Saturday, November 6, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Holy smokes, Jada is 1!
Somehow my daughter has already gone from this...
to this...
a beautiful, determined, full-of-life 1 year old!
Here's how we celebrated with family and friends at our house yesterday:
The celebration started a few days earlier when Leyton and I began making goodies. Leyton was such a good helper making oreo cookie suckers dipped in white chocolate. He was quite the sprinkler!
My sister Lindsey came to my rescue as an excellent helper on Friday evening. We got started shopping and making even more goodies by 9a.m. Saturday morning. We made homemade caramel sauce, caramel corn, white cupcakes and carrote cake cupcakes, and a pennant banner than said "Happy Birthday Jada". After about 16 hours, we were finally finished with as much as we could finish before the party Sunday.
It didn't take long for this quiet, empty backyard...
to be turned into a yard full of fun people like this...
Jada got so many gifts! I think Leyton was more excited about opening them than Jada was, but she quickly figured out how fun it was when she realized what was inside all the wrapping and tissue paper.
Lindsey and I found this cupcake tower at Wal-Mart. It was originally black with a topper that said "Trick-or-Treat". We found the leaves at the Dollar Tree for $1, so Lindsey stapled them on to cover the Halloween decor. It turned out pretty well!
Of course, Jada loved the cupcake!
After everyone demolished a cupcake, we painted pumpkins!
At the end of the day, we were all exhausted.
We are very thankful for a beautiful, healthy little girl. We couldn't have asked for a better day to celebrate the first year of her life!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
A lesson
Leyton just got home from preschool. I asked him the usual question...what did you learn at school today? His response?
L: "Well, we went to chapel and learned that some kids had to sit in time out."
Me: "Did you get into trouble in chapel?"
L: "No, I didn't. Adam did."
[I know there's no little one named Adam in his class so I figured out pretty quickly what Adam he was talking about.]
M: "Adam and Eve??"
L: "Yeah. A snake told Eve to eat the apple, so she did and they had to sit in time out!"
Wow. He listens. :)
L: "Well, we went to chapel and learned that some kids had to sit in time out."
Me: "Did you get into trouble in chapel?"
L: "No, I didn't. Adam did."
[I know there's no little one named Adam in his class so I figured out pretty quickly what Adam he was talking about.]
M: "Adam and Eve??"
L: "Yeah. A snake told Eve to eat the apple, so she did and they had to sit in time out!"
Wow. He listens. :)
Monday, October 4, 2010
My favorite time of year!
I absolutely love fall, not to mention the month of October. Granted, my birthday just so happens to be in October, but now we have even more to celebrate...Jada's birthday! Can you believe she's going to be 1 in less than a week?! I can't! We'll have birthday celebrations to come, but for now, here are some pictures of how we've been spending our fall so far.
We went to the Jacobs' Family Orchard a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, it was ridiculously hot outside so we didn't spend a lot of time there, but we still had fun playing with friends. Jada is queen of the mountain!
Leyton was so excited to see Brady he could hardly contain himself.
We tried to get a group photo but we all know how difficult it is to get 3 kids age 3 and under to cooperate.
This past weekend we took a short trip to Wabash to visit the pumpkin patch. Jada enjoyed climbing on the huge pumpkins. As you can tell, the weather was a bit more like fall for this trip. :)
Leyton loved the animals. He was able to get up close and personal with donkies and goats. He was trying to coax the donkey to come closer by asking very nicely, "Mr. Goat, can you please come over here?" It didn't work, but it was a nice try.
How are you spending your fall?
Monday, September 13, 2010
Life on the Beach
We just got back from vacationing in Myrtle Beach. This was our first official family vacation, and I've already decided we're going to have to do whatever we can to make this an annual event. We had such a fun time. Leyton has been asking since the day we got home if we can go on vacation again today. I think he had fun too!
We spent a lot of time at the beach and the pool. Jada loved the salty sand and Leyton loved the waves. Both of them are far too brave. Leyton took off for the water without any fear of being washed away. We had to keep a very close eye on him, especially since Hurricaine Earl was lurking some 100 miles out. The waves were pretty crazy the first day we spent at the beach, but calmed quite a lot after that. Surprisingly, we didn't see one drop of rain. Earl skipped right past us, thank goodness!
Leyton is a pool fanatic. Every morning he woke up and wanted to go straight to the pool. We spent many hours there. Luckily for the kids, the pool was completely shaded. It was actually under the building, but still outside. It was perfect for not having to worry about them getting fried. Jada liked the pool quite a lot too, but maybe not as much as her brother. She wasn't afraid to sit on the side and hop right in to us.
