Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down 2012 #35

Up:

• Jackson started Mother's Day Out (MDO) on Wednesday. He had so much fun and was so excited to go to school. I managed to snap a photo for the first day of school this year. He's also doing so great with his potty training. He hasn't had an accident at school and has gone 3 days this past week without even going in his diaper during nap time! I'm so proud of him. He still doesn't really tell you when he needs to pee, but he absolutely lets you know when he needs to poop. Hopefully he continues to get better at it and we can get rid of pull-ups all together!

• Kennedy is walking as of yesterday! I was on the phone with my Mom and Kennedy was playing with Jackson in the living room. She just let go of the coffee table and took off - it was crazy! She did it a few more times throughout the evening, but won't do it on command yet! She also went for her much belated 9 month check-up this morning. She is 19 lbs. 9 oz. (47%) for weight, 29.75 inches (92%) for height and 78% for head circumference! The doctor did find a heart murmur, but doesn't think there is any need to worry. He's ordered an echocardiogram just to be on the safe side. 
• It has been so great having Mike back! We had a very relaxing and enjoyable weekend at home hanging out as a family. On Saturday we went into town to run errands and eat lunch then after the kid's nap, we went golfing with Daddy. Jackson of course loved it and Kennedy enjoyed crawling around on the grass. We only played 9 holes, but it was a lot of fun. On the 17th hole, Jackson said he needed to go potty. Mike educated him on how to go outdoors - it was priceless!

Chillin' watching some Letter Factory!

Trying to be like Daddy!

Kennedy loved the golf cart!

Down:

• The fires here in Idaho have made the air outside so hazy and sometimes very smokey smelling even. It hasn't gotten to Mtn. Home yet, right now it's still in the mountains, but the end isn't really in sight. Some reports are saying that the fire will stay around until the first snow.
• Poor Kennedy is having a terrible time with her top two teeth coming in. I hope that they will break through completely and she can go back to my super happy baby!

Favorite Thing:

Many of my Mtn. Home friends have tried to get me to join Bountiful Baskets, but my neighbor Becky finally succeeded. Last Tuesday I placed my first order and picked it up on Saturday. They have sites all over the U.S., so you should definitely check it out and see if there is one in your area. I paid $15 for a basket of half vegetables and half fruit we received: Romaine lettuce, cauliflower, 2 onions, brussel sprouts, 8 Anaheim peppers, 4 grapefruit, 3 apple pears, 4 white nectarines, 2lbs. of champagne grapes, and a huge bag of cherries! It's a great way to try new things and make sure your providing fruits and vegetables for your family. On Sunday Mike smoked a delicious pork tenderloin and we ate roasted brussel sprouts - delicious! It's definitely not something that I would have gone out and bought in the store, but I'm so glad that they were in our basket this week. This is the link to the recipe we used http://www.laaloosh.com/2012/03/21/roasted-brussel-sprouts-recipe/.

Thumbs Up/ Thumbs Down 2012 #34

Sorry for the delayed post; haven't been very motivated this week - you'll see why when you get to the Favorite Things!

Up:

• Whew! This has been such a long week; I started potty training Jackson on Monday and he is doing better every day! So proud of my little guy. He gets a sticker every time he goes in the potty (big stickers for poops)! Once he gets 8 stickers, he gets a prize. He really doesn't care what the prize is, just the way you say it! Like the other night his prize was extra bubbles in his bath! At any rate, he is doing great and is such a big boy in his little Mickey underwear! Today he went 2.5 hours without going at all and no accidents and even woke up from his nap to go poo, pretty impressive for week one I'd say!

Check out my big boy underpants!

• Our beautiful girl is already 10 months old, time is seriously flying by with her. She is absolutely on the verge of walking and has been taking one step here or there mostly towards Jackson! She is also working on getting her top teeth in which hasn't made her very pleasant to be around come bedtime. 

Oh, and this is a size 18mo. top!

• The older Kennedy gets, the more she and Jackson play and get along together. It is adorable to see how much they love each other. Granted they both have their moments of weakness with this, but honestly the majority of the time they are so good to each other. It is so cute too when Kennedy is up from her nap before Jackson because she constantly looks at the stairs waiting for him to come play with her! When he wakes up before Kennedy he wants to be the first one to open her door when we hear her on the monitor and runs upstairs to see her! Love those two!

This is how Kennedy crawls in the grass!

She is notorious for taking every magnet off the dishwasher and refrigerator!

Jackson is always really good about cleaning up Kennedy's mess when I ask. I think I may have created an OCD child though. This is how he put them back on the fridge which is how I had done it before! Of course we have to fish the other halves out from under the stove!

