Time for an Update

Time slips by so quickly these days and here we are just a couple of days away from Thanksgiving.  Jackson wants to bypass Thanksgiving all together and go straight to Christmas (not on purpose really but just because he gets so excited about Christmas).  He's been begging to listen to Christmas music and get Christmas decorations out so I've been trying to teach him more about Thanksgiving and all we have to be thankful for.  And it's a lot!

Right now, life is good. We've all been well for awhile, although Emmy is on antibiotics for a sinus infection. Everyone adjusted pretty easily to the time change. We had a couple of early mornings due to the early sunrise but both kids are still sleeping 11-12 hours at night.  We seem to be in a good routine with work and school and days at home. 

Jackson is growing by the day! He is very curious about life and asks lots of questions.  Although he disobeys often he desires for me to be happy with him and to please me.  If I get onto him for something he will often say in a very serious tone, "Okay Mommy, I won't do that ever again."  He recently told me that he was planning on obeying all day long on Thanksgiving and Christmas. I told him that he needed to obey every day to which he said, "Woooaaaa! That's really hard!" 

Jackson loves Emmy very much and wants her to play with him all the time.  He loves that she will do whatever he is doing and will usually do whatever he tells her to.  Just recently he has started running through the house screaming, "Ah! A ghost!" or "Ah! A monster!".  I'm not sure where he learned this and maybe it came from Halloween but Emmy also runs through the house screaming, "a ghost!"  What took Jackson four years to learn about only took Emmy one. Great!

I'm so thankful that we still have warm days because the kids are so much happier outside.  When they play inside it seems like they are constantly fighting or screaming or terrorizing one another.  They play forever outside without fussing or fighting. They will both dig in the dirt, rake the leaves, collect leaves or rocks or acorns. I'm not sure what I will do when it's too cold to play outside!

My sweet Emmy-girl is growing up faster than I would like to believe.  I can't even talk about the fact that she will be two in a few short months.  She is still my baby though she doesn't act like a baby at all.  Of course Jackson still calls her "baby Emmy" and I'm not sure how long it will take to break that habit.

Emmy has become quite attached to my mom (Gigi).  A couple of months ago my mom started picking her up on Thursdays after MDO and bringing her home in the afternoon to take her nap and then play.  Emmy LOVES Gigi and cries every Thursday when she leaves.  She talks about Gigi all the time now and loves it most when Gigi sits and reads with her and sings to her.  Emmy is very shy so I'm very glad she has warmed up so much to my mom. I think it just took them having some one on one time together. Other than my mom Emmy won't really talk much around others.  She just smiles!

Emmy's naps continue to be a mystery to me.  I think her naps go in phases.  When Emmy first dropped to one nap a day she would only sleep an hour or so. It took her a little while for her body to adjust to sleeping longer since she was only napping one time a day.  After she adjusted she was sleeping anywhere from 2-3 hours.  Then after awhile her naps shortened a good bit, back to just an hour to an hour and a half. This went on so long that I finally just accepted the fact that she wasn't going to take long naps anymore.  Now she is back to sleeping anywhere from 2-3 hours. I'll try not to get too used to this as it could easily change!

At the end of the day I'm exhausted but watching these two grow up is definitely worth it!

Trick or Treat

Jackson decided that he wanted to be a fireman for Halloween this year. He loves firemen right now and says that's what he wants to be when he grows up. He was such a cute fireman! And Jackson helped me decide on what Emmy should be- a fire dog! Emmy loves "goggies" (doggies) so she was all about dressing up as one. Pretty cute!

Pumpkins!

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch and they had a blast! Emmy especially loved it since she obviously didn't remember her trip from last year. She kept saying "kukins!" and loved all the little pumpkins. Of course Jackson gravitated more toward the very large pumpkins and decided to try and find the biggest pumpkin of them all.  The weather was beautiful and I got some fun pictures. (Please excuse the bruise on Emmy's head. She is quite accident prone. At least it happened two days after we got professional pictures done.)

I Survived and a Little War Eagle!

I survived another weekend on my own with the kids! It was a lot of fun but I'm glad Kevin's home. Kevin went camping this past weekend and was gone for three days. I did lots of preparing (pinteresting) and gathering of materials in order to keep us all busy! Here's what we did:

First of all, we had to wear our Auburn attire. Through the good, the bad and the ugly, we love our Tigers!

Then it was time for some baking. The kids love to help me in the kitchen. We made Halloween cookies- with orange icing and sprinkles!!!

We also went on a leaf hunt. Who knew it could be so fun to find leaves! The kids loved finding different shapes and colors. Then we made turkeys using our leaves!

