20 Questions with Jada

Jada's 3rd birthday was just over a month ago.  I've been meaning to ask her these questions ever since but kept forgetting.  I finally got around to it today.  You'll see a theme throughout the answers. :)  

1. What is your favorite color? "Uhhhh.....blue!"

2. What is your favorite toy? "Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse."

3. What is your favorite fruit? "Grapes."

4. What is your favorite tv show? "Mickey Mouse!"

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? "Chicken nuggest."

6. What is your favorite outfit? "Mickey Mouse shirt."

7. What is your favorite game? "Play Mickey Mouse."

8. What is your favorite snack? "Uh, cinnamon toast crunch."

9. What is your favorite animal? "Penguin."

10. What is your favorite song? "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!"

11. What is your favorite book? "Mickey Mouse book."

12. Who is your best friend? "Sam." [the neighbor]

13. What is your favorite cereal? "Cinnamon toast crunch."

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? "Play with snowballs."

15. What is your favorite drink? "Juice."

16. What is your favorite holiday? "Christmas!"

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? "Animals and babies."

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? "Cinnamon toast crunch."

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? "Cake!"

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? "Mommy!"

Graduate

Our family...with the crooked 'Happy Graduation' sign. :)

As if signing Leyton up for kindergarten wasn't enough to make the fact that he is growing up a reality, he had to go and graduate from preschool this week.  Really?!  He's really old enough to be a preschool graduate and moving on to kindergarten?!  I suppose so...which means I'm getting older too!  I couldn't be more proud of my little graduate.  He gets great reviews from his teacher, Ms. McClure.  She says he's more than ready for kindergarten and I couldn't agree more.  I know he'll do great and love every minute of it!  We are so proud of you, Leyton!!

Leyton's class with their diplomas.

Standing next to his cubby.

This is Allyson.  She has a crush on Leyton.  He has come home with pictures that she has drawn for him multiple times.    Some of those pictures have confessed her love for him.  Who knew that 4 and 5 year old girls already like boys?!  Sheesh!

.:Two Months:.

Two months have flown by! Why is that?!

At two months, Lyvia is...

...12lbs 8 oz and 22.5 inches long[as mentioned before. This is for my record.]

...smiling all the time! I love her cute little smile!

...finding her voice. She tells a good story [and Leyton is convinced that I speak baby and understand every little babble. Every time she makes a noise he asks me what she is saying. Too funny.]

...starting to sleep through the night[!!] I think it's safe to say consistently, even! She has slept about 10 hours or more for the past 5 of 6 nights! How did I get so lucky?!

...still has beautiful baby blues. I'm hoping they stay that way, but we'll see. Leyton kept his but Jada's eyes are a mix between hazel and brown. I really can't decide what color they are.

...still a calm-natured little girl. She still seems to have a laid-back personality .

It is so fun watching her start to interact with us. Every month will continue to be so different as she adds to her 'tricks'. 

Lucky number five!

So, the candles say 72, but Leyton really turned 5 on Saturday! [I had to get creative with the candles at the last minute. I couldn't find any in the cabinets besides these so we went with it. 7-2 = 5. It worked and Leyton got a math lesson at the same time! ;)]

At 5 years old, Leyton...

...is 49 pounds! [I think he's been 47-49 pounds since he turned 4.]

...is 49 inches [he's proportinate, right?! ;)]

...is a great big brother! I love hearing him talk to both of his sisters.

...loves sports. Baseball, soccer and football are on the top of his list.

...is finishing up his last year of preschool and will start kindergarten in the fall. Crazy!

...loves racecars and is getting his own taste of "racing" in his new go kart Pa built for him.

...is well loved!

We celebrated dinosaur style with our family and a few of Leyton's friends. I always have such a fun time searching for ideas to fit the theme the kids decide on for their special day. Leyton is loving dinosaurs so naturally, he chose a dinosaur party. Here are a few photos of our 5 year old bash!

