Check-ups...

On Monday I had my 15 week check-up. I took the kids because I figured it would be a fast appt and it might be fun for them to hear the babys heartbeat. They did well in the waiting room (we read a book), but Brody starting getting a little too curious in the room they took us to, so I had to whip out my phone as a last resort. They sat well the rest of the time! Everything looked good and we heard the heartbeat (it was in the 150s). I got to schedule my next appt for my ultrasound and then we headed downstairs for some blood work. That was unexpected on my part, but the kids did well since they still had my phone! Jack looked a little wary when he saw the needle and the tubes of blood but I assured him it didnt hurt and he seemed ok by that! It was quick and painless and then we were on our way home! 22 more days until we get to go see our baby again!! 

Jack had his 5 year well child visit today. He weighs 40.4 lbs (50-75%) and is 42 3/4 in tall (50%). He passed his hearing test (sometimes I wonder if he can hear me when I am talking to him because I have to repeat myself so many times, but I guess it is just selective hearing) and his eyes are great! As an added bonus, he didnt have to get any shots! He even got to listen to his heartbeat with the stethoscope! I had to laugh a little though because as the doctor was checking Jack he said he needed to check in his underwear. He was explaining that he should never let anyone look in there unless mom or dad says it is ok. As he was explaining this to Jack, and asking me if it was alright, Jack pulls down his pants and underwear. Guess we need to work on that some more! Still so young and innocent! The appt went really well and I still cant believe he will be in kindergarten next year!

Happy Birthday Jack!

Jacks birthday was on Saturday! I cant believe he is 5! He is obsessed with Star Wars (and now so is his younger brother)! He still loves to read (which I love) and is constantly spelling words that he sees around him and asking what they say. He has a very good imagination and is constantly telling me about what all of his little characters are doing! He plays well with Brody (when he wants to) and they love to play Star Wars, Angry Birds, and wrestle, to name a few. He still gets frustrated really easy and doesnt have much patience for things...we are working on that. He is getting better about staying in his room at night, but recently has come in to our room in the middle of the night to say it is an emergency and then tells us about the nightmare he just had. He loves his shows and any chance he gets to play Wii (which are few and far between because, lets be honest, I am the one playing not him). He eats about 4 helpings for breakfast but is usually not hungry for dinner because it is always something he doesnt like...you know, like chicken! And then he always asks us how many bites he has to eat before he gets dessert (he expects dessert after every meal...not sure where that came from)...um, all of it?! He can be a very sweet and loving boy when he wants to be, but we are still working on the whining and expectations he has of us doing everything for him whenever he wants. He is a wonderful part of our family and we love him very much!

On Saturday morning (Clay was still in AZ and didnt get home until about 6:30pm) the boys went downstairs to watch a show and I caught a few extra minutes of sleep! When I got up and went downstairs Jack informed me that I was supposed to have decorated the night before so that it was a surprise when he came down. Can we say 'worst mother award?!' Oops. He also informed me that I didnt say 'happy birthday' as he was coming down the stairs (both things we did when we celebrated my dads birthday over Christmas). So I tried to make up for it by making chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast! Then I cleaned the downstairs and Jack played upstairs while I hung balloons! We cleaned and played all day and then Jack got to choose where we went for dinner. His choice?? Mac Mac Donalds (or 'tries' as Brody refers to it)! The three of us went and had chicken nuggets and french fries! Then we came home and waited (some of us impatiently) for dad to come home and friends to come over for cupcakes and presents! We kept it simple this year! We had cupcakes, opened presents, and played pin the tail on Eeyore (it was from the Winnie the Pooh movie Brody got for Christmas and the kids have been waiting to play it)! Happy birthday Jack!

 Had to show the presents I wrapped! I thought they were cute...however, they were a little hard to open! Oh well!

Snow and Ice...

After our little snowfall it rained and then froze so there was lots of ice. I took the kids outside yesterday morning and pulled them around in the sled. We walked over to the park and the kids enjoyed knocking all of the icicles off of the play structures and attempting to go up the stairs and down the slides (the slides were a little faster since there was a layer of ice on them...bonus!)! Jack also admired several snowmen that had been built the day before! But we didnt last long since it was still raining. So Jack pulled Brody back home and we warmed up with another bubble bath!

Because of the ice around 300,000 people in WA lost power. They declared a state of emergency. Pretty crazy! We were some of the lucky few who didnt lose power (probably because the neighborhood is newer and there arent any large trees to crash into the power lines), but we kept hearing of more people around us who did...like our friends. So we told the Pedersens to come over and hang out. They came around 11am yesterday and ended up spending the night and most of today with us. Their power finally went back on tonight, but I am glad we were able to help out and most of all let the kids play! The kids and I needed the company! I knew we would go crazy if we didnt have anyone to talk to and couldnt go out!

**When the Pedersens came over Daniel brought his shovel and headed out to shovel our sidewalk...very generous! Our neighbor was outside and told him it was pointless to shovel because it would just turn into ice anyways (Washingtonians!?!). So this morning I looked out and found that our sidewalk (which had been shoveled) was clear and not frozen, while his was covered in snow and ice! I had a good laugh over that!**

I am glad that it is starting to warm up a little! I am also glad Clay is coming back tomorrow, we missed him!! He picked a convenient time to head down to sunny AZ!!

Snow...

Backing up a little...

