My Valentines

My sweet little valentines do not seem so little anymore!

 They look so old in these photos!

 Jackson's shirt and this photo below make me smile. His powerful, energetic, creative imagination has him being silly quite often. And then little Em is quick to follow his lead. 

sweetness

Jackson and I continued the Valentine's date tradition! It was so wonderful to spend some quality one on one time with my little man.

they do love each other

No Longer Just Land

Our little plot of land that we closed on before the fourth of July. It seemed to stay this way for so long.

Then, our number one item with our dream home, the basement was dug.

The builder told us that the foundation would sit for a while and framing would start the first week of October. And it did! The amazing part....this photo below was taken October 4th. 

Then by October 8....its the full first floor!!

The progress, and its speed, are amazing!

The kids were so excited to see their house! And we are so excited for our view out the back.

Move in day still seems a bit far away but this makes our dream home so much more real!

Fall Fun Has Begun - Apples

Fall fun has begun! I absolutely love apple picking within the first couple weekends the orchards are open. The apples are plentiful and the people are not!

We had rows to ourselves to pick and take our time. We ended up with one bag for baking and one bag for eating.

Jackson ate the first apple he could and was very focused on eating for a while. Both J and Em were very proud of the apples they picked on their own.

 Emerson was thrilled she was able to eat apples. She told Grandma and Grandpa over and over again that she "ate whole thing" and "ate two apples."

We did the apple donuts and the kid activities before leaving. Both kids were sound asleep within a few minutes to start the drive home. A great family morning to start fall!

Always Look Out For Her

Several weeks back we were playing in the basement by the play kitchen. Emerson had a real glass of water that she was asking J to drink in a very motherly way. 

"Take sip J."

J did the first few times. He played along, pretending it was good and he was happy to have some. Then he didn't want any more.

"No thank you Em."

"J, sip!" 

"No, I'm ok Em."

"J, sip!"

Then, instead of saying no, he sighs and takes the cup. He puts the glass to his mouth and drinks....and drinks...and drinks till it is empty.

"All done Em."

It was priceless. He played along till he did not. He did not get upset but found a way to move on to something new.

She always asks where he is and lights up when she sees him. He calmly talks to her (unless she is taking action figures from him) and asks her questions mimicking how we do.  He helps her with her shoes, tries to distract her when upset, and encourages her when learning something new. He is patient with her more than he is not and can usually be persuaded to share his toy or find her a comparable super hero to play with.

Continue this always J. Look out for your baby sister. She is a special gift, just as you are to her!

J Turned 4

This post is over due...by several months. But it is too important to not post. The only way to get back into the swing of writing is to start.

Jackson turned 4! 

On April 5th, his last night as a 3 year old, I interviewed my little monkey. The video is priceless. Here are a few of his responses:

Favorite Color: green

Favorite Food: french toast sticks (the ones from his school) - now it is apples 

Favorite Play Activity: Hulk smash games and sword fighting

Favorite Super Hero: Batman!

When he Grows up: he wants to be a Scientist! "I want to make a big machine that makes bubbles that will pop and turn into a ball that suck up people...but not scientist people, bad people"

Favorite Thing to do with Mommy: snuggle

Favorite thing to do with Daddy: play sticky hug

Favorite thing to do with Emmer:  play with mom

Favorite thing to do with Grandparents: build things, like Lego castles

Happy fourth birthday Jackson!

Goodbye January

February, I could not be happier to see you on the calendar.

January has seen at least three antibiotics, an antibiotic shot, several boxes of Kleenex, no sleep, minimal appetites, medicine through a nebulizer, and lets not forget the need for a steroid.

I am so happy for the overall good health of my children. January was yet another reminder of that.

In 2017 though, if we could have a more healthy January (and you know, we avoided the hospital this year, so that is a positive) I would be very appreciative.

Here is to a healthy rest of the year.

She Wasn't a Fan

She would cautiously smile at pictures of Santa. She most definitely grew excited about Christmas through Jackson's enthusiasm and happiness towards items and experiences. 

Nothing prepared her for the big man himself though. Santa in person was a whole different story for Emerson. From the first glance she had of him, wrapping her arms around me, tightening her legs around my waist and staring hard in his direction, she was apprehensive. 

Baby It's Cold Outside

Brrrr...Baby it's cold outside!

 These little cuties had a blast playing hide and seek, sipping chocolate milk (aka hot cocoa), and telling jokes.

Elf on the Shelf 2015

It's that time of year! I may not have all of Thanksgiving weekend sorted out yet, but December 1st, I am ready for you!

Our Elf will be pretty busy this year. I can not wait to hear what Jackson decides to name our elf. But more so, I am excited to see Emerson's reaction.