When I asked Leyton if he wanted to play any games, he mentioned Pin the Tail on the Donkey. Since donkeys weren't exactly related to dinosaurs I changed the name of the game to Pin the Tail on the Dinosaur and drew a cute little dinosaur and cut out a few tails for the kids to pin. They had fun trying to find the perfect spot for their dinosaur tail, although it seemed the majority of them wanted to feed the dinosaur her tail.

Thanks to Pinterest, I found a lot of cute ideas for decorations. I created this cute little banner that hung from our back porch. It said "ROAR! Roar means Happy Birthday in dinosaur!"

Another idea I stole shamelessly from Pinterest was for the food table. We had food for the herbivores [veggie/fruit tray and cole slaw...not sure where my picture has gone], carnivores [hot dogs and sloppy joes], and...

'sweetivores' [cake pops, cupcakes, and dino eggs]. I snatched up some jelly bean eggs on clearance after Easter and made little bags of dino eggs for the kids. I also found little mini dinosaurs at the Dollar Tree to use as cupcake toppers.

We all had a great time celebrating Leyton! He is such a smart, fun, kind, independent and sweet little guy. He brings such joy to our lives and we couldn't be more proud of the little man he is becoming. It's hard to believe he's 5 already but at the same time, it's like he's always been a part of our lives. I can't wait to see what the next 5 years will bring.

We love you, Leyton!

7 weeks

Lyvia finally had her one month doctor's appointment this week...at 7 weeks.  We've been changing insurances and have had to wait on it all to be finalized before we could take her.  Talk about annoying, although, putting off getting immunizations has been fine with me.  That poor cry after getting poked is about the saddest thing ever.  The poor girl wimpered for quite awhile...broke my heart.  :(  But, she had a great report from the doctor...all is well!  :)  She is growing like a weed!!  She weighs 12lbs 8oz (87th percentile) and is 22.5 inches long (67th percentile).  She seems like she's grown more than an inch, but I guess it's just because she isn't curled up into a little ball anymore.  Since Leyton was a wee one, I have kept a growth chart online.  It is fun to go back and look at how each of the kids compares in size to the others.  At 2 months, Leyton was 14lbs 10oz (95th percentile) and 23.25 inches (64th percentile) and Jada was 12lbs 4oz (85th percentile) and 22 inches (46th percentile), so Lyvia falls right in the middle of the two.  I'll post more about how she's changing on her two month birthday next week. :)

20 questions with Leyton

So I joined Pinterest last night. Maybe it was a bad idea, maybe it was a good idea. Bad idea because I don't want to get sucked in for hours and hours like I've heard from other people. Good idea because I've already found some great things that I want to do with my kids, recipes that sound delicious, and great ideas for Leyton and Jada's birthday parties this year! That being said, I found this idea on Pinterest and since it's pretty close to Leyton's 5th birthday, I thought I'd go ahead and start. The idea is to ask these same questions every year on [or close to] your child's birthday and see how they change over the years. Cute, huh?! Well, here goes!!

1. What is your favorite color? "Uh, blue and green...are you giving me a test??"

2. What is your favorite toy? "Racecars and bouncy balls!"

3. What is your favorite fruit? "Oranges and apples."

4. What is your favorite tv show? "Power Rangers Dino Thunder and The Fairly Odd Parents"

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? "Let's see, enchiladas...no, no, not enchiladas! Cut that out, cut that out!! It's Little Caesar's pizza and breadsticks and the Tomato Place's [Fazoli's for those who might be wondering] white sauce spaghetti."

6. What is your favorite outfit? "My batman pants and shirt."

7. What is your favorite game? "Mario baseball for the Wii and the Cars game."

8. What is your favorite snack? "I'm not gonna tell ya, ya have to guess! Fine, it's animal crackers and jelly beans."

9. What is your favorite animal? "Elephants!"

10. What is your favorite song? "The Power Rangers song at the beginning of the show." [He then attempted to hum the song to me because I have no idea what that song is. :)]

11. What is your favorite book? "Any kind of book, I guess."

12. Who is your best friend? "Micah B. and Micah M. and Cameron"

13. What is your favorite cereal? "Cinnamon toast crunch."

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? "Play baseball. And play soccer. Do all kinds of sports... baseball, soccer, football...all of 'em!""

