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Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Quick Bit

Today, I was so excited to go to the ortho. I thought I would be getting great news - getting my braces off! I was all set to post pics on the blog; however, I have another six weeks to go. The official date is April 16. It has been set and all I have left is a countdown! Yeah!

Even though I can't wait to get these things off and it is killing me right now, I am glad I did it. My teeth and my bite feel better. I won't be self conscious about smiling or talking. Can't wait!

Monday, February 25, 2008

Random Thoughts

Thought I would blog some random thoughts this morning as the last couple of weeks I have been making it a habit on Monday mornings to post something. Right now, Jackson is sleeping, Kaitlyn is at school for the morning, and it is the calm before the storm. Once Jackson wakes up, I will have to feed him and then we are off to a Kindermusik class, which he loves, and then to pick Kaitlyn up from school. I must rush to pick her up because she stays late so we can go to the class. Then come home, make lunch for all of us, including Jackson as he is starting baby food, and then off to take naps. It is quite a day, Monday that is.

This morning started out normal until Kaitlyn decided she didn't like the shirt she was wearing. I did indulge her this morning and she finally ended up with a shirt with a happy face on it and a skirt. Since it is going to be 80 today, okay fine, but it is still a little cold this morning and they go play on the playground so I put leg warmers on her called Baby Legs. She at first fought me on those, but I told her that she should show all of her friends at school. She liked that idea. Man, my brain may not be getting a good workout like it used to, but I certainly have to be more creative than ever. I have got to be one step ahead of Kaitlyn all of the time. Sometimes I don't even realize how she starts down one path and leads us to what she is wanting in the first place. Ahhh, she knows!

I just keep wondering how Jackson is going to pick up on this. Our biggest challenge right now with Kaitlyn is the whining and crying. I am trying to stay consistent, and am wondering how we can get out of this stage. It has driven me to insanity a couple of times, however, I think I am developing an immunity because Brandon is the one dealing with it on the weekends.

I have to laugh now because Kaitlyn has developed a huge curiosity of restaurant bathrooms. For the last month, any time we have gone to a restaurant, we have made at least two pit stops for potty time. I don't want to tell her no the other times because sometimes she does need to go a couple of times. I can tell you all of the nice bathrooms around us for sure!

Jackson is going to be six months on Saturday! Yeah, and he is just a sweetie. I don't want him to grow out of this stage. Now I know what is ahead of us as he gets older and he can stay six months! I loved this stage best with Kaitlyn too. Of course, I love all of the stages as they have been great so far, but it has definitely gotten more challenging, always enjoyable, as they grow.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Goodnight Moon

I have always wanted to go and now we did it. We went to the Dallas Children's Theatre this weekend. This month there was the production, "Goodnight Moon." For a couple of months when Kaitlyn was 2, she wanted only the Goodnight Moon book to be read to her before bed.

She knows it pretty well so we thought this would be a good play to take Kaitlyn to for the first time. I packed tons of things in case Kaitlyn was not going to do well in the play. I thought she would sit and like it, but who knows as we are going into uncharted territory. As I have mentioned before, Kaitlyn is our curious explorer, our adventurer, so she has always put us on high alert for the unexpected.

When we drove up, we saw tons of families going into the theatre and we were almost an hour early because the box office told us it was going to be packed. Kaitlyn was sleeping in the car so I waited as long as possible as the boys went in to get in line.

She woke up and we walked in a little before it started. She handed her ticket to the ticket person and led me into the theatre where Brandon got a good seat in the front with plenty of room to spread out with Jackson. Kaitlyn had her own seat and when it started, she sat with her eyes glued to the stage for the first act - 25 minutes. The theatre was actually pretty quiet considering all of the kids under the age of 4. Kaitlyn even swayed to the songs they sang and pointed to the bears and cow. They had some cute effects and the actors were great.

The last 25 minutes was good too, but for the last five minutes you could tell all of the kids had reached their limit. There was a lot more noise. Kaitlyn got up and danced a little bit too. She also held Missy (her baby doll) the whole time and had her dance a little too. Kaitlyn also at intermission went down with other kids for her birthday month and they sang to her.



Afterwards, the characters signed her playbill and Kaitlyn showed them all Missy.

Brandon held Jackson the whole time and gave him a bottle. Man, we lucked out. I am always preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. I think we are getting the hang of this thing called a family of four! It was a fun afternoon. Jackson did well and Kaitlyn did well too. What a success!

