Summer Fun Begins!

We haven't been super social this summer.  We started it with Reagan recovering, and that kind of set the tone.  We've been home-bodies!  Other than lots of trips to the pool and occasionally the store, we are busy chillin' at home!  But I'm not complaining!  Truth be told, I like it that way.  I like to have time and take the time to just hang out, watch movies, play games, dance to music, read, laugh...  It's nice to not have to be anywhere ....but here!  :)


One of their favorite activities so far... fort building!  

They left it up for a few days. And of course, they had to sleep in it!  

It wasn't until I realized that they were moving in... half of their room was in there!!... that I made them take it down!  hahaha.  They were a little heart broken... but there are always blankets... and tomorrow! :)  Oh, to be a kid! 

Baseball Ends... for Now!

It had to end sometime!  ;)  He got an awesome trophy!  And they got to autograph baseballs for each member of the team!  Very cool!
Closing Ceremonies:

Final Pep-talk! ;)

 Trophies:

We love you, Coach Justin!  :)

It was a really fun season with a really great team and coaches!  We loved being Grasshoppers!  I'm so glad he had such a wonderful experience!  

Poor Middle Child!

I feel like this guy gets over looked a lot!  And it makes me sad!  Truth is, he just isn't the squeaky wheel at our house!  He is SUCH a blessing!  Such a good boy!  He plays and entertains himself so well!  He is laid back and easy going, and always my little buddy!  And I couldn't be more grateful for him!  He is my helper!  And I know the middle isn't easy... so this post is for you kid!  :)

He is absolutely awesome on his bike!  He picked it up really fast.  And then outgrew the first one, so this is it's replacement!  (Yes, the first one is from Christmas... this past Christmas!)  He likes to do tricks... that make my heart rate change! (Putting his feet up on the bars, letting go with one hand, etc.)  He's only 4, I'm allowed to be a little weary of him mangling himself on the asphalt!  

He is a dancer!  We have dance-offs at our house, we've even gotten some of the neighbor kids to do it!  It's so freaking funny!  He has a Bill Cosby vibe, it's hilarious! But really, his performance is in his face!  I need to get a video of him dancing just for his face!  hahaha.

He likes to pick out his clothes!  :) 

And he says things wrong all the time in the funniest ways!  Gubble Bum.  Sloppy Joeys.  Bagel = Egg Roll.  ...I'm starting to notice a trend, they are all food!  hahaha.  Shocking!

I just wanted to take a minute to write down how important he is too!  Jackson is busy and has lots going on and Miss Reagan is ...well, Reagan!  They seem to soak up a lot of attention!  But I don't want him to look back and think I didn't notice him!!  ....There is a sweetness in this kid I wish I could bottle!  He is amazing!  And I just wanted to make sure I said it!  

1st Grade Grad

It's official, he's no longer a 1st grader!  And they had a party to celebrate!  :)  They each got an award.  Here he is with his "Whopper" of a Story Teller Award!  ;)  

And his very wonderful and cute teacher!  Loved her!  (That's totally not her baby! hahaha.)  

He had a really great year!  He has done so well with Math and Reading!  And his favorite subjects are Math and Science!  He got nearly perfect grades all year!  And made a LOT of improvements!  We are proud of ya, Buddy! :)


Now, on to summer!  And to not having to wake up at 6 am for a few months!  Hallelujah!  

Miss Reagan vs Tonsils

I have decided surgery is stressful, no matter how minor it is!  On May 22nd, ready or not, Reagan got her tonsils and adenoids out and tubes put in her ears.  She didn't have surgery until the afternoon, (Which is just plain mean to do to a kid!) so she was pretty hungry and ornery by the time we got there!  (I even woke her up at 4:30 am to have a bottle just to help a little.)  They were behind so we entertained her in the crib while we waited!  She was singing (screeching) while we waited!  

The surgery went long... which also stressed me out!  But all was well, everything went wonderfully!  She just has tight little ear canals.  The doctor said she had HUGE adenoids, so it was a good thing they came out (they were the primary reason for the surgery, she couldn't breath through her nose at all.) and her ears were full of fluid.  He was happy with the decision we'd made (to do all 3 now), and that made me feel a lot better about putting her through it!  


Recovery wasn't too bad, right after. She mostly just wanted to be held.  Poor girl.

