Somebody Stop HER!!

I can't believe she already did it, but she did!!! Last night, she pulled herself to standing. Somebody please stop her from growing up anymore! She is only 6 1/2 months... pulling herself to standing is not an option yet! It was a complete accident when she did it, but oh my goodness, I wish you all could of been there to see how proud of herself she was. She knew she accomplished something really big!

A Picnic at the Park

The kids and I had a fun picnic at the park today. The weather is so gorgeous for this time of year, we just can't get enough of it, so off to the park we went with our lunch. It was clear that Jaelyn wasn't settling for just her bottle. And the boys are learning very quickly that anything they do not want Jaelyn to have, they will have to do more than keep it out of her reach.

Jaely's First Teeth

I was finally able to get a picture of Jaelyn's first teeth. She even left some peas on them for you to see.

Jacob's Preschool Celebration

Jacob's Preschool is over for another year!














Time to celebrate!














Jacob with his buddy Landon.







The Pledge of Allegiance.










Their goodbye song.










Jacob and his teacher, Miss Robin.









Some fun at the park.









Baby sister watching Jacob.

Jaelyn Had Her First Carrots Today

Tonight Jaely had her first carrots. This is her third vegetable after peas last week and before that green beans.

A Little Motivation (or Bribery - whatever you want to call it)

So after the last few morning of rotten children, I talked to Josh and we decided to motivate our children with positive reinforcement.


They have long been wanting a Nintendo Wii (and so have we), so if together, James and Jacob can earn 200 stickers, we will buy one! They can earn them for being nice to each other, cleaning up after themselves, using their manner, going out of their way to help someone or any other way they make good choices!

I will take pictures of the chart frequently to keep you updated on their progress!

From Monster to Angel

After I dropped Jacob off at preschool today - James was a perfect child. It is amazing to me how destructive they are when they get together but when you separate them they are on their best behavior. He even "babysat" Jaelyn for me. He played with her in his room while I took care of some things around the house. He pulled out age appropriate toys for her making sure nothing was around that was too small. He showed her how to play with them and what you are supposed to do. He was very good with her, even singing songs to her. I guess James can be trusted - when Jacob is not around - hahaha!

Monsters

So I am not ready for summer at all!!! My boys are absolute monsters. I always talk about their successes on here and how great they are, but today you are going to hear about how they destroy everything in their path. Poor Jaelyn, I honestly cannot trust them and leave them alone with her. If she is strapped in her carseat they will rock her back and forth until she tips upside down. While uploading Jaelyn's video to the blog, Jacob comes in my room and closes my lap top looking for sharpies so I have to restart the uploading process all over... if you have used blogger, you know it is not a quick process - especially if the video is over a minute. James turned the thermostat up to 90 so my house is currently 85 degrees. All this is being done while I am in the kitchen trying to get some dishes done.

Yesterday morning before James' last day of kindergarten, they climbed their way to an exacto knife in the garage. I was giving Jaelyn her antibiotics at the time and strapping her in her carseat. While they were in there, they managed to also break the garage door sensor so it would not close.... it thinks something is in the way because it cannot connect with each other.

I thought I was ready for summer, but before it has even started (Jake has school today) they are already destroying everything in their path. This is ALL happening before 9AM - oh the joys of them waking up at 5:30 every morning... from now on they will be in their OWN rooms until 8AM.

Jaelyn: 6 months, 2 weeks, 5 days...

Here is a Video of Jaelyn as she discovers and plays with new toys! She is growing up so fast!

James' Last Day of Kindergarten

It has been quite the week. My first week in quite a while with my husband working away from the home full-time again and I graduated with my Associates Degree in Elementary Education last Friday so I did NOT have school. Monday we visited James' school to watch the kindergartners put on a celebration for us. They sang many adorable songs and recited poems. It was very cute!
We said good-bye to his Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Foster today. I could not of asked for a better teacher for my son's first year in grade school. She was the best Kindergarten teacher that anyone could ask for. She made learning so much fun for them- it was not about being silent or never leaving your seat except when told. It was about learning to use inside voices, being kind to other, and being respectful. She encouraged writing without focusing on spelling. She encouraged reading by teaching rules about "bossy E's". She taught punctuation and the importance of starting each sentence with a capital letter. Because of her, James goes to bed each night, writing and drawing pictures in a journal about his day or whatever is on his mind.

She thought up ways to have a party for the kids anytime she could. In the fall we learned about apples with an "Apple Party" and for Thanksgiving we had a "Pumpkin Party". There were lots of other parties too! Today for the last day of school, she put together a slide show for all of the parents and we had a "Doughnut Party". I am more than sad to see her leave this year because she will not continue her future as a teacher. She believes in the kids and cares about them individually and their success. Unfortunately, in today's schools test scores are the most important of all and being required to teach kindergarten like a military is against everything she believes in. We are losing not just a good teacher, but a GREAT teacher. Thank you Mrs. Foster for teaching James this year!