We also made some jack 'o lanterns with felt. Jackson really enjoyed this craft. It was fun making different faces using different shapes. Thanks Pinterest!

I enjoyed a little crafting of my own and made Emmy a pumpkin shirt! It's very similar to last year's shirt but I think it turned out cute.

Bragging Rights

 

Every mama's got a right to brag on their little ones, right? Sometimes the daily grind can get me down but it's the big (and little) accomplishments that makes my heart swell.  My heart is swelling big time right now. I've got some really good news.....

The date is set. On October 10, 2012 Jackson will be officially dismissed from speech therapy! I am so excited! SO EXCITED! Jackson has been receiving speech therapy since he was about 18 months old.  From age 18 months to 3 years he received therapy through Early Intervention and then from 3-4 years through our local school system.  Mainly he was behind on his articulation. He was very difficult to understand. His current speech therapist feels that he is at age level and no longer needs to receive therapy. I prayed about this boy and his speech many many times and many of my dear friends and family prayed for him too.  Thanks to the Lord for answering these prayers! So so proud of my sweet boy who worked so hard on his speech over the past couple of years!

He is a funny boy! Conversations with him are fun and entertaining.  I wanted to document some of the funny and cute things he has said.
-He calls chick-fil-a, "chick-a-lay".
-He was so excited the other day to show Emmy a "piney cone"  (i.e. pine cone).
-He calls a door bell, a "ding bell."

The other day Jackson was singing "Father Abraham".  Kevin asked him if he was a son of Father Abraham and Jackson said, "yes".  Kevin asked him how he knew that he was a son of Father Abraham and Jackson said, "because I have hair on my arms!".  

Kevin was also asking Jackson about Adam and Eve. He asked him what Adam was made out of and Jackson said, "dirt". Then he asked him what Eve was made out of and Jackson said, "ribbons".  Close enough...

I've got to brag a little on Emmy too.  This girl amazes me. I know I am biased but she is so smart.  I thought her "potty training" was probably a fluke or something that wouldn't last but over past month she has consistently been pooping in the potty.  If we are home, she tells us when she needs to go and goes on the potty.  Yes, she's only 19 months old and potty training herself.  A couple of times she's told us she's needed to tee tee and gone on the potty- that's been rare though. At this point I'm letting her take the lead and basically just putting her on the potty when she tells me she needs to go. I'm still a bit shocked by this child. 

They weren't kidding when they said girls are more mature and develop faster. I have to remind myself that she is only 19 months.  She still talks a ton and has so many words I can't keep count.  She uses several two word phrases now and loves to tell us when she has two of something. She'll say, "two napkins" and "two cups".  She also says, "clean up" and "me too".  I love that she has started trying to sing. It is the sweetest thing to hear her little singing voice.  She sings "Jesus loves me" and I can make out the words "Jesus" and "me".  Love this age!

New Recipes, Potty Training and K4

Thanks to Pinterest I've been cooking up some healthier meals. My ultimate goal however has been to find healthy foods that I can pack for the kiddos to take for lunch.  I'm blessed with children who are very good eaters. But I've found, left to their own devices (i.e. going to school, being away from Mommy) they don't naturally scarf up their vegetables.  So I'm getting creative in order to ensure my children are eating healthy at school. :)

Here are some new recipes I've tried from Pinterest and loved!
Zucchini Muffins:
My kids love muffins! So basically anything in the shape of a muffin my kids will eat!

Oatmeal Muffins:
These are so great for breakfast. If you have a sweet tooth like me you may not love them at first but my kids do! I love that they use oatmeal and no sugar!

Fruit and Veggie Muffins:
This one is my kids favorite so far. (Probably because it has sugar in it). I'm working on adjusting the recipe a little so it doesn't have quite as much sugar.

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So I don't normally speak of bathroom habits but when you have kids pottying becomes common talk. At Emmy's 18 month well check her pediatrician once again mentioned potty training and that since Emmy is so verbal I should try it with her.  I didn't think much of it until a few days later Emmy said, "poo poo". She has been telling us when she is dirty so I figured that was the case this time, except there was nothing in her diaper.  So I decided to run her into the bathroom and sit her on the potty- and she went. Since then she has gone here and there. At first, she did great and went a lot on the potty but then she grew tired of sitting on the potty as I think the newness wore off.  If I can catch her at the right time she will still poop on the potty but with her going to school it's hard to be consistent.  I'm still kind of amazed at her but definitely not ready to make the jump. I think this proves that she will be ready much earlier than Jackson was!

She loves to make this face!