15. What is your favorite drink? "Juice and milk and water." [This kid is indecisive like his mother!!]

16. What is your favorite holiday? "All of them are my favorite. How can I choose one?! They're all the best!"

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? "Buddy [his teddy bear we made at Build a Bear for his 2nd birthday] and snakey."

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? "Let's see, let's see. Cinnamon toast crunch."

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? "Cake and ice cream. That's it."

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? "A firefighter or a superhero."

I must say, this was quite fun. I hope I remember to ask these questions again next year!!

Easter

We had a great Easter weekend! We started the day off with a great church service, then headed to Greensburg to celebrate with my family. The majority of my family hadn't met Lyvia yet, so it was nice for them to finally get to see her. We had a yummy lunch then headed out to Gpa's for the annual Easter egg hunt.

We attempted to get a cute picture of the kids, but the sun was just too bright for their little eyes. This is the best we could do. I'll take it. :)

Leyton and Jada had a blast running around Gpa's yard "looking" for eggs. The didn't have to look far. The yard was covered in eggs. They could barely take a step without stepping on one. All the kids ended up with overflowing buckets! My sister and I were reminiscing about the eggs we used to hunt as kids. I'm pretty sure they weren't stuff with candy and there might have been a total of three dozen for the ten of us grandkids.

At the end of the day Leyton's comment was, "Mom, I will never forget what Easter is all about...the day Jesus arosed!"

A little mud never hurt anyone...

Baseball season is in full swing. We have spent many of our days cheering on the Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats thanks to the great spring weather that has arrived so early. Usually it's far too cold to enjoy the games, especially with small children. This year, though? The weather has been perfect! Last week, a little rain came through and created the perfect mess for two little two year olds to enjoy at the baseball field. Jada and Nicholas had so much fun playing in the mud. I had fun watching the game pretending to ignore the fact that my daughter was covered in mud from head to toe. :)

Even covered in mud she is adorable!

.:One Month:.

Big brother love!

Two cuties!

I know, Lyvia...I can't believe you're a month old already either!

Isn't she a beauty?

At one month old Lyvia...

::eats about every 3-4 hours.

::sleeps great in between feedings and is beginning to have more and more content, alert time.

::doesn't cry unless she's hungry.

::goes to bed around 11pm and doesn't wake up until sometime between 4-5am to eat. I can't ask for much more than that! :)

::doesn't seem to mind tummy time. She has been known to lay her head down and fall asleep when she gets tired of holding it up. She doesn't really even fuss to be flipped over.

::has rolled over twice from her belly to her back during tummy time. The first time was at two weeks old.

::doesn't love her pacifier like her big brother and sister did. It helps keep her content while waiting on a bottle, but if she's not hungry she doesn't really care to have it.

::sleeps in the bassinet in mommy and daddy's room, and probably will until I go back to work.

::loves to swing.

::has definitely gained weight, but I'm not sure how much. We go to the doctor next Monday.

::is well loved by Leyton and Jada. I think Leyton proves that in the above pictures. They both love to hold her every chance they get.

Happy one month birthday Lyvia Jane! We love you!

Prayer

I love the things that Leyton says. He says some of the funniest things and I wish I would have been better at writing them down. [Note to self: do better with Jada and Lyvia!] Tonight as I was putting Leyton and Jada to bed, I asked them if they had prayed yet. They hadn't so Leyton said he knew a good prayer. This is how it went:

Leyton: "Tick, tick, tick tock. Now it's time to pray. Thank you Lord for this great day. Please help me to find my DS pens. Please help me to not have any bad dreams. Amen."

