This and That

Lilly has hit some kind of emotional roller coaster and I am ready to jump off! She can be fine one minute and having a complete break down the next. We have taken away all of her toys, her blanket, and even her Christmas tree. Over the past week she also had to earn pennies to go to a birthday party. That seemed to work the best. I was seriously at my wits end with her mouth, but she is learning slowly to tell us what makes her angry. Usually clothes are the trigger for her meltdowns which means going to church on Sunday mornings is usually a battle of the will between me and her over tights and her sleeves being just the right length or fitting tight enough. We are even to the point her hairbows have to be tight and not floppy. I am SOOOOO NOT LIKE this, so I have no idea why she has these reactions. I also think she is battling for attention. SHe has been sleeping on the couch, which sounds cruel, but it is better than being in our bed. THis used to be Mommy and Lilly time. I have tried to make a point of doing something special with just her each night. We will see how the next few weeks go. I hope she gets better b/c I would hate to have to give her CHristmas presents away and that is the next step.

I do LOVE her and I just want others to see the good in her also. SHe can be so loving and kind. Today at a birthday party a little girl was crying and wouldn't leave her Mama (she was very shy). Lilly went right up to her and said "Come on with me and play." SO off they went. Sometimes it is nice to have an outgoing personality.

Jackson is still full of mischief. I am knocking on wood, but I don't know how we haven't been to the emergency room with him yet. He climbs anything and laughs when I catch him. I have had to take the bar stools out of the kitchen b/c he would climb onto the counter and throw dishes. After many spankings I felt it was best just to remove the temptation. He has now began sleeping with us from about 2-3am until morning. (GET rid of one, Get another) He also gets up when I get up and wants to be right under me, talking constantly as I get ready for work. He no longer cries when I leave, but says "Mama work? Be careful" He can be so darn sweet. He is putting more and more words together and it is so fun to hear him. He gets so excited that his words run together and do not make much sense. He LOVES CHristmas lights and whenever we pass them he says "OOOOH Mama Look" He has also starting to ask to go to Grans. At bedtime he says "JackJack go Gran's house"

I thank God multiple times daily for healthy children, who can express themselves. I also spend alot of time asking for patience.

Halloween

Lilly would be nothing other than "Belle" This has been her favorite princess since seeing the "Beauty and Beast" play last spring. She found fake hair at the DOllar Tree and I had to bribe her not to wear it trick or treating. I did find the hair hanging on the towel rack (very nicely laid out) the next day. This has become her most prized possession. She is not hard to please with gifts...the junkier the better.

Jackson was a cowboy. He doesn't like any kind of mask or costume. We went to a church carnival and a lady had on a butterfly mask...Jackson screamed like a girl and had everyone in the church looking at him.

I made the kids Ghost costumes to play with...they had fun for about 30 mins walking around saying "BOO"

Lilly took a beautiful Halloween picture at Gran's. We didn't have time before church Sunday to take one here...imagine that!

Jackson turns 2

I usually take the day off to spend with the kids on their birthday and we do something fun. Well both kids and Jonathan had been sick all week so I felt guilty not sending Lilly to school for the first time that week and Jackson doesn't play without Lilly. So for his special day we went to BJ's and then picked Lilly up from school. We did have lunch with Gran and Grandaddy and rode the "Lilly" car. JOnathan was able to get off early so when we got home Jackson was able to ride his new tractor and Lilly chased him on the Gator. It works much better having something for each of them to drive. Jackson's driving is still a little dangerous, but then so is Lilly's only because she doesn't pay attention to what she is doing.