Friday, February 15, 2008

Love is in the air

Ah, love is in the air. Valentine's was yesterday, and yes, Brandon delivered flowers to his wife and daughter along with chocolate. Flowers just make the house smell so good. Brandon received his annual Valentine's boxers. The tradition goes way back. Even though we didn't do anything like going out, we did have a family dinner all together and that was really nice. We had no interruptions for once and were able to just sit and relax for a moment. Those are the times to really cherish right now because peace and harmony in a house of small-children is extra sweet.

Jackson and Kaitlyn also attended a little party with friends Matthew and his brother Andrew and Caroline and her sister Hailey. It was great weather so we were able to eat outside, make hats and play in the sandbox. We were over at Matthew's house for four hours. I couldn't believe how long we were over there and the kids did really well, except for the usual shenanigans. Kaitlyn has to explore rooms that are off limits and has been pushing a little bit. She is still pretty tough when it comes to sharing and are working on it. I am sure Jackson will give her a run for her money as he gets older.





Kerri, Wendy and I actually had a couple of small conversations in between, how lucky were we! And Jackson did great and charmed everyone. He loved when the kids would stop and smile at him. They couldn't get over how relaxed and easy going he is. Yes, exact opposite of his older sister.

As usual, today I dropped Kaitlyn off at school and brought Jackson in to sit by the front desk as I walked her back to her class. He always makes a friend up there. Miss Tiffany and Miss Francine were just cooing up a storm with him and making him laugh. He was so happy and charmed the socks off of everyone there. Even other moms were stopping to check him out. He just eats up the attention!


In Kaitlyn news, she can sing her ABCs all the way through by herself. I was so excited to hear her do it at home for the first time this week! She has a hard time pronouncing l's and getting through the L,M,N,O,P part is funny, but she knows it well. Music has definitely been the highlight of the month since enrolling her in Kindermusik and singing at school. She asks about music class all of the time!

Kerri asked me yesterday if there was a difference between a boy and a girl, and that made me think. I guess yes there is, but right now it just seems as though they are just two different little people not because they are a boy or a girl. I just see their different personalities. I am sure as he gets older he will have different interests than Kaitlyn. Right now, I see that he loves to eat and eat and eat, but I have heard some baby girls do that too.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Kaitlyn's 3rd Birthday Party

It is Superbowl Sunday and the fun just doesn't stop. Kaitlyn turns three on February 5 and we had a super-duper, fun birthday at Pump It Up Jr. on Saturday. Her immediate family joined in some fun with Aunt Becky and Layna (nanny/godmother) coming too.

She had all of her friends come to join in some bounce house fun. The slides and bounce house gym was perfectly sized to two and three year olds. The kiddos rolled in and played for almost an hour on just about everything. I think the slide was the hit. Kaitlyn did the slide a couple of times. I think she was amazed that she knew everyone there. She couldn't get into just one thing because of so much going on; plus when we were in the middle of playing, she decides that she is super hungry. Oops, we remembered everything, except to feed the kiddo a snack before the party.

Once we were in the playroom ready for cake, Kaitlyn warmed up a little. She really liked sitting in the over-sized chair while we sang to her. She pretty much stayed in that chair and then opened presents the whole time. We could have stayed there for a long time visiting, but the employees had to kick us out for the next party.

Overall, it was a success and I think Kaitlyn liked it. I think she was a little overwhelmed with the size. She loved blowing out her candles and the slide always gets her attention. I didn't think I had to lead her around as much as I did, but lately she has been sticking close. She sees me with Jackson a lot and wants me more. Jackson on the other hand, was passed around to different family members and did really well. He couldn't be a more easy-going, go-with-the-flow baby if he tried. I also thought I would have to tough things out on Sunday and the next day to even out from the weekend, but he is doing just fine. How lucky are we? He has just been hanging out and smiling, maybe it is being five months. Kaitlyn was pretty awesome at five months too.

After the party, we went home and opened some presents and Kaitlyn got an old school tricycle from Oma and Papa. She liked riding it in front of all of her family too. Afterwards, we went to dinner at Ralph and Kacoos. Kaitlyn got a sundae for her birthday and licked the spoon like an ice cream cone. Since she doesn't normally like ice cream because it is cold too cold for her, this was a new experience for her.



Here are photos of the birthday party.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=hhuz2tp.9kl4qkol&x=0&y=ot0v7x