• We had Jackson's Mother's Day Out (MDO) Open House this week. It was his first time seeing his teachers since last school year. He went right up and gave them huge hugs - adorable! He will be in the two year old class again this year. He was actually only 16 months when he started going last year, so he still fits the criteria for the 2 year old class. I think it'll be good for him though especially since he's so attached to the teachers already.

Down:

• Church was not as successful this week as last. Jackson was really pushing my buttons. Thankfully our neighbor was in the row in front of us with her daughter and they helped keep us entertained/contained!
• More of the same on the sleep subject - except this week it was JP and Kennedy. I'm really ready for Mike to give home to give me some what of a break even if it's only one night out of the week!

Favorite Thing:

My Mother-in-law lent me her copies of Downton Abbey seasons 1 & 2. OH MY GOSH - SO ADDICTING!!! I love period pieces to begin with, but this one is really well done. I spent every nap time and bedtime after the kids were asleep glued to the tube! I even stayed up 'til midnight to finish the second season one night, which if you knew me is a big thing! Therefore, I've been absolutely unproductive this week! The worst part of starting this show now is that the season 3 premiere doesn't happen until January 2013. I guess it will be a good exercise of my patience! You should really check it out though and get caught up so you too can watch season 3 in January!

Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down 2012 #33

Up:

• Kennedy is officially off the pacifier! Jackson quit on his own at 9 months; he just refused to take it anymore. We noticed that Kennedy hadn't really been using it very much, so we tried it out and sure enough - the paci is no more! Along with the paci apparently so goes the baby food. She is refusing all baby food with the exception of a fruit here or there. However, she is seriously the best eater ever! She will eat anything you give her and still with only two teeth! So blessed to have one child that will eat well. Hopefully Jackson will catch on soon! Oh, as if all this wasn't enough proof that my baby is getting less baby by the day, Kennedy started standing up by herself this week. My new mission is to find some shoes to fit her chubby little feet 'cause I have a feeling she will be walking soon!
• I'm very proud of myself. On Thursday I took both kids shopping with me and then to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Surprisingly, both were well behaved and Kennedy was eating everything in sight! I even took a slice of Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake home with me to eat on during the week. I was also proud because I managed to handle both children in Mass on Sunday. Thank goodness for that child harness though; I would not have made it without that!

Dog pile on Daddy!

Kennedy showing off the new bow MiMi made her!

Jackson asked me to take a picture of him - someone loves the spotlight!

So proud of Jackson he drew a circle all by himself! He may be a right hander after all!

Yet another reason to add to my list that Kennedy is growing up - she's been drinking from a straw since we went to The Woodlands. Aunt Laura suggested we try it and sure enough she took to it right away!

Cutie! 

The Olympics are over, but never fear - Shark Week is here! Mike absolutely loves Shark Week, we got this headband in Jackson's kid's meal from BK and I had to take pics of the kids to send to Mike!

Don't think many people would be scared of this shark!

Down:

• True to form, as soon as we got home from Alabama, Mike had to turn right back around and leave again. He left on Thursday to go to Barksdale AFB (Shreveport, LA) for 2 weeks. I think we'll have him home for a little while after that and then gone again in October. Uh, never ending! It's been kinda hard on Jackson too because he got so used to having Daddy around every evening at dinner time while we were in Alabama. I guess we should just be thankful that we get to see him as often as we do. There are so many other military families whose spouses are gone for a year at a time. At least we don't have to deal with that (yet).
• Since Mike left, Jackson's decided he needs to get up multiple times in the night and then come sleep with me between 4:30-5 am. I've been getting hardly any sleep thanks to that kiddo! The thing that stinks is that if I discipline him for getting out of bed then he cries and wakes up Kennedy, so I'm sort of stuck until I can figure out a different plan of attack.

Favorite Thing:

It's back to school season!! I love this time of year when the school supplies come out. That was one of my favorite activities growing up - picking out which trapper keeper I would use! It makes me think of that quote from You've Got Mail - " Don't you just love New York in the fall? It makes you want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address"! In honor of school resuming, I thought I would share two of my favorite school supplies!

1. Sippy Cup Labels - well actually they can be used for water bottles or even hair spray during summer camp when the kids get older. At any rate, I absolutely love these orbit labels from inchbug.com! They come in a variety of colors and wash well in the dishwasher. 

