace. I say "at his own pace" because we have tried for the last 2 years to help him learn to write and draw, but he has not been interested, and even more he does NOT want help. So, preschool has been good for him in that aspect as well!
Sunnypatch is keeping me busy also! I've got an order for 10 more tutu's this week, plus another custom order today. In addition, once a month they will be doing an artisan's boutique, and people can rent space in the store for 2 days to sell their homemade crafts, so I will be doing that! I'm signed up for both July and August at this point. So, mark your calendars- Friday July 1 from 5pm-8pm, and Saturday July 2 from 10am-6pm i'll be there with my tutu's and wands, and maybe some new additions if I can squeeze in a little time before then for experimenting! I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any thoughts. I've got a few things in mind, but i'd love to hear your ideas also!
Derek has been working alot lately as well, which is good and bad. Good for the extra $$, but bad that we don't get some time with him. :(
We FINALLY had a warm day! Earlier in the week, we reached 83 I believe! It was wonderful! And it was breezy, so it was a very very nice day! We've had a few more nice days, but only in the 70's again (I'm certainly not complaining!!!) Spring might be here finally???
On the downside, the kids spend alot of time in the backyard when its nice..... as a result, it looks like a tornado has ripped through our backyard. Jadon has graffitied all over the place with chalk- the slide, the patio table, the screen door, the fence, the chairs, etc. They are destroying my bushes (for some reason Avery thinks she can sit on the bushes, and Jadon rips leaves off the bushes to make "cakes"), putting rocks all over the yard, sand from their sand table is all over the place, my poor little vegetable seeds that i planted in pots have been plucked and poked and ripped out of the dirt... toys are scattered EVERYWHERE..... sigh. When they go out after a day of rain, they track mud all over the house and carpet. at least i'm getting a little exersize from continually cleaning the house! ;)
My wonderful grandparents from Florida were here for a couple weeks, so we tried to spend as much time as possible with them, which wasn't enough time, but its tough working around our activities schedule and naptimes. I'm thankful that we got to see them though, and that they got to see the kids and vice versa.
Swimming lessons ended last week, so this week has been free of swimming, which has been really nice! 4 less trips driving to and from Corvallis this week! Swimming wont start again until towards the end of the month, so we have a couple weeks off from it. And when we resume, Avery will only be going once a week. Jadon will still go twice, but it will be evenings instead.
Jadon's last day of preschool is on tuesday, and I can hardly believe its here! Seems like just yesterday we were dropping him off for his first day, me balling before we even left the driveway! I am very pleased with his growth this year. He is finally FULLY potty trained, something I started to worry would never happen, he's made some friends, and is slowly learning how to write and draw- at his own pace. I say "at his own pace" because we have tried for the last 2 years to help him learn to write and draw, but he has not been interested, and even more he does NOT want help. So, preschool has been good for him in that aspect as well!
Sunnypatch is keeping me busy also! I've got an order for 10 more tutu's this week, plus another custom order today. In addition, once a month they will be doing an artisan's boutique, and people can rent space in the store for 2 days to sell their homemade crafts, so I will be doing that! I'm signed up for both July and August at this point. So, mark your calendars- Friday July 1 from 5pm-8pm, and Saturday July 2 from 10am-6pm i'll be there with my tutu's and wands, and maybe some new additions if I can squeeze in a little time before then for experimenting! I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any thoughts. I've got a few things in mind, but i'd love to hear your ideas also!
Derek has been working alot lately as well, which is good and bad. Good for the extra $$, but bad that we don't get some time with him. :(
We FINALLY had a warm day! Earlier in the week, we reached 83 I believe! It was wonderful! And it was breezy, so it was a very very nice day! We've had a few more nice days, but only in the 70's again (I'm certainly not complaining!!!) Spring might be here finally???
On the downside, the kids spend alot of time in the backyard when its nice..... as a result, it looks like a tornado has ripped through our backyard. Jadon has graffitied all over the place with chalk- the slide, the patio table, the screen door, the fence, the chairs, etc. They are destroying my bushes (for some reason Avery thinks she can sit on the bushes, and Jadon rips leaves off the bushes to make "cakes"), putting rocks all over the yard, sand from their sand table is all over the place, my poor little vegetable seeds that i planted in pots have been plucked and poked and ripped out of the dirt... toys are scattered EVERYWHERE..... sigh. When they go out after a day of rain, they track mud all over the house and carpet. at least i'm getting a little exersize from continually cleaning the house! ;)
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Power
Every night we read a children's devotion book with Jadon. Tonights devotion was about the holy spirit giving us power to obey and be a witness. At the end of each devotion, it asks a simple question based on the devotion. So the question tonight was "What power does the holy spirit give us?" Jadon's answer: "electricity" ;)
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Listening ears
Jadon may not be a very good listener at home, but we must be doing something right because he seems to be a great listener everywhere else.
Last week at swimming, it was halfway through the spring session, and at that point they do parent teacher conferences. So his swim teacher told me what I figured i'd be hearing- he's still tentative about sticking his face in the water, and he panics a little when he's floating on his back and the teacher lets go of him. But, she emphasized several times that he is a really good listener, and always tries to do everything. :)
Today at soccer, I stayed home with Avery as I had a large list of things that I needed to do, but when Derek and Jadon got home, I got some great news. Jadon's soccer class this term is a bit unruly. There are a couple of boys in the class that are just out of control, and completely disrupt the class. Drives me crazy as the parents really dont do much. Its not fair to the kids that are behaving, its not fair to the coach who has to deal with the little farts, and its not fair to the parents of the well-behaved kids either, since we ARE paying for the class that is constantly being interrupted by them!
So anyways, Derek told me that at the end of class today, the teacher said to the whole class Thank you to Jadon, who listened very well today and followed directions, everyone give Jadon a round of applause... something like that, i cant remember the exact words Derek told me. :)
So, even though he sometimes is a monster with me and Derek, i'm glad to know that he is still being respectful to his coaches and teachers! That makes me proud! Its important to me that he respect his superiors, and since he does so well at that, it gives me hope that one day, my sweet little guy will emerge from this monster costume that he sometimes wears at home! ;)
Last week at swimming, it was halfway through the spring session, and at that point they do parent teacher conferences. So his swim teacher told me what I figured i'd be hearing- he's still tentative about sticking his face in the water, and he panics a little when he's floating on his back and the teacher lets go of him. But, she emphasized several times that he is a really good listener, and always tries to do everything. :)
Today at soccer, I stayed home with Avery as I had a large list of things that I needed to do, but when Derek and Jadon got home, I got some great news. Jadon's soccer class this term is a bit unruly. There are a couple of boys in the class that are just out of control, and completely disrupt the class. Drives me crazy as the parents really dont do much. Its not fair to the kids that are behaving, its not fair to the coach who has to deal with the little farts, and its not fair to the parents of the well-behaved kids either, since we ARE paying for the class that is constantly being interrupted by them!
So anyways, Derek told me that at the end of class today, the teacher said to the whole class Thank you to Jadon, who listened very well today and followed directions, everyone give Jadon a round of applause... something like that, i cant remember the exact words Derek told me. :)
So, even though he sometimes is a monster with me and Derek, i'm glad to know that he is still being respectful to his coaches and teachers! That makes me proud! Its important to me that he respect his superiors, and since he does so well at that, it gives me hope that one day, my sweet little guy will emerge from this monster costume that he sometimes wears at home! ;)
Friday, May 20, 2011
The last couple days have been beeeeeautiful! We are LOVING this weather! The kids have been outside digging in the dirt almost nonstop... making a complete mess of our backyard in the process. Dirt EVERYwhere. Rocks all over the place. Jadon put dirt in the dryer vent. Avery put dirt in the heat pump. Wait, what? Did I just say heat pump? Yes!!!! We got our heatpump installed yesterday, so this summer will be the first summer that we are not going to be miserable when the heat comes! Yay!!!
Anyways, i'll leave you with a couple pictures.
Anyways, i'll leave you with a couple pictures.
Avery first thing in the morning with her bedhead.
The last 2 were just taken about 15 minutes ago. The kids are outside enjoying the sunshine and some watermelon. And yes, Jadon has no pants on once again. That kid just hates to wear pants.
The last 2 were just taken about 15 minutes ago. The kids are outside enjoying the sunshine and some watermelon. And yes, Jadon has no pants on once again. That kid just hates to wear pants.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Headstrong
My daughter is wearing me out. She is CONSTANTLY on the move, screams about EVERYTHING, and is extremely headstrong (as the pediatrician put it.)
I was just telling Derek about a lady at swimming who's daughter is in Jadons class... she has a son who is around Avery's age. Her son sits quietly, never making a peep, rarely moves from his seat, and I have to envy the girl a little. Jadon was super good like that too when he was a toddler... content to just sit and take in the world around him.
Avery.... very much the opposite. Cant stand sitting still, can't stand being in her carseat since she is strapped down and cant move, and fights being put in her carseat like no other! Has to explore everything and most of the time she explores with her mouth, including food that has been dropped on the floor. (I found her eating a cheeto that was under the bleachers at swimming on tuesday. She was also going for a piece of candy that had been stepped on and squished into the ground, but luckily i caught her before she got to that one.)