Me: "That was a great prayer, Leyton!"

L: "Well, I forgot something. I forgot to pray for everyone we know!"

M: "You can pray again."

L: "Tick, tock, tick tock. Now it's time to pray. Thank you Lord for this special day. Please help me to find my DS pens. Please help me to not have bad dreams. Please help my Grandma and Poppa to get home to Michigan safely. Help my great grandpa..." He looks at me and says, "How many great grandpa's do I have?

M: "Three. Poppa's dad in Michigan, Pa's dad in Greensburg, and Mamaw's dad, Gpa."

L: "Right, three. Please help my great grandpa in Michigan....what's his name, Mom? Who is he again?"
M: "Ray. He's Poppa's dad."

L: "Right, Ray. He's Grandma's dad too!"

M: "No, just Poppa's dad."

L: "Well, how come every time we go there Grandma says 'Hi, Dad!'"

M: "She calls him dad but he's just Poppa's dad."
L: "Oh...Please help my great grandpa in Michigan and my other great grandpa, but not Gpa, to be healthy and strong. Please help my great grandma, that's GG, to walk better because she doesn't walk very good, ya know. Amen."

M: "Great job. Why didn't you pray for Gpa to be healthy and strong?"
L: "Because he's not sick."

Love it.

Lyvia Jane

Meet Lyvia Jane!

Born Friday, March 2nd at 1239pm.

9lbs 3oz 21.5 inches

I went in to the hospital at 6am Friday morning to begin the induction process. By 7am, my IV was in, pitocin started and the dr broke my water. It wasn't long after that that the contractions started getting stronger. By 1030, I was given an epidural and not much more than 2 hours later, Lyvia was born! It was quite a fast process! The delivery wasn't as difficult as Leyton's, but definitely not as easy as Jada's. My epidural seemed to work really well on the left side of my body, but didn't really work much at all on the right side. It was better than nothing, but still rather painful during pushing and delivery. Luckily, Lyvia wasn't too stubborn and was delivered after 2 1/2 pushes in a total of 7 minutes! Record time for me!! :)

It's hard to believe that she'll be 4 weeks old tomorrow! She's a pretty laid back little girl so far. She reminds me a lot of how Leyton was as a newborn. As long as her tummy is full, she's pretty content. If her tummy isn't full, she's not afraid to let me know. Although she seems to have the demeanor of her big brother, she looks a lot like her big sister. I've caught myself calling her Jada more than once...oops!

Leyton and Jada have adjusted well up to this point. I was a little scared of how Jada was going to respond to not being the baby anymore, but she has done great. She is perfectly fine with not being the baby...in fact, she's the first person to tell me that she's not a baby! Like most little girls her age, she is a little mother. She loves to help with Lyvia, whether it's putting the pacifier in her mouth or trying to calm her when she's crying. The other day, I was getting ready for the day and Lyvia was starting to get fussy on the living room floor. I overheard Jada trying to calm her by saying, "it o-tay Wyvia...momma comin!" It's so cute to hear her being a little mother hen.

Leyton is a great big brother as well. He tries his hardest to keep Lyvia happy too. He came to me the other day and said that he kept trying to give Lyvia her pacifier but she kept spitting it out and crying. He said, "I keep rubbing her face but that's not working either!" How cute.

Lyvia is a great sleeper! As much as I love cuddling and snuggling her every chance I get, I also love the fact that I can put her in her bed awake after a middle of the night feeding and she'll fall asleep without having to be rocked or held. I remember having to rock Leyton to sleep and wait a good 30 minutes before I could put him in his bed. Then, I'd have to put him down as gently and quietly as possible, trying not to make a sound walking away or he'd wake up extremely unhappy and we'd have to start the process all over. I was rather sleep deprived for quite a long time after he was born, but I've felt pretty good this time around. What a blessing! I need my sleep to function with three little ones around now!!

Lyvia is a great addition to our family and we are very blessed.

