Ten on Tuesday

1. We have an independent walker!!!!
2. I am wanting to video her and post to the blog in the next day or two. She is proud of herself but also gets a little "stage fright" when all the attention is on her so I was waiting a few days for her to be more comfortable with herself.
3. Nevertheless, it is a new found freedom for her and we are SO THANKFUL!
4. Her favorite activity right now is to wash her hands (more like making bubbles with the soap in the sink and playing) but at least I know her hands are clean!
5. We are wrapping up our last week of soccer season. Saturday is our last game and it has been a LONG season.....!
6. Jacob's wish list for Santa is a Nintendo DS and a hot wheels track. Olivia is asking for a baby doll and a jack in the box toy. I have no clue where she got that idea from, but hopefully Santa can spot one soon!
7. Speaking of Christmas, our house is all decked out! Craig was off 5 days last week and we were able to get all the outside lights up as well as the tree and inside decorations.
8. We bought our first artificial tree this year. We have ALWAYS done real ones, but I must say I am enjoying this one. I love the fact that there is no water or pine needles to clean up!
9. "Elfy" made his first appearance yesterday and so far his presence isn't influence enough for a certain strong minded 3 year old I know :)
10. Is tomorrow seriously December 1st???

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving.....

From our family to yours!

Wordless Wednesday: Potty Trained

No more diapers!!!!

Ten on Tuesday

1. Not liking the fact that my A/C is on and it is 2 days before Thanksgiving!
2. Weekend before last Jacob was sick and now its Olivia's turn.
3. I think it is just a virus that is going around but thank goodness for Motrin! It is my saving grace for a grouchy 3 year old!!!!!
4. As if that wasn't enough, Craig broke his pinky toe a few nights ago!! He was chasing the kids around the house and hit the door frame with his foot. His toe was sticking out at a 45 degree angle.....it was so gross!!!!
5. I'll spare you the picture :)
6. It is unseasonably warm this week and does not feel like Thanksgiving at all! We are holding out for the cold front that is supposed to be here later in the week. Just wish it would get cold and STAY cold.
7. If you don't watch the show Parenthood on NBC, you should! You will love it!
8. Jacob is really into numbers lately. His little mind is always going and he is constantly spouting off his addition facts to me. Do you know what 6 plus 4 is mom??? He loves to show off, it's so funny!
9. He certainly doesn't get that from me :)
10. Olivia was up at 4am last night in tears. Hoping for a full nights sleep tonight! Whoops, nevermind. Just jinxed myself......might be a long night!

Friday Feast

Jacob is out of school all week for Thanksgiving so his class had their Thanksgiving feast last Friday. I was grateful to be able to go up early and help set up and then have some special one on one time with my favorite 1st grader!

They all sang a song before they ate. And then it was time to dig in on their plate of beef jerky, cranberries, popcorn, grapes, pretzels, cheese and a cookie for dessert!Can you tell he is excited to be showing off his new toothless grin???

Friends

Mrs. Lowe

Growing Up

Much to my disliking, our little boy is growing up! And much too fast, if you ask me!!

A few days ago he came home from school with this....

Maybe its just me, but I think he looks SO grown up in this picture!

And then a few days later, he came running off the bus and said, "Look mom.....my friend said it is about to come out!" He was pointing to his top left tooth that he had twisted backwards and was barely hanging there. I took one little tug and it came right out and then all of a sudden we had this....

This is his 4th tooth to loose, but the first one on the top. It left such a huge gap that it drastically changes his appearance (hint: welcome to the awkward years)! But I think he looks adorable.... holes in his mouth and all :)

Lastly, to top things off, last night he did something he has never done before. A rite of passage if you will............he had his first sleepover! A good friend was having a campout themed birthday and the plan was for the boys to sleep in tents in the backyard. As soon as he saw the invitation, he adamantly said he was NOT going to spend the night, much less sleep in a tent! Those are two things he had yet to experience and he wasn't about to do it without Craig or me there!! I decided to pack his sleeping bag and pajamas just in case he changed his mind.

Last night on the way to the party, he kept saying, "Are you really leaving me here? Will you please come back and get me after cake?" He even teared up when we first arrived at the party at the thought of me leaving him (Can you say momma's boy?) Please keep in mind that these are very good friends of ours and he has been to their house before!!! I assured him that he would be fine and that he was the oldest kid there so he needed to be brave. About 2 hours after I dropped him off, I got a phone call saying that he had decided on his own that he wanted to spend the night! He was having so much fun that I guess maybe he felt like if he left, he would miss out. I was a little reluctant just because I didn't want to get a middle of the night phone call to come pick him up; especially since we had a 9:00 soccer game this morning!! But I decided to let him try it and see what happened. Well, the phone never rang and he did GREAT! Not only did he sleep all night, he slept outside in the backyard with all the boys. Yea Jacob!!!!

As happy as I am for him to have all these experiences (no really, I AM!) I am also sad that these childhood years seem to be flying by. Each year seems to go faster than the previous one. I hope this blog helps us to preserve these precious memories and milestones for the years to come because no matter what I do to try and stop it...........my babies are growing up! sniff sniff

Learning to walk again

Today marks the 3 week mark since Olivia got her cast off. I have to admit that I had this misconception that once she got her cast off, life would just go back to "normal". And that has not been the case. Although, we are extremely grateful for her surgeries and casting process to be over, it has been yet another transition for all of us. The first 2 weeks Olivia was very fearful of using her legs at all. She would not even let her feet touch the ground when I was holding her and still had to be carried everywhere. Something I read online said that for every week they are in the cast, this will be the amount of days it will take them to be ready to move again. For Olivia, this was true. She was casted for 16 weeks and it took her 16 days until she was brave to try using her legs again. Weird isn't it??