Diaper changes have been an extreme challenge lately, she screams and fights them, and many of the times lately, she's ended up with poop in places other than on her bottom (socks, pants, shirt, my hands....) And when I try to distract her with a toy, she takes the toy and chucks it and continues to scream and fight even harder. We just change her diaper on the floor on a changing pad... just easier for us that way.... so, it usually comes down to my leg being placed across her chest and arms to hold her down, and I mentioned already how she hates being strapped down, so this leg on her chest thing does not go over well with her. (I actually read to do that in a book... afterall, she HAS to have her diaper changed, its not optional until she starts potty training.)
And she screams. Oh man does she scream! We've all heard those little girls that scream in such a loud, high pitch that it literally feels like your eardrums are being pierced.... Avery has a scream like that. And she's not afraid to use her scream.... for anything.... for everything.
Its a good thing she is so stinkin' cute, and loves to cuddle with me... because otherwise i'd probably ask if I could trade her in! ;)
I was just telling Derek about a lady at swimming who's daughter is in Jadons class... she has a son who is around Avery's age. Her son sits quietly, never making a peep, rarely moves from his seat, and I have to envy the girl a little. Jadon was super good like that too when he was a toddler... content to just sit and take in the world around him.
Avery.... very much the opposite. Cant stand sitting still, can't stand being in her carseat since she is strapped down and cant move, and fights being put in her carseat like no other! Has to explore everything and most of the time she explores with her mouth, including food that has been dropped on the floor. (I found her eating a cheeto that was under the bleachers at swimming on tuesday. She was also going for a piece of candy that had been stepped on and squished into the ground, but luckily i caught her before she got to that one.)
Diaper changes have been an extreme challenge lately, she screams and fights them, and many of the times lately, she's ended up with poop in places other than on her bottom (socks, pants, shirt, my hands....) And when I try to distract her with a toy, she takes the toy and chucks it and continues to scream and fight even harder. We just change her diaper on the floor on a changing pad... just easier for us that way.... so, it usually comes down to my leg being placed across her chest and arms to hold her down, and I mentioned already how she hates being strapped down, so this leg on her chest thing does not go over well with her. (I actually read to do that in a book... afterall, she HAS to have her diaper changed, its not optional until she starts potty training.)
And she screams. Oh man does she scream! We've all heard those little girls that scream in such a loud, high pitch that it literally feels like your eardrums are being pierced.... Avery has a scream like that. And she's not afraid to use her scream.... for anything.... for everything.
Its a good thing she is so stinkin' cute, and loves to cuddle with me... because otherwise i'd probably ask if I could trade her in! ;)
Friday, May 13, 2011
Progress!
I'm convinced that seeing progress is the most motivating thing in weight loss/exersize.
A few weeks ago, I mentioned how I wanted to lose 5-10 more pounds in the next month or so.... and I figured 5 was the most realistic goal. Sometime around that same time, I had finally graduated down to an old belt that I used to wear in my skinnier days. I was on the last hole on it, but still! I was excited about it!
Since then, i've lost 4 more pounds! Of course, 2 of those pounds are from when I was sick, so I guess I cant take the credit for those 2 pounds. However, with my consistent 5 days a week of doing pilates/yoga, i'm starting to feel differences. I'm close to going down another hole on my belt... i'm right in between holes. I also tried on a pair of my "goal" capri's last night... a pair that I wore in Hawaii. And they fit great now!
To date, i've lost 32 pounds so far! I'd like to lose about 8 more, and then i'll be satisfied. Its taken me WELL over a year to lose this weight. So I encourage anyone else who is trying to lose weight to keep with it! Its not going to come off quickly if you're doing it the right way with diet and exersize, but it WILL come off!
Really, i've just made small changes. I'm the kind of person who will not stick with something if i'm not happy doing it. So, if I were to go on an intense diet/exersize routine, i'd probably fail within a week. I prefer baby steps. Here are a few baby steps that i've taken.
- healthier eating choices. bye bye potato chips, doritos, cheetos, etc. we've started buying veggie straws from Costco which are a healthier alternative to potato chips. More fresh fruits and veggies, or even dried fruits.
- we avoid eating out. I always tend to overeat when we eat out. By avoiding eating out, we are not only saving money, but my waistline as well! ;) The last time we had fastfood was on Jadon's birthday (march 13th), when he picked Arby's for his restaurant of choice.
- portion control. This has been key for me. I love food, and its sooooooo easy for me to overeat! Food just tastes soooooo GOOD to me! I try to tell myself at meals that when i'm feeling satisfied, but tempted to go for seconds, that the food is not going to grow legs and run away, it will be there tomorrow to eat as leftovers. Or, if there will be no leftovers, I tell myself that there will be another day when I can eat this yummy dish again, its not the last time i'll ever eat it!
- get moving. I dont have much problem with this area lately, since the kids keep me quite busy and rarely do I sit down during the day, except for meals. We've always parked far out in parking lots so we have to walk farther to get to the buildings, we take the stairs when possible as opposed to elevators, we go for evening walks when the weather permits. I try to avoid being lazy... for instance, when there's something I need upstairs, even if its just something little, I try to go get it, instead of being lazy and waiting until I have to go up there for something else.
- exersize... this has been a hard one for me, always has been. I've never been much of an exersize person, hate going to the gym, i'm clumsy and uncoordinated, and I hate hate hate feeling sweaty, unless I am able to take a nice shower afterwards. On top of that, something always seems to hurt.... joints, for example. So doing things like jogging and aerobics usually lead to my knees, or ankles or something hurting. I've found that water aerobics is extremely gentle on the joints, and it keeps me from feeling sweaty since i'm already all wet. I havent done water aerobics for some time now, especially since i've been at the pool 4 days a week as it is, and in the pool already on 2 of those days. I need to start it again, as its a super easy 300 calories burned in an hour!
I started doing yoga to try to help my stress levels. But then a few weeks ago, I fell down on my knee really hard on the cement, got a horrible painful bruise on my knee, and was unable to do yoga since many of the moves require kneeling on a knee. I decided to try pilates again during that time, as I dont need my knees as much for pilates. I used to do pilates before Derek and I got married, but I am actually enjoying it now! I've got 3 different DVD's, so I alternate between them, and the yoga, so I dont get tired of the same video over and over.
- and the most recent step i've taken to a healthier me is- something i never thought i'd be able to do..... dun duh duh dun............. cut out soda! WHAT?!?! Most of you know how much i love soda! There's just something about a carbonated beverage that quenches my taste buds! I only drink a can a day anyways.
When I was sick, i didnt drink a soda for several days. It was then that I decided that i'd try to go all week long without a soda, then allow myself to have a can on saturday and sunday. To my shock, I made it!! I almost gave in several times, but i held strong! In doing this, i've increased my water intake, which has made me feel alot better internally, and by cutting out soda for 5 days a week, i've cut out 850 calories a week! This is my 2nd week of doing this, and i surprisingly have not thought about soda much. Have not really had much craving. I think the reason this works for me, is knowing that i get that reward on the weekends.
Hopefully next time I blog about weight loss, i'll be 8 pounds skinnier! :)
A few weeks ago, I mentioned how I wanted to lose 5-10 more pounds in the next month or so.... and I figured 5 was the most realistic goal. Sometime around that same time, I had finally graduated down to an old belt that I used to wear in my skinnier days. I was on the last hole on it, but still! I was excited about it!
Since then, i've lost 4 more pounds! Of course, 2 of those pounds are from when I was sick, so I guess I cant take the credit for those 2 pounds. However, with my consistent 5 days a week of doing pilates/yoga, i'm starting to feel differences. I'm close to going down another hole on my belt... i'm right in between holes. I also tried on a pair of my "goal" capri's last night... a pair that I wore in Hawaii. And they fit great now!
To date, i've lost 32 pounds so far! I'd like to lose about 8 more, and then i'll be satisfied. Its taken me WELL over a year to lose this weight. So I encourage anyone else who is trying to lose weight to keep with it! Its not going to come off quickly if you're doing it the right way with diet and exersize, but it WILL come off!
Really, i've just made small changes. I'm the kind of person who will not stick with something if i'm not happy doing it. So, if I were to go on an intense diet/exersize routine, i'd probably fail within a week. I prefer baby steps. Here are a few baby steps that i've taken.
- healthier eating choices. bye bye potato chips, doritos, cheetos, etc. we've started buying veggie straws from Costco which are a healthier alternative to potato chips. More fresh fruits and veggies, or even dried fruits.
- we avoid eating out. I always tend to overeat when we eat out. By avoiding eating out, we are not only saving money, but my waistline as well! ;) The last time we had fastfood was on Jadon's birthday (march 13th), when he picked Arby's for his restaurant of choice.
- portion control. This has been key for me. I love food, and its sooooooo easy for me to overeat! Food just tastes soooooo GOOD to me! I try to tell myself at meals that when i'm feeling satisfied, but tempted to go for seconds, that the food is not going to grow legs and run away, it will be there tomorrow to eat as leftovers. Or, if there will be no leftovers, I tell myself that there will be another day when I can eat this yummy dish again, its not the last time i'll ever eat it!
- get moving. I dont have much problem with this area lately, since the kids keep me quite busy and rarely do I sit down during the day, except for meals. We've always parked far out in parking lots so we have to walk farther to get to the buildings, we take the stairs when possible as opposed to elevators, we go for evening walks when the weather permits. I try to avoid being lazy... for instance, when there's something I need upstairs, even if its just something little, I try to go get it, instead of being lazy and waiting until I have to go up there for something else.
