Bedtime Excuses

The boys like to pray before bedtime & they can get rather silly. Lucas, at 2.5 years old, thinks it's hilarious to thank God for poop. Usually I do not put up with it but his adorable belly laugh was cracking me up. 

"dear God, thank you for mommy. (Hugs me). Thank you for ... Mommy (hugs me). Thank you for daddy. Thank you for Jordan. Thank you for .... Poop!! Hahahahaha. Thank you for poop!!" - Lucas 

Jordan chimes in with: "thank you for pee!" I give him a look. "No mom, I'm thanking God for the letter P" 5 year olds should not be this clever. 

After prayers come the usual bedtime excuses.  Usually I'm frustrated but tonight was amusing. 

"Mom I hit Lucas in the eye but I said sorry" 

"Mom Lucas climbed in my bed and jumped on me". 

"Mom my blanket is messed up" "mommy I tripped on my blanket and have an owie" 

"my blanket is in the crib, I can't get it" "mommy I want my dump truck" 

"mom I want music" 

Catching Up

1. Jordan finished preschool in May & is going to kindergarten in the fall! Jordan grew so much this year during Pre-K and I attribute much of that to his wonderful teacher.  She was an answer to prayer & knew how to respond to and direct our active strong willed boy :) He loved her and was excited to go to school. There was a time I was uncertain Jordan would be able to go to kindergarten and do well, but he is! He loves learning and absorbing information (like his daddy), and he is doing well with sitting down and focusing for longer periods of time.  I look forward to seeing how he does in kindergarten.

Jordan's WONDERFUL Pre-K Teacher

At the Pre-K "graduation" ceremony.

2.  So far, this has been the summer of girls. We have been spending time with friends of mine who have all girls.  It's been a lot of fun & the boys are enjoying it.

Jordan kept telling Lucas to get out so he could give Grace a ride 

Summertime is ice cream with friends

3. We did VBA (Vacation Bible Adventure) at our church.  Lucas spent some time in the nursery & also with playdates I set up.  Thankful for wonderful friends who watched him for me! Jordan loved it & does the motions to the songs while we are in the car (but only in the car).  I worked with the 4th graders - I decided that I am much better suited to younger children :)

VBA

 4. Jordan is taking swim lessons & doing well.  By the end of the week he should be swimming all over the pool without water wings. I admit it still makes me nervous & I cringe, but hey, if the instructor says he can do it, then okay! After Jordan's swim lesson ends, two other friends & I take our kiddies to the pool. The boys are definitely loving pool time with their friends (all girls!).  

5. At the time of this post, I am 21 weeks pregnant. That is officially 5 months. The first trimester and beginning of the second I dealt with morning sickness and almost daily migraines. Now I am feeling normal again which is good because we have had one busy summer so far!! I collapse every day on the couch and it takes everything I have to stay awake until David is home from work.  Many nights I am asleep by the time he's done putting the boys to bed.

6.  In July, we are taking two trips to OR. One trip is the annual summer trip with David's family, and the other trip was spontaneously planned maybe two weeks ago.  Two round trips (driving) within 3 weeks.  The first trip up I am driving with my sister in law (who is flying down from OR the night before) and David will fly up to meet us for the 4th of July & drive back down with me. The second trip is the all four of us driving up to the OR coast. (brrrrr).  I want to get in a good & fun (busy) summer before I am unable to drive when I hit my third trimester (August).  I'm crazy, I know!

7. We found out that we are having a third boy! It's official, I am a boy mom.  We have not decided on a name yet - I figure we have until October. The thought of even coming up with a name in the midst of everything is just daunting! He may just be known as "baby #3" for a while! When I was taking Jordan to his swim lesson the other day, one of the girls that was around asked what I was having. When she found out it was a boy, she said "you already have a lot of boys".  Children - I love their honesty!

Jordan is 5!

What a year this has been for you my Jojo! A year of growth and maturity. A year of challenges and triumphs.

You are in pre-K this year and are doing so well! You are learning to focus & be still.  You write your name every chance you get & can read your name as well. You love math and science. I dare say you are already better at math than I am! You enjoy your class & your teacher. I love seeing you rush in to say hi to your teacher and promptly sit down to work on an activity. Your daddy & I had a wonderful meeting with your teacher to learn all about how you are doing in pre-k. My heart was so happy to learn of how much you are maturing and becoming ready for kindergarten in the fall.

Karate has been a new interest for you this year. You have to work really hard at sitting/standing still in line, and you'll get there! You are so good at karate! It makes me laugh when I hear the instructor ask "Jordan, are you here today?" and you very loudly say "YEEESSS SIR!" You keep telling me that when you are 7, you do not have to do karate anymore (you're going to play golf instead).  I love that the sports you pick are individual sports & about self control -- something you are certainly working on my dear boy :)

You continue to love being a big brother and are teaching Lucas so much.  The two of you go outside & explore in the backyard, dig dirt, and pretend you are super heroes. I love hearing you two interact with each other, although I have no clue what you are actually saying.  You introduce Lucas to others and tell them how old he is and that he's your little brother.  You encourage him when he is trying something new and comfort him when he is upset.

