Five months old!

Jemma Jane is five months old and I cannot believe it. (I actually had to count this out several times!)

She is a little pumpkin who sleeps like me (ALOT), happily chows her pears and rice, chews on everything possible, and saves her best smiles for her brother and sister.

For two weeks straight, she was one grumpy little cookie and I saw more of this face than I ever want to see again.....

winding up.....

letting go.


But, as I reminded myself daily (hourly!), she is a baby which means all her stages (good and bad) won't last long and on Friday she started perking up and by today she is back to her sweet, sweet self.

Thank goodness.

Whew! We love that happy face!

He's a good little worker

And yes, these pictures are from today.

Poor Jack looked out the window this morning and said, "oh no, it's Christmas again and we didn't even get to go to the pool yet!"

I'm bored.

Because everyone else is doing this.

Two boys and their dog

watching basketball.

Jack had a rough afternoon and his daddy was home late but as soon as he walked in he got Jack's big hoop from the garage and they played a serious game of basketball and then settled in to watch some more on TV and he was a happy boy once again.

One thing I like about Jack is that he has a pretty hefty conscience and he always fesses up often long before I catch him but he has a funny ability to separate himself from his bad behavior. I will say, "hey, who ripped my magazine?" and Jack will say, with a bewildered look, "I think my hand did it." Or I will say, "how ya doing?" and he will say, "I'm good but my tummy is really hungry!"

And one more I hope I don't forget: every morning (and I mean every), as the water from his tub runs down the drain, he gets real close and says, "bye water, see you tomorrow!"

And one more sad one: he has finally learned to pronounce his "J"s, so no more "I'm Dack!" or "I love you Demma Dane". I knew he would grow up but this one makes me really sad!

Retro Friday

Hudson Stephen

This week, last year.

Ava as a flower girl in Katie's wedding, twirling.

This weekend, 2007.

With her handsome escort, Will.

Now we know

Ava got her report card yesterday and luckily these little flowers arrived just before she did and made a great reward for a job well done.

The other day she got in the car after school and said, "well, I feel pretty good about it." And I said, "about what?" And she says, "about school. I think I'm actually pretty smart."
Well, that's a relief.

Lookey here

Bottle-holding is a skill my kids learn early on....look at this tight little grip, this girl is hanging on and not letting go!

Nummy.

This girl loves her food.

(Ed always makes fun of me when I feed our babies because I open my mouth while they eat but I've tried not to and it's impossible--it's like opening your mouth when putting on mascara--it must be done.)

Back to school!

Ava wanted to celebrate her first day back with a picnic and while spring is slowly coming, it's not quite warm enough to do it outside, so she suggested we have one inside instead.

Happy Birthday Ed!

Happy Birthday to my favorite person in the whole world!

Ed spent most of his day right here, watching basketball, watching golf, and then watching some more basketball. Then Mexican dinner with friends and some more basketball later that night--that's the beauty of a March birthday!

Happy First Day of Spring!

Retro Friday

Ava at Jemma's age.

This weekend, last year.

Big brother

One of my favorite things about Jack is that he still tells everyone that he has a new sister and her name is Jemma Jane and I mean everyone--I heard him tell Paula about her the other day.

Today, on the way out the door, he said, "don't forget Jemma Jane, she might get lost forever" and I said how sad that would be and this followed:

J: We would have to buy another one.

Me: Another what?

J: Another Jemma Jane.

Me: Jack, you can't buy a baby.

J: Where did we get her?

Me: She was in my tummy for months and months (and months and months!)!

J: Mom! That's silly!

**************

Which reminds me of an unrelated, but still Jack, story. Last week at his check-up the doctor took his arm out of his sleeve to check his skin and when Jack was telling me about it (although I had been there in person):

J: He took this off (pointing to his arm)

Me: He took your arm off??

J: No mom, he took......(long pause) wait, can he do that??

Arrghh! I forgot my camera!