- exersize... this has been a hard one for me, always has been. I've never been much of an exersize person, hate going to the gym, i'm clumsy and uncoordinated, and I hate hate hate feeling sweaty, unless I am able to take a nice shower afterwards. On top of that, something always seems to hurt.... joints, for example. So doing things like jogging and aerobics usually lead to my knees, or ankles or something hurting. I've found that water aerobics is extremely gentle on the joints, and it keeps me from feeling sweaty since i'm already all wet. I havent done water aerobics for some time now, especially since i've been at the pool 4 days a week as it is, and in the pool already on 2 of those days. I need to start it again, as its a super easy 300 calories burned in an hour!
I started doing yoga to try to help my stress levels. But then a few weeks ago, I fell down on my knee really hard on the cement, got a horrible painful bruise on my knee, and was unable to do yoga since many of the moves require kneeling on a knee. I decided to try pilates again during that time, as I dont need my knees as much for pilates. I used to do pilates before Derek and I got married, but I am actually enjoying it now! I've got 3 different DVD's, so I alternate between them, and the yoga, so I dont get tired of the same video over and over.
- and the most recent step i've taken to a healthier me is- something i never thought i'd be able to do..... dun duh duh dun............. cut out soda! WHAT?!?! Most of you know how much i love soda! There's just something about a carbonated beverage that quenches my taste buds! I only drink a can a day anyways.
When I was sick, i didnt drink a soda for several days. It was then that I decided that i'd try to go all week long without a soda, then allow myself to have a can on saturday and sunday. To my shock, I made it!! I almost gave in several times, but i held strong! In doing this, i've increased my water intake, which has made me feel alot better internally, and by cutting out soda for 5 days a week, i've cut out 850 calories a week! This is my 2nd week of doing this, and i surprisingly have not thought about soda much. Have not really had much craving. I think the reason this works for me, is knowing that i get that reward on the weekends.
Hopefully next time I blog about weight loss, i'll be 8 pounds skinnier! :)
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Discipline
Jadon was the sweetest little baby. He was even an irresistably sweet toddler. But he is a monster of a preschooler!
Monday morning after swimming, he turned into a monster. I didn't know who the child was! It was horrible! He's been acting out like this for several weeks now, and we are at a loss. What do you do when timeouts dont work? He's never really been affected by timeouts, but now its getting ridiculous. Sorry Supernanny, regardless of what you think, timeouts DO NOT work for all kids! Unfortunately, my child is one of those kids.
So, I tried to research all other options of discipline before trying something else, its funny to read all these "experts" thoughts on discipline. One expert says to do this, the other expert says dont do it. One says to do such and such, the other expert says not to do such and such because it will damage his self esteem. I should have known thats what i'd find. When we had trouble with Jadon sleeping, I got several different books, did lots of research online, and again, all the experts have different opinions. Funny thing is, they all think that they are the right ones. Well, in the end, none of the books or experts worked for Jadon's sleeping. Time was all that worked, and he eventually figured it out. Now he sleeps very well!
So, I think with disciplining him, it will be alot of trial and error, and eventually we will find what works for us and for him. Also, once again, time will come into play. I know he's just going through a phase right now, and that this will eventually end. I just have to find some extra patience lying around in the meantime!
Monday morning after swimming, he turned into a monster. I didn't know who the child was! It was horrible! He's been acting out like this for several weeks now, and we are at a loss. What do you do when timeouts dont work? He's never really been affected by timeouts, but now its getting ridiculous. Sorry Supernanny, regardless of what you think, timeouts DO NOT work for all kids! Unfortunately, my child is one of those kids.
So, I tried to research all other options of discipline before trying something else, its funny to read all these "experts" thoughts on discipline. One expert says to do this, the other expert says dont do it. One says to do such and such, the other expert says not to do such and such because it will damage his self esteem. I should have known thats what i'd find. When we had trouble with Jadon sleeping, I got several different books, did lots of research online, and again, all the experts have different opinions. Funny thing is, they all think that they are the right ones. Well, in the end, none of the books or experts worked for Jadon's sleeping. Time was all that worked, and he eventually figured it out. Now he sleeps very well!
So, I think with disciplining him, it will be alot of trial and error, and eventually we will find what works for us and for him. Also, once again, time will come into play. I know he's just going through a phase right now, and that this will eventually end. I just have to find some extra patience lying around in the meantime!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
It was beautiful for a day last week, hovering right under 70 degrees! So of course, we spent lots of time outside!
Of course, Avery loves to do everything her big brother does, so she brought a book outside too.
Jadon did some "trimming" of my bushes with my kitchen tongs. He loves pretending he's the "lawn mower man" (the guy that does the landscape maintentance for our neighbor every monday.)
Avery enjoyed doing...well, pretty much anything. This kid LOVES the outdoors!
Jadon had made a "book" earlier in the day, and he brought it outside to "read" to me.
This made big brother very upset. Afterall, it WAS HIS idea! So it led to an all out hissy fit, and he ended up in his room screaming at the top of his lungs and lost his opportunity to go play at the park that evening after dinner... so it was quite unfortunate that such a lovely day turned sour so quickly.
Since we've had such a busy schedule lately, I often forget to slow down and enjoy the kids. In doing so, I've also been forgetting to let Jadon do more big boy things around the house... like get things for himself that he couldnt before, or help me out with things in the kitchen. He is growing up, and I forget that he can do things like this for himself now. So, the other day I thought it would be a good idea to let him try using my Swiffer Sweeper Vac (LOVE this product by the way!) on the entryway floor. Well, he was obviously proud, and he did a good job and had alot of fun doing it, so he has been asking us after every meal if he can vacuum. For the most part, he gets the bulk of the crumbs on the floor, so I can live with the remaining few left on the floor. Besides, this really does help me out!! And i'm glad to give him the opportunity to feel like a big boy and a big helper.
Jadon came home from preschool on thursday with a wrapped mother's day gift for me, and strict orders not to open it until mothers day. Well, the other day he told me "you cant touch the glass, but you can touch the wood."
This morning, first thing, he said "its mothers day, and you can open your present now!" Well, it turned out to be a picture frame with a picture of him in it. It was the cutest thing i've ever seen! Best mothers day gift a mom could get from her kids is the ones that they make! Then he said "I love you mommy." To which I almost started balling, but held it together. ;)
This morning, first thing, he said "its mothers day, and you can open your present now!" Well, it turned out to be a picture frame with a picture of him in it. It was the cutest thing i've ever seen! Best mothers day gift a mom could get from her kids is the ones that they make! Then he said "I love you mommy." To which I almost started balling, but held it together. ;)
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Happy Mothers Day Alicia
Hey Babe, Happy Mothers Day!!! Surpise, SHMILY! :)
I want to take this tell you what a wonderful wife, and mother to my children you are. God has blessed me so many ways, but one of the best blessings I have EVER been given, is the blessing of being married to you. You are simply put amazing. You have so much love to give and you never seem to run out. You are always there whenever the kids or I need you, even when the kids are running around screaming, bickering, getting into things, all the while you try to prepare dinner and clean at the same time.
You go through things daily that I can't even begin to imagine having to do with the kids, and yet you always have something good to say about the day, you keep our house clean and tidy, you always have dinner ready when I get home, and the kids are taken care of, you are like Super Woman, only better. I don't know how you do it, but you have a strength that few people I know can muster, I certainly can't!
In addition to 24/7/365 super mom, you are also a entrepreneur with your Tutu business. I am so proud of the work you have put into that, and I think you make a wonderful product. You dedicate a lot of time to your tutu's, and I think you will continue to be successful.
I love your support of me. Sometimes I work late, nights, weekends, etc., and while I know you don't necessarily like it, you still don't hold it against me, instead you are there for me. You are filling in with the kids when I can't be there to give you a break. You love me and support me in-spite of the fact that what I do for a living, calls for working some extra hours or off hours. :)
One of the things that I love most about you, is that you are God fearing. You love God, and I can see Him blessing all that you do, and being with you, carrying you through the tough times, especially those times when I'm at work and can't help with a bad day with the kids. I know that God has planned from the beginning for you and I to be together and I know we will be forever.
Alicia, you are the love of my life, you make me the happiest man on earth every day, over and over again. I am so thankful for all that you do for me, even if I don't always say or show it. I wish you a great Mother's day.
I love you!
Forever yours,
Derek
Friday, May 6, 2011
Frustrations
Jadon has really really REALLY been pushing our every buttons lately. He has been very easily angered and frustrated in the last month or so, and the way he expresses his frustration is by screaming or hitting. Its not a tantrum, this is obvious frustration.
It seems as though everything sets him off.... something as silly as me changing Avery's poopy diaper, and then going to the kitchen to wash my hands, will set him off and before I know what is happening, he's exploding into a fit of rage, yelling at the top of his lungs... not words typically, just noise.
Its to the point where I am mentally and emotionally drained, and I think Derek probably is too. Something has to change, for both mine and Derek's sake, and for the kids' sake.
I know that 4 is a difficult age. And I know that nothing we do will "cure" this... I know he'll just grow out of it eventually. But in the meantime, we can hopefully do something to minimize these "episodes."