Today was a big day for Jackson. It was his first day of K4! It's hard to believe that he is this big. He is so excited about being back to school. He is not scared or shy or hesitant- just jumps right out of the car and runs off! This year Jackson has a great teacher and I think he is going to learn a lot. He is so eager and loves learning about letters and letter sounds and how to spell words.  Needless to say, Starfall is a new favorite of his!

18 Months and the Rest of Summer

Wow! Time has gotten away again. It's already mid-August, I'm back at work, summer is over and the kids are changing!

The past three weeks have been busy! Both kids have been keeping me on my toes and on my knees (A LOT!) asking the Lord for wisdom (lots and lots of wisdom).  I feel like we've been disciplining a lot.  Some days are better than others but I think we are all ready for a change of pace again.  With the end of the summer, the heat, the rain and some illnesses we are ready for a new schedule.

Jackson has been particularly hard these last few weeks.  He's getting more and more independent and definitely voicing his opinions more.  While this change is natural and a part of growing up we're also working on keeping his attitude in check and being respectful.  Hard lessons!

We're starting to get outside more which helps SO MUCH! There has been a slight break in the weather and being outside is actually bearable. Jackson still enjoys playing hide and seek! I thought these were cute:

Emmy will be 18 months on Wednesday but we went today for her well check. Here are her stats:
Weight: 23 pounds 6 ounces (50th percentile)
Height: 33 3/4 inches (90th percentile)

18 months??? It's really hard to believe that this child is 18 months. Shouldn't she still be just 6 months? And in a blink of an eye (just another 6 months) she will be turning two! So hard to believe!

She is such a doll. She is strong willed, opinionated and stubborn but she is also a mama's girl, so sweet and SO FUN! Her smile is contagious! We get the most compliments about her sweet smile and how often she smiles.  She is a little shy so when she's around other people she doesn't talk as much but she will definitely give you a smile!

She is talking a lot these days! She had another big language spurt about a week ago.  She has somewhere between 40-50 words and has said a couple of two word phrases spontaneously: "shoes on" and "sit down".  The other day she imitated three words: "sit down baby".  She says, "Memmy" for "Emmy" and "Meemo" for "Elmo" which I think is too cute! :)

She also LOVES to climb. I caught her the other day sitting on top of the dining room table! She is really good at going up and down stairs and will hold onto the rail all the way down. I am constantly catching her climbing in chairs or in the sofa or up into her swing. 

We almost made it from 15 months to 18 months without getting sick.  A couple of weeks ago she got pink eye and eye drops for a week was torture! Then she got a cold which she passed along to everyone in the house. She's still coughing and has had a fever this past weekend.  When she gets sick she seems to like to hang on to it. Her fever broke today so I'm hoping she's on her way to feeling better.

So I think I'm all caught up now.  The kids have a couple more weeks before they start school.  And we're hoping the cooler weather is here to stay!

We're doing a master bathroom remodel and I've been spending lots of time finding healthy lunch recipes for all of us to take to school and work. Maybe I'll be back soon to share some of that...

July

It's the last day of July and I haven't blogged much this month so I thought I would do a July review.  Not too much to report- just hanging out with the kids.  We've been to the pool some but not as much as we did in June.  We usually go in the afternoons after nap time but we had a lot of rain in July so we couldn't go as much.  It is SO HOT so we've been finding things to do inside. 

The kids like to sit at the table and do things like: puzzles, paint, color, stickers, play dough,  etc. Although Emmy's attention span isn't as long as Jackson's she does enjoy sitting and doing different activities.

Doing Puzzles

Tongue out in concentration (just like Jackson)

Loves working puzzles!

Clapping for Emmy when she finished her puzzle- sweet big brother!

 This picture is so funny to me. The quality isn't very good because I took it with my iPod. We were outside playing in the water and I turned around and Emmy looked like this and wasn't real happy about it.  I think she fell in a pile of dirt! Sometimes these kids get multiple baths a day!

Kevin and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary on July 26.  We were able to go to dinner which was so nice. It really is a treat to get to sit and eat dinner and have a full conversation with my husband without interruptions!

Emmy is 17 months now and continuing to grow and show her own opinions and personalities.  She is still a good eater and a good sleeper.  She doesn't eat three helpings of meat, veggies and fruits at each meal like she was but she will eat anything I put on her plate.  She still LOVES quesadillas and will always eat three helpings of those! She continues to expand her vocabulary and has probably 30-35 words although I've pretty much stopped counting.  She is imitating two word phrases such as, "bye bye daddy", "shoes on" but still hasn't said a phrase spontaneously.  More and more each day she is able to tell us what she does or doesn't want.  If you offer or give her something she doesn't want she won't hesitate to tell you "no!". 

It's hard to believe that August begins tomorrow and we will start getting ready to get back into our school routine!