Friday, June 10, 2011

Jackson- 35 months

In 1 month exactly Jackson will be a 3 year old.  I don't know where the last 3 years have gone, but they have been the most AMAZING years of my life!  Of  course I will continue to say this until teenagerhood, but until then it's amazing.

Everyday Jackson learns something new, it might be a new phrase, understanding, feeling, or action... but he is learning ALL the time.

Likes:
  • Tractors... specifically John Deere Tractors.  My parents got him a John Deere Tractor movie while he was staying with him and he cries for it all the time.  It's got some catchy tunes and lots of great information, but 1 time a day is definitely enough!  While watching the John Deere movie he plays with his tractors uses the technical names and overall just enjoys playing farm.  He takes a bucket full of tractors to bed with him and first thing in the morning he talks about them to us.  He takes them in his Elmo "packback" (backpack) wherever we go.  He doesn't like for me to play tractors with him, but loves Grandmas and Grandpas and Uncles and Aunts to play with him.
  • Curious George, Clifford, and Wild Kratts- all PBS shows.  It's so funny when he is playing he will reenact one of the shows.  He also likes for us to read him Clifford and Curious George Books. 
  • Books- this kids loves books.  Books about trucks are his favorite, but he likes anything.  We try to read some of the same books to him and then ask him  to "help" us read.  He is really good at this.  He can also answer lots of questions about the books that we read.  I often ask him how the characters are "feeling" in the story by looking at pictures and the other night, he asked me how Emily Elizabeth felt.  Very cute.
  • Playing golf- He and Daddy head out to the golf course at least once a week in  the golf cart.  It's so darn cute!  He puts his plastic golf bag into the back.  "Tees off" with Daddy, then RUNS back to the golf cart to put everything away (golf ball has to go in the front).  And then they are off to find the golf balls.  He talks about using his putter when we are playing in the yard.  Super cute.
  • Boats- we bought a camper on the river this year and now he talks about the Mississippi River and riding in Daddy's boat.
  • Working in Grandma Donna's Garden.  He planted some plants with her and was so excited to hear they were growing.
  • "Doing my work"- this is anything that Daddy is doing.  Especially mowing the grass and working with tools.  Today Andy was lowering the crib and Jackson had to come downstairs to get his toolbox.
  • Playing outside and doing anything he can out there.  He has a riding lawnmower tractor that he is always wanting to ride.
  • Food:  Mac 'n' Cheese, hot dogs, peanut butter and jelly, fish, shrimp, pasta, pizza, chicken fingers and some other chicken, any and all fruits, cinnamon toast crunch, milk, waffles, french toast, pancakes
Dislikes:
  • Leaving  Mommy.  He cries a lot  when I leave him anywhere, but stops almost as soon as I am out of sight.
  • Doctors- he has had a lot of ear infections and just hates for anyone to put anything in his ears or  look in his ears or by his ears.
  • Vegetables- he picks them out of his food and won't eat them.  Every once and awhile we can get him to eat carrots and corn.  he will also eat veggies if they are hidden inside pizza.
  • Most of what we serve him at dinner... just isn't into it.  But we make him try it!
Fun things he has said recently:

  • While trying to teach Maxwell to crawl on his hands and knees:  He turns around and puts up his hands and says to Maxwell, "Hears the deal, you crawl like this."  
  • When going to bed:  "hold on a second", "wait just a minute", I'm scared of...., I'm hungry, I'm sick, I need medicine, I forgot my....  Anything to get out of bed.  It started when he was sick after his surgery a couple of weeks ago.  We are working at getting him to stay in bed again. :)
  • Ziggity, Ziggity, Ziggity, SOLD!  We went to a cattle auction last weekend and he loved the auctioneer.  He danced around and pretended to be the auctioneer.  Now at home he does this too.
  • "He's such a cute baby", "I love him", "Be careful Maxwell"-  he loves his little brother.  He is so good to him (except when Maxwell is playing with something he wants) and tries to make him laugh all the time.  This is especially nice in the car, because they start giggling at each other.
  • "Mommy, I  wait for you in the pink chair. You pick me up. All the kids are asleep."- in regards to daycare.