We ordered him a responsibility chart, and we are going to have a little chat with him. I talked to him a little today, asking him what he was feeling, and he said he was frustrated. And I asked what he was frustrated about, and he said Avery. So I dug a little deeper, and asked what it was about Avery that frustrated him. And basically I got that he is frustrated that she doesnt get in trouble for things that he gets in trouble for. This is something we suspected bothered him to begin with, and it is completely understandable for him to feel that way. We've explained to him before that Avery is still too young to understand the consequences that bad behavior result in, but when she gets a little bigger, she will have the same consequences that he has and will get in trouble for the same things he does. Its hard for him to understand that she doesnt understand yet. Obviously there's not much we can do about this situation.
One thing we have found that diffuses his freakouts faster, is when we remain calm and understanding.
I hope that time and a few little changes will help us to better deal with this drama that he's presenting.... Lord knows theres plenty of other drama with ADULTS that we have to deal with, we dont need such drama from Jadon too!
It seems as though everything sets him off.... something as silly as me changing Avery's poopy diaper, and then going to the kitchen to wash my hands, will set him off and before I know what is happening, he's exploding into a fit of rage, yelling at the top of his lungs... not words typically, just noise.
Its to the point where I am mentally and emotionally drained, and I think Derek probably is too. Something has to change, for both mine and Derek's sake, and for the kids' sake.
I know that 4 is a difficult age. And I know that nothing we do will "cure" this... I know he'll just grow out of it eventually. But in the meantime, we can hopefully do something to minimize these "episodes."
We ordered him a responsibility chart, and we are going to have a little chat with him. I talked to him a little today, asking him what he was feeling, and he said he was frustrated. And I asked what he was frustrated about, and he said Avery. So I dug a little deeper, and asked what it was about Avery that frustrated him. And basically I got that he is frustrated that she doesnt get in trouble for things that he gets in trouble for. This is something we suspected bothered him to begin with, and it is completely understandable for him to feel that way. We've explained to him before that Avery is still too young to understand the consequences that bad behavior result in, but when she gets a little bigger, she will have the same consequences that he has and will get in trouble for the same things he does. Its hard for him to understand that she doesnt understand yet. Obviously there's not much we can do about this situation.
One thing we have found that diffuses his freakouts faster, is when we remain calm and understanding.
I hope that time and a few little changes will help us to better deal with this drama that he's presenting.... Lord knows theres plenty of other drama with ADULTS that we have to deal with, we dont need such drama from Jadon too!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Boring
I'm pretty sure I have the most boring blog EVER. I have nothing important or deep to talk about... the best I can come up with is detailed stories of our illnesses! Sorry! If anyone actually reads it, then thank you! ;)
I cancelled Avery from soccer. Why? Well, because we have to get a heat pump so that we can survive the summer in the house. If we dont have a/c, then the house has gotten up to 84 degrees before, and that was on the bottom floor, so imagine the top floor where our beds are! In the last few years, we've had a window unit in our office that has kept the house at a reasonable temperature, however freezing in the office. Now that we no longer have an "office" (remember, Avery moved to the office), we have no where to keep the window a/c unit. Therefore, we are investing in a heatpump! So, in an effort to save some money for that, I cancelled Avery's soccer. It was really chaotic anyways, and she's so young. She'll be fine if we start her out when she's older like we did with Jadon. Besides, she is really excelling in swimming!
And speaking of swimming, Avery started a new session of swimming. But, instead of being in Waterbabies, she is now in Waterkids, which is for ages 18-36 months. I'm so glad she's moved up now! We had our first class on tuesday, and its more fast paced than Waterbabies, and the parents really get into it alot more, and she gets to learn some more things, rather than just continuing with the same things she's already learned. She did really well on her first day! She seems to really love swimming, and I mean this seriously. She seems to love going underwater and swimming, which is so strange to me!
Jadon started his level 2 swimming lessons on monday. Hasn't gone so well. He still isnt fond of dunking his head under water, and so now he has been only doing half dunks, which isnt going to cut it in level 2. In order to get to level 2, he had to do 10 FULL dunks (head completely under water), and he did such a great job, I was so proud of him! But now he has a new teacher, (who he keeps saying he's nervous about.) She doesnt push him quite as much as the last teacher. In other words, she doesnt correct his dunks when he only does them up to his eyes, instead she tells him good job, or whatever. This is great! Encouragement is ALWAYS important, especially with Jadon, however, if he's not being corrected, he will totally take advantage of that. So, i'm frustrated, and not sure exactly what to tell him. I told him that even though he is in level 2 now, he still has to do his dunks all the way.
Anyways, time to put the kids to bed!
I cancelled Avery from soccer. Why? Well, because we have to get a heat pump so that we can survive the summer in the house. If we dont have a/c, then the house has gotten up to 84 degrees before, and that was on the bottom floor, so imagine the top floor where our beds are! In the last few years, we've had a window unit in our office that has kept the house at a reasonable temperature, however freezing in the office. Now that we no longer have an "office" (remember, Avery moved to the office), we have no where to keep the window a/c unit. Therefore, we are investing in a heatpump! So, in an effort to save some money for that, I cancelled Avery's soccer. It was really chaotic anyways, and she's so young. She'll be fine if we start her out when she's older like we did with Jadon. Besides, she is really excelling in swimming!
And speaking of swimming, Avery started a new session of swimming. But, instead of being in Waterbabies, she is now in Waterkids, which is for ages 18-36 months. I'm so glad she's moved up now! We had our first class on tuesday, and its more fast paced than Waterbabies, and the parents really get into it alot more, and she gets to learn some more things, rather than just continuing with the same things she's already learned. She did really well on her first day! She seems to really love swimming, and I mean this seriously. She seems to love going underwater and swimming, which is so strange to me!
Jadon started his level 2 swimming lessons on monday. Hasn't gone so well. He still isnt fond of dunking his head under water, and so now he has been only doing half dunks, which isnt going to cut it in level 2. In order to get to level 2, he had to do 10 FULL dunks (head completely under water), and he did such a great job, I was so proud of him! But now he has a new teacher, (who he keeps saying he's nervous about.) She doesnt push him quite as much as the last teacher. In other words, she doesnt correct his dunks when he only does them up to his eyes, instead she tells him good job, or whatever. This is great! Encouragement is ALWAYS important, especially with Jadon, however, if he's not being corrected, he will totally take advantage of that. So, i'm frustrated, and not sure exactly what to tell him. I told him that even though he is in level 2 now, he still has to do his dunks all the way.
Anyways, time to put the kids to bed!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Back to the grind
On saturday, I was wondering how in the world I was going to have enough energy to care for the family and continue with our daily schedules. I was still thinking that on Sunday as well. This cold has really wiped us out! I kept thinking that it was just me, and since i've had a week off from exersizing.... but, Jadon's been taking naps, which is rare, so I feel like this cold has taken its toll on he and I and Avery. Derek has managed to stay clear of this cold so far... knock on wood!!
Anyways, monday came and went, and I survived. I was going to take a nap in the afternoon when the kids were, but got tied down with working on other things, and the nap just didnt happen. Today, tuesday, much of the same, except that instead of nap, I attempted some yoga. Its difficult to do when you cant breathe well through your nose, since alot of yoga is focused on nose breathing! So I struggled with not only the breathing, but the poses as well, which was really frustrating considering I was doing so well until a week ago when the cold settled into our family. I just feel like this cold has left me feeling really weak. So now I feel like i'm starting at the bottom again. How is it that just a week off can "hurt" you so much??
On the other hand, I stopped drinking my daily can of soda when I had that stomach thing going on, and i'd like to continue with that! So, i'm going to try to make it through each week without a soda, then reward myself with a little on the weekends. This way, i'm not completely depraiving myself, which i've tried before and never works! Wish me luck!!
In conclusion, i'd like to thank my wonderful husband for holding down the fort while I was ill thursday night-sunday! He did such a great job caring for 3 sickies, and keeping the kitchen clean and the house picked up!
Thank you sweetie!! I love you! :)
Anyways, monday came and went, and I survived. I was going to take a nap in the afternoon when the kids were, but got tied down with working on other things, and the nap just didnt happen. Today, tuesday, much of the same, except that instead of nap, I attempted some yoga. Its difficult to do when you cant breathe well through your nose, since alot of yoga is focused on nose breathing! So I struggled with not only the breathing, but the poses as well, which was really frustrating considering I was doing so well until a week ago when the cold settled into our family. I just feel like this cold has left me feeling really weak. So now I feel like i'm starting at the bottom again. How is it that just a week off can "hurt" you so much??
On the other hand, I stopped drinking my daily can of soda when I had that stomach thing going on, and i'd like to continue with that! So, i'm going to try to make it through each week without a soda, then reward myself with a little on the weekends. This way, i'm not completely depraiving myself, which i've tried before and never works! Wish me luck!!
In conclusion, i'd like to thank my wonderful husband for holding down the fort while I was ill thursday night-sunday! He did such a great job caring for 3 sickies, and keeping the kitchen clean and the house picked up!
Thank you sweetie!! I love you! :)
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Lazy Saturday
As I mentioned yesterday, today was meant to be a restful, recooperating day. And it was for the most part.
Both kids woke up much more chipper and energetic than the previous days this week, but they still havent had much appetite. Although they both just ate a pretty good dinner for the first time in a week.
I woke up feeling just as bad as the day before. I'm a few days behind the kids in their colds, so I expect a few more days of feeling like garbage.
