Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Summer so far

So far, it's been a really good summer.  Since June is coming to an end I thought I would have a mid-summer recap. 

The first week in June we went to the beach and celebrated Jackson turning four.  We all agree that we want to go back!


I worked for six days in the middle of the month.  Mom kept Emmy and Jackson was actually able to come with me to work. He was able to go to the preschool classroom that is there and has enjoyed it immensely.  It was so fun to have him there with me. Each day that I worked it was only for a few hours in the morning and it was really great to have something to get out and do.


On the days that I don't work I try to have activities planned to keep us busy.  We go to the library once a week as this is the first time Jackson has done the summer reading program.  He picks out new books, we go home and read them and then he earns "library dollars".  He is super excited about his dollars and likes to get them out and count them! Emmy just enjoys pulling books off the shelf so while Jackson picks out his books I run behind Emmy putting books back!


We also play in the baby pools in the back yard and we have also gone to MayMay's pool a few times which the kids love.  It is so hot now so if we are outside we have to be in some water.  At the beginning of June we played out in the driveway a lot so Jackson could practice riding his new bike. It's been too hot to do that lately. 

We've also gone to Brusters a couple of times for an afternoon ice cream snack. We don't do that kind of thing very often so it is quite a treat for the kids.  Emmy LOVES ice cream! She's usually the first to finish hers! We all three get baby cones and the kids get them free! So for .90 cents we all three get ice cream and it's a fun outing!


Emmy is now 16 months. She still takes two naps. We are in the transition phase to one nap and I thought she would have dropped it by now but she still seems to need 45 minutes in the morning.  She is feeding herself with a spoon and a fork which is really exciting! She needs help every now and then and often makes a mess but she's mostly independent and wants to do it herself.  She continues to add new words to her vocabulary but not quite as rapidly as before.  I think between 14-15 months she had a huge language spurt and now she has slowed down.  We are entering a new phase with her: discipline.  She gets frustrated and mad, throws tantrums, tests the limits, gets mad some more and does lots of screaming! Yikes! It's an uphill battle but I've been here before so I won't give up!

First ponytail
Sometimes I feel like giving up or giving in but then I remember what I'm battling for- her heart!  So I will press on. The battle for the heart is the greatest battle of all. I've been through this battle with Jackson and while it's not even near over I get glimpses of hope- glimpses that Jesus is winning his heart.  Basically, ever since Jackson has had a large enough vocabulary to put phrases and sentences together he's been praying the same prayer every night.  Almost word for word each night, he prays for his stuffed alligator, dinosaur and snake and he prays that "baby Emmy will stop crying in the morning."  (Side note: the prayer for Emmy to stop crying came when Emmy was born and cried here and there as you would expect a newborn to cry.  Jackson didn't like it. The prayer has stuck.)  Anyway, tonight our Bible story was about Jesus ascending into heaven and how he is preparing a place for us.  Jackson and I talked a little bit about heaven and then we prayed.  At the end of his prayer he added a new line. He prayed and said, "Dear God, thank you for my alligator, dinosaur and snake. Thank you for all my animals. Help baby Emmy to not cry in the morning. (He paused). And I pray that I want to go to heaven with Jesus." What a sweet moment.  A glimpse of hope. 

A young woman in our church passed away last weekend after a five year battle with cancer.  She left behind a husband and three children, ages 9, 7 and 5.  While her ultimate prayer was that God would heal her so that she could raise her children she also prayed that if she was taken that she would witness all three of her children accept Jesus as their Savior.  Earlier this year her 7 and 5 year old with tears in their eyes told their sweet mama that they wanted Jesus in their heart.  Her 9 year old had done the same previously. What a precious gift to watch your children come to know Jesus at an early age.  And what a heritage she has left for her children and now she will see those children again one day in heaven.

That is my prayer for my children.

Monday, June 25, 2012

4 Year Old Update

Jackson had his four year old check up today.  He hadn't had shots since he was two so it was a little rough.  We made it through though. Here are his four year old stats:

Weight: 34 pounds (slightly less than 50th%)
Height: 39 1/3 inches (slightly less than 50th%)


There are so many things I could say about Jackson. He has grown and changed so much in the past year.  I'll just hit some highlights:

-Favorite thing to eat for lunch: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
-Most requested dinner: Pot Pie Pocket
-Favorite color: green
-Favorite toy: cars
-Jackson wants to be a fireman when he grows up.
-Favorite activity: puzzles and stickers
-Favorite stuffed animal: dinosaur

Jackson loves to sing.  He'll go downstairs to play for a little bit and I'll hear him down there singing his heart out. It's precious- especially since he sings songs like, 'Jesus Loves Me', 'Go Tell it on the Mountain', 'Holy Holy Holy'.  He sings songs I didn't even know he knew but it makes my heart happy.  He also likes to be silly and make up songs.

Jackson is still holding on to his afternoon nap.  I thought he was giving it up awhile back but now he pretty much takes his nap everyday.  He still sleeps all night and pretty much wakes up every morning at 6:30.

He continues to love books.  He loves to go to the library and get new books and will sit in his room and look at each page.  He loves for Kevin and me to read to him which we do everyday. He has a very long attention span and will listen to fairly lengthy stories.  We also read a Bible story each night which he loves and looks forward to.

Jackson continues to be such a sweet boy.  He loves to play with Emmy and is sweet to her most of the time.  We are still working on sharing toys and not snatching, etc. but he loves her and always asks me if she can come play with him. 

Jackson continues to be a lover of life.  He gets excited about anything and everything! If I tell him he is going to the dentist he says, "Woo hoo! I love the dentist. I get stickers and prizes!".  He loves going to school, church, the park, the pool and pretty much anywhere. (He used to say that he liked going to the doctor but after today that's probably scratched off his list!)

He is such a joy!


Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Panama City Beach Trip

We recently returned home from our annual week long beach trip. This year we went to Panama City and found a quiet little house with lots of privacy and a short two minute walk to the beach. We loved it! Last year Emmy was only 3 months old when we went to the beach so I was excited to see what she thought. I remember getting a picture of Jackson's very first reaction to the sand and here is Emmy's:

She doesn't normally like things on her hands so that was why she instantly started fussing when she fell down and got sand all over her hands. But it didn't last long.
 Both kids had a lot of fun and we had really pretty weather. Jackson preferred to dig and play in the sand while Emmy was constantly heading toward the water.


The water got pretty rough but both kids liked going out into the water and being splashed by waves- while being held of course.  Emmy played in the sand some with Jackson but she didn't love getting sand all over her- it always ended up in her mouth and made her mad!


We spent a lot of our time digging holes and making "pools" for Emmy to play in. She was happy as long as she had water to play in and Jackson enjoyed digging:



A few of my favorites:









Can't wait to go back!!!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Happy Birthday Jackson!!!


It's so so hard to believe that my boy is four years old today! Wow, how time flies! I couldn't fall asleep last night just remembering four years ago and bringing Jackson into the world.

He is such a sweet boy. He's going to the doctor later this month so I'll have a four year old update later. 

For now, just fun birthday pictures. He requested a Lightning McQueen birthday!!!


Lightning McQueen cupcakes!
Enjoying a birthday doughnut!

Ready for some birthday fun!
Showing off his new fireman boots!
And so excited about his firetruck from Gigi and Pop.
Balloon fun!
Emmy enjoying balloon fun too!
Telling me he is FOUR!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BOY!!!