So he got his tractor from Mama,Daddy, Gran, Grandaddy, Granny, and Papa and has loved every minute of it. He is too cute driving....it was worth every penny. His expression when he opened the tractor was priceless. He was fun to watch opening gifts this year. He was excited to open the gifts and actually acknowledged what was in them. A few 2 year old Jackson facts.
-He still LOVES Lilly, but has started to turn his mischief on her too. He can get the best of her and that makes me smile. When she is not here he asks for her constantly.
-Weighs 33lbs
-Extremely hot natured
-Hates wearing shoes and socks....could be a long winter.
-Calls the names of his friends at church. When you ask him who he played with at church his answer is always "Grace"
-Tries to say most anything you ask him to. He has quite mastered all the sounds, but I know what he is saying.
-"HUH" is his favorite word. We follow by Mam or Sir and he will say this and the next second "HUH"
-Very loving...comes up to you randomly and says "hold" and then gives a big hug and kiss
-Will no longer say "I love you" I miss that.
-Likes to talk on the phone, but will only say "Hey"
-Still loves Grandaddy with all his little heart
-When we call Heidi he promtly ask for Rob. When I asked Jackson who took him fishing "Rob" was his answer. He loves Rob too.
-All boy, rough and tumble. THis is still a new world for me.
-Don't know if it is the terrible two's or if a boy nature but there is a lot mischief coming out in the Little Fellow
-Holds his Mama's heart in his hand. Can look at me and say "PLLLEASE" and I have a very hard time saying no or staying mad.

Hats

Jackson loves hats and shoes. It doesn't matter whose shoes or what kind of hat. On this day it was a 90 plus degree day and he was determined to wear a tobogan.

Camping Continued

Jackson dumped the crickets for fishing into the grass and there was a mad dash to catch them.

Lilly packed make-up. I didn't, so I feel certain she was the only girl there with make-up on.

Dad likes this ugly yellow shirt for some reason.

Dakota dog (as opposed to Dakota Girl, Lilly's new friend at school and this is how she refers to them) was the only person to pose nicely for a picture. Jonathan and I were certain he was a bear during our first night. The dog was tied up, so there may have been some strange animal sniffing out tent in the night.

Grandaddy's Birthday Wish

CAMPING! IN TENTS! Not my idea of fun, but because he is my daddy and we like him to be happy we all (Mama, Daddy, Jonathan, Me, Kids, Heidi, Rob, Guy and Hunter) packed up and headed to the mountains. The weather was perfect, just right at night (though a little damp) and warm during the day. The kids went up early on Friday with Gran and Grandaddy and spent the day setting up our campsite. A food tent and our two tents. They also took the golf cart and Daddy even found a lawn mower and cut grass. ONLY TIM! We got up ate breakfast, went fishing, ate lunch, played and rode the golf cart. THe boys all left for about 2 hours with us in charge of 3 kids who didn't want to nap and nothing to really do. Us girls were not all that happy about that. It was a very relaxing day because there was nothing to do. We ate supper and then back to bed. It took about 2-3 hours to take down camp the next day and by then it was HOT which made me ill. THen it was a three hour drive home. THat was good sleep. I was most glad to be home in my bed and take a shower!

LUMPS for the Last Time

Lilly was finally able to start school again! Yeah for her and us! She loves school and has asked all summer when school was going to start. One day I told her we could play school and I would be her teacher. She replied "No, Mommy you are not my teacher and I need Ms. Ann, Ms. Kathy, and Ms. P-nut not you!" That was fine because everything I try to teach her goes in one ear and out the other. All summer she has wanted to spell new words. My thought was we could at least learn to spell Alford, she refused to learn that word. She now spells Heidi, Rob, Grand, Daddy, Mama, Granny, RoeRoe, and even yellow.

On my first day Jackson was NOT happy for me to go to work. The expression on his face tells all.

Jackson's FIrst Haircut

I was very sad to have the Little Fellow's hair cut, but he was really starting to get long curly hair. No more babies in our house. He is growing so fast and I just long for time to slow down.

Discovery Place

We spent a weekend with Heidi, Rob, and Dakota to end our summer travels. We were able to go to Discovery Place and the kids enjoyed it and Jonthan thought it was great. I knew he would like all the "building" stuff. Jackson liked the life size light-brite (really just banging the lights into place) and Lilly was busy going from one place to another. Heidi couldn't keep up and put me on Lilly duty while she took Jackson who was in the stroller. We had fun hanging out and eating good food!

Can You Guess

Can you guess where this little fellow hid the dog bowls?