This picture doesnt show off her curls much, but it was too cute not to post ;)
I'm not sure what this little monkey was doing... i'm guessing he was trying to keep his eyes from closing while the camera flash went off... he always blinks.
These next few pictures are of Avery's E.R. trip.
The pictures really dont show her massive blue lump very well at all. It was tough getting the angle right too, and trying to get the kid to hold still was the hardest.
The boys were goofing around with the camera while Avery and I were off getting her x-rays.
You can kindof see the lump on her right hand in this picture...
The pictures really dont show her massive blue lump very well at all. It was tough getting the angle right too, and trying to get the kid to hold still was the hardest.
The boys were goofing around with the camera while Avery and I were off getting her x-rays.
You can kindof see the lump on her right hand in this picture...
This was after Avery's swimming lesson one day... she was pooped.
Look at that sweet little face.... DONT BE FOOLED!!! She's a stinker! The adorable face is just a disguise!
This was the start of our sick week.
I feel bad for him because that's how i've felt the last 2 days.
This year I bought one of those topsy turvy strawberry planters... I didnt buy enough strawberry plants to fill it though. We'll see how our strawberries turn out!
This was the start of our sick week.
I feel bad for him because that's how i've felt the last 2 days.
This year I bought one of those topsy turvy strawberry planters... I didnt buy enough strawberry plants to fill it though. We'll see how our strawberries turn out!
Today. The kids feeling better, playing outside.
This picture makes me smile.... you could make alot of quotes for this picture. :)
This picture makes me smile.... you could make alot of quotes for this picture. :)
And, here I am. I wanted to see if I looked as bad as I felt, so I took the camera and snapped myself real quick. Yup. I looked as bad as I felt.
Tomorrow, the weather is actually supposed to break 70!!!
Tomorrow, the weather is actually supposed to break 70!!!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Under the weather
This entire week has been spent with one or more of us sick.... and you know how much I LOVE illnesses.
Sunday evening, Avery didnt have much appetite, had a low grade fever, and was a little more tired/cranky than normal. This has continued all week.... the lowgrade fever ended after just two days. She's got a cold of some sort that is apparently affecting appetite and mood.
Monday evening, Jadon "threw up" a little, which we assumed was because earlier that evening at dinner, Avery had choked on an olive, and was gagging and coughing to get it up to the point she almost threw up. Jadon witnessed the whole thing, and since he is much like me and does not like vomit, he lost his appetite after that. So, when he "threw up" later on, we thought it was because he'd just got himself all worked up over Avery's dinnertime incident. I say "threw up" in quotes because it was more like he coughed/burped stuff up a few times. Not much actually came out of him. I thought maybe he just had indigestion.
Anyways, the next day, tuesday, he did nothing but lay around, and ended up with a fever of 103. To which I thought was from his MMR shot that he had had 8 days earlier. (one side effect of the MMR shot is a fever 7-12 days after the injection.) So whether the vomiting and the fever were related, we dont know.
Tuesday or wednesday night, Avery was in her crib coughing and crying so hard that she made herself throw up at almost midnight.
Wednesday was the best day of the week, in that the fevers were dwindling, and Jadon seemed to be more like himself.
Thursday, Jadon was fine so I sent him to preschool. However, Avery's cold continued to worsen, and she was in a foul mood, and I woke up feeling under the weather... scratchy throat, and just generally icky feeling, so Avery and I didnt go to swimming. Thursday after lunch, Avery and I fell alseep on the couch for a few minutes, and I woke up feeling sick to my stomach, so I put her in bed and went to lay back on the couch. The feeling worsened, and by the time Derek came home from work, I could hardly leave the bathroom. Lets just say, I had the trots.... bad. My stomach was soooo upset, and I did nothing but lay in bed all evening and all night long (when i wasnt in the bathroom.) Finally by friday morning the trots eased up and my upset stomach improved. I laid around most of the day today, eating very little.
Jadon woke up fine today, then saw me laying on the couch and immediately started worrying that he was sick. We convinced him he wasnt sick. However, he has not been himself all day today, and when he went to quiet time, he crawled in bed to take a nap...which is odd. I took his temp a bit ago, and it was 101.3. And he doesnt have an appetite. He's also got a dry cough, so I think he's got Avery's cold now. *sigh*
So, as you can see, its been nothing but sickness all week. F.U.N.
We will be skipping soccer for both kids tomorrow and trying to recover from all these bugs instead.
Sunday evening, Avery didnt have much appetite, had a low grade fever, and was a little more tired/cranky than normal. This has continued all week.... the lowgrade fever ended after just two days. She's got a cold of some sort that is apparently affecting appetite and mood.
Monday evening, Jadon "threw up" a little, which we assumed was because earlier that evening at dinner, Avery had choked on an olive, and was gagging and coughing to get it up to the point she almost threw up. Jadon witnessed the whole thing, and since he is much like me and does not like vomit, he lost his appetite after that. So, when he "threw up" later on, we thought it was because he'd just got himself all worked up over Avery's dinnertime incident. I say "threw up" in quotes because it was more like he coughed/burped stuff up a few times. Not much actually came out of him. I thought maybe he just had indigestion.
Anyways, the next day, tuesday, he did nothing but lay around, and ended up with a fever of 103. To which I thought was from his MMR shot that he had had 8 days earlier. (one side effect of the MMR shot is a fever 7-12 days after the injection.) So whether the vomiting and the fever were related, we dont know.
Tuesday or wednesday night, Avery was in her crib coughing and crying so hard that she made herself throw up at almost midnight.
Wednesday was the best day of the week, in that the fevers were dwindling, and Jadon seemed to be more like himself.
Thursday, Jadon was fine so I sent him to preschool. However, Avery's cold continued to worsen, and she was in a foul mood, and I woke up feeling under the weather... scratchy throat, and just generally icky feeling, so Avery and I didnt go to swimming. Thursday after lunch, Avery and I fell alseep on the couch for a few minutes, and I woke up feeling sick to my stomach, so I put her in bed and went to lay back on the couch. The feeling worsened, and by the time Derek came home from work, I could hardly leave the bathroom. Lets just say, I had the trots.... bad. My stomach was soooo upset, and I did nothing but lay in bed all evening and all night long (when i wasnt in the bathroom.) Finally by friday morning the trots eased up and my upset stomach improved. I laid around most of the day today, eating very little.
Jadon woke up fine today, then saw me laying on the couch and immediately started worrying that he was sick. We convinced him he wasnt sick. However, he has not been himself all day today, and when he went to quiet time, he crawled in bed to take a nap...which is odd. I took his temp a bit ago, and it was 101.3. And he doesnt have an appetite. He's also got a dry cough, so I think he's got Avery's cold now. *sigh*
So, as you can see, its been nothing but sickness all week. F.U.N.
We will be skipping soccer for both kids tomorrow and trying to recover from all these bugs instead.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Feeling good
My kids love love LOVE the outdoors! They will entertain themselves outside for a long time, its great! No whining, no complaining, no pestering. Avery barely makes a peep when she's outside because she's so focused on her playing.
The weather is very slowly improving, but it has improved enough over the last week that we have been able to go outside alot. Its wonderful! I feel like it gives me a little break, and its good for all of us to get outdoors, have a change of scenery, and get some fresh air! Its amazing what a little sunshine can do for the soul! I think I have come to the conclusion that not only does the sunshine do wonders for my mood, but also the longer days really improve my mood as well! The sunshine is very motivating!
I've also found that exersizing in the middle of the day, when i'm feeling very sluggish is also very uplifting! As I mentioned before, i've been doing yoga to try to destress myself during the days a little. I've also started doing pilates too. I used to do pilates before the kids were born, but I find that I have more drive now than I did before. I'm pushing myself a little more than I used to. Last week, I did yoga and/or pilates 5 days- monday-friday-, and by friday I felt great! Saturday and sunday I got quite a workout as well. I painted our entryway. I had to do ALOT of climbing up and down the really tall ladder, and my hips and triceps were feeling it!
Another thing that makes me feel good is having new clothes. I hate buying myself new clothes, or at least, I used to. Back when I was super skinny, I LOVED clothes shopping. Then I gained weight, and had kids, and lost my self-confidence and with it, all interest in clothing shopping. My main objective when shopping for clothes now is comfort. I deal with enough stresses from the kids on a daily basis, the last thing I want is to be wearing something that is uncomfortable, or i'm constantly having to adjust....so, my clothes arent the most fashionable, but thats ok! I also do not like to spend the money on clothing.
But, I broke down and bought myself a few new clothing items in the last month. Fashionbug in Corvallis went out of business, but before they did, I managed to score 3 comfy shirts for $5! Woohoo for me! I also ordered a few more things that i'm waiting for delivery of. Hope they fit!
So, between the improving weather, a few new clothes, and exersizing, I feel like a much better me. My goal is to lose 5-10 more pounds in the next month so that I can fit comfortably in my old capris that I wore when we went to Hawaii (almost 7 years ago!) Then I wont have to buy new ones :). As it is right now, I can get in them and button them up, but they're a little on the tight side and ride up my rear.
The weather is very slowly improving, but it has improved enough over the last week that we have been able to go outside alot. Its wonderful! I feel like it gives me a little break, and its good for all of us to get outdoors, have a change of scenery, and get some fresh air! Its amazing what a little sunshine can do for the soul! I think I have come to the conclusion that not only does the sunshine do wonders for my mood, but also the longer days really improve my mood as well! The sunshine is very motivating!
