My 30th Birthday

On September 7 I turned 30.  This is kind of a big birthday and Todd and I talked about taking a trip to celebrate, but I was just not ready to go on a trip and leave the kids.  I go back and forth between feeling 25 and 45.  Somedays I am tried, feel frumpy, and notice wrinkles forming on my face while other times (mostly when I am kid-free) I think of myself as that cute mid-twenties kindergatern teacher who was always up for a happy hour.  I guess this is what it feels like to be 30?

So in my actual birthday some of my sweet friends had a Mommy's birthday party playdate for me.  Todd took the girls to the dollar store and had them pick out a gift for me and they wrapped it.  We went over to Corrie's house and she had set up a whole little party for me!  The kids decorated party hats and cupcakes, we sang and blew out candles, and then we opened all of my fun and fancy gifts :)  It was so fun and the girls really loved that mommy had a birthday party.  Amanda took some great pictures and I am so glad I have them to remember this day.

We also had an adult celebration.  Todd planned a dinner and invited our friends.  We had a great time eating, drinking, and chatting.  He aslo a booked a hotel for the night while his parents stayed with Ellie, Kate and Jack.  It was glorious to sleep in until 10am!!  All in all it was a great birthday and I felt very loved :)

Day of Firsts

Tuesday was a big day for Ellie, Kate, and especially Jack.  It was their first day of school!  Ellie and Kate attended last year on Tuesdays and this year all three kids are going on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I had been talking a lot about going back to school and the girls would give me mixed responses.  Sometimes they would seem excited about it and other times not so much.  Ellie asked me one day if I could "grow smaller, into a little girl, and come to school with her".  It was so sweet that it made me wish I could :)  Jack is a whole different story though.  I have never left him anywhere before and he is my sweet little mommy's boy, so I knew it would be difficult.  He has recently started to clasp his arms around my neck and squeeze me, pushing his cheek against mine.  While this is the best feeling in the whole world, I knew prying him off of me would be gut wrenching. :(
Here are the pictures from their first day:


Pretty bear came to school too



This is the best pic I could get, I think his face says a lot about how he feels about school



You can tell by her frizzy french braids that I couldn't get a good picture of Kate until she came home from her first day

Kate and Ellie's teachers said that they did great.  Kate cried a little and needed her blankie and her baby, but they both participated in class.  And when I ask them about their day, they both had positive responses.  Jack's teacher said he was happy and social.... as long as he was being held.  There are 3 teachers in Jack's class and apparently he bonded to the main teacher and fussed most of the day unless she was holding him.  When I picked him up at the end of the day, he squeezed me tighter than ever before and practically climbed up my legs into my arms, saying mommy over and over again.  He was literally, physically attached to me until bedtime Tuesday night.  We have a serious Mama's boy on our hands!


If I am not holding him, this is where he is

After school Tuesday was another big first for the girls.  Ellie and Kate's first dance class!  I think I was more excited than they were.  I was in dance and ballet from the the age of 3 until middle school and loved it.  I am so excited to share this experience with them.  They looked like such big girls all dressed up in their 'ballerina costumes' as they call them :)  It was pretty much as I expected.  Ellie cried unless I was in the room and Kate danced around like she owned the place!  When they first went into to start class, Kate walked right in and said, "we need some music!"  By the end of the class both of them were participating in some way, so I think it was a success!


My ballerinas

Chit Chat

I wanted to take a few minutes to jot down some of the cute things my silly kids are saying these days.  I know one day, sooner than I would like, they will be so grown up that they won't say these funny things anymore. 

Kate:
~When Jack first started getting good at walking, one day Kate exclaimed, "Look, Jack is walking!  He's so proud of us!"  Meaning that we are so proud of him :)
~Kate asked me what color her baby was and I told her she is peach.  She now reffers to this baby as "Peaches"
~Everytime I ask Kate not to do something naughty her reply is " Yes, I DO want to make a mess"  or "Yes, I DO want to jump on the couch"  Like I don't understand that she really wants to do whatever it is.

Ellie:
~She spilled some milk on her stuffed monkey and said "Oh, dear.  Now monkey is ruined."  She sounded like a sad little old lady.  She has since used "Oh, dear" when accidents happen, cracks me up!
~Todd was trying to get the kids to coming inside one evening and he told them to hurry so the mosquitos wouldn't bite them.  Now Ellie warns everyone who goes into our backyard that they should hurry back inside so the 'beetos' won't get you.
~I had the house door to the garage open while I was getting the kids out of their carseats and Ellie tells me, "close the door, you are letting the cold air out".  Think she got that one from my watt-watching husband :)

Jack:
While my little man may have been slow to walk, he certainly is ahead of the game when it comes to talking.  He has so many new words that I am not even going to begin to try to list them.  Lets just say the boy talks a lot!  He can point to and name everyone in our family including the dogs, but he can't get Kate.  He calls both of the girls Ellie.  If I say where is Kate?  He knows who she is and will point or walk over to her but still calls her Ellie.  This is funny to me because it seems like Kate is easier to say than Ellie.  He also loves to sing.  He doesn't get the words right but he sings several songs that other people can recognize and he does the motions.  Some of his favorites are ring around the rosey, the wheels on the bus, ABCs, and the itsy bitsy spider.  He has also started to say poo poo and tap his hiney when he has a poo poo diaper.  Maybe he will be easier to potty train with all the exposer he has gotten from his sisters?  Jack is also into to finding noses recently.  He will point to his, poke the dogs', point to baby dolls', etc and shout 'nose'!  We are trying to work on other facial features, but he really likes noses :)

This is a strange mask that Todd scored at Kroger for 29 cents.  I thought it would freak them out, but they loved it!  They ran around laughing for at least an hour!

