Ava Blythe

Ava had an open house at ballet yesterday and here she is (with the pink bow) on her toes. After three years of ballet, I think they may actually be learning some good stuff!
Spinning in her new birthday skirt!

I subbed for the second grade teacher at Ava's school yesterday and she has been totally amazed by me since then. I'm pretty sure it never occured to her that teachers are just regular people like me. She has the biggest smile every time she talks about it (and when she told Madeline at carpool what I had done, Madeline gave me the same smile and said "is that true?") and she wants to know every detail of what second-graders do. She has, of course, been the second-grade teacher here ever since. I tried to explain that I actually went to school for a very long time just to be able to teach but I can't blame her--I haven't been in the classroom in a long time and I forgot what it was like! One of the very best things about Ava's school is the high expectations for the kids--they stand when speaking, use lots of pleases and thank-yous and the boys are expected to be serious gentlemen (the principal has 6 of his own!). One little girl's pencil broke during a math time-test and the boy next to her gave her his even though he had to waste precious time getting a new one for himself. I love good etiquette and here in a college town we hardly ever see it!

Decorating

I have been doing some furniture moving and slowly getting our Spring stuff out which of course motivated Ava into re-decorating her room too.

Here she is rearranging her bookshelf. It's not unusual for Ava to do this but while I was taking her picture I could hear Jack hard at work in his room too and when I checked on him he was doing this:
And he said, "hey mom look at my new decorations!"

He cracks me up!

Jack came pounding down the hall earlier this morning to say, "Hey! Who took all our snow?!?" He has to be the only person to miss the snow in March!

And, he has been asking me every day when Jemma will be big enough to play with him and then this morning while he was checking her heart with his stethescope, she grabbed it and he had the hugest smile and said, "hey, she's playing with me!" Then when she stuck it in her mouth, he looked horrified and said, "Jemma Jane! It is not good to put spit on other people's toys!"

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Thanks for taking such good care of us!

We all love you but this one may be your biggest fan!

Birthday cake--I missed the candle shot.

The whole family at Basilios for the party (although my kids wondered where the streamers were!)

Did you hear...

about the mom who got pulled over for breastfeeding (and talking on her phone!) while driving?

That's some serious multi-tasking....and tell me you haven't been tempted.

Sweet Jem

Putting her to bed for a nap.

A few minutes later.


Jemma is four months old! She is still a sweet pea and definitely mellow. She loves to just watch what's going on. She is a daddy's girl and is happiest sitting on his lap which means I got to spend a whole day shopping without her and she didn't cry at all (except when one of the kids bonked her head)! She sleeps 7:30 to 7:30, lounges in her crib for an hour and then is up till 9:30. After her morning nap, she watches the kids for a few hours and barely makes it till 1:30 for her next nap. When she is tired she wants to go to bed and there is no point in trying anything to cheer her up, just pop her in her crib and turn on the mobile! She is starting to really grab her toys and she loves to suck on her bunny. She always sucks her thumb in her crib but not very often when she is up and if she does suck something, it is usually her other thumb or fingers. She is pretty serious and observant but she has the sweetest crooked smile and nose wrinkle. We love her!

Kisses for Jack

Jemma was taking a nap the other day and when I walked by her room I noticed her door had been opened.

Me, super annoyed by the breaking of the number one rule in our house, "Who went in Jemma's room?"

Jack, with his best smile, "Me."

"Jack, you know that you're not ever supposed to go in there while she's sleeping!"

"I know, but I just can't help it. I wanted to give her a kiss."

"Okay, well now you're in trouble."

"That's okay cause she kissed me back!"

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

Before we go into a store I usually run over the rules with the kids but today when I took Jack and Jemma to the grocery store I heard him say, "Okay Jemma, here's the deal, no being naughty in the store...for you that means no crying and no fussing, and maybe if you are really good I will hold your hand when we get back in the car."

Happiness is...

A giant puzzle.

New running shoes!

Mary Jane socks.

Playing with daddy.

Yay for the bumbo!

Jemma loves to sit up and watch the kids and I'm starting to get serious wrist aches from holding her that way so we got out the bumbo and ta da! she liked it!

Taking a bite out of bunny's nose.

I miss sick days.

A lady asked me the other day how can I possibly stay home with my kids all day and don't I miss going to work everyday? I can easily say that no! After years of working with high school and college students, I don't ever wish I was heading into work at 8:00 am instead of staying home with my three little monkeys.....except when I am sick. For some reason, sick days are not included in the SAHM contract. I don't get sick that often but I can still remember one time when Jack was about six months old and I got the real flu and had a monstrous fever, earache, headache, bodyache, you name it. I spent the day laying on the floor in the playroom, only semi-conscious while Jack climbed all over me, poking his fingers in my eyes and ears. This week I have had a nasty cold and while I am still mobile and not layed out like that time, I still want to crawl in bed and sleep until dinner. My head got full enough that I loaded up the kids and headed to the store for some medicine and then I had to wait in line for 15 minutes (15!) to ask the pharmacist if Sudafed is still the only medication I can take while nursing and then wait another 5 while I filled out all the paperwork making it possible for me to actually purchase the Sudafed (thanks to all the meth-makers out there for that one). All the while, Jemma was screaming in her carseat and Jack was (helpfully) repeating every 10 seconds, "Mom, Jemma's crying" in case I couldn't hear her through the sinus fog in my head. And, after all that, I totally forgot to actually take a pill till after I got everyone home and fed and in bed.

Retro Friday

This weekend, last year.

Look what I found

Ed as an infant.

This explains why Jemma was a 9-pounder.

And more importantly, why, at her size, she is still our least chubby baby. She actually seems downright skinny sometimes!

She's missing Ava and Jack's 4 or 5 armrolls but she's still pretty cute!

Hanging around

Ava's showing off her new earrings and Jack cannot turn down a photo op.

This is her carseat face--she still doesn't like it but she has learned screaming won't get her out faster--it will just give her (and her mom!) a big headache!

So much help!

An oldie but goodie!

This is Ava at Jemma's age. Mmm, I can remember exactly how squishy sweet she was!

Jemma's Baptism

Sweet Jemma Jane in my dress at 3 1/2 months.

Sleepy Ava Blythe in the dress at 2 months.

Me in the dress at 5 months.