 
 Jackson with his Grandma's last weekend


What he can do:
  •  
  • pull up his pants
  • put on his shoes
  • put on his coat/take it off
  • brush his teeth (we have to help, but he's got the motion)
  • pick up his toys
  • put his dishes in the sink (he cleans off his plate, too)
  • get out of the house (into the garage)- not so good
  • unhook his lawnmower tractor so he can play with it.
  • play with other kids without fighting for awhile- he is getting better at daycare playing with the other kids and getting over me leaving fast.
  • Talks to EVERYONE.  He talks about tractors, his school, what he plays.  It's so funny!
He is becoming very very head strong.  He whines when he doesn't get his way, fights us to do things sometimes and is all around stubborn.  I have noticed though, most of this happens when he is very tired or hungry, so if we can avoid those two situations we are mostly golden.

He's such fun to have around!!  We love him!

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Maxwell- 7 Months

Where have the last 7 months gone???  Yesterday my baby boy turned 7 months old!  Wow!  He is such a sweetie!

What Mr. Maxwell Allan is up to these days....
  • He is ALL over the place.  He crawls wherever he wants to be... usually where Jackson is (he started this about a month ago).
  • Teeth- he's got his bottom front teeth (they are not all the way in, but they are definitely peeking through.
  • Eating Avocados... he is still NOT a fan of solid food.  Not sure what to do, but keep offering it to him.  He liked avocados much better than green beans.
  • He can pull himself into a STANDING position if he is seated.  This started just yesterday while we were at the Children's Museum in La Crosse.  He and Jackson were in the boat and then he grabbed the steering wheel and pulled himself up, over and over again and would stand there for quite awhile!  Of course I didn't have my camera- just my phone.  So I have to find the adapter to get those pics up.
  • Watches TV a little bit... right now he is watching the "John Deere Movie" with Jackson.
  • He follows Jackson around all the time.  They usually play well together, of course Jackson takes toys from him, but he doesn't seem to mind much.
  • Eats ice in his little mesh sucker.
  • Giggles and laughs all the time, especially if you are playing with him when changing his diaper.
  • Found his wee-wee.
  • Hates his carseat... but will sleep in it mostly.
  • Still nursing every 3 hours when awake.
  • Sleeping- wakes about 8:00-8:30am, naps around 10am, wakes about 30-45 mins later, naps around 12:30-1:00pm wakes around 3pm, naps around 6pm for 15-45 mins, bed by 8:30pm or a meltdown happens.  He sometimes will wake around 3pm.  We are trying to do cry it out, but some nights we are just not ready for it.
  • Plays with lots of toys and likes to get things out of a box.
  • Fussy when hungry or tired, rarely cries otherwise!
I have to take his picture today, so no picture right now.  Tomorrow. :)

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

June 6- Books

My Kindle is my book these days- unless you count Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel!

I am currently reading Totally Desperate Mom by Wendy Hagen.  I just finished the newest Sookie Stackhouse novel and newest Emily Giffin book.  This has been Awesome for me since we don't live near a bookstore, I can order my book and within 30 seconds I can be reading!!

Check out my past photo challenge photos.

June 1- self portrait
June 2- Shoes
June 3- Hands
June 4- Clouds (haven't been clouds just one big cloud, I'm waiting on this one)
June 5- Breakfast
June 6- Books

Photo Challenge from:  A Feathered Nest

Photo Challenge -June 5 Breakfast

This is my breakfast most days... a Luna Bar (Blueberry Bliss or Chocolate Peppermint Stick) and a Diet Coke.

  
Check out my other photo challenges:

June 1- self portrait
June 2- Shoes
June 3- Hands
June 4- Clouds (haven't been clouds just one big cloud, I'm waiting on this one)
June 5- Breakfast
June 6- Books

Photo Challenge from:  A Feathered Nest

Photo Challenge June 3- Hands

This is where my hands often end up....







