Little Updates and a Busted Lip

Okay, where do I start. Rachel is loving Pre-K. She can say the Pledge of Allegiance, knows where several states are on the US map, has been on three field trips already and is writing her letters so much better now! For the past two weeks they've been talking about cowboys and last Friday they could dress up like one. So, here she is as a cowgirl.


And if Rachel is up on the fire place, Jackson wants to be too - so he just climbs right up.


I had a nice birthday earlier this week. We went to dinner Sunday night to avoid the chaos of rushing around after work on Monday.


Jackson is continuing to walk around all the time...he is still not very smooth though - walks very stiff and with his arms in the air... And still falls and still crawls some.


I have no idea what happened in this picture but I thought it was pretty crazy and wanted to share.


And to wrap it up, Jackson got in a fight with the floor yesterday at school and lost... He was kneeling on a chair and another kid ran into him and knocked him over...so he landed face first on the floor. He had a bloody lip, nose and big knot on his forehead... It broke my heart when I saw him for the first time... He bounced back pretty quickly though... The first picture here is about 3-4 hours after it happened, after his bath.


And this was this morning. Doing much better!


And of course that can't be enough for one week... I get a call at 9:00 this morning from his school saying he has a bad upset stomach and has to go home... So he and I have been hanging at home today. So far he's doing alright - I'm praying it stays this way and doesn't get worse - as I know it can!!

We hope to go to the fair this weekend so I should have more pictures soon...

We've Got a Climber!

We really enjoyed our Labor Day weekend. We were gone the weekend before so it was nice to be home and able to relax and hang out with the kids - and we had an extra day to do so!

Jackson is now walking a lot! He does it on his own - not just when prompted. I don't have any still pictures of it yet, but he's doing it so much more than he was...He keeps his hands up and just toddles around. So cute!

We discovered another new interest last weekend...climbing. He is all of a sudden climbing on everything now - the step stool, his little slide, the fire place, etc. He gets up and then has a hard time getting back down...





It rained most of that Monday - due to the tropical storm (side note: the tornadoes went about 2-3 miles from our house - Praise The Lord - He kept us safe again.). Rachel went out and played on the deck with her umbrella and rain boots...

Funnies...

I meant to post this a couple of weeks ago...here are a few brief funny conversations that we've had with Rachel lately.

Rachel: What are we having for dinner tonight?

Me: I think daddy is fixing a frozen pizza for us.

Rachel: I don’t like that…I like warm pizza.

Rachel: Daddy, I love your smell…

Michael: Really?

Rachel: You smell like raspberries…

(We both got a good laugh out of that one…)

The other night, I was putting Rachel to bed. She remembered she wanted one of her babies to go to bed with her and Pooh was already in her bed.

Rachel: I have to go down and get somebody.

Me: Who?

Rachel: He’s in my bed.

Me: I know, but who?

Rachel: (Obviously getting frustrated for having to repeat herself) HE’S ALREADY IN MY BED!!!

First Day of Pre-K

Today was Rachel's first day of Pre-K. She's going to Pre-K at the same school she's gone to since she was a baby, so that part didn't change. Just a new class, new teachers, more dedicated learning, etc. Overall, she was pretty excited about it all.

Jackson didn't start his first day, but it was his first day wearing shoes to school! Ha! No, really, it was. We've always just sent him in with no shoes - he was a baby, no need... But now that he is standing more (he's still not walking - barely does it with us - definitely not on his own yet), I thought he needed to be wearing some shoes. I found him some at a consignment sale on Saturday and thought this was the cutest little outfit.

Rachel is all smiles at this point...

This is our last year before she goes to kindergarten. That seems so far away, but yet it is so soon to me... As I was driving in to work this morning, I passed an elementary school and saw a mom and dad walking to it with their little girl...I have to admit - I teared up! And it's a year away...

On a funnier note, yesterday I was going over an "All About Me" poster with Rachel for her new class. One of the things asks what she wants to be when she grows up. Without hesitating, Rachel answers "A fairy. Or a pirate. A doctor." *laugh* Too funny. Then I told her that I thought she'd say a teacher b/c she loves to teach her babies. So later on when Michael asked her about it she said a doctor or a teacher... But I love that she wants to be a fairy. Or a pirate.

Bathtub Artwork

Rachel drew a picture of Jackson on the bathtub wall the other night. I thought I'd share it with you all. I printed it out and labeled all of the different body parts so you could more easily identifiy with it.

Pool Day

We spent a relaxing day by the pool yesterday with Constance and Jeffrey. We all enjoyed it!

Many of you know that Rachel loves the pool and being in the water. She took swim lessons last summer and again this summer and was more comfortable in the water after that but still seemed a bit timid and wanted to stay on the steps a lot of the time. When she would try to swim, her lower half would sink and it just didn't work very well. Well, something happened about 3 weeks ago - Michael got her to jump in the water without being caught. She can reach the bottom there anyways so all she would have to do is put her feet down and she could stand on her own. She did it and then it was like everything changed. She gained so much more confidence after that. She loves to jump in on her own - even if she can't reach the bottom. She has been swimming better and kicking her feet on top of the water instead of sinking. Yesterday, at the pool, she couldn't reach the bottom at all but that didn't stop her from swimming from one side to the other - kicking her feet and doing her arms and everything. She is getting so much better and we are so very proud of her!

Here are a few pictures from yesterday.












She even likes to be thrown in the water now!

One Year Stats

Jackson's one year check-up was this morning. Everything is great... keep your fingers crossed that it stays that way for awhile as the kids start back to school in a couple of weeks. In the past, Rachel has always gotten sick within the first 3 weeks of being around everyone...

Here are his one year stats - you can compare them to Rachel's (below).

Jackson: 24 pounds 5 oz. and is 29.5" long.



Cutie doing the birthday dance!

Rachel at one year:

Weighed 23 pounds and 9 oz and was 28.25" long.

Everyone thinks he is a lot bigger than she was but really he's only less than a pound heavier and 1.25" longer than she was at this age.

Speaking of which, here is my favorite picture of Rachel when she turned one.

And I thought this was cute... Rachel playing at her table in her playroom while Jackson watches from outside the gate - he's not allowed in there yet...

Our birthday fun is over for a while... I go back to work tomorrow... Michael and the kids start back on the 8th - which is in a week and a half. We've been enjoying our relaxing days - especially this weekend.