My new favorite cookie!

I'm pretty certain I have just discovered my new favorite cookie. Prior to today, I probably would have said that my mom's peanut butter temptations were my favorite [peanut butter cookie with a reese cup in the middle..yum], but I think I might have a different answer if ever asked what my favorite is. Now, the chocolate turtle cookie has taken over the top spot in my book! [Don't worry, the peanut butter temptations are a very, very close second. I don't like ties or I might say it's a tie.] Here's a play by play of how to make them, with my cute little helpers, of course!

Chocolate Turtle Cookies

5 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1/4 cup butter [1/2 stick]

1 [14oz] can sweetened condensed milk

2 [7.4oz] packages chocolate chip muffin mix

2/3 cup pecans

48 chocolate covered caramel candies [I used caramel hershey kisses.]

STEP ONE: Place chocolate and butter in microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 2 minutes or until butter is completely melted.

STEP TWO: Mix chocolate and butter until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is smooth.

STEP THREE: Add can of sweetened condensed milk and stir until well blended.

STEP FOUR: Add both packages of chocolate chip muffin mix.

STEP FIVE: Stir until well blended.

STEP SIX: Put pecans in blender and finely chop.

[Somehow, I lost my picture of this step. I'm sure you can imagine what it looks like. :)]

STEP SEVEN: Spoon about 1 tablespoon of dough and roll into balls. [Leyton wanted me to prove I knew my letters. :)]

STEP EIGHT: Dip the bottom of each ball into the pecans.

STEP NINE: Place pecan side up on greased cookie sheet [or wax paper if you choose to dip them all at once.]

STEP TEN: Bake in 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes or until centers are gooey and cookies are crackly looking.

STEP ELEVEN: While still warm, place caramel kiss in center of cookie. [After trial and error, I learned it's better to allow the cookies to cool a few minutes on the cookie sheet before placing them on a cooling rack. Otherwise, you'll have pieces of cookie rather than a whole cookie.]

STEP TWELVE: Eat and be merry! [Be prepared for a yummy mess if you eat them warm. ]

You'll love them, I promise. I plan to share mine with my co-workers in a cookie exchange. I'm tempted to make a second batch all to myself. This whole being 29 weeks pregnant thing would go great with an entire batch of these cookies!! I'll refrain.

What a weekend!

We had a great weekend, packed full of fun! It all started on Friday with our ultrasound for baby #3. Guess what?! It's a girl!! :) I'm hoping this baby is a laid back, calm little girl, but will be happy with just a healthy little girl. One thing we did learn about baby #3 is that she has bilateral choroid plexus cysts. The choroid plexus is a gland in the brand and since it's a gland it is capable of producing cysts. In #3's case, hers have produced cysts. Alone, these don't mean much. In combination with other problems, these could indicate chromosomal issues. Thank goodness, she does not have any other problems. Her heart is perfectly healthy, as well as her kidneys and every other vital organ for that matter. The dr says that 5% of babies are born with these cysts and live with them for the remainder of their lives and have no side effects from them. The majority of the cysts go away on their own by 32 weeks gestation. We have a second ultrasound scheduled at 32 weeks to check to see if the cysts are gone or remain. I'm praying they'll be gone, just for the sake of my sanity. :) Feel free to pray along with me.

On Saturday, I had my first of many 29th birthdays. [I plan to be 29 for quite a few years now. Not sure how I'm going to like turning 30.] We headed off to the pumpkin patch with my parents and sister. The kiddos had fun seeing the animals and picking out pumpkins for themselves.

Leyton riding the pony at the pumpkin patch.

Josh and I waiting for the trolley to the pumpkins.

A windy trolley ride.

Afterwards, we had some great pizza from LaRosa's in Batesville. It was quite possibly some of the best pizza I've had in awhile.

Me and sister waiting on yummy pizza.

We ended the night with pumpkin carving and a bonfire at my parent's house. It was a great birthday!

