Bath Time Buddies

Peeps

Graham started going to school this fall. It's technically just one morning at a mom's day out program through a sister Presbyterian church close to us called Peeps.  But as far as we're concerned, it's school.  It's a big deal.  He gets a backpack.

Here he is walking up the first day.

We talked it up to him for the entire week leading up to it.  The mom in me was equally nervous and proud of him for how he did that first day.  No tears, no hesitance... just joy and smiles!

Still here...

Hi blog friends! It's me, Leslie. Remember me? My oh my was August really my last entry? For lack of detailed excuses I'll just say that I have children all over me. All the time. I'd give you a picture to document, but my camera cord is lost in a pile of child.

But wowsers, we've been busy over here. Playing outside, playing inside, wrestling, running, making pancakes, teething, not sleeping, watching Jackson eat - but more on that later.

I'll be back with more detailed posts with pictures and such...

In the interest of remembering things though (which is hard for this OCD, everything-must-stay-in-order momma), here is a little update on each boy:

We had Graham's 3 year check up right near his birthday (another post coming soon, promise!) Our little Grahammers weighs in at 29 pounds (21%) and is 35" tall (5%). I might have teared up watching them measure and weigh him like a true big kid and not a baby. He is right on track with development... asking lots of questions, taking things apart, jumping, running, listening in on our phone conversations, you know... grown up things. The doctor even asked him a lot of the questions instead of me and I melted listening to his sweet little voice answer her about what his favorite foods and toys are and what he likes to do outside. Gosh he is such a cutie.

He is still taking a nap everyday, thank goodness! I don't think I'll ever be ready for him to drop it and stay up with me. He would eat chocolate chip pancakes or muffins every day if I made them. And he settles for a small bowl of cereal - some of daddy's mini wheats on the bottom and cinnamon honey bunches of oats on top. And he'd eat yogurt, cheezits, and a cut up apple for every meal if we let him. Can we say routine? Picky? Particular? What a goof. We've started making him eat at least one bite of our food if we eat somewhere like a friend's house. But it really only happens if we talk about it before we go. Poor little guy just doesn't do surprises really well... When we've prepared him and he's done it though, he was quite proud of his 3 bites of meat, and so were we! Maybe one day he'll grow up...

Graham is also going to school (mom's morning out) one morning a week. I was nervous but really wanted him to experience something out of his comfort zone. Since he's still too young for pre-school, this worked out perfectly. And he LOVES it. Seriously, he runs and skips in every Monday morning and motor-mouths all the way home about his little friends and his favorite teacher, Miss Sherri. I'm so thankful and a little proud of how well he did. I mean, he just started going to the nursery at church this calendar year, and now I can drop him off to a room full of strangers?! I just love that the teachers are so kind and love him so much and that he can come home and tell me about Joseph and his colorful coat and his mean brothers. What a gift. And while G is at school, J and I enjoy leisurely grocery shopping and window shopping at the mall. Also a little gift.

His favorite toys these days are his Playmobil, his boots, guns, swords, Duplo, and his little guys. He's all about guys that do or drive things. And he's completely in love with the Lion King. I'm pretty sure he'd watch it 3 times a day. Oh, and he sings now! It's pretty much the cutest thing ever. We've been listening to Steve Green's "Hide 'em In Your Heart" for months now and recently Graham just decided to sing along. Kid knows every stinking word. Hearing him sing the scripture and ask what the words mean makes listening to the dreaded kid music totally worth it. But he also sings along to the Lion King and Sesame Street. Our sweet little musician.

Ok, now on to Jackson. Jack-Attack. Jackson Pants. This little guy just warms my heart.

He is growing before our eyes I tell you! He is 14 1/2 months and a little stinker. He walks super fast, sort of a scurry. Very different from G's bouncing/run that he did at this age. He loves his daddy something fierce and runs to him as soon as he gets home and won't be put down. He also prefers to eat in Matt's lap over mine for breakfast and dinner (we feed the boys and then sit down to eat ourselves.)  He loves sticks. He jumps right in to wrestle with daddy and brother. He loves Mable. He loves to run outside. He loves tiny toys. And his favorite color is ORANGE! (not kidding, his favorite "go-to" toys are all orange...)  Can I get a War Eagle!

He wasn't eating anything really on his birthday and we would push things, offer any and everything with no interest from him, and he would just gag. We quit pushing it on the doctor's recommendation. She thought he just needed to outgrow his gag reflex. Boy was she right. One day around a month ago (13 months old) I was eating tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich and he leaned in for my soup. It was love at first taste. Apparently he just has salty taste buds. Once we started offering salty things he was all mouth open for it. At first I was just sticking with the Trader Joe's tomato soup and their spaghetti O's version. But then I realized that just because G is world's pickiest eater doesn't mean I can't offer crazy things to J. And man oh man – Hamburger, Trader Joe's sundried tomato chicken brat, steamed broccoli, meatloaf, raw carrots, mac and cheese, spicy Mexican food, pizza, peanut butter crackers, and several kinds of baby food puree pouch combinations. He does NOT eat yogurt, bread, pancakes, bagels, and most fruit (he does eat apples...) So very very different from Graham. It's a nice change!