As you turn 5, you are going to be leaving those little boy/preschool years behind.  You are growing into such a kind, sensitive, smart boy. There are days you do or say something that is just so profoundly mature and I wonder when it all happened.  My heart stops for a minute and as I watch you I think "my first born, my baby, is growing up".

I love you my Jordan.  I love your laugh and your smile. Your questions and answers. Once, when I asked how you knew what happened on a construction site, you answered "I know how things work, all boys do".  I love that you tell me you need your mommy & curl up next to me.  I love your growing independence and your matter of fact way. I love that you pick flowers from the backyard and sweetly bring them to me. I love how fiercely you love our family, including our cat.

Fall 2013 (Remember, math & science are your strong suits!)

I pray this year is a great year for you as you learn new things and experience new adventures!

Jordan's 5th Birthday Party

Solar System theme

Sun Cake made my my mom 

Astronaut Jordan 

This is what happens when you try to get 5 boys to smile in the middle of eating

Thank you for coming to the party Astronaut Jonathan! I put together the Lego police car & take it everywhere!

Thank you for coming to the party Astronaut Ben! I love the Lego set!

Astronaut Jordan, birthday boy

Thank you for coming to the party Astronaut Levi! I love the hot wheel ramp! 

Astronaut Lucas

Red Light Green Light

This is just awesome

Duck Duck Goose (an attempt at it anyways)

Lucas decided to just run circles around everyone

Someone's being silly!

Setting up the bottle rocket 

Waiting 

You might need to expand the pictures, but you can see the stream of water from the bottle rocket. In Levi's picture, in the far right corner I actually managed to get a picture of the rocket. 

I realized after I took the pictures of the piñata that I should have moved to the other side. Oh well. 

Jordan had so much fun with his buddies at his party! Thank you for coming!

2013: A Year In Review

This year I decided to do a Christmas letter in our blog in lieu of sending out an actual Christmas letter. (Honestly, who keeps them? Do you?) 

Jordan: 

  This year was an bit of a roller coaster ride with our 4 year old.  A few weeks after Jordan turned 4 in March, we went to WA for David's grandfather's funeral. The same day we arrived, Jordan fell out of our hotel window 2 stories up. Praise be to God who protected our sweet boy.  He had a grade 3 liver laceration, but no broken bones and no lasting injuries.  In September, Jordan started Pre-K and more prayers were answered.  He has a wonderful teacher who understands that along with his high energy, there is a sweet and caring heart.  Jordan has been loving school this year. He can write his name (and Lucas's), and asks me to work on his school project with him. (A weekly packet that gets sent home). Jordan has started karate and is loving it. What a great outlet for his energy. Another change that happened over the past few months was taking Red Dye #40 out of Jordan's diet. Yes I was quite skeptical when I read about it, but I figured it would be a relatively easy thing to do and why not give it a shot. While Jordan is still your typically active 4 year old, he has calmed down a lot. The over the top tantrums and aggressiveness have dramatically reduced (and now only happens when he is overtired or ingests Red Dye unknowingly).  This simple change has made life so much easier for all of us, especially Jordan who says "Red Dye makes me mad. I can't have it". Hey, whatever works! He has been a champ since day one in understanding why he is unable to have certain foods, drinks or candy.  I look forward to seeing how my handsome boy continues to mature and grow in the next year! 

Lucas:

    This year was a big change for Lucas as he adjusted to Jordan going back to school.  He was 16 months old when Jordan fell, so he was too young to remember Jordan being in school prior to his accident.  When Jordan started school in the fall, Lucas was beside himself. Remember this picture from September? 

Thankfully, after a month, Lucas transitioned and started realizing that Mommy was not so bad to hang out with after all :) This little guy has been keeping up with his brother and gets his fair share of bruises and bumps.  He so badly wants to do everything his big brother does, and becomes extremely frustrated when faced with his limitations. When Lucas turned 2, he decided that he had to throw a tantrum every day, say 'no' and cross his arms while walking away. I still maintain that someone told him how a 2 year is supposed to act.  Approximately two weeks after Lucas turned 2, he decided that it was time to sleep in the bottom bunk. That was it - one night he asked to sleep on the bottom bunk and never went back to the crib.  I admit it has made bedtime more challenging as the boys play more now and Lucas is not great at staying in his bed until he has every toy and book his little arms can hold, including a green bucket.  I can tell that we are in for a different kind of ride with this boy as he enters the toddler/preschool years!

David & Stacy:
   David is keeping busy with working at Flextech, teaching music lessons once a week, and doing Crossfit three times a week. Stacy is always trying to stay one step ahead of the boys (not an easy task) and has discovered that she enjoys baking, especially when she is able to pass off the baked goods to others.