Check out my other photo challenges:

June 1- self portrait
June 2- Shoes
June 3- Hands
June 4- Clouds (haven't been clouds just one big cloud, I'm waiting on this one)
June 5- Breakfast
June 6- Books

Photo Challenge from:  A Feathered Nest

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Swing Set and Little Birdies


We decided about 2 weeks ago that our kiddos needed a swing set to play on.  We looked online and WOW were things expensive.  $1200 for a swing and slide?!?!  So we were ready to head up to La Crosse and get the stuff from Menards... but then my GENIUS husband (don't tell him I said that), thought to look on Craigslist... low and behold, there was one about 20 minutes from us.  We called and that night went to pick it up.  Jackson and Maxwell are going to have hours and hours of fun!!!  While we were waiting for Daddy to get the swing set loaded, we saw some baby birds... just hatched.... adorable!!! :)


Friday, June 3, 2011

Last week

Last weekend was pretty eventful for our little family... It all started Tuesday (5-24) when Jackson had a new set of tubes put in his ears and his adenoids removed.  He then proceeded to get a stomach bug and vomit all over- us and the house.  Maxwell was also under the weather that day, but he is always puking, so we didn't know the difference.  They both got diarrhea, too.  No fun!

But having sick kids didn't hold us back (hey, we didn't KNOW they were that sick).  Tuesday night we headed to Harpers Ferry (20 mins from us) to look at a camper and campsite.  We liked what we saw, but needed to sleep on it.  So we headed home and that's when Jackson got sick.  We thought it was due to his surgery and didn't think much of it.  Just kept pushing the liquids.  He even got to take... gasp... juice to bed with him!!  (this is huge, cause we don't let him have juice on a regular basis).  Wednesday we headed to LaCrosse to look at some more campers- just to wrap our head around the whole idea.  Got some good information and figured we
Publish Post
weren't getting too bad of a deal...so we bought a camper.

Here it is...


Now I have a few inside decorating ideas to accomplish before we show off the inside... those will be before and after photos I believe. :)

What I hadn't said about last week was the suckiest part (aside from 2 sick kids)... 2 sick parents!  Both Andy and I got the stomach bug at the same time!  I got it at 1am and he at 5am.  I puked and had potty issues, Andy, no puking.  What really stinks is we had to suck it up for the kiddos and just live through it.  No offense to the men out there, but Mommies are SO much better at this.  Andy slept most of the day and felt much better than I did by Saturday morning.... however I am just feeling better today (Wednesday).  Yikes!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

June 2- Shoes

Photo Challenge- Day 2- Favorite Shoes

I love shoes.  I really love shoes.  I have tons of shoes.  I have tons of sandals.  However, the picture today is suppose to be of my "favorite" shoes.  These are the shoes I would choose to be my one and only pair (for summer)... Reef flip flops.  No, they are not fancy.  No, they are not expensive (relatively).  Yes, they are comfortable.  Yes, they are versatile. And YES they are washable. ;)  Not exciting or even that pretty, but my favorite.

Check out my past photo challenge photos.

June 1- self portrait

Photo Challenge from:  A Feathered Nest

Trip to the Zoo

While in Bettendorf a couple of weeks ago, we headed with Grandma Donna to Niabi Zoo.  It's a GREAT little zoo in Coal Valley, Illinois.  Perfect size for  a morning of walking around with little ones.  May was a nice time to go, because it was not too hot and you could see all the animals.  Only downfall was all the school groups getting "one last field trip" in, but it was great.  Jackson of course LOVED the train and could have ridden it all day long!!!


Wednesday, June 1, 2011

wedding

Memorial Day weekend was eventful!  We all started to get better from our various illnesses and one of our college friends got married!!  If 12 years ago I had looked to that day... I wouldn't have expected to be at that wedding, but I am so glad that we were!!!

Lucky for us we got to spend the day and night with our friends Scott and Lindsay, they live in Atlanta and it was so great to get to just talk!  Andy and I both had a great time catching up.  We are going to hold them to a fall meet up!!! :)

June Photo challenge- June 1

I found this while surfing online the other day and decided I wanted to give it a try.  The challenge is to take a picture each day- there is a specific shot for each day.  Since I am trying to learn new things about my camera and use it in different ways, I thought this would be PERFECT for me to try... especially since it's June and it's actually sunny around these parts.


Here is the LIST
June 1- Self Portrait

This was ... interesting... I took about 40 pictures of myself in the mirror, sometimes not even getting a little bit of me in the mirror.   I have new respect for all those bloggers out there that take pictures of themselves in the mirror.  I took the picture in our master bath for 2 reasons... First and most importantly, it was clean, because I cleaned it TODAY while Jackson was at Daycare.  Second, it was the only room with natural light and a mirror... but the gray walls really eat up the light and it was hard to get a good picture even right next to the window.  I think most of my photos turned out grainy because I had to use a high ISO... but oh-well!!