We were admitted for observation, because of her age and her syndrome, so we made a home for the night at the hospital. By the time we had a room she was pretty miserable!  I just held her for hours while she cried and whimpered! She hated it!  And I couldn't blame her!  She was hooked up to lots of tubes and wires!  She was in a crib that looked like a prison cell for babies!  Lights, beeping, nurses, poking, prodding... it was the longest night of our lives!!  She and I both went about 30 hours without more than a few minutes sleep!  It was so sad!  She was just way out of her comfort zone and there was no way to explain any of it to her!  I felt pretty bad!  She also couldn't have a bottle, because the sucking was bad for the clotting in her throat.  (Which was a big problem since she only drinks from a bottle!) But thanks to a wonderful night nurse, who was an angel in disguise, who decided we would let her have it as long as she wasn't hurting herself.  And thank heavens!  

After we survived the night, but things weren't looking very well.  She wasn't taking fluids, at least not enough to let her go.  And she was fighting us on taking her meds.  I wasn't very hopeful.  Patrick and Harrison came to visit and Patrick traded me places, just in case it would be another night!  (Because I seriously needed to sleep!  And eat!)  But after about 6 or 7 hours with her dad, she was doing much better!  (Apparently he has magical qualities! ;))  And they got to come home that evening!  Yeah!

As far as recovery at home went, she was a trooper!  She did pretty good considering!  And she loved her some ice cream!  :)  It took a good 10 - 12 days to get her back to almost normal, but we all survived, and that's all that matters!  :)  And yep, that's totally what her hair looked like for days!  :)

The Party!

Jackson wanted to go and see The Avengers for his birthday party on May 12th!  So he got to invite a few friends (and a few dads tagged along... because it was The Avengers! Hahaha.) and have a fun night out!  We started with pizza, presents and cake!

 They all got an Avenger of their own.

His actual birthday was later that week.  He was pretty excited about getting to be the birthday boy at school!  (Last year their Kindergarten Graduation was on his birthday.)  We took some ice cream sandwiches to school to share and I made him a necklace to wear!  He was a happy kid!

Presents from family and friends came later!  :)  He got the crown at school... he wore it until he had to go to baseball!  hahaha.  

And his big present this year... was a big bike!  He didn't like that he and Harrison had the same size bike before.  And he really has gotten tall.  So it was time!  And he loved it!  

He only rode it for a minute!  We really do make them wear helmets! 

It was a fun day!  He even had a great baseball game that night!  :)  Oh, how I love this kid!  And I'm so proud of the little person he is becoming!  

Action Jackson is 7!!!

I really cannot believe he is 7 already!  It blows me away just thinking about it!  He is getting to be so very grown up... and tall!!  :)  So, here are 12 things you may or may not know about him.  But they are all things I want to remember!  

1 - He is a worrier.  I don't think that will change much as he gets older, it seems to only have gotten worse.  He doesn't get it from me directly, but it is genetic!  haha.  He has a big heart and he is always very concerned about everyone and everything he loves.  He prays about Reagan being healthy and dad being safe and the earth being clean.  :)  There is a lot on this kids' mind and he worries about all of it!  :)


2 - He is a tender heart. He gets his feelings hurt, sometimes, very easily.  He is an emotional kid, and I think a lot of it is because he is soft-hearted.  Sometimes it's a frustrating thing.  But it is also a gift.  He is always the one I can count on to hug me and tell me he loves me at least 10 times a day.  And always with a sweet smile on his face, like he's telling me a wonderful secret!  :)  And just thinking about the way he is with his sister makes me emotional!  He was SO meant to be with her!       


3 - He is a planner.  Jackson has his life mapped out.  We're not talking about just what he wants to be when he grows up.  He has a plan!  He's going to learn to drive when he is in high school so he can have a job.  Because he needs a job to get money for college and a mission. (I think we talk about the costs of things too much at our house!) Then he is going to college for 1 year, then on a mission (to China, according to him) and then back to finish college.  :)  Then he is going to get married and buy a house close to us.  And have lots and lots of kids!  :)  Like 6 or 9.  haha. Oh, and he currently wants to be an advocate for endangered animals, probably through politics, when he grows up. :) And then when we are too old for Reagan to live with us, she is going to live with him.  Because he is pretty sure she will like that.  There are more details in his version, but you get the idea. :) Holy Moley... kid, you are only 7!  hahaha.  And he's already counting down to #8, because he is super excited to get baptized!  :)  Which is the first thing on his long list of things he has planned!  :)  


4 - He is a gamer.  It was sort of bound to happen! We have to limit his time and he has to earn it!  (Which makes for great motivation!)  It is his favorite thing to do!