Ava had her first dentist appointment today and she has been super excited about it! Paula promised me it would only be 20 minutes so I took all three kids and, you guessed it, we were there an hour and a half!!! The kids were surprisingly great--Ava was so grown up about it all, even the x-rays which make me gag, and Jack sat on his stool the entire time (maybe because it was a swively stool and if he moved he thought he was going to fall off?), and Jemma Jane (who should have been sound asleep in bed long before we were done) was happy to stare at the bright lights and ceiling fans. I had given them a pretty serious don't touch anything, fold your hands in your lap, whisper only lecture before we went in and, of course, promised them a giant Starbucks cookie for good behavior which they promptly told the dentist about when he said how good they were.

It was a long morning but the good news was that they came home and played dentist till naptime so they must have had a good time!

Playin' Poker

Ed and I were headed to a co-ed poker night and when I told Jack where we were going he said, "Poker! Girls don't play poker!" And he's a little right, this girl doesn't play poker so Ed sat us all down for a lesson. The kids loved it but after awhile, they both said, "hey we're hungry, where's all the chips you're talking about??"

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Jack's favorite part?

Green oatmeal.

Happy Spring Break to Ava!

A brand-new spring-green room!

When we moved Ava to the playroom, we had always intended to redo it for her and we finally did it this weekend. We sent her to her grandparents at noon and by 10:00 (actually, I was still making the curtains at 11:00) it was done! It was a super secret and I was so afraid Jack was going to spill the beans that I hardly let him say a word after I had picked her up but I let him take her in and she was thrilled!

Jack helped take out the old nails.

Then he got down and cleaned all the baseboards.

Ta da!
One of the best things about Ava is that she is super observant and she appreciates all the details. We laid on her bed that afternoon and she pointed out all the things she loved and she seriously noted every little thing.

Two things to note: the green is much prettier in person and no, I haven't yet filled the picture frames (although Ava really liked the friendly generic people in them so maybe I should just keep those?)

Ava's favorite part.

Jemma's happiness is....

having the best big brother in the world!

the first taste of real food!
(if you can call rice cereal real food)

playing with her toes!

Retro Friday

This weekend, last year.

Sweet Music

Jemma was getting a little fussy before naps so we popped Ava's headphones on her and she totally chilled out!

Jack LOVES listening to music--he straps on the whole set and dances around the house!

I bought Ava a set of CDs with 150 old-school bible songs and we like to listen to them on her other CD player while Jack is rocking out.

I love these CDs. I hadn't heard most of the songs in 20 years and when I first listened they immediately took me back to Sunday school and summer camp and Ava was immensely impressed that I knew all the words! The kids are already learning the songs and I love it--seriously, who doesn't need a little "Peace like a River, Love like an Ocean, and Joy like a Fountain!?"

Be brave!

Jack and Jemma both had well-baby checks today and I am happy to report they are healthy and happy (and pretty darn cute).

Jack got this nifty truck tattoo and before I took his picture, he suggested I make a sign so his daddy would know what it was for. This was the best I could do because after her numerous shots, Jemma was doing this:

(Jack's kissing her hand and encouraging her to be brave.)

And after lunch (and some tylenol) she looked like this and Jack said, "good job Jemma Jane, sometimes when you want to cry you just have to be brave."

**************************

Jemma has slimmed down to the 90th percentile for weight and staying strong at 95% for height (Ava at this age was a super chubby 2 pounds heavier and 2 inches shorter!)

Jack is now 75% for both.

Happiness is....

when your mom lets you carry the baby.

(while she hangs on for dear life)

extra-crunchy peanut butter toast for the little buddy while the big girl is having fun at school.

when your little buddy is strong enough to shovel snow
(so you can shovel the dog poop there in the background)

March 9 (for the record)

Outside.

Inside.

Ed's stimulus plan

Hey, we're just trying to do our part.

And, when you buy a husband a big (breakable) TV,
you need to buy a wife something (with doors) to put it in.

Retro Friday

This week, 2007

Guess who rolled over?

She's awfully proud of herself!!

She of course rolled the first time during nap and totally panicked but I flipped her back over and she went back to sleep. Now we are going to have to do some tummy-time (which we both hate) so she can learn to flip back on her own!