On Sunday, we went to the Dixie Stampede. Leyton was mesmerized as soon as the lights went out. He loved all the animals. The food wasn't too bad either. Of course, we couldn't leave without him getting his own pony and cowboy hat.
I would definitely recommend Myrtle Beach for a family vacation. A lot of people told us it was a great place, and I would agree. There are still a lot of things that we didn't get to do that I would like to go back for.
Family vacation #1...success!
Friday, July 16, 2010
9 Months!
Jada is 9 months old! At 9 months she:
--weighs 19 lbs [56th percentile]
--is 26.75 inches [45th percentile]
--has 2 bottom teeth [finally!]
--says da-da and ma-ma
--crawls everywhere
--climbs up and down stairs without help [but not far, no worries!]
--stands up holding onto anything
--walks/cruises around the couch or anything else that will support her
--LOVES playing with her big brother
--sleeps about 12-13 hours every night and takes 2 naps during the day [such a good girl!]
--eats just about anything we put in front of her
--LOVES her mama. She doesn't like to be out of my sight when I'm around, but is a perfectly content, happy baby when I'm not.
--LOVES her daddy. She lights up the moment he gets home!
--loves to play pat-a-cake
--waves bye bye
...and much, much more. :)
She reminds me a lot of Leyton at this age. She seems to have just as much energy as he did, but I'm hoping I'm wrong. I'm not sure if I can keep up with 2 kids who never stop! :) She's such a great addition to our family and we're loving seeing her personality start to blossom.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Relay for Life
My co-workers and I put together a team for Relay for Life this past weekend. We have been working hard to raise as much money as possible for the fight against cancer. We all had such a great time spending the evening together, acting goofy, being loud, but most importantly, seeing some of the faces that we had the privilege of caring for during a very difficult time in their lives. One of the best parts of the night was the survivor walk and balloon release. It was awesome to see so many people who have fought so hard for their lives. What an honor to be a part of!
One of the funniest parts of the night was the Miss-ter Relay contest. We dressed our co-worker Nena's son up and he pranced around the stage and then all throughout the relay collecting donations for our team. Although he deserved to win, he was awarded 2nd runner up! He made a darling luau girl! :)
I'm really already excited about the ideas that our team has come up with for fundraising throughout the next year. If you want to help us out, let me know! We'd love to take your money! ;)
Monday, June 21, 2010
Nice trip!
I'm a fall risk! I fell two times in a 30 minute time span at work last night. The first time I landed directly on my knees on a nice hard floor, the second time, directly on my rump! What is the deal?! Guess I need more sleep! :)
Monday, June 14, 2010
Busy, busy
Here I am again...almost 2 months later. A lot has happened in the last 2 months! Here's a quick overview!
Leyton is 3! Holy smokes! He looks 5, but is only 3. At his latest well check-up he was 42" tall [completely off the charts] and 41 pounds [again, completely off the charts]. As I said, he looks 5...but I promise he's only 3. Everything checked out great, of course. He's a tall, smart, healthy little guy. He's loving "school" [or daycare]. He likes to think he's going to school, and really, it's quite similar. He has a teacher, a small class of about 9 kids, and they do a lot learning activities. He has learned quite a lot already! It's been really great for him. I've noticed a difference in his manners and he's blown me away with things he's learned. For instance, while we were at the dr's office, he was playing with shapes. I started asking him what each shape was. Of course, he was able to tell me the square and triangle, but then got to another that I really didn't think he would know until he yelled out, "That's an octagon!" Say what?! I had no idea he'd know that. A few days later I was telling Josh about him knowing what it was so Josh asked him, "Leyton, what's an octagon?" I started to say that he wouldn't be able to explain it to Josh, but instead point one out when he said, "It says STOP!" Guess he proved me wrong! Such a smart cookie! :)
Jada is 8 months old! At her 7 month well check-up she was 26" long [46th percentile] and 17lbs 9oz [62nd percentile]. She's a little more of an average size baby, but seems so small since Leyton has always been off the charts from day 1. She's still crawling all over the place, but is now able to climb up the stairs [she hasn't quite figured out how to get down], stand up holding onto just about anything, cruise along the furniture, and walk behind her walking toy! She's trying to follow in her big brother's footsteps and walk at 9 months. I'd be just fine with her holding off on that, but we'll see. She says da-da all the time and just within the last few days has started saying ma-ma! [It's about time! :) ] She has grown attached to my leg. She loves to follow me around and grab onto my leg and not let go until I either sit her back on the floor or pick her up. I try not to spoil her by picking her up all the time, but it's difficult. She's just too darn cute and the pouty lip gets me every time!