Shortly after we got home from Indiana we met Clays cousin, Emily, her husband, Jason, and their two cute girls at Menchies for some ice cream! We love that they are so close and we can get together with them! Jack doesnt nap anymore and has been waking up so early (it was even worse right after we got back from Indiana)! We were just talking and I looked over to find him 'out' on Clays lap! Poor kid! He can fall asleep anywhere...pretty sure he gets that from me!

Last week Jack had a field trip to the library! I left Brody at a friends house and had a fun time with Jack one on one! When we got to the library we were waiting for everyone to show up and the kids were all running around, except Jack. The other kids kept running up to him to say hi and Jack just covered his eyes and hid behind me. He warmed up after not too long, but I had to have a little talk with him about how the kids will think he is not so friendly if he ignores them. I can totally relate because I am so shy too (I feel like I have gotten better as I have gotten older, but lets face it, I still have it in me) and it was probably because I was there, but it was sad for me to see him ignoring all of his friends I know he plays with. He really is my son! Anyways, back to the library! We got a tour of the library and then the librarian read the kids a couple of books. Then each kid got to pick out one book to give their teacher so they could take them back to the classroom. After reading a few books and picking 'the one' we stopped for an ice cream cone before getting Brody!

Potty training. I detest it. I am not so patient. It was as bad as I thought it would be the first time around, and the second time is just as bad! Except now we are busier, which makes it harder. The first few days were awful...lots of wet underwears and accidents and no success in the toilet. We had spent what seemed like a half hour in the bathroom the second night. Jack kept bringing books and we were all hanging out and nothing. I knew he would go once I got him off so I tried to hold out as long as I could, but I finally got him off. Not 5 seconds later he had peed on the floor. When Clay got home we were in the bathroom once more with no success. Clay said that all he needed was an incentive (I told him I had that) but he came back with some skittles and showed them to Brody who then proceeded to pee in the toilet. Really?! He is doing pretty well, but we have our good days and our bad days. It still hasnt clicked with him and I only put him in underwear for a few hours every day, but I figure we have 6 months before this baby comes to get him potty trained...we can do it right?! And how can you not love a kid in his underwears?!

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We dont get much snow around here, but if there is a chance for snow the state closes down. Tuesday school was closed and I am still not sure why. This is what it looked like outside...

They cancelled school last night (for today) because the 'super storm' was supposed to come! And in the morning we woke up to this...

Not an extreme amount of snow to some of you, but a lot to us! After we all got bundled up we headed outside to enjoy it! Jack kept eating the snow and Brody kept taking off his gloves and then getting mad! We started making a snowman but didnt get very far! Then we took a short walk around the neighborhood before calling it quits! We headed inside for hot chocolate and a bubble bath!

And while we were stuck at home with all of the snow, Clay was outside in the warm Arizona weather playing golf!

  

Videos...

Just a few random videos from the trip!

Brody singing to Beiber and Steven as his backup dancer!

TJ got this drum from his in-laws for his birthday. Clay started playing it and doing an Indian Chant and then had TJ take over the drum playing so he could concentrate on his dancing!

Short clip of Brody taking Kate for a little drive in the Jeep!

Christmas in Indiana...Part 6

Wrapping it up with a bunch of random photos from the week!

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Brynn brought her karaoke machine with her (grandma and grandpa bought her some cds for Christmas to use with it) and we all had fun! Lots of Justin Beiber blasting in the house that week! Brody was especially fond of the microphones and a little possessive. 

Brynn and TJ

Steven and Brody

Brody and Kate

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Not sure exactly how this all started, but TJ was sure he could bench press Clay. After a few failed attempts I tried to show Clay what he needed to do. Didnt go quite as planned...sure was entertaining watching him struggle under Clays weight!

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Lots of hugs and snuggles went around that week! The boys love their cousins...in fact I feel like I rarely saw them the entire week they were having so much fun!

 Dylan, Steven, Tyler, Jack, Brynn (Brody and Kate missing)

 Tyler, Uncle Steve, Jack

 Kate and Steven giving hugs!

Kate and Kelly

Kate and Grandpa

**Kate was so busy all week long and got into a lot of trouble! But she sure is cute and knows how to give great hugs!! Shes a keeper!**

Brody bonded with Kelly in church the last Sunday we were there. She put him on her lap and he was out within a few minutes (why doesnt he do that for me?!). Then later that night I found them cuddling on the chair before bed! Too cute!

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Brody was definitely a booger at bedtime. He would get his second wind and bug Jack. We either had to put them down at separate times or in separate rooms. Not exactly sure how we will put them in the same room here in a few months! One night we just let him stay up a little later and hang out with the adults! I think he liked all of the attention!

 Playing with Uncle TJ

'Give me 5!'

Watching sports with the adults!

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Jack got a much needed haircut while we were there! Clay took him and I think they did a really good job! He was walking past the couch and I told him I wanted to take his picture and he just stopped right there and posed for me! Love it! No prompting whatsoever!

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There were lots of iPhones, iPod Touches, iPads, and phones with games in the house that week. The adults were constantly on them and the kids caught on quickly! It was vacation right?!

 Yep, this is Dylan sound asleep with his finger still on the phone!

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 Steven and I playing with Brodys new Little People Happy Home!

This totally reminds me of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, when he is slithering around picking up all the toys! Love Dylan here playing with the train!

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 Brynn did our hair one day...yes, we all match!

Merry Christmas!