Catching up on March

Josh and I went on a cruise to the Bahamas!

Grandma and Papa babysat ALL three kids at our house in Arizona!

James started his second year of T-Ball!

What a difference a year makes!

Jaely and I watched from behind the fence.


Oh my.... she is almost 5 months old. Remember this:

Another Finger Sucker

I've done all I can to try to keep the paci going so that I can take it away when we are both ready, but it seems she takes it out and is unhappy until she finds her finger. My stubborn little girl... I have no idea where she gets it!

And by the way, she is also trying to sit up!

The Dreadful Dentist Part 1

Today was the dreadful dentist office. James has struggled with Doctor and Dentist visits since he was about 18 months old. I honestly think it is because when 18 months to 2 years old, he remembered how going to this place hurt him. I don’t necessarily think that he remembered what specifically hurt or that he remembers remembering now, but when he entered the room it brought back an uneasy feeling to him that he knew he was uncomfortable with. He is the type of kid that when you go somewhere once, he can get back there again. If he had to get to school on his own from our new house or get home, he could do it. Long story short, I believe that his how James got to the place his now with going to the Dr. and Dentist.

However, TODAY he was amazing! He went in and he knew he had to do this regardless of how he felt so he was as strong as he could possibly be. He sat down in the chair, had his x-rays, and his teeth cleaned and did not cry or break down. There was no kicking, screaming or restraints like I had expected with him.

I did see a negotiator in him come out that I had never seen before… when it came to taking the x-rays she told him he had to take two. He said, “how about one?” Josh explained to them this was not an easy task from him. She offered to do four easy ones instead of two hard ones and he tried to negotiate again, “How about 2 easy ones?” LOL

Then when he was getting his teeth cleaned, after she would floss the front, he said, “OK, we’re done” and begin to climb out of the chair. Then, when it came time for the brushing he told them he doesn’t want to get that done because it taste bad. They told him they had one with no flavor and he opted to take that deal. When the polishing was complete, he said, “Alright, I am done now.” I held his hand and explained to him that it is not something that he gets to decided. There are certain things they have to do to clean his teeth and they will let him know when they are finished.

When it was all said and done, James did fantastic. He went to school immediately following and as far as I know he did ok there. When he got home, he released all of that built up anxiety he was holding in, so it was a rough afternoon. But I am proud of him for controlling himself as long as he could!

The Dreadful Dentist Part 2

Jacob was another story today than James and from his typical self. I think I spent so much time worrying about James and prepping James for the dentist, I forgot to prepare Jacob. He is such a laid back easy go-with-the-flow child, I didn’t think he would be nervous for this because he had done it before and done great, but he was. He did good with his X-rays. In fact, they could not compliment him enough on how well his pictures turned out. Unfortunately he didn’t care much about the pictures. He did not like having his x-rays one bit. So much in fact, he refused to trust them to do anything else the rest of the visit.

He would not open his mouth for anything to get them cleaned. Finally they had to take a “kickstand” and pry his mouth open and leave it there so they could clean. My heart melted as they cleaned my baby boy’s teeth and he laid there crying with his hands being restrained by Josh’s and his mouth pried open with a tool.

I was with James at the time and talked to him about what they had to do to open Jacob’s mouth since he wouldn’t do it for him.

It was the moment they started to talking to Jacob about his baby sister, the worry left his mind. He relaxed and they removed the tool and Jacob held his mouth open on his own. He loves Jaelyn so much he couldn’t bear be in a bad mood when it was time to talk about her. So cute!

After the cleaning he laid patiently and opened and closed his mouth for the dentist as he asked him to. The funny part of it was he did the best with the dentist. What I thought was the least traumatizing, however when I talked to him about his appointment he said, “I didn’t like the guy who counted my teeth.” I smiled and did not want to remind him of his experience he had with the cleaning.

What is great about Jacob, is he bounces back so well from things. He is as I always say, my accident prone child, yet he will be the first one back on the horse. I am so proud of him for how he handles challenges and change in his life and hope he always remains that strong.

Spring In Arizona

I have to say that March is probably my favorite month of the year. The weather is absolutely perfect! Today the temperature was 75°F and down here that means jeans and t-shirt weather to us locals. It is not hot enough that shorts are required, but not cold enough we need sweatshirts on either. I have been taking advantage of it by walking James to school or picking him up. Today, we picked him up. I pushed Jaelyn in the stroller and Jacob rode his bike.

Jacob, my accident pokey prone child, would ride so slow I would be running him over with the stroller, and when he would finally pick up the pace it made me so incredibly nervous. He has a tendency to not watch where he is going. Sometimes, one training wheel will slip of the square curb causing him to fall or other times he will ride off the side walk. When it’s time to cross the street and you tell him to go, he takes his time, and then he rides so fast you have to yell at him to stop before crossing the street so he doesn’t get hit. Today he rode his bike into a parked car because he was looking down at his feet as he rode. In his defense, it was a car that did not pull their truck all the way into the driveway. Yes, we have short driveways here, but I don’t care! Truck drivers (at least here in AZ) act like they have some sort of rights to leaving the tail end of their truck hanging out onto the sidewalk so those of us with strollers and kids on bikes have to go into the street to get around their cars. The owner of the truck was outside to see it happen and he ran to help Jacob up since I was still a few yards back pushing Jaely. He admitted it was his fault and he needed to pull his truck in more- I guess we will see if he does it again :).

James, my kindergartner, can never remember anything he does at school. “I forgot” is his favorite answer to the questions, how was your day and what did you do. He is always excited when his baby sister and brother pick him up for school on foot. He is so proud of having Jaelyn in our family. When I bring her to his school with me he wants nothing more than to show her off. It’s pretty darn cute to see my eldest act this way when most of the time he is all about being tough.

We stopped off at the park on the way home to get some energy out after sitting in the classroom all day. I have to admit, everything I have against public schools (because it is not how I was raised), it is nice that when we stop off at the neighborhood park on the way home, James (and I) already know some of the kids playing on the playground.

Jaelyn, laid in the grass and sun for the first time in her life. She is 4 months old, and just like my two older ones did, I can already tell she is cutting teeth. The drool is running rapid and she is just in time for mommy and daddy to go on vacation and Grandma and Papa to take care of her.

I, of course, could not miss the opportunity to take pictures of my children with my new camera. I bought a book and have been reading about all the different mechanism involved in photography and all of the different settings to use. It feels difficult at first – there is a lot to know and it is a little overwhelming but I have been reading it over and over again. This was my first time taking pictures and not using the “automatic setting”. I set everything on my own and I have to say I am pretty proud of myself. I feel like the pictures turned out very well :).