Josh is coaching the summer baseball team for Indiana Wesleyan by himself this summer. It's exciting for him, yet scary at the same time. This is his first time being able to call all the shots. I'm sure he's going to enjoy it once he gets the first few games under his belt and gets the jitters all out. He's still working throughout the day and then has baseball games about 2 nights a week for the next 6 weeks or so. Baseball, baseball, baseball. That's what we do around here. :)
As for me, I've switched from working 3 11am-11pm shifts, to 3 7pm-7am shifts a week. I had the opportunity to choose between day shift and night shift, and silly me chose night shift. It's been about 6 weeks and it's really worked out pretty well so far. I love the coworkers I get to work with, and so far, I've been able to sleep decently throughout the day while Leyton and Jada are at daycare. It helps that Leyton likes to be at daycare, so I don't feel so guilty sleeping while they're there. Most of my days off consist of either baseball games or church league softball games, so we continue to spend most of our evenings at the ball field. I'm sure we'll still find time for the pool during the day though!
Well, nap time is almost over...I better be going! I hope you all have a great start to your summers!
Leyton is 3! Holy smokes! He looks 5, but is only 3. At his latest well check-up he was 42" tall [completely off the charts] and 41 pounds [again, completely off the charts]. As I said, he looks 5...but I promise he's only 3. Everything checked out great, of course. He's a tall, smart, healthy little guy. He's loving "school" [or daycare]. He likes to think he's going to school, and really, it's quite similar. He has a teacher, a small class of about 9 kids, and they do a lot learning activities. He has learned quite a lot already! It's been really great for him. I've noticed a difference in his manners and he's blown me away with things he's learned. For instance, while we were at the dr's office, he was playing with shapes. I started asking him what each shape was. Of course, he was able to tell me the square and triangle, but then got to another that I really didn't think he would know until he yelled out, "That's an octagon!" Say what?! I had no idea he'd know that. A few days later I was telling Josh about him knowing what it was so Josh asked him, "Leyton, what's an octagon?" I started to say that he wouldn't be able to explain it to Josh, but instead point one out when he said, "It says STOP!" Guess he proved me wrong! Such a smart cookie! :)
Jada is 8 months old! At her 7 month well check-up she was 26" long [46th percentile] and 17lbs 9oz [62nd percentile]. She's a little more of an average size baby, but seems so small since Leyton has always been off the charts from day 1. She's still crawling all over the place, but is now able to climb up the stairs [she hasn't quite figured out how to get down], stand up holding onto just about anything, cruise along the furniture, and walk behind her walking toy! She's trying to follow in her big brother's footsteps and walk at 9 months. I'd be just fine with her holding off on that, but we'll see. She says da-da all the time and just within the last few days has started saying ma-ma! [It's about time! :) ] She has grown attached to my leg. She loves to follow me around and grab onto my leg and not let go until I either sit her back on the floor or pick her up. I try not to spoil her by picking her up all the time, but it's difficult. She's just too darn cute and the pouty lip gets me every time!
Josh is coaching the summer baseball team for Indiana Wesleyan by himself this summer. It's exciting for him, yet scary at the same time. This is his first time being able to call all the shots. I'm sure he's going to enjoy it once he gets the first few games under his belt and gets the jitters all out. He's still working throughout the day and then has baseball games about 2 nights a week for the next 6 weeks or so. Baseball, baseball, baseball. That's what we do around here. :)
As for me, I've switched from working 3 11am-11pm shifts, to 3 7pm-7am shifts a week. I had the opportunity to choose between day shift and night shift, and silly me chose night shift. It's been about 6 weeks and it's really worked out pretty well so far. I love the coworkers I get to work with, and so far, I've been able to sleep decently throughout the day while Leyton and Jada are at daycare. It helps that Leyton likes to be at daycare, so I don't feel so guilty sleeping while they're there. Most of my days off consist of either baseball games or church league softball games, so we continue to spend most of our evenings at the ball field. I'm sure we'll still find time for the pool during the day though!
Well, nap time is almost over...I better be going! I hope you all have a great start to your summers!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
A life update...
It's been awhile, and for that, I apologize. I've not had time to get a haircut or take a shower without a little boy at my feet lately, much less spend any length of time on the internet thinking coherently. Why, you ask? Because baseball season is in full swing. In case you're out of the loop, that means Josh and I are on completely opposite schedules. He's home while I'm at work, and I'm home while he's at work and the baseball field. It's my favorite time of the year. [Note sarcasm.]