Both of the girls still say 'hold you' when they want Todd or I to hold them.  And they call their swim suits their swimming costumes.  They have also been having some rather ridiculous disagreements.  In the past 3 days they have argued to the point of screaming about who in our family has blond hair or brown hair, who is the oldest and youngest, and who is big and who is little.  I am not sure why they get so fired up about these things, but the teenage years are likely to be rough around here :/

 *I recently added instagram to my phone and included some pics from my phone in this post.  Kind of random, but thought I might as well add them :)

Jack and Mommy's Trip to San Antonio

Jack and I flew to San Antonio to visit my mom and dad for a week in June.  Jack did really well on the plane and was quite the social butterfly.  The flight was not full and we had the whole row to ourselves.  He had so much fun waving and smiling at people and luckily the teenage boys sitting behind us didn't mind playing peek a boo with Jack and giving him high fives. 

he loved laying in Bella's dog bed

this electric toothbrush is fun

enjoying Grammie and Papa's big swing

Watching all the planes leave without us on them

While we were at Grammie and Papa's house we spent lots of time playing outside, swinging, going on walks, and just hanging out.  Most days, during Jack's nap, my mom and I would sneak out and go shopping.  It was nice to spend some child-free girl time with my mom :)  It was pretty relaxing for Mommy to get a taste of what it would be like to have just one baby.  My parents were nice enough to get Jack when he woke up every morning around 8, so I could sleep in.  This was amazing!  Jack is still kind of a Mommy's boy and a bit clingy, but all in all it was a great trip and I am really glad we got to go.  Unfortunately the trip home was not a smooth as the way there.  Our flight was delayed from 10:40am to 5:20pm.  They put everyone from our flight on a stand-by list to try and get us out sooner.  I was the last one put on a 3:10pm flight and Jack and I was sandwiched into a middle seat on a full flight 10 minutes before take off, but we made it.  and he was still pretty pleasant considering he has 4 molars coming in, no nap, and spent the day in an airport.  Also, a big thank you to Todd's parents as well for helping Daddy out with the girls while I was gone :)

On the Move

Look who decided to give walking a try!!!

Of course this happened on a day when we didn't leave the house so he is wearing a drool-covered onsie and his naked sister is on the side lines :) 

Let the fun begin

Ellie and Kate finished school on Tuesday and I decided we would give potty training a go.  Ellie was ready and has been doing great.  She has had a couple of accidents here and there and is struggling a little with going poo poo in the potty, but over all I am really impressed with how well she is doing.  No treats or bribery needed, she has just been running to go pee pee all by herself.  Kate has not taken to it so well.  We have tried a few times, but she mostly just says no and asks for her diaper.  I am not going to push her just yet.  I am going to give her some more time and hopefully she will come around.

Watching 'Potty Power' on their potties

Jack is 15 Months Old

Our lovable little guy is 15 months old.  I took him in for his check up yesterday and Dr. Burns was pleased with his growth and development and commented on how smart and chatty he is :)  Jack still isn't walking, but she watched him climb on and off the bench, cruise around, and walk holding mommy's hand.  She said him not walking is a choice and when he chooses to, he will walk.  If she isn't concrened, then I am not either.  It is probably part my fault becuase he loves to snuggle me, so I do hold him a lot.  So here are is stats:
Weight : 21 lb 6oz  (18%)
Height: 32 in (70%)



Who is that handsome boy?

determination

Super excited about his first lollipop!


   Likes:
-eating everyone's food.  As soon as he sees someone with food, he hustles over and begs.  "Bite, bite, bite"
-being outside
-strawberries, bananas, blueberries, apples, grilled chicken, black beans, peas, all crackers and cookies, milk, drinkable yogurt
-using a fork.  Jack can now use a fork to eat his strawberries and chicken, but he gets frustrated trying to stab beans or peas, but won't use a spoon.
-his sisters.  Although they are sometimes not too pleased with his idea playing.
-being held/snuggled by mommy
-kisses.  Jack just started making kissey noises and actually leaning in to give kisses.  It is the best!
-his blankie that grammie made for him
-climbing the stairs and couch and trying to climb in the dishwasher
-playing ball.  Rolling and throwing with daddy.
-dogs, ours and everyone else's :)
-singing.  He 'sings' to the tune of the abc's a lot.  It is pretty cute!
-ring around the rosie.  He recently started to crawl in a circle around me while 'singing' and then he will stop, sit, and throw his arms in the air and say 'down!'  It took me a few moments to realize he was playing ring around the rosie! I can never catch it on camera, but I am still trying!

Wearing mostly 12 month or 9-12 month clothes and sometimes 12-18 month tops.  He wears size 3 diapers.  He has 7 teeth, with two top molars and one more bottom tooth on the way.  He sleeps for about 11 hours at night and takes a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.
He has become very chatty and seems to pick up new words everyday.  Here are most of the words he says, but I am sure I will forget a few.
-mama, dada, dog, ball, bite, hi, bye-bye, ni-night, nana (banana), gabba, that? (what is that?), down, go, moo (for cow), neigh (for horse and most other animals), quack, car, uh-oh, and he recently started saying "oh, no!"

Dislikes:
-having his hair washed, face cleaned, nose wiped
-when Kate or Ellie steal something from him
-diaper changes!
-I don't think he likes shoes, he is always taking them off.  But maybe it is just fun to play with velcro?
-when I tell him no

That pretty much sums up our sweet baby Jack.  He is still one happy little boy and makes us smile everyday.  We love you bunches, Jack!