5 - He is a natural athlete!  This is so not my fault!  Patrick gets the credit here. ;) He has a lot of natural ability, which I am so grateful and excited for!  He loves to play sports!  So far baseball has been the favorite, but he will be doing flag football next, so we'll see!  He also has a lot of natural energy... so we appreciate a positive outlet!  :)


6 - He's a talker!  Oh My Goodness!  I try really hard to listen to all of the things he wants to tell me all of the time... but it's almost not possible to listen that much!  Hahahaha.  Just about every sentence starts with "Mom, can I tell you something?..."  It's a rhetorical question... he will tell you regardless!  :) 


7 - He cracks himself up!  He loves to tell jokes, some he makes up and some he gets from books.  But he always starts to giggle about half way through telling it!  He also likes to explain it to you... because that makes it even funnier!  hahaha.


8 - He is a bean-pole!  He's 50" (4'2") and only weighs about 50 lbs. soaking wet! Poor kid!  It's so hard to find him pants that are long enough and stay up! (Even the ones with adjustable waists don't always cut it!) But if he keeps growing like he is, maybe he'll be able to snag a good scholarship for college!  ;)  And then we can use his college funds to feed him!  hahaha.


9 - He is brown!  Jackson gets a tan in the dark!  :)  He must have soaked up all the olive skinned genes we had, there wasn't any left for the other 2!  hahaha.  As jealous as I am, I am also grateful!  


10 - He is a story-teller!  "Story" really isn't epic enough for the tales that Jackson tells!  hahaha.  He is creative and has an imagination that seems to run away with him a lot!  If he has heard it, seen it on TV, or read about it... it somehow happened to him!  And he lives to captivate an audience with the biggest best story he can come up with!  Luckily, they are usually so wild and crazy that it's obvious they aren't true!!  His primary teachers joke about starting a "Jackson's Story Journal"!  And at the end of the school year his special award from his teacher was "Best Whopper of a Story Teller"!  It's no joke... this is Jackson's world, we are all just visiting!  hahaha.  


11 - He is a strong willed kid!  When we think about Jackson and how to be his parent and finding things that work best for him, the usual thought that comes to mind is "How do we break the horse without breaking the spirit?".  He is the one I butt heads with the most.  He is the one who has to learn everything the hard way.  He is stubborn!  I think it also makes him a very determined kid!  Which is a good thing.  Hopefully that's what it becomes... determination!  


12 - He is a great big brother!  We have officially entered the "he's too little to play with me" stage!  Harrison is 4 and Jackson is 7 and there is a lot of difference in there!  But I can honestly say that deep down, they are still best friends! When we were planning his birthday party and he could only invite 4 friends, Harrison was one of them!  He plays with him every day, even if it's Thomas the Train.  He shows him how to do things and helps him do things all the time!  He cheers Harrison on while they play Mario Kart and Harrison is winning!  He walks him to Primary on Sundays.  He looks out for him!  They fight and argue and tattle... but they also have a lot of fun!  And with Reagan, it started before she was born!  I don't think anyone was as excited as he was for her to get here.  And when we got her home, you would have thought she'd been waiting forever to see him! :) She loves to just be where he is, and he loves to let her climb on him and poke him in the face!  He loves to make her laugh!  And his favorite place to sit in the car is next to her.  Which is really saying something!  Riding in the car with Reagan in NOT fun!  But he makes her happy... and that makes him happy!  ...He has a 2 person fan club, and he is good to his fans! :)


He is such a wonderful kid!  We love him SO much!  And we are very grateful to have him!!

Kick in the Pants...

That's what I need!  I cannot seem to stay on top of my blog lately!  So once again I am going to play catch-up... I really need to just keep up, that would be some much easier!  And I'm officially a horrible mother because Jackson turned 7 a month ago and I have yet to document it!  Awesome.  So that's probably where we'll start... with my handsome 7 year old!  :)