I've also found that exersizing in the middle of the day, when i'm feeling very sluggish is also very uplifting! As I mentioned before, i've been doing yoga to try to destress myself during the days a little. I've also started doing pilates too. I used to do pilates before the kids were born, but I find that I have more drive now than I did before. I'm pushing myself a little more than I used to. Last week, I did yoga and/or pilates 5 days- monday-friday-, and by friday I felt great! Saturday and sunday I got quite a workout as well. I painted our entryway. I had to do ALOT of climbing up and down the really tall ladder, and my hips and triceps were feeling it!
Another thing that makes me feel good is having new clothes. I hate buying myself new clothes, or at least, I used to. Back when I was super skinny, I LOVED clothes shopping. Then I gained weight, and had kids, and lost my self-confidence and with it, all interest in clothing shopping. My main objective when shopping for clothes now is comfort. I deal with enough stresses from the kids on a daily basis, the last thing I want is to be wearing something that is uncomfortable, or i'm constantly having to adjust....so, my clothes arent the most fashionable, but thats ok! I also do not like to spend the money on clothing.
But, I broke down and bought myself a few new clothing items in the last month. Fashionbug in Corvallis went out of business, but before they did, I managed to score 3 comfy shirts for $5! Woohoo for me! I also ordered a few more things that i'm waiting for delivery of. Hope they fit!
So, between the improving weather, a few new clothes, and exersizing, I feel like a much better me. My goal is to lose 5-10 more pounds in the next month so that I can fit comfortably in my old capris that I wore when we went to Hawaii (almost 7 years ago!) Then I wont have to buy new ones :). As it is right now, I can get in them and button them up, but they're a little on the tight side and ride up my rear.
Monday, April 18, 2011
4 years and 18 month checkups
We had both kids well-child checkups this morning. They both passed with flying colors. Jadon did an incredible job!!!! He even had 2 shots, and though he was really worried and started tearing up immediately when he found out he'd be having shots, when he actually got the shots, he didnt move, didnt cry, didnt wimper. He did SO GOOD! Avery cried for her shot.... that was expected though. So Avery is in the 90th percentile for height, and between the 25th and 50th percentiles for weight.... probably closer to 35th. Jadon is about the 98th percentile for height, and just under the 50th percentile in weight... so, they are both really tall, and pretty slim. Is anyone surprised by that????......... So, they are both doing really well, growing like normal kids right on track! The sun is supposed to shine this week, and even though its only supposed to be in the 50's, we'll be spending lots of time outside! :) :) :)
Saturday, April 16, 2011
The first of many, I predict...
Avery had her first trip to the E.R. tonight. I'm predicting it will be the first of many trips to the E.R. we will make with her. After dinner, I was cleaning kitchen, and Derek left the room for a minute to go to the garage. The kids were playing in the living room, making noise like normally. I had the water running and pots and pans banging around as I was rinsing everything off. I heard a little bit Avery start crying, which I didnt think anything of because her and Jadon are always fighting over something, and these days I just ignore it most of the time and let them figure it out (unless of course someone is hurting the other, or I catch them in the act.) About that time, Derek came out of the garage, and I hear him saying that the chair fell on Avery, and he was asking Jadon what had happened. We aren't sure exactly, but it sounded like Avery somehow pulled the kitchen chair down on herself. When Derek asked what hurts, she showed us her hand. And on the back of her hand was an ENORMOUS goose egg.... i'd say it was close to half the size of a real egg. And on a little hand like hers, it looked BAD. So, we decided to take her to the E.R. to make sure everything inside was ok. After a few x-rays, it was determined that when the chair hit her hand, it sheared a vein, which caused the immediate egg to form. No broken bones or anything though (phew!) and we were sent home with instructions to ice her hand, and watch it to make sure it didnt get red or she didnt get a fever, and to expect it to be there for a few days. She did really good, she only wimpered a little during the x-rays, but other than that she was her normal self.... wanting to wander around, trying to get into things, trying to slide down the hospital bed, etc. Jadon on the other hand, my little worrywart, was worrying the second we mentioned going to the E.R. He was afraid he would have to get looked at I guess. Once we got there, he was white as a sheet, and looked very nervous and uneasy, and wouldnt crack a smile for anything, and was asking nervously what everything was (the light above the hospital bed, the temporary cast things.. not sure what those are called.) He was scared. Poor guy... i'm so sorry that I passed that worriesome gene on to him. :( I try to make him as comfortable as possible in situations that scare him... try to make light of things, and try to reassure him that its fine... but since I know how he feels, I know that it really doesnt help him much.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Oh Spring.... where are you????
Spring is veeeery slooooowly springing again this year. Last year, we had a very wet, cold, gray spring, (and a really really short summer)and this spring has been much of the same. I'm so tired of it! Even the kids are just desperate to get outside! Jadon told me today on the way home from preschool "I dont like the rain." So, we've been trying to go for walks after dinner in the evenings when its not raining, and anytime its sunny I throw the kids outside.... Ok, I dont really have to throw them out there... they pretty much rip down the door trying to get out! ;) On days where we've been lucky enough to have a dry, sunny day, its still been pretty cold out (still requiring a jacket.) But just feeling the sun on us does wonders for our moods and energy levels! Today is one of those rare sunny days! We are going to be going outside in just a bit, and I CANT WAIT to feel the sun on me again! After today, the forecast is rain for the rest of the week. Bleh!
The kids have their well-child checkups next week. Im eager to see how much they've grown! I think they are both just coming out of a growth spurt. I had to buy them both some new PJ's a couple weeks ago because they both outgrew theirs. I got Avery size 24 months, and she fits just fine it in. And I had to buy her some shirts because suddenly her shirts were all short.
And Jadon doesnt fit in 3T shirts anymore... they are like belly shirts on him. So I had to buy him some more 4T shirts, and I even bought him 5T PJ's!!!! After 5T, he'll be in the boys section, and that almost makes me cry.
We were healthy for a whole 2 weeks, possibly even 3 weeks, (It was wooooonderful!!!) but now Jadon and Avery both came down with colds. So, here we go again. :(
See, the plants and trees are starting to show signs of life
This was a couple days ago, a chilly, windy, overcast day... the kids were still thrilled to be outside, they didnt seem to notice the chilliness. My little tomboy
My big guy
At Home Depot a week or so ago... there was a forklift in the aisle next to us, and the kids were fascinated.
He's so photogenic... and he's been letting me take his picture again (yay!!) in fact, he's actually been asking for me to take his picture! Can you believe my little 5lb 6oz baby boy is 4 years old already????
The kids have their well-child checkups next week. Im eager to see how much they've grown! I think they are both just coming out of a growth spurt. I had to buy them both some new PJ's a couple weeks ago because they both outgrew theirs. I got Avery size 24 months, and she fits just fine it in. And I had to buy her some shirts because suddenly her shirts were all short.
And Jadon doesnt fit in 3T shirts anymore... they are like belly shirts on him. So I had to buy him some more 4T shirts, and I even bought him 5T PJ's!!!! After 5T, he'll be in the boys section, and that almost makes me cry.
We were healthy for a whole 2 weeks, possibly even 3 weeks, (It was wooooonderful!!!) but now Jadon and Avery both came down with colds. So, here we go again. :(
Friday, April 8, 2011
The sun is shining today... yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Although, i'm such a pessimist, i'm already thinking about the rain that we are supposed to get in the next few days. That's how I am all summer long... LOVING the sunshine, but constantly thinking about the rapidly approaching fall/winter/spring seasons.
I've been keeping the kids and I busy lately, trying to get through the spring rains without going crazy! Its been great, but now i'm getting behind on my house chores and have a large list of things to do. Fridays are now referred to as our (the kids and I) day off. Although its not much of a day off when theres still errands to run and house to clean.
The good news is, Derek washed the high window in the entryway that has never been washed since the house was built and we moved in 7 years ago! It was FILTHY! And now its so clean, it looks like theres no window there, and we do a double take everytime we see it. Its amazing what a difference it makes!
I finally took my wedding ring in to get it resized. After Jadon was born (and when i was pregnant with him), my fingers got fat, so I had to get it sized up. Now that i've lost a bunch of weight, its too big, so I had to get it sized back down. Unfortunately, its costing an arm and a leg for something you'd think would not cost much. $145!!!!!!! Apparently the price of gold has gone up, thus the price of sizing it goes up. The part I dont understand though, if i'm having gold taken OFF, then why is it still costing so much???? Here's why: Its 2 rings, soldered together. First, they have to unsolder them. That costs $30. Then, to size both the rings down, its $20 each (so $40 total). Then they have to resolder them together, which will cost $75. For a grand total of $145.
