Update!

It’s been a really long time since my last post! Our computer was getting old and was sooo slow that even thinking of trying to blog gave me a headache. But now that we have a speedy new one, I don’t have an excuse! I just have a whole lot to catch up on!

I have an irrational fear of forgetting anything about my kids’ childhood… worry that I won’t take enough pictures or journal enough about the things that they are doing… they won’t ever be little again after all. So to make myself feel better I decided to an update on the kiddos… a LONG one!

 

Jayden at 18 months

·         He has the biggest shoe fettish… he is obsessed with Conner’s crocs and boots and stomps around in them most of the day.

·         He is a total boy… he LOVES to play with balls… if he sees one on t.v. he yells “a ball!” and runs to his room to get one. His second love is cars… he drives them around making car noises. He loves to be outside, get dirty, and be destructive!

·         He loves to wrestle with Conner… whether or not Conner wants to. He will run up behind Conner, grab him around the waist, and hold on for dear life as Conner tries to shake him off. Usually Conner is crying as Jayden is laughing hysterically…

·         He has always been a big chatterbox…  Lately he has been saying more words mingled with jabber. I love his jabbering! Some of the words he says are mama, kitty, ball, bye, hi, uh-oh, shoes, outside, open, cheese, thank you, yeah, no, all done, want one, up, purple, and lots more… it is so much fun to hear him learn new words but I will really miss it when he no longer jabbers nonsense! He will jabber something to us and then nod his head and say “yeah” just to make sure we understood.

·         He, like his brother, has become a very picky eater. The things that he eats almost on a daily basis are chicken fries, Mac & cheese, oatmeal, and yogurt.

·         His favorite t.v. show is Umizoomi, just like big brother. Whenever it is on he is glued to the t.v.

·         He LOVES to give kisses and won’t take no for an answer… He hasn’t learned how to pucker his lips so they are always open mouthed kisses… after you kiss him he says “thank you.”

·         Whenever we put him to bed he says “bye” and waves.

·         He is OBSESSED with animals. He calls all animals “kitty”… even our hamster.  We took him to the fair and he was in heaven at the petting zoo.

·         He loves music and has to start dancing whenever he hears any.

·         He loves to sing… His favorite song is twinkle twinkle little star, he sings it “up abubba high” and also ring around the rosies “all fa down!”

·         Whenever he does something that he is proud of, he claps for himself and says “yay!” … he expects us to do the same.

·         If you lay on the floor he will try to wrestle with you.

·         He’s got a little temper… if you try to hand him something that he doesn’t want while he’s upset he’ll throw it,  go pick it up, and then throw it again.

·         Whenever I get the camera out he scrunches up his face and says “cheese!”

·        He is a total mama’s boy. He follows me around the house all day and gets jealous if Conner is sitting on my lap.

·         He loves to “jump”… his feet never leave the floor but he gets so proud of himself anyway.

·         He doesn’t like to be strapped into his carseat or stroller for very long.

·         He loves to tease Conner. He will grab his blankie and take off. That’s what little brothers are for right?

·        He now has a favorite blankie that he loves to carry around with him… I think he is trying to be like big brother.

·        He loves to count… he says “1,2,1,2,1,2…” but never quite makes it to three.

·        He insists on feeding himself  any food that requires  a spoon… he makes the biggest messes and usually needs a bath afterward.

·        He went to nursery for the first time yesterday! He did great and didn’t even cry when we left… I think it helped that he had big brother in there with him.

·        He loves to say “magic, magic, presto!” and wave his arm around like a wand… something he got off of Umizoomi…

·        He loves to be outside. His favorite thing is to swing. He could swing the entire day if I was willing to push him that long… whenever I try to take him out he shakes his head no and holds on for dear life. He also loves to go down slides… he has no fear.

·        He gives the biggest hugs… he lays his head on your shoulder and squeezes you as tight as he can with his little arms and legs… love it!

·        He is such a funny little boy. He is so quirky and is always doing things that make us laugh!

 

Conner at 3 1/2

·        He is super crafty… his absolute favorite thing is to do “projects.” I always have to think of new crafts for him to do otherwise he comes up with his own. He went through a phase of gathering random ingredients from the cupboards, such as brown sugar, chocolate chips, coconut, and sprinkles, and making abstract art on a cookie sheet. He would get mad if we walked by and ate a chocolate chip because each one was strategically placed.

·        He loves to do worksheets, especially mazes. We got him a couple of thick workbooks and we complete around 10 pages a day.

·         He is really picky. Currently his favorite meal is a peanut butter (no jam or honey) sandwich on a hamburger bun…

·        He is addicted to milk. He doesn’t understand why he needs to eat food when he’d rather just live off of milk. We have to bribe him with a milk sippy to get him to eat anything.

·        When we tuck him in at night he is always very adamant that his blankie has the soft side facing up… he is still in love with his green blankie and always has it with him… at home… we don’t let him take it out!

·        He is always talking in riddles… whenever he wants something to eat I’ve got to figure out what it is… “I want something yellow.” Or “I want something that is shaped like a circle.” When I guess it he says “yeah, you got it!”

·        Lately he has hated going to nursery and begs us to stay with him. He said “I just don’t like to do things by myself.” That pretty much sums up the way he feels most of the time!

·        His life is a musical. He is singing all the time about anything and everything. While playing, eating, using the bathroom…

·        He says the funniest things! The other day he said “I LOVE plain milk, it’s so dreamy!”

·        He is 100% potty trained and has stayed dry at nights for the last 5 months.

·        He calls Jayden “buddy” or “bud” all the time.

·        He asks LOTS of questions. Whenever we ask him to do something he says “Why my have to?”