On to J's sleep. Or not sleep. I'm participating in an ongoing study in sleep deprivation. J is a big contributor. Poor guy. As much as I rant and really bad mouth his sleep habits - I can't really blame him. He didn't eat food until like a month ago. And since he only has 6 teeth, practically his entire mouth is all bumpy and swollen as the rest of his teeth are all trying to come in at once. I really really feel bad for him! During the day I try and rally myself to be sympathetic to him and his pain, but come sundown I have a hard time staying patient. Thankfully, last night he slept from 8:30 until 4. I woke up this morning feeling alive and rejuvenated! Who knows if it'll happen again tonight...

And our little J is becoming quite the communicator. Nothing like some of his friends, and surely not anything close to big brother, but something. He loves his grandparents and runs to them saying "hhheeeyyyyyy" over and over when they come over, it's precious. Nothing like an enthusiastic baby running at you with a grin to really send a grandmother into a puddle. He says "bup" (up) to us constantly. Always has to be up so he knows what's going on. Wonder where he got that gene? He is also very quick (and loud) to tattle on Graham. Nothing makes him squeal louder than Graham snatching something from his hand. Oh the drama.

Oh, and Matt and I celebrated our 5th anniversary last week. That's right, 5 whole years. Something to be proud of, something to keep us humble, and a reminder that each year is a gift. I look forward to like 60 more but who's counting right? I love him, my Matt. He's a keeper.

We are just enjoying some life over here. And as soon as I have time and mental energy to do a big picture dump, I'll catch up the ol' blog picture style.

Until then, you can find me cheering on my St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series!

August 18th

These two share something special. A birthday!

They also both have eyes that are a matching beautiful shade of blue.

And they look alike.

All day long we kept singing Happy Birthday to Jackson and he would smile. I think he was getting excited about the joint birthday dinner celebration planned for that evening.

We have always enjoyed Dad's favorite chocolate cake that my grandmother used to make for him. Jackson thought it was a winner as well. It's delicious.

I'm so thankful for every birthday celebration with my daddy. I love hearing the story about the first time my mom tried to make Gammy's cake when they were married. And, I just love a reason to celebrate him. I pray this year that he's able to experience the gospel in new ways and is blessed with many opportunities to share his love and joy to his children in Haiti!

Jackson must have been plotting how to really celebrate his birthday because late in the afternoon, he took a bunch of steps!

He has since walked across the room several times and it always brings a smile to his face. And to ours.

We went to the doctor last week for his check up and because he'd been battling an ear infection. So, one year and his first round on antibiotics. Poor little guy.

He weighs in at 18 pounds 8 ounces and is 28 inches long. That puts him in the 5th percentile for both.

Jackson is such a sweet sweet little boy and I'm thankful for him every day. He loves to explore, loves to climb, loves playmobil people, loves his brother and daddy, loves to play in the bathroom, and loves to nurse.

He still won't take a bottle (I quit offering...) or a sippy cup. He is interested in tasting/licking our food but spits anything out if it makes it in his mouth. Breast milk is truly amazing. I'm thankful for a plentiful supply!

He consistently says "mamama" and "dadada" for Matt and me and sometimes "buh-buh-buh" for brother. And the last couple of weeks he babbles and chirps when he plays. I love his little sounds!

He is usually napping once a day in the afternoon with Graham but occasionally takes a morning nap if he wakes up too early. Little buddy falls asleep great for naps and bed but doesn't sleep great at night.

Jackson is growing and learning new things every day and I love it! He is still my baby and I know this phase in his life will feel like a blink when he's older. So I'm trying to treasure everything from the sweet way he says "mama" as he crawls through the house to the countless times he wakes up in the night. We love you sweet Jackson!

B's concert

Last week we were driving home from my parents' house and G would. not. stop. talking.

He was insisting on listening to uncle B's CD... but we'd been listening to it for like a week straight so I wanted something different.

Enter my best idea: the video clips on my phone from Bryan's last concert.

He walked around with my phone watching the clips on repeat for the entire evening.

I think B would be honored.

Have some jam!

Remember the blackberries? My mom has all of the canning equipment and I love to cook with her in her kitchen. So we went over for the day.

We had big plans for those berries.

We started off with some good ol' blackberry jam.

Then we added some peaches. It was a good decision.

We had plenty of cute little distractions. Hi Thomson!

I left with 15 jars of this delicious jam.

It was so good. I couldn't take my mind off the jam for the rest of the week.

So we went back to make some more.

Peach Raspberry. And then Peach Raspberry with a little Blueberry. Yum and yum.

Then we had an idea...

The Strawberry Peach was the clear winner of the day. Seriously awesome combination.

So.... with the additional 24 jars...

I HAVE SO MUCH JAM.

No one be surprised if you get some Jam for your next gift. Feel free to put in your requests.

Oh, and the general recipe is as follows:

- 6ish cups of chopped fruit (go crazy with the combination)

- Apx. 1 teaspoon of butter or margarine (to help cut down or eliminate the foam at the end)

- One box plus a little more from a second box of the low or no sugar Pectin

- Bring to rolling boil and then add 4 cups of sugar

- Bring that to full boil and boil for one minute

- Immediately transfer into warmed jars and process (look up canning for more on processing)

Enjoy!

the park

We went out the inlaw's last weekend to eat and enjoy the park. G loves the park near their house.

When did my baby get so big? He's almost 3.

And he discovered the swings recently. He loves them.

And this guy. He's one. He's cute. He's got me around his little finger.

Sweet brothers. Yes, they occasionally love each other a little too much.