So, since it's been 4 months since I've updated anything going on in our lives, I'll take this opportunity to do so. [If there's something that doesn't make sense, it's most likely due to interruptions of "Mom..what time is it? Mom...I need my shorts on! Mom...I need a drink!" etc. :) Just bare with me.]
Leyton is going to be 3 in just a few short weeks. It's hard to believe, isn't it? Well, it is for me. He's so on the go all the time...I wonder if he'll ever slow down. From the looks of it, I'm thinking not. He loves anything that has to do with running, throwing a ball, or racecars, and he loves to be outside. Before long, he'll be as brown as a biscuit. :)
Jada is already 6 months old! Half of a year! She's a crawling machine! She started army crawling at about 4 1/2 months and has been completely crawling for the last 3 weeks or so. She's fast, too! One second she's sitting innocently and the next second she's made her way over to the movie tower and pulled it over on herself. Leyton is always the first to scold her. He's pretty certain he's her boss.
Leyton is really starting to enjoy his little sister. I'm not sure how long this will last, but he always wants me to put her on the floor so he can play with her. They're so cute together, too. He puts all of her toys around her on the floor, but of course, she will crawl to find something of his that she'd much rather play with.
After looking around, we made the decision to put the kids in daycare. Leyton loves to play with other kids, so I knew he was going to love it! He can't wait until we go to church so he can "play with his friends". Friday we visited and he was so excited. As soon as I told him where we were going, he went running around the house saying, "I need my back pack...where's my back pack? I need my computer!" Yesterday was their first official day, and apparently, Leyton's a bully! Josh picked the kids up and was asking Leyton how his day was and he started off by saying he got in trouble. Josh asked him why and he said, "Me had to stand in the corner." After trying to pry it out of him, he finally told Josh that he hit a girl! Today, when I asked him about it, he told me she was trying to get on his scooter. Hopefully he's learned his lesson and won't be hitting kids anymore. That's definitely not the best start to daycare. I really think it will be good for him though. He needs the socialization. He's a little social butterfly. Hopefully he'll learn a few things in the process.
Well, I suppose I have spent enough time filling all [3] of you in on our lives. Hopefully I'll find time a little sooner to share some tidbits of our days. Have a great week!
So, since it's been 4 months since I've updated anything going on in our lives, I'll take this opportunity to do so. [If there's something that doesn't make sense, it's most likely due to interruptions of "Mom..what time is it? Mom...I need my shorts on! Mom...I need a drink!" etc. :) Just bare with me.]
Leyton is going to be 3 in just a few short weeks. It's hard to believe, isn't it? Well, it is for me. He's so on the go all the time...I wonder if he'll ever slow down. From the looks of it, I'm thinking not. He loves anything that has to do with running, throwing a ball, or racecars, and he loves to be outside. Before long, he'll be as brown as a biscuit. :)
Jada is already 6 months old! Half of a year! She's a crawling machine! She started army crawling at about 4 1/2 months and has been completely crawling for the last 3 weeks or so. She's fast, too! One second she's sitting innocently and the next second she's made her way over to the movie tower and pulled it over on herself. Leyton is always the first to scold her. He's pretty certain he's her boss.
Leyton is really starting to enjoy his little sister. I'm not sure how long this will last, but he always wants me to put her on the floor so he can play with her. They're so cute together, too. He puts all of her toys around her on the floor, but of course, she will crawl to find something of his that she'd much rather play with.
After looking around, we made the decision to put the kids in daycare. Leyton loves to play with other kids, so I knew he was going to love it! He can't wait until we go to church so he can "play with his friends". Friday we visited and he was so excited. As soon as I told him where we were going, he went running around the house saying, "I need my back pack...where's my back pack? I need my computer!" Yesterday was their first official day, and apparently, Leyton's a bully! Josh picked the kids up and was asking Leyton how his day was and he started off by saying he got in trouble. Josh asked him why and he said, "Me had to stand in the corner." After trying to pry it out of him, he finally told Josh that he hit a girl! Today, when I asked him about it, he told me she was trying to get on his scooter. Hopefully he's learned his lesson and won't be hitting kids anymore. That's definitely not the best start to daycare. I really think it will be good for him though. He needs the socialization. He's a little social butterfly. Hopefully he'll learn a few things in the process.
Well, I suppose I have spent enough time filling all [3] of you in on our lives. Hopefully I'll find time a little sooner to share some tidbits of our days. Have a great week!
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