·        He has lots of imaginary friends and we often have to go out of our way to accommodate them. One day he had an imaginary baby that he would push around in his shopping cart… we had to be quiet because the baby was sleeping, we had to dig out the baby bottles because the baby was thirsty. Yesterday he had a “little star” that was following him around. I had to help “her” into the booster seat , buckle her in, and buckle her into the stroller on Conner’s lap. When we were leaving the house Conner told me “my little star doesn’t need shoes, she doesn’t have feet, just little points that she walks on.” The funny thing is that he keeps up the ruse the entire day!

·         He has a pet fish that he named Sariah… his babysitter’s name.

• He started preschool this year with his best buddy Easton. He looked so cute on his first day of school!

·        His current favorite shows are Team Umizoomi, Dragon Tales, and Tom & Jerry.

·        We have been working on simple math problems. We were on a walk and after seeing a few dogs he said “I wish we could see ten dogs.” Me: “How many dogs have we seen so far? We saw two black and two white, how may is that?” Conner: “One, two , three, FOUR!” Me: “How many more do we need to see to make 10?” Conner: Thinking… “6 more!”

·         He is a TOTAL mama’s boy. He always wants to sit by me, go everywhere with me, and wants me when he’s sad. He’s my little buddy.

·         He can be so stinkin sweet. I took him to storytime at the park and he was sitting on my lap listening to the story when he randomly turned around and said “I love you mommy.” And gave me a kiss on my arm. Melts my heart! Sometimes he will ask me “Mommy, can we snuggle?” I hope he never gets too old to snuggle with me!

·        He says “I love you mom” at least once every hour. I hope he always tells me that!

·        He is such a little smarty pants and is SO fun right now!

We are so lucky to have two sweet little boys and we couldn’t love them more!

Jayden at One

I can't believe how much Jayden has grown up within the last couple months. He is doing so many fun things right now that I had to make a list so that I will always remember this fun stage!

•  He is walking… and getting really fast! He took his first steps one week before his first birthday and two and a half weeks later he gave up on crawling altogether and decided that he wanted to walk everywhere! No matter how many times he fell (which was a lot) he would keep getting right back up on his feet.
•  He is wearing this hat 90% of the time. Whenever I clean up I put it back in his basket with the rest of his toys and within a few minutes he goes to find it and puts it back on his head. He likes to put it on so that is covers his eyes and walk around the house laughing… he will occasionally peek to see where he is going but has run straight into the wall many times… already such a daredevil!

•    He is a total boy and LOVES to play with balls and cars. He is usually always found with one or the other in his hand. He loves to “drive” his cars and make car noises… cutest thing ever!

• He says “Mama”, “Dada”, and recently “Ba” for ball. At first we weren’t sure if he really was saying ball until Nathan asked “Jayden say ball” and he went over to his basket of toys, pulled out a ball, and carried it back over to Nathan and said “Ba!”
•   He loves to put on necklaces… or wear Conner’s belt around his neck whenever he gets the chance.
•  He loves to play with phones… he holds them up to his ear and jabbers to himself. He also does it with calculators and the occasional shoe.
• He loves to climb into drawers, baskets, and lately he has been pulling off the vent cover and climbing down into the vent!
•   He is REALLY sensitive and gets his feelings hurt whenever we tell him “no no.” He gets the saddest look on his face and starts bawling.
•    He loves to drink shakes in the morning with me. Ever since Conner saw me putting spinach into a shake once he refuses to drink them… not Jayden, there is no complaint from him!
•  He has 9 teeth… one of them is a molar and there are at least two more getting ready to break through…
•   He weighs 19 pounds 14 ounces
•    He is 30 inches tall.
•   He is still very attached to his pacifier. I hear that the sooner you take it away the better but he just loves it so much!
•    He loves his new swing and LOVES playing outside and getting dirty.

•  We moved him into a forward facing car seat and he looks like such a big boy! He likes being able to see everything but he has a really hard time being comfortable sleeping in it.

•   He loves to jump. He likes us to hold him under his arms and will go crazy jumping… our arms tire out way before his little legs do.
•   He is at the age where he is into EVERYTHING! The second I open the dishwasher, the fridge, or a cupboard he books it over to see what mischief he can cause.
• He loves to find the remotes and bring them to Dad. I hold my hand out for them but he won’t give them to me…just daddy. Haha!
•  He LOVES his Daddy and gets so excited when he gets home from work. When he hears the back door open he hurries there as fast as he can and gives Dad a big hug!
• He has the CUTEST laugh! Whenever I hear him it makes me smile! 

We LOVE this little boy! :)

Jayden's 1st Bday!

I really can't believe that my baby is already one! It always amazes me how fast time flies. Jayden definitely isn't a baby anymore...which is affirmed by him having his own opinion. He has the cutest little personality and is constantly making us laugh. We are so lucky to have him in our family!

Since his birthday fell on a Sunday we took him and Conner to Hop 2 It (the place with lots of bouncy houses) on Saturday. Both Conner and Jayden had so much fun! They both had permanent grins on their faces the entire time. As a parent there is nothing better than watching your kids have a good time!

On Sunday we had a Lego themed party with my family after church. In case you couldn't tell that is what Jayden's cake is supposed to be...legos...

Jayden Dell the birthday boy!

I was curious to see whether or not he would dig into his cake. He licked some frosting off of his fingers but he didn't really start going to town until we gave him a fork.

Jayden opening his presents... I mean Conner and Kynzee opening his presents in front of him... poor Jayden!At least the toys were handed over as soon as they were open. Some of the things that he got were a musical telephone, a see n' say, a monkey, a baby swing to go on the swingset, a musical stacker toy, and this cool blue chair. For some reason he has an obsession with chairs. He loves to climb in and out of them over and over again.It's not a party without wheel barrel rides!

Happy Birthday Jayden Dell we love you so much!