The weekend was topped off with Jada's 2nd birthday party. We decided to host a costume party and what a great decision that was. I originally just expected the kiddos to come decked out in their halloween costumes, but my family went above and beyond. My parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and even my grandpa joined in the festive fun and dressed up! They've now decided this needs to be an annual event. :) Jada had a great time as did the rest of the family. Needless to say, it was a hit!

Birthday Girl

We celebrated a birthday this week! Jada turned 2 on Monday. We had quite a day of celebrating and are looking forward to celebrating with a costume party with the whole family on Sunday. We had lunch at Fazoli's complete with strawberry cupcakes. After lunch we headed to the park to play and then we just had to try out the newest frozen yogurt shop in Marion, JuJu Berry. I've been looking for a good reason to go since it opened and I found one! [It was pretty tasty, by the way!] After all the afternoon fun, we headed back home for nap time. Jada is notorious for climbing out of her crib. [I know, I need to get her moved to her big girl bed.] After a couple hours of sleeping, I went to check on her and this is how I found her:

asleep in the rocking chair in her room. Apparently that looked like a more comfy place to sleep than her bed. :) Or, maybe she was just a bit too worn out to play one minute longer. Gotta love that girl!

Happy birthday, Jada! We love you!!

Leap Day

Well hello long lost friends! (If there are even any of you out there!) It's only been half a year since I last posted. That's not too bad, is it?! :) I'm sure much has changed since then. Let's see if I can remember the main things.

1. I think the biggest news is that baby #3 is currently baking. He or she will be making an entrance around February 29th...leap day. I'm praying this child listens and obeys when it comes to the date of his/her birth and chooses not to come on leap day. I have a feeling my wishes will not be granted though. Leyton arrived four days early, on Josh's graduation day. Jada arrived three days late, on the one day my mom had said she couldn't be born because she would be busy catering a wedding all day. See? It's gonna happen, just wait and see. (Feel free to hope with me that it doesn't, though!)

2. Leyton has started his 2nd year of preschool. He loves it, all except the cleaning up time. He's gotten in trouble twice that I know of for not being a good cleaner upper. Once he missed out on playing outside and the other time he had to sit in time out for two minutes. He's not very good at helping with clean up time at home either. We have a daily battle getting him to pick up his toys. His favorite line during that time is, "It's hard work, Mom!" Any suggestions on making this any easier would be greatly helpful!

3. Jada is going to be 2 years old in just a few short weeks. It's hard to believe, but at the same time, it seems like she's been around forever! She's quite the pistol. Definitely fits in with the boys better than the girls. Meaning, she's rather rough and tumble. She loves to climb, jump, run, play in the dirt and be mischievious. She's especially good at the last. Speaking of climbing, she decided it'd be a great idea to attempt to climb up Leyton's dresser a few weeks ago. You can probably guess what happened. The dresser toppled right over on top of her! Thank goodness she didn't get hurt, besides the rather large bruise over her eye. It definitely could have been much worse. Needless to say, it scared me to death!

I think that hits on the news for now. I'm going to attempt to be better at updating. Maybe I'll even try to update once a week. I won't make any promises, but I will do what I can. Have a great week!

Snowy Days

Of course, just like everyone else in the midwest, we have been snowed in this week. Not only have we been snowed in, but we've been dealing with a lovely stomach virus. It started with Jada last Friday and has finally [I hope!] ended with me today. Not a fun time to be snowed in, but I guess it worked out pretty well since Josh was able to stay home from work with the kids due to the weather while I was under the weather.

We finally ventured outside for a bit today. Leyton was itching to play in the snow and was pretty impressed that he could defy gravity and walk right on top of it! He had a great time racing his trucks over the ice covered snow. Jada? Well, she wasn't so sure of all the white stuff.

These trucks look like a cartoon version of Ice Road Truckers. Kinda makes me laugh...maybe it's just me.

[I think this might be one of my new favorite pictures.]