Dark Rich Coconut

I was in the living room and Lilly came out
Lilly - "Mom I want dark rich coconut for snack"
Me - "What are you talking about?"
Lilly- "On TV there was a comercial for dark rich coconut and I want that for snack"

Almond Joy has had quite a few comericals on lately and she had just seen one. After I figured out what she was talking about I was amused. (We don't have those in our pantry, so she didn't get dark rich coconut for snack.)

Beach 2010

We have returned from our annual beach trip with the Hatcher's. Lot's of fun and Lilly and I would gladly move to the beach. She and I would go out in the morning to the beach and stay until lunch time. She easily entertained herself and even made friends. (imagine that) Jackson LOVED the beach and pool, however he was a lot of work and being in the ocean for some reason did a number on his allergies. He was happy to spend most of his time with Grandaddy. He did lock himself in the bathroom the first day there and we had to break the door handle out to rescue him. I was relieved he didn't eat anything while in the bathroom. Jackson's latest word "la,la" = Heidi. He has Rob down pat and as usually loved on Rob.

Snake, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails

Jackson is now 20 months old. WOW! So close to two and showing all signs of being all boy. He is still so very loving and sweet, but sure knows how to cause mischeif.
-Has pooped on the potty several times, peeing less (this is a challenge from a girl from an all girl world.)
-cookie, pee-pee, cold, hot, Lilly, Gran, Daddy, Mama, Papa, Granny, dog. chewing gum, go (he says whenever I stop the car), lawn mower, shoes, golf-cart, night-night, love you, corn, pop tart, juice, lawn mower, out, hold = most of his vocabulary
-LOVES to dance to music, he is supposed to sing in church Sunday, but I don't see that happening. He will be too worried about getting to Mama or Grandaddy.
-Cries when he is taken off the lawn mower
-Still really loves his Mama. Cries when I leave him, even if it is with Gran
-LOVES LOVES LOVES Lilly. I hope that she will one day realize how much he loves her and love him that much.
-Likes to sleep by himself in his bed
-Loves to talk on the phone
-Ketchup is his favorite food
-Makes cute silly faces
-Plays hard, but is very sweet in his play, he let's the bigger kid get the toy. We will have to work on taking up for himself.
-Takes 2 hour naps.
-Goes to bed at 8:30, sleeps about 12 hours. This is the only time he let's me hold him to sleep.

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

The past few months have been a little busy, but nothing new for us. Lilly had her first dance recital and I was amazed at how well all the little girls dances. She was our star for the night and had more flowers than I have probably ever had at one time. SHe was so excited to FINALLY dance on stage. Lilly also had her 3rd End of Year program at LUMPS. This year she sang every word and did all the songs. They sang the Macaran (with the months of the year), This Little Light of Mine (in spanish), and several other of their favorite everyday songs. She has given us so much to be proud of. Our goal this summer is to work on words and letter sounds. We will see how far my patience goes with that.

Cute

I want a new cute blog and then I have lot's to catch up on. Sadly I am having issues with this. SO just cute pictures for now.

Things I will Miss

Jackson is at the perfect age and I would love nothing more to than to freeze him right in this stage. I love hearing the new words he discovers, chasing bubbles with excitement, and kicking his chubby legs and squealing at the mere sight of a tractor. I love to see him push his tractor and make noises across the floor. I love for him to reach for my hand and lead me to the pantry where he then says "cookie". Right now he loves ME and chooses me over all others. I know this will be short lived. I think this is so special because Lilly has always loved me, but her Gran and Grandaddy just as much. When I am gone he calls for me and laying in his crib he has begun to call "Mama". Not something I am used to and makes it so hard to leave him. He can be so loving, but full of little boy mishcheif.

Lilly is also growing and it sure makes me sad, but so proud. She has slept in her own bed by herself for about a week now. (I am knocking on wood) Lilly sleeping with us never bothered me, but her Daaddy was no so fond of the arrangement. I love for her to grab her blanket and say "Let's snuggle up Mom". She still sucks her thumb when tired and sleeping and that is just precious. She loves princesses and now can quote from the movies she watches. (I think this is a guy trait!) I am so very thankful to God for two very precious children!

Easter Pictures