2.  It's always fun to explore the latest in lunch box trends. This year, I bought Jackson the LunchBlox from Rubbermaid. They have a large variety of container sizes that all fit together and also click into an ice pack. I purchased the sandwich set from Target for 9.99, but they also have special ones for salads and entrees. They are all dishwasher and microwave safe. You can also buy special lunch boxes that go with the set too. Obviously the hope is that Jackson will enjoy this new system so much that he'll eat his

lunch all gone :)

Thumbs Up/ Thumbs Down 2012 #31 & 32

Up:

• After two months of being in Alabama, we are home!!! It was a long trip home, but we took plenty of time to visit family along the way. We stopped in Nacogdoches, TX to see my sister, Carey, and her family. The kids had a blast playing together. Our next stop was The Woodlands, TX where Mike's parents and sister live. We had such a good time playing and swimming! Then we headed up to Levelland to visit my parents and my Aunt Marva who came in from out of town. Our last visit was in Vega, TX where we stopped to see my cousin Kristy, Aunt Mariellen, and Uncle Jerry. We stayed at Mike's Aunt Mara's house in Denver, but unfortunately they were out of town. I feel like we made the most of our journey home and took plenty of breaks to keep the kids sane!
• This past two months we have had a blast in Alabama and it's amazing how little you need to live with. It's so easy to get caught up in wanting the latest this or that, but honestly those are not necessities. Now that we are home I've been going on a big cleaning out binge. I thought I had just done that prior to leaving when we had our garage sale, but I don't think I really purged like I  could have. 

Down:

• No trip would be complete without someone getting sick. Our last day in The Woodlands Jackson came down with a pretty high fever and basically just laid on the couch all day. We thought it was probably just a little virus. The next day we drove to Levelland. On one of our stops I finally got out the flash light and looked in Jackson's throat. Oh my gosh, it was awful, like 2 cauliflowers back there. My poor baby. We immediately took him to the ER in Lubbock (no it wasn't an emergency, but Tricare will not cover anything else without prior authorization). The doctor said it was Tonsilitis and gave him and antibiotic. Now JP is good as new!
• The Olympics are so incredibly awesome! Unfortunately we've been on the road for the first half and can't stay up super late watching when we have kiddos that get up at 5am. Women's gymnastics is my favorite and I feel like I've just been able to see highlights here and there, not the whole thing. Hopefully this week will be more conducive for watching the rest of the events.

Sorry to overload with pics, but we've covered a lot of ground these last two weeks and I'd hate to leave anything out!

Carey and Katherine cleaning out the closet to pass down a bunch of cute clothes to Kennedy!

Kennedy enjoying Katherine's play kitchen.

Peyton showing Kennedy how it's done!

Everyone's cooking now!

Enjoying some baseball outside.

Katherine using her pink bat!

Peyton showing off!

Uncle Lindy ducking so Jackson doesn't hit him instead of the ball!

Bowling in The Woodlands.

Pinkie helping the kids bowl.

Aunt Laura, Pa, and Reagan picking out a ball.

Uncle Mark with Big Boy Grant!

Kennedy loves her Daddy!

Aunt Laura with Grantness!

Jackson trying to find one that's just right!

Feeding the fish down at the waterway.

Admiring the huge catfish that came to feast!

Super blurry, but I was feeding Kennedy and trying to take the pic at the same time. Pinkie and Jackson on the Carousel at The Woodlands Mall.

Kennedy absolutely loved Molly Dog!

Disney Store!

Mike and Pa went golfing with Uncle Kirk and had a blast even though it was super hot!

Aunt Marva with Kennedy!

Mmmmm Jello!

Uncle Jerry and Kennedy playing with his cowboy hat!

Aunt Mariellen showing Jackson a vintage toy!

LaMar's Donuts in Denver. I have never seen/tasted such yummy donuts!

My Snicker's Long John. The lady at the counter asked if I wanted it filled with anything - is this heaven?! Unfortunately it was way too rich and I couldn't finish it.

Jackson decided to join Kennedy in the Pack-n-play!

Mike wanted to make a detour to Promontory, Utah to see the Golden Spike - the site that made the railroad go from coast to coast! It was pretty neat to see and they have replicas of the old steam trains that were used back in the day.

The actual site of the spike.

Favorite Thing:

As you know, I'm a bit OCD when it comes to organization. Container Store is seriously one of the best stores for us organizational freaks! While in The Woodlands Mike's Mom, Sister, and I all went to scope out things we couldn't live without. I'd been wanting these totes that are airtight and water proof for a while to do this idea I saw on Pinterest for the kids. I could spend hours in that store. A big thanks to Mike and Pa for watching all the kiddos so we could browse without distractions.