So, you could all do me a HUGE favor if you'd spread the word about my businesses: FHTM and Lovely Little Tutus. Also, remember YOU can purchase services through my FHTM page. DONT FORGET THIS!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
I was cleaning off my computer desktop and realized i had never posted the video of Jadon's birthday party when we sang happy birthday to him. Soo funny, makes us laugh whenever we watch it. Also, a couple weeks ago, I got a video of Avery after she'd emptied out a kleenex box, and i'd asked her to put them back in the box. Oddly, I have a video of Jadon at roughly the same age, give or take a month or two, after he'd emptied a kleenex box, and he was asked to put them back in. So, now i have a video of both of the kids putting away kleenex that they'd emptied out as little ones. So, here's the video of the happy birthday song, and putting kleenex away. And here's the video of Jadon when he was putting the kleenex back in the box:
http://lovelessfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/curious-george.html
http://lovelessfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/curious-george.html
Swimming
I've been spending alot of time at the aquatic center lately, since both kids are enrolled in swimming right now. Monday/wed its Jadon's lessons, and tues/thurs its Avery's lessons. Both kids are doing SO well, and i'm so proud of both of them! Avery seems to be a natural. Since day 1 of her lessons, she's been improving each time. Back floats have always been her biggest weakness, but today she did back floats like a champ! And her dunks.... well, she's doing REALLY well in that area! She now glides a little underwater, and we also do "double dips", which is when she swims under water, then we let her up on her side, let her take a breath, then she does another swim underwater (glides.) And she very rarely swallows water or gets water up her nose, she really impresses me! Jadon, is doing good too! If you can remember, I did waterbabies with him until he was around 16 months old. I would have continued with him in it, but then the miscarriages started and things swirled out of control, so we never went back again. I'm SO glad we decided to put him back in now. He's had a little fear of the water in the last couple years... HATES water on his face, freaked out in the bath/shower when water would touch his face, even just a drop. I knew we needed to end his fear of this, and quickly! So, this is his second week in swimming, and he is now able to dunk his head ALL THE WAY UNDER THE WATER! The first time he did it yesterday, I saw an instant confidence on his face, and he easily did it several more times. I'm SOO proud of him. It brought tears to my eyes to see him do it because I know its a fear for him, but he did it anyways! So hopefully this water fear will be broken soon! He is already doing 100% better in the tub/shower when water gets on his face, and he even taught Avery to blow bubbles.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Spring is springing!!
Hip hip horray!!! Its April! The sun will start shining more around these parts (although still not nearly enough.) The ground will start drying out. The landscape will soon be green and beautiful once again, rather than brown and sopping wet. And there's a light at the end of the loooong winter tunnel! Friday we had beeeeautiful weather! Sunny and 67, the nicest day of the year so far, and the first day the lawn got mowed all year. The kids and I got up friday morning, went to home depot to get some flowers. I'm always itching to get my hands in the dirt when the sun first starts coming out again. After lunch, the kids and I went in the backyard, and they just played non stop for an hour. It was wonderful! No entertaining for me, and they were playing together and getting along. The worst part was having to come back inside for Averys nap. Poor Avery was just not real happy with that arrangment. So after she went down for nap, and Jadon went in quiet time, i went out front to plant my flowers. Ahhhhhh, felt so good! Then Jadon "helped" me trim some bushes with his safety scissors, although I didnt finish all of them. After the long winter weather, the yard just feels like a mess, and theres so much outside that needs to be done. I'm SOOOO excited for more days like friday!! I'm going to guess the kids are probably excited too.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
The House
Well, the 2 schools I talked about previously are closing and combining with the other 2 schools in N. Albany. So, we dont really have anything holding us here anymore. And the housing market is not looking good, and there's no end in sight, and the value of our house just keeps dropping... dropping... dropping. Its gone down in value almost $50,000 in the last few years! So, we are very seriously considering putting our house on the market. We want to be able to make a little profit off of our house to use as a down payment for another house, and with the rate things are going... well, lets just say, we might not make much of a profit, if any, if we stick around much longer. So, we want to sell our house first before we buy another one, we dont want to end up with two mortages! The thought of having our house on the market really overwhelms me.. having to keep the house spick and span constantly with 2 tornados in the house... So i'll keep you posted on that. On a better note, when I picked Jadon up from school today, his teacher told me that when she asked the class what month it was, Jadon yelled "March Madness!" That one is going in his baby book! ;)
Monday, March 28, 2011
swimming
Jadon started swimming lessons today! He did good. He was a good listener, even though one kid was completely out of control... i felt bad for the teacher. He's just in the first level, which means he was just doing the basic stuff, they never left the stairs. But he did dunk his head in the water! He seemed like he was having fun, but he really wanted to go outside and swim where all the fun summer toys and slides are. So when I asked if he wanted to go back again, he said no, he wanted to go outside and do it. Sorry kiddo, you dont get lessons out there!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Where have I been in the last week?
Well Princess didnt last long... I havent heard about her at all this week. I knew he'd get bored of her fast since he seems to get bored with EVERYthing really quickly.
Its spring break, which means we have nothing going on... no preschool, no soccer, no swimming.... and I thought it would be a nice quiet week, but who was I kidding? I've got 2 young children who seem to have needs that need to be met every 5 minutes at least! I'm not complaining, I like being kept busy, and I wouldnt trade being a stay-at-home mom for anything. BUT, I am a planner, and I like to have events planned well in advance so I can plan my days accordingly. If theres anything i've learned from being a parent, is that you always have to be prepared for unexpected events.
So its only wednesday, and i'm exhausted. I got several errands ran this morning, which always wears me out. Going anywhere where i'm lugging around the kids it tiring... i'm outnumbered, and they are much faster than I am! I had a sudden surge of tutu orders (yay!!!!) so i've been busily working on those too. And in the afternoons when i'm stuck at home due to Avery's nap, i've been sending Jadon up to his room for quiet time again, and i've been spending an hour doing yoga. Why yoga??? Well, I am a generally stressed out person. Everything stresses me out. So yoga is a fantastic way for me to calm myself, relax for an hour, and in the process i'm strengthening and lengthening my muscles. Its been tough though, since i've constantly got a list of things on my to-do list lumming over my head. Its hard for me to put aside EVERYthing in order to focus on myself and my body. So, that is where I have been for the last week. Yogaing, making tutus, tending to my kids.
On top of that, my friend Tiffany, who I told you about a few weeks ago that was a surrogate mom, had the twins for a couple, and ended up having to get an emergency hysterectomy.... well, last week she ended up having a pulmonary embolism, which caused her heart to stop. Long story short, she ended up doing very well by the end of the week, and earlier this week they were going to move her out of ICC. They were removing her central iv line, and when they did this, negative pressure formed in the vein and air was pulled into her blood supply. She developed an air embolism which caused her to have a stroke. They had to life flight her to Portland where she is undergoing treatments in a hyperbaric chamber. They took an MRI and found brain damage, she can follow commands with the left side of her body, but not the right. SO, her and her family have been on my mind A LOT in the last week, and i've been in constant prayer for them. I ask that the rest of you pray for them as well.
Saturday we are going to a train show at the library with our new friends and their son, and then in the evening we are going to their house for dinner. Jadon is quite excited! ;)
Its spring break, which means we have nothing going on... no preschool, no soccer, no swimming.... and I thought it would be a nice quiet week, but who was I kidding? I've got 2 young children who seem to have needs that need to be met every 5 minutes at least! I'm not complaining, I like being kept busy, and I wouldnt trade being a stay-at-home mom for anything. BUT, I am a planner, and I like to have events planned well in advance so I can plan my days accordingly. If theres anything i've learned from being a parent, is that you always have to be prepared for unexpected events.
So its only wednesday, and i'm exhausted. I got several errands ran this morning, which always wears me out. Going anywhere where i'm lugging around the kids it tiring... i'm outnumbered, and they are much faster than I am! I had a sudden surge of tutu orders (yay!!!!) so i've been busily working on those too. And in the afternoons when i'm stuck at home due to Avery's nap, i've been sending Jadon up to his room for quiet time again, and i've been spending an hour doing yoga. Why yoga??? Well, I am a generally stressed out person. Everything stresses me out. So yoga is a fantastic way for me to calm myself, relax for an hour, and in the process i'm strengthening and lengthening my muscles. Its been tough though, since i've constantly got a list of things on my to-do list lumming over my head. Its hard for me to put aside EVERYthing in order to focus on myself and my body. So, that is where I have been for the last week. Yogaing, making tutus, tending to my kids.
On top of that, my friend Tiffany, who I told you about a few weeks ago that was a surrogate mom, had the twins for a couple, and ended up having to get an emergency hysterectomy.... well, last week she ended up having a pulmonary embolism, which caused her heart to stop. Long story short, she ended up doing very well by the end of the week, and earlier this week they were going to move her out of ICC. They were removing her central iv line, and when they did this, negative pressure formed in the vein and air was pulled into her blood supply. She developed an air embolism which caused her to have a stroke. They had to life flight her to Portland where she is undergoing treatments in a hyperbaric chamber. They took an MRI and found brain damage, she can follow commands with the left side of her body, but not the right. SO, her and her family have been on my mind A LOT in the last week, and i've been in constant prayer for them. I ask that the rest of you pray for them as well.
Saturday we are going to a train show at the library with our new friends and their son, and then in the evening we are going to their house for dinner. Jadon is quite excited! ;)
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Imaginary Friend
I was wondering if it would happen, and now it has. Jadon has been talking the last 2 days about his little friend. It couldnt be a masculine friend though, and of all the things, his friend is named Princess, and is apparently a princess but lives as a normal person. A PRINCESS!
I know its normal for kids to have imaginary friends, I had one growing up and I still remember her name: Leaka (dont ask, i have no idea where that name came from.)
