Passed the Test...

      I have found that the "teacher" in me must have some sort of plan every day.  Staying at home with no plan but for Jackson to just play does not work for me. That's not to say that I don't allow him to have free play.  I do, in fact, I enjoy watching him play and interact with his toys.  He seems to be starting to have some fantasy play (I would love to know what goes on in his mind sometimes).  Each day I have some type of outing or activity planned.  It seems to make the day go smoother and nap times a little longer! 
     We usually go to the library on Tuesdays or Thursdays, so off we went.  I can't wait until Jackson can get his own library card (he has to be 4).  I love the fact that Jackson LOVES books.  Our library has a nice selection of board books which are right up Jackson's alley. Also, on Thursday, we discovered the DVD selection too.  He is very much into the Sesame Street characters, specifically Elmo, so choose two DVDs that he carried around with him the entire time we were at the library.  He's actually more into carrying around the DVDs than watching them.  Nothing really captivates his attention on the TV unless it is the Gigglebellies.
     After our library outing, I had planned to run to a couple of stores, but on our way, both boys fell asleep.  I decided that naptime was more important to me than shopping so I went home and put the boys to bed.  Funny how life changes...who knew something would be more important than shopping to me!
     On Friday, we had a playdate at the playarea in the mall. It was so hot outside that this was a perfect Friday (free) outing.  Again I had planned on running a few errands but Jackson fell asleep before even leaving the mall parking lot so home we went.  This was also the day that Kevin left to go on his deep sea fishing trip.  I was a little apprehensive about being left alone with two kids...mostly when it came to bedtime.  I was left on my own for about 36 hours (with some help from my parents, thank goodness) and I seem to have passed the test! Kevin said it gave me practice for when he goes back to the station...ugh!!! That begins this week. Lord, grant me strength.

                         Jackson with all of his musical animals and of course the Wubbanub!

Jackson learning to eat with a fork...he loves the independence!

        Jackson's new Gyro bowl...doesn't work exactly like the infomercial...oh well!

                                Grayson is already one month old...where does the time go?

                            A Fourth of July wreath, thanks to Pinterest. Gotta love naptime!

The Little Things

Kevin had the day off yesterday...so what does that mean?  I got to shower and shave!!! It's all about the little things in life! 

We then took the kids (it' still so weird that we have more than one) over to Coliseum Town Center so that Jackson could play in the fountain.  It took him awhile to warm up to the idea of running through the water but after watching all of the other children having a good time, he joined in the fun.  I always enjoy watching him interact with other children.  I find myself wondering what type of child he will grow up to be...will he be the child that when others see they roll their eyes and are thankful he's not theirs or will he be the child that everyone loves.  I have a feeling he will not be the "birth control" child. In comparison to other children, he seems so calm.  If another child comes and takes his toy, or like yesterday, his water spout, he doesn't seem to get bothered by it...he moves to something else.  Then of course I worry about him having a backbone and standing up for himself. Raising children to grow up to be productive, contributing adults in society is hard work but I'm up for the challenge (with lots of prayer).

Taking nothing for granted

Yesterday did not go as planned.  I had planned to take the boys to the library and to Blue Bird Gap Farm.  A simple phone call changed everything. Just as Kevin left for work in the morning, I noticed that I had missed a call from the kids pediatrician. Her message said that it wasn't urgent but she did have some information that she needed to share with us. I immediately thought that it had something to do with Grayson's jaundice levels ( we took him in on Monday to get labs drawn because we were still concerned with his jaundice...the results came back that he was ok, but I thought that the doctor had found something else).  I called and had to leave a message.  I fretted all day.  Finally around 2, the phone call came. The doctor informed me that Grayson had had some routine blood tests done at birth and the test for cystic fibrosis came back with elevated numbers. WHAT! At the sound of that, I immediately started freaking out...I had no idea! She then told me that she conducted another test and those results just came back and the numbers were normal...THANK GOD! She had just wanted to let me know just in case something came up later on.  She said he had no symptoms (good weight gain, no diarrhea, no breathing problems).  I'm glad she chose not to share this info with us until there was good news to share, I would have just worried.  Needless to say, that one phone call shook me up. It could have gone much differently.  It reminded me how fortunate I am to have two healthy children.  I made a promise to myself that even when I am awoken at all hours of the night (and even those all nighter nights), I will be thankful that I have a healthy child who is able to wake me up...but that's not to say I am not looking forward to the days of sleeping through the night! :)
I am hopeful that today will go as planned but if it doesn't I'm sure there will be another lesson to be learned or reminded of.

getting started

I have decided to start blogging! Like I have the time right? Actually, I have wanted to do this for some time but now more than ever, due to our increasing family. I wanted to document, for myself mostly, life during this crazy chapter! I thought summer time would be a great time to begin.



This past weekend was Father's Day. We had both sets of grandfathers over to our house for dinner. I cooked chicken tacos and a pasta salad. Normally anytime we have people over, Kevin gets put in charge of grilling, but because it was Father's Day, I wanted him to have a break. The meal turned out yummy, thank goodness! Below is a picture of one of the gifts that the boys and I created for Kevin.