Summertime

Summer is slowly getting here up North. We haven't had many warm days, but last weekend it was finally hot enough for JJ to go swimming. I've been meaning to sign him up for swim lessons again this year, but haven't had a chance yet. He will be in the advanced class this year and able to jump off the diving board..... Oh, and I must tell everyone what a great job my nephews have been doing helping me out a bed time. They will sometimes stop over in the evening when JJ is getting ready for bed. Both Raymond and AJ will take turns reading to Jack - 4, 5, or even 6 books! Thanks boys.

JJ's Ride

Our little town recently had a one-day carnival/parade, complete with those scary, you might read about this-tomorrow type of rides. JJ loved the ponies, but then he insisted on riding on these tin can airplanes. We tried to talk him out of it, really, we did...


The Pony Ride

All is good

Then he wanted to ride these things. He was fine until he realized that the planes not only went round-and-round, they went up as well.

Here the plane is just starting to go up. He was looking around like, "What is happening??"

He stared at the ground until his plane "landed"

Another Bad Eye

This kid is just growing so fast. JJ is loving the nicer weather we've been having and has been spending much of his free time outdoors. He loves his new swing set and curly slide, playing at the "beach" (his sandbox), playing t-ball with dad, and playing basketball on a new hoop that my dad bought him for his birthday. His playing outside so much has resulted in another swollen eye (mosquito bite). We're up to #6 for eye injuries if you're counting. Here is a pic when it was starting to clear up.

We're still trying hard to potty train, but this kid has no desire whatsoever. He will sit in wet, poopy, stinky diapers all night if we'd let him. His teacher thought that we should really start pushing the issue now that he is three, so Jerret wanted to take her advice and force him to go on the potty. I, of course, insist that he will go when he is good and ready and until them we are all just wasting our time. The teacher asked us to send him to school in underpants, no diapers, along with a couple extra pairs of underwear and shorts. On day two of this trial I had a little boy who stood in the driveway crying after school one day because he had wet his pants. He was borderline hysterical and I had enough. I told Jerret I was done trying and not forcing the issue. Jerret still went along with the teacher's idea and at the end of the week, Guess What?! ..................................................................................................................................................Wrong! He is absolutely NOT potty trained and still doesn't care! The only thing we had to show for our (Jerret's) efforts was 5 bags of urine-soaked, death smelling, crunchy nasty clothes. Let's not forget the outfit he pooped in that sat in a grocery bag for 3 days before they reminded Jerret to bring it home. It was awful. So bad I had to throw one entire outfit out. The teacher must have felt bad because the next time I came in she was sure to let me know that she had personally washed Jack's wet clothing. She now realizes that JJ is still not ready.

We'll get there, we will. I just hope it's sooner rather than later!

He's Three!

We have been so busy lately, it seems like I can't even find a second to blog. By the time the kids have had their baths and are in bed each night, I have about 100 things to get done and blogging just gets pushed to the side. Sad for me....

Our little guy turned 3 last week. He is the size of a 5-year-old, but is still our baby boy. We took a cake over to Jerret's mom and dad's house and gave him his birthday present. Here he is waiting for the surprise...

He kept on telling us that he wanted a "Boom A-Chow" cake, which is his code word for anything related to the Cars movie. He had a store-bought cars cake last year, and I didn't want to get the same thing, so instead I went to Cold Stone and bought a yummy yellow cake with yellow cake batter ice cream inside. Then I ran into Wal-Mart and bought about 5 cars to put ontop. It was a chore trying to find cars that he doesn't already own, let me tell ya! He thought the cake was great and didn't even need a present after getting those cars off the cake.

So then we surprised him with his birthday present - a big boy bike!!! The excitement faded quickly after his first spill. Take a look at the video...

Our memorial day weekend was nice. We went out to dinner to celebrate Jerret's new job. I am sure he doesn't want me to mention this or make a big deal about it, but I don't care because we are proud of him. He is still doing glass engineering, which he loves, but is going from making drinking glasses to glass bottles (think beer). He is a technical leader for R&D and excited for the new challenge. So anyway - we went out to dinner at a local Mediterranean restaurant. JJ did very well, which I was a little nervous about because it is not really a kid-friendly atmosphere. This is Jack cutting his Shish Tawook, or chicken and rice...

After dinner we went over to Jerret's brother's new house to check it out. This is Jack playing in the back yard. Uncle Joe bought a 4-bedroom house and is a bachelor, so he said he would make a room for JJ to stay the night.

Lovin' Life

I think we have officially hit the terrible two's. Poor JJ has been pretty temperamental lately and fussy about different things - especially eating. The other day he smacked at Jerret and absolutely refused to apologize. We put him to bed early and I had a talk with him explaining that when you hurt someone or hurt their feelings, you need to say sorry and give hugs. He instantly gave me a hug and kiss, but when I told him that he needed to apologize to daddy, he cried and cried and said "no, no, no". He also squeezed Lynde a little hard (on purpose) the other day and again, would not apologize. It's crazy to think that his little mind understands that the words "I'm sorry" are indeed an apology and something that he didn't want to have any part of.

The Easter Bunny was pretty good to JJ this year except for one minor detail...Our Easter Bunny doesn't bring candy!! Can you believe it? Who is this rotten bunny anyway? I felt bad for the little guy so I gave him an extra pack of m&m's I had left over from helping my brother make baskets for his kids. We also had a good time coloring eggs, but we don't really like to eat the eggs so we just took a couple over to poppa.

Jack is loving his baby Lynde. He wants her to sleep in his bed so bad and every evening when we go to say goodnight, he will scoot over and say "Lynde lay here" so the other night I laid her down to make him happy. He was in 7th heaven getting to be with his sissy - that is until I had to take her back.

This is JJ's new toy at Poppa and Nana's house. He calls his horse swing "Black Beauty."

I'm Still Alive!

It's been a while...and I have the usual excuses.

I am happy to inform you all that it was exactly two years ago that we landed in Detroit with our baby boy - who is now getting so big :( Here is a pic taken inside the airplane. I'll never forget that I tried to calculate how many diapers we would need in our carry-on for the 20-hour trek...I guessed 9 would be enough. Wouldn't you know it, we needed 10. Those poor, poor people sitting around us.

JJ is doing great with his baby sister, Lynde. She is 3 months old now and he is constantly wanting to hold her, kiss her, and just help out with whatever she needs. He really wants her to be able to sleep in his bed with him. She was laying on the ground cooing, just making her baby noises, last week and JJ came running to me in the kitchen saying "Mom - Ninny talk, Ninny talk!" so I acted very excited and said "No Way! What did she say?" and JJ just looked and me and calmly replied "She say ham and cheese."

No clue where that came from.

Here are some recent pics of JJ at our local big blow-up jumpy place...

In Case You Were Wondering...

It's been a while, but if you were wondering what JJ has been up to, then check out this little video. Sorry about the quality, but the photographer was holding the baby in her other arm!

Here are some pics of Daddy and JJ partying in the basement after destroying the castle!

And Mr. Sockhand has returned...This is what I found twice last week when checking on JJ at naptime...