I also know its normal for little boys to play with girly toys, which Jadon does once in awhile. Its still hard to digest that though.... and having an imaginary friend thats a princess.... I dont know what to say. I have to play along with it though.
So Princess is sitting here eating lunch with us. She has a truck that she parks in Daddy's spot when he's at work during the day, and she also has a baby sister named Avery. How in the world am I going to keep from laughing out loud through this phase?????
I know its normal for kids to have imaginary friends, I had one growing up and I still remember her name: Leaka (dont ask, i have no idea where that name came from.)
I also know its normal for little boys to play with girly toys, which Jadon does once in awhile. Its still hard to digest that though.... and having an imaginary friend thats a princess.... I dont know what to say. I have to play along with it though.
So Princess is sitting here eating lunch with us. She has a truck that she parks in Daddy's spot when he's at work during the day, and she also has a baby sister named Avery. How in the world am I going to keep from laughing out loud through this phase?????
Sunday, March 13, 2011
He's 4
My baby boy is 4! At 8:53pm tonight, he turned "officially" 4. Cant believe time has gone so fast! I love that little boy to pieces!
His birthday has been celebrated over several days. We took him to the Children's Museum in Portland on friday, and he really enjoyed that. Then today we had his small family party at our place. He thought it was great when we sang Happy Birthday to him... i'll post the video, it cracks me up!
Then we went out for dinner. We have a family tradition where we go out for dinner as a family on birthdays, and Jadon picked Arby's as his restaurant of choice... big surprise! ;)
Then on tuesday he gets to celebrate his birthday at school by taking cupcakes, and being the snack person for the day, which he's been so excited for.
Here are a few pictures: they're all backwards, other than the first one.
Just blew out the candles
Getting ready to eat his cake
His birthday has been celebrated over several days. We took him to the Children's Museum in Portland on friday, and he really enjoyed that. Then today we had his small family party at our place. He thought it was great when we sang Happy Birthday to him... i'll post the video, it cracks me up!
Then we went out for dinner. We have a family tradition where we go out for dinner as a family on birthdays, and Jadon picked Arby's as his restaurant of choice... big surprise! ;)
Then on tuesday he gets to celebrate his birthday at school by taking cupcakes, and being the snack person for the day, which he's been so excited for.
Here are a few pictures: they're all backwards, other than the first one.
Just blew out the candles
Getting ready to eat his cake
The cake... yes, i know it looks like a 5 year old wrote the happy birthday part...
Opening gifts in the morning
The silly sister wearing the boxes
Thursday, March 10, 2011
3 days
Three days to go until Jadon's 4th birthday!
Four years ago on this day, it was my first morning in the hospital on bedrest. I was 34 weeks and 3 days gestation. Late the night before, my water had broken but I wasnt contracting or in labor, so they wanted me to stay on bedrest in the hospital until Jadon would be 35 weeks gestation and then they'd induce me. He decided to come a day earlier than that, but he was perfect anyways!
I remember how scrawny he was... all the extra skin on his legs made little rolls that would have been filled out with fat had he stayed put until his due date. He finally plumped up after a few months, but today he is quite scrawny again. And we love him to pieces!
Four years ago on this day, it was my first morning in the hospital on bedrest. I was 34 weeks and 3 days gestation. Late the night before, my water had broken but I wasnt contracting or in labor, so they wanted me to stay on bedrest in the hospital until Jadon would be 35 weeks gestation and then they'd induce me. He decided to come a day earlier than that, but he was perfect anyways!
I remember how scrawny he was... all the extra skin on his legs made little rolls that would have been filled out with fat had he stayed put until his due date. He finally plumped up after a few months, but today he is quite scrawny again. And we love him to pieces!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Birthday party
For our families- we are planning something for Jadon's birthday on Sunday afternoon, but not sure what yet... possibly bowling... so if you'd like to celebrate with us you can, and i'll send out details when we figure out exactly what we decide to do! I know, I know... a little last minute. Not at all how i prefer things, but somehow his birthday just snuck up on us, and Derek and I havent had a chance to sit down together and talk about what to do.
Jadon's requested a train cake, so i am going to be undertaking a major train cake project. Luckily there's a tutuorial that I can follow!
Jadon's requested a train cake, so i am going to be undertaking a major train cake project. Luckily there's a tutuorial that I can follow!
Monday, March 7, 2011
I dont know what to name this post....
So its been almost a week since i posted last? really?? well, i've tried sitting down several times to blog in the last week, but get pulled away or distracted each time.
Well not a whole lot to talk about. The pool where i do swimming with the kids is going to be closing in July due to budget cuts. This is the same pool that I grew up swimming in, and has the funnest outdoor pool, slide and play area... needless to say, i'm extremely sad. And Jadon has been looking forward to going to the outdoor area again for a long time. We went once last year, and he loved it. I hope we are able to go once more before they close.
On saturday we had company over for dinner. Can you believe it??? We dont have company over very often, but Derek has befriended his newest coworker, who also has a 4 year old son, and has been wanting to have the family over for dinner for awhile. It was really hard for me... I had never met or seen any of the family, so i felt like I was going into it blind. Not to mention, socializing doesnt come easy to me, so that was stressful in itself!
We had a very nice time though! Jadon and Joshua (the 4 year old son of the coworker) hit it off instantly, and played with trains and toys in Jadon's room for 2 hours straight! I was so happy they had a son that was Jadon's age. Whenever people come over, its either adults, older kids, or girls, so Jadon has never had anyone of his age and gender to our house to play with. He loved it!
I served baked spaghetti, which is what I serve almost anytime we have guests over. Its easy, it can be made ahead of time, and i've never met anyone else that has heard of it or eaten it. And its always a crowd pleasing dish! Thank you, Grandmother for sharing the recipe with me!:)
We played a quick game of something that I cant remember the name of, before dinner, and then after dinner the boys played Zingo, which is a little kids version of Bingo.
And, as Derek says to me after they left, I had nothing to worry about. :)
I can see us doing family activities together.... it would be nice if they feel the same way. Guess time will tell if they do! We've been looking for a nice, family oriented couple to do things with for a long time.
Well not a whole lot to talk about. The pool where i do swimming with the kids is going to be closing in July due to budget cuts. This is the same pool that I grew up swimming in, and has the funnest outdoor pool, slide and play area... needless to say, i'm extremely sad. And Jadon has been looking forward to going to the outdoor area again for a long time. We went once last year, and he loved it. I hope we are able to go once more before they close.
On saturday we had company over for dinner. Can you believe it??? We dont have company over very often, but Derek has befriended his newest coworker, who also has a 4 year old son, and has been wanting to have the family over for dinner for awhile. It was really hard for me... I had never met or seen any of the family, so i felt like I was going into it blind. Not to mention, socializing doesnt come easy to me, so that was stressful in itself!
We had a very nice time though! Jadon and Joshua (the 4 year old son of the coworker) hit it off instantly, and played with trains and toys in Jadon's room for 2 hours straight! I was so happy they had a son that was Jadon's age. Whenever people come over, its either adults, older kids, or girls, so Jadon has never had anyone of his age and gender to our house to play with. He loved it!
I served baked spaghetti, which is what I serve almost anytime we have guests over. Its easy, it can be made ahead of time, and i've never met anyone else that has heard of it or eaten it. And its always a crowd pleasing dish! Thank you, Grandmother for sharing the recipe with me!:)
We played a quick game of something that I cant remember the name of, before dinner, and then after dinner the boys played Zingo, which is a little kids version of Bingo.
And, as Derek says to me after they left, I had nothing to worry about. :)
I can see us doing family activities together.... it would be nice if they feel the same way. Guess time will tell if they do! We've been looking for a nice, family oriented couple to do things with for a long time.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
More poop
I know you cant get enough stories about my childrens poo, so i've got another one for you! ;)
Jadon is doing really well pooping, and everytime he poops, he wants to look at it in the toilet. And often he likes to tell us what it looks like. Here are a few examples of what he's said... sorry if this is too gross for you... its pretty gross work having young children! ;)
- A seal with a jetpack
- A spaceship
- A snowman
- A space helmet
How can you not laugh at that??
On a different note, my little boy is going to be 4 in just 12 days..... where has the time gone??? Today I picked up his snack calendar at preschool, and on the 15th is Jadon's birthday snack day, which basically means we get to take cupcakes or something to celebrate. He's been so excited for his birthday snack day, and each day he's been asking if its his snack day yet. So when I saw his name "Jadon's birthday snack" on the calendar on the 15th, I almost teared up. I know he's going to be so excited. Its hard to believe its here already.
Jadon is doing really well pooping, and everytime he poops, he wants to look at it in the toilet. And often he likes to tell us what it looks like. Here are a few examples of what he's said... sorry if this is too gross for you... its pretty gross work having young children! ;)
- A seal with a jetpack
- A spaceship
- A snowman
- A space helmet
How can you not laugh at that??
On a different note, my little boy is going to be 4 in just 12 days..... where has the time gone??? Today I picked up his snack calendar at preschool, and on the 15th is Jadon's birthday snack day, which basically means we get to take cupcakes or something to celebrate. He's been so excited for his birthday snack day, and each day he's been asking if its his snack day yet. So when I saw his name "Jadon's birthday snack" on the calendar on the 15th, I almost teared up. I know he's going to be so excited. Its hard to believe its here already.
Monday, February 28, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
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. :(
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. :(
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
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! ;)
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! ;)
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