This calendar is slightly geared to a three year old boy, has ideas repeated from last year, a few lazy days and some new tasks too.

PDF version here.

See last years calendar here. 

Responses

She would almost always look at you and listen, sometimes smiling, other times simply trying to process what you had said. Then, just over a week ago now, she responds with a form of yes or no to questions you ask.

When you ask a question she stares directly at you. If she agrees, you get an eager head nod and smile when. More often now it is accompanied by a "yah." When she does not agree, she shakes her head side to side with a long "nah." She doesn't respond to everything you ask (yes or no questions) yet, but I ask her any way. 

Not only is this exciting to me experience the first of conversations with my baby girl, but you can sense her excitement in realizing that by responding she has some control over her current feelings. 

Trick-or-Trunk

Batman and Superwoman prepare for battle...

 This was our first year participating in a Trick-or-Trunk, and I could not be happier that we did.

It was at J & Em's school so J had been talking about it for weeks. In case your not familiar with the concept it is a chance for kids to trick-or-treat by going car to car. Parents park their car, decorate their trunk (some really go all out) and then pass out candy. It is great for a small community, like their school.

My mom had the amazing idea to make our trunk into the Batcave. 

He is Learning Math

A few weeks ago on our way home from school I asked Jackson about his day. 

"A O is like a zero and zero means none."

Whoa J. The idea of nothing associated with a number out of no where. And its connection to something familiar like the letter O.

He has understood when nothing and can identify if there is one, two or three objects very quickly. But for him to numerically represent nothing, I was impressed. 

Cookies or Sprinkles

 Jackson likes sprinkles. He likes them on his donuts, on his ice cream and...on his cookies. 

A Simple Trip

We took part of Columbus Day to go to the local Children's Museum. Only about one month earlier I had taken J & Em to this same museum. This time, I had much different results. 

Jackson this time gravitated to a pyramid block stacking activity. After a little bit of problem solving/stalking the older kids around him, he figured out how the blocks were to be stacked to reach the highest point. He gathered, stacked, watched, stacked, took away, watch and stacked. With a little prompting on the need to start another diagonal row, he eventually sped up when noticing he was near the top. 

He was so proud when he finished it...for about 30 seconds. Then he crashed it down into the bins for the next kid. There was that slight moment though where I sensed his notice of accomplishment, his recognition of mastering something new. 

We continued on to air tunnels and opportunity for being loud. 

It was Emerson that really shocked me on our trip. Last time she was very reserved, almost just turned off by the loud noises. This time she was eager to be released from my arms. 

The first time we were there she was not quite walking completely on her own. This time she took it upon her self to travel around tables and to blocks that she wanted to see. 

One spot in particular caught her attention though. She loved this neon backlight round table with iridescent magnetic 2D shapes. The shapes would build if you set the magnets correctly. Em though, she just liked to lay and lift, lay and lift. She was completely mesmerized for the longest time. It was wonderful to see her focused on her "task" while still noticing activity around her.

This spontaneous trip to the museum turned out to be one of my recent high lights. Their imagination, inquisition, and overall interest in life is such a blessing.

He Writes

Grandma helped Jackson write a card today. After it was decorated, she helped write a message and asked him to sign it. 

They went letter for letter of her saying it them him taking time to write it out. He did all the writing himself. 

His excitement to give me the card was all I needed but then I opened it up and could actually visualize his name on it! 

Sure it needs some work, but the start of him learning to read or write is exciting!

Messy Face

It's a fact. 

Messy hands are drawn to clean hair. 

It does not matter what she is eating, her hands find their way to her hair. 

Sometimes it is just the hair above her ear. Swiping at her ear with anxious energy as she debates a next bite, melt down or to ask for more. Other times it is the tired, frustrated double hands behind the head that leave everything covered the same as her high chair. 

It does not matter if she is eating something dry or wet, crunchy or soft. I pick goldfish pieces out and dunk her partial head under the sink routinely after meals. We will snuggle later only for her hair to crunch when I touch it. 

She eats well most of the time, but all of the time it ends up in her hair. 

This Little Lady

She loves shoes and hates to have her face wiped.

She will snuggle with a doll and then go race a car.

She is firm with what she wants and fiercely shakes her head no when you try to negotiate. 

She wears anything that resemble a purse. 

She walks around pushing it up on her arm, angry at anyone that tries to take it.

 She is obsessed with cheese. 

So much so that even the slightest glimpse of the bag has her screaming for it.

She loves chips.

As soon as she notices you eating a chip she stares you down and whines until she has one too.

Emmer, you are stubborn and your feistiness makes me smile.