So we have been taking things slowly but it seems to be working. In the past week, she has made tremendous progress!!!! Last Friday she started crawling. And then she wanted to pull up on furniture. Putting weight back on her legs and feet was HUGE. Trust me, I had tried so many times to get her to do it, I was shocked when she finally did! And grateful! As of today, she can walk holding onto just one of your hands, is cruising the furniture and can even get herself up onto the couch and into chairs at the dinner table. I am happy to report that tonight just before bed, she tried to walk across the room from Craig to me. She took maybe only 2-3 steps on her own until we caught her, but I am soooooooooo excited! I know within a few days (if not sooner) she will be walking all on her own!!!!

It has been a strange experience to see your 3 year old doing things that a baby does....scoot, crawl, pull up, etc. Tonight when she was taking those steps it was exciting but it was also surreal. I told Craig I can't believe we are watching her do this. I still hurt for her that she has had to relearn so many things. But leave it to my hubby to point out the silver lining. He said "I think this is really cool! We are getting to see her take her first steps AGAIN! How many people can say they have seen their child learn to walk twice??!!!"

And he is right. Finding the good within the bad is what this entire journey has been all about. Not taking things for granted and not sweating the small stuff.

Can't wait to write the post reporting she is walking all on her own. Check back SOON!

Wordless Wednesday: Toys 'R Us Catalog

Disney On Ice

Last Friday, my friend Shelley and I took the girls on a special outing! I always knew I wanted to do something special for Olivia once her cast came off. We had a little party at home the night she got it off, but I wanted to take her to do something extra special and girly. So, when the ad came in the mail a few months ago that the Disney princesses were coming to do an ice show, it was the perfect solution!!!

Popcorn!

Sweet Sophie

So into it!

One of her favorites-Cinderella!

Another favorite-Tinkerbell!

These are just a few snippets of the more than 100 photos that I took! Overall, it was a great day and the girls LOVED the show! Heck, us moms did too! Olivia has asked if we can go again every day since then, so it looks like the next time they are in town, we will be returning.

It was a perfect way to celebrate a joyous occasion!!!

First Haircut

I was SO excited to finally be taking Olivia for her first hair cut! She, not so much.....

Perhaps, a lollipop will help? She didn't really enjoy it, and insisted that I hold her hand the entire time. And the final product.....Not happy that we were trying to get a picture.

However, once we were done and outside the salon, it was all smiles!

Pottery Playdate

On Monday we met up with some friends for a fun playdate at a new pottery place in town. The kids had fun picking out their items, painting, and being creative.

Olivia picked out a teddy bear to paint.

And yes, it looks like we are going to have another "lefty' in the family! Time will tell...

Since Jacob has a special birthday plate that I had made for him when he was younger, I wanted Olivia to have one too. Every year on their birthdays, they get to eat off this special plate. For Olivia's, we decided to make one using her handprints into the shape of cupcakes.

Both our items should be ready for pick-up in a few days. Can't wait to see how they both turn out!!!

Wordless Wednesday: Friends

Bath

Going through challenging times, makes you grateful.

Grateful for little things like being able to splash in the bathtub!

17

November 7, 2003 was the date that Craig and I decided to "become an item". After dating and talking for 2 weeks, it was official. We were in high school and head over heels for each other and became a couple.......a mere SEVENTEEN years ago!!!! I cannot even believe that I am old enough to be saying that!!

This is the first picture we ever took together.

It sits in a heart shaped frame on my bedside table and is very special to me.

Looking back, there is no way that I could have predicted what would become of our life--the ups and downs, triumphs and sorrows, we have a LOT of history together. We have a bond like no other. We know each other better than anyone else. We are best friends. I thank God for you everyday and I am so thankful our young love has become a true everlasting love.

Moments

The other day I caught Jacob playing in the backyard with Scooby.

They were talking to each other and watching the cars go by.

Then he caught me watching.I love these type of moments when you are watching your kids and they don't know it. I love to see the wheels turning in their minds and to hear them pretending.

I am so thankful for these moments.

Almost Wordlesss Wednesday: Honor Roll

Jacob got his first real report card (with grades) yesterday and made the "A" honor roll! We are so proud of our smarty pants!!!

Ten on Tuesday

1. Halloween candy is evil. Enough said.
2. Got a jump start on my Christmas shopping yesterday and took advantage of some Toys R Us deals! Both of Olivia's "big Santa gifts" are done. And that feels good. Next on the agenda is Jacob. Waiting for his "big gift" to go on sale.
3. Today is day #1 of potty training and it is going surprisingly well. Hope I didn't just jinx myself, but its amazing what a princess seat and some m&m's will do for a 3 year old little girl :)
4. Jacob's gets his first report card today. Can't wait to see it!!!!!
5. It is actually cool enough today that I turned the A/C off and have the windows open. Please please stay Fall weather! We love you!!!!!
6. Tomorrow will be one week since the cast removal and Olivia is still not walking or standing. Her legs have come back together considerably, and she can pretty much put them straight out in front of her. However, she is not ready for anything beyond that yet. I know this is normal and the doctor said not to push her but me (and my back) are ready to have a walking 3 year old!
7. Olivia's favorite animal right now is a green cow????
8. We had a great visit with the Frisby cousins this past weekend. Thanks for coming to visit us!
9. As my sister pointed out yesterday, it is less than 2 months from being 2011......wow!!!
10. I voted today, did you?!

Halloween

Batman and Batgirl are here to save the day!!!

I love my little superheroes!

Batman wanted to show off a little :) And never to be left out of the limelight, presenting Batgirl!cousins friendsour pumpkins
our candy

and one crazy uncle!!!