This is James with his buddies Casey and Landon, today on the last day of school.

Also this week, Jaely had her first ear infection. She is such a good baby and NEVER cries so when she was screaming, I knew something had to be wrong. We visited Dr. Rampley and yep - her right ear had "monkeys" in it. That is what she always tells the boys she is looking for when she looks inside their ears.

Here are the kids today for James' Last Day of Kindergarten. It never seizes to amaze me how quickly time flies and how fast they grow up!

Jacob has one day and one year left of preschool before he starts kindergarten. His end of the year party is on Saturday.

Jaely is getting her first tooth too! We we have been chewing on anything and everything we can to help sooth those gums. I will get a picture of it, as soon as she lets me :).

Happy Mother's Day!

Jacob, who is never good at keeping secrets, made it to Mother's Day without telling me what he made me. Even after I asked him, he told me "I can't tell you." Then, he made me wait until Mother's Day to open his gift. (BTW- he is putting hair gel in his hair now, all by himself - you can see in the picture below.)

This was the wrapping paper he decorated to wrap my gift. I thought for sure it was him and I seeing as how it was a Mother's Day gift to me, however he clarified for me that it is a picture of him and Jaelyn. He is so thoughtful, he made a present to give to me from both of them since he knew she couldn't give me one by herself ;).

This card was on top. He really took his time with this one. He usually does not pay this much attention to detail to stay inside the lines.

This was next in the box of gifts he made for me. It says, "A print of my hand or a smile on my face, compares not at all to my mother's embrace. Happy Mother's Day 2010." He is getting too big too fast - he has now started telling me to give my kisses to daddy.

This was my last and favorite gift in the box. It is a canvas tote with painted flowers made of his handprints. I love it!! Thank you Jacob!

Jaelyn 6 mo. Apt & Sitting Up Unassisted!

Jaelyn had her six month appointment yesterday. She weighed 15 pounds 6.4 ounces (36th percentile), was 25 1/2 inches long (47th percentile), and had a head circumference of 41.2 inches (15th percentile). She had the same vaccinations as her last visit, DTaP, Hib, IPV, PCV7, and the oral Rotavirus vaccination. I was at James' Mother's Day Tea so Josh took her to her visit. He said she cried hard, but it lasted maybe 10 seconds. He gave her her paci and she was fine.

Today, she looked so cute in just her diaper after she ate her green beans and brown rice cereal, I decided to pull the camera out and take some pictures. It was then she decided to show off her new trick that she probably mastered in her bed when we were not looking :).

Mother's Day Tea

Yesterday, we had a Mother's Day Tea in James' Class. When we arrived, there were pictures of us on the table that the kids had drawn and we had to figure out which one was us. Needless to say, it wasn't easy for any of us, but it was fun! Here was my self portrait that James drew of me.


After we found the pictures of ourselves we the boys gave us cards. Apparently, I let him do whatever he wants - haha!

Inside our cards, we got four coupons. I already redeemed one that entitled me to a drink of my choice. I made his job easy and asked for a bottled water. Partly because I didn't want to risk having to clean up a spill. He isn't really the one I have to worry about though - it is my second child who spills everything. The other one was for a little helper in the kitchen. I can't wait to redeem my massage coupon!


We received one final Mother's Day card as we were leaving for the weekend. They could choose to give it to us now or wait until Sunday. James wanted me to read it right away. It is good to know that I am a lot nicer than I thought I was :).

Jaely Eats Green Beans!

Jaelyn ate green beans today for the first time and loved them. She licked her bowl clean. This is her first real food aside from the brown rice cereal she started three weeks ago. She is growing so fast, still has her big beautiful blue eyes and is still an AMAZING baby! She is so incredibly good, we are so lucky. She slept last night from 8PM to 7AM without making a sound.

James is Surprising Me!

Usually Jacob is my kid that says the "oh so cute" things or the things that crack me up - however James has been surprising me lately with so much of the things he has been saying.

For instance...

I was late picking up James today from Religious Ed because I went to the grocery store after work. When I arrived I apologized to him and explained I was late because I was at the store. He did not care in the least bit that I was late. The only thing he wanted to know was if I went and bought anything from the center of the store. I asked him, "why, what is in the center?", and he said, "the snack aisle."
and

Josh overhead James talking to Jaelyn. He was explaining to Jaelyn that even though Jesus died he is still with us, and "can still see us." He also told her, "This is not as important but kind of is, Santa can see us too."

He has been reminding me lately what a sweetheart he is behind his temper and grown up demeanor.

James and Jacob Built School Houses

James and Jacob built school houses today to give to their teachers for teacher appreciation week!