Naughty turned Nice.

So since I really do try to make my blog an accurate picture of our lives, I have to share the bad with the good.  Shortly after I posted about Jackson behaving so well at school (almost a month ago), he had 2 "bad behavior" days and then the worst - At awanas, he got mad at the teacher and hit her.  :(  Not his best decision, obviously.  Ryan and I didn't know where this sudden naughtiness came from, but we took swift action.  Spankings and time-outs only last a short while and don't leave a lasting impression on my smart boy.  So we opted to take any and all super hero things away until he had 5 days in a row of "green lights" or better (meaning, good behavior at school.).  So we took all the toys, shirts, underwear, socks away.  We allowed books only.  He was absolutely devastated.  He did, however, accept his punishment and came home 5 school days in a row (and every day since) on green lights or better.  But that didn't fix this mommy's mind yet.  We needed to really apologize to his Awanas teacher, but how can a 4 year old do that?  We opted to write a card to her.  So here it is.  I'm proud of my boy and his lessons learned.  :)

 This picture is a self portrait, he tells me and the heart means "I love her."

October Phone Dump!

Wanting to follow in daddy's shoes..

 Ethan loves to be silly!

 My boy was quite comfy.

 Jackson prefers when I drop him off at school in the drop off line.  He doesn't want mommy to walk him in anymore. :(

 Jackson's Robot

 Funny faces.

 Jackson's version of "James" - the #5 engine.

 Sweet brothers.

 Creative play..

 Cutest (and greatest) little brother ever.

 

Love this smile!!

 On the Border's grande taco salad is... um... grande. :)

 Nail in my shoe!!

 Calvin kitty.

Jackson's first award..

On Wednesday, Jackson received an award at school for Perfect Attendance.  Of course, Ryan and I wanted to come and watch our big boy receive his first school award!  He was only one of two kids in his class that received the award.  He absolutely loves school so it's pretty easy to keep him going each day.  He waved to the crowd when he was on stage.. pretty funny.  I think he liked the spotlight.  HA!

 

20 Weeks!

20 Weeks!!

• Baby's Sex: BOY!!
• Baby is as big as: Banana!  (7in / 11oz)
• At last measurement: As of 16 wk ultrasound, baby is measuring 5 days ahead.
• Cravings this week: Halloween Candy. :(
• What's different this week than last week: Major aching in my tailbone.  It's feeling like my bones are pulling apart... I'm pretty sure I had this same feeling with each pregnancy, but it's so uncomfortable. 
• Weight Gain: 18 pounds.
• Weeks to go: 20 weeks
• Next Appt: November 15 (21 wks)
• Big Brothers: The boys are beginning to be more comfortable with their new bedrooms upstairs.  I'm adjusting to the idea that I'm going to have 3 loud, busy boys running around my house next year.  :)
• Notes: I'm SO happy to be halfway through!  

My little monkey!

Thursday is "Little Gym" day, as Jackson calls it.  Probably his favorite day of the week because it's the day he goes to "2 services" at school (when he does after school care - he calls it 2 services, like at church, ha!) and then he has Little Gym after.  It's been one of the best things we've done.  We did gymnastics for a year and now in this class, he's doing "Sports Skills Development" meaning he's learning the basics from each type of sport.  So far, they have done golf, soccer and bowling.  And in each class, they do a bit of fun stuff as well as gymnastics.  Of course, it helps that Cole and Ben are in his class too.  Talk about fun for Jackson!  I think I'll probably have to put Ethan in next year!  :-)

Ethan's First Visit to the Dentist!

Jackson didn't go his first time until he was 3, but Ethan had some spots on his teeth that worried me, so we decided to go ahead and go.  Ethan was in a mood-of-all-moods that morning, so I figured we were in for a mess.  After we got there, I asked him to pose for me and this was his best smile he could offer me.  HA!

 Inside, he was entertained by all the books and toys in the waiting area... so he was quiet for the most part...

 Then, the best thing that could've happened, happened.  Dora the Explorer was on TV.  OMG!  His new favorite thing to watch and it just happened to be on TV!  Thank God!  He laid there mesmerized and still... as good as could be.... as long as Dora was on.  So the hygienist took advantage and scrubbed those two spots off his teeth (YAY for no cavities!) and the dentist looked inside and said he looked ok!  The dentist also commended us on getting Ethan's adenoids out - apparently new science is really proving that mouth breathing is worse on kids than thought before. 

 Ethan did a great job at his first dentist appointment!  And I'm happy to report that Daddy gets to take BOTH kids to their next appointment - together - in 6 mos!  YAY for mommy!

Reveal Dinner!

On Oct 19th - we had a little girls night dinner at Mimi's and I got to announce to everyone that we were having a little boy.  I just love these girls beyond words.  They have no idea how their thoughtful, encouraging words really reminded me how fortunate Ryan and I are to be having a sweet baby boy.  I had a great time - and I'm so blessed to have these girls in my life! <Thank you Em for the pics!!>

Jenny and I

 

 Heather and Lisa

 Me and Emily

 Crystal (due in January w/ her baby boy too!) and Nicole

Trip to LR!

Last weekend, my mom was kind enough to stay at my house and keep my boys all weekend so Ryan and I could spend the weekend in Little Rock with our friends Darcy and Eugene.  Darcy and I got pregnant at the same time (we won't tell if that was planned that way! ha!) and we're due 3 days apart!  Funny thing - we're both having boys too!  Anyway, I'm like twice the size she is but that's ok... In this pic - we're both at 18 weeks (and Rylee is 19 mos!).  We had so much fun (as always)... Darcy and I got to do a lot of shopping at some of my favorite Little Rock shops and then that evening, Darcy's mom watched Rylee while we had dinner and then went to see Argo at the movies.  A GREAT weekend!  Thanks moms!  :-)

19 weeks!

19 Weeks!!

• Baby's Sex: BOY!!
• Baby is as big as: Large Mango (approx 6 1/2 in, 10oz)
• At last measurement: As of 16 wk ultrasound, baby is measuring 5 days ahead.
• Cravings this week: Sour cream & onion chips, caff-free coke (really healthy stuff.)
• What's different this week than last week: Feeling baby kick from outside!  I officially feel enormous - unrecognizable-in-a-mirror kind of enormous.
• Weight Gain: 15 pounds. :(  Looks like I'm on track to gain 30+ pounds again. Boo.
• Weeks to go: 21 weeks
• Next Appt: November 15 (21 wks)
• Big Brothers: We're calling this baby boy Jr - so Jackson is referring to him that way now.  Ethan is officially upstairs in Jackson's old room so I have an empty room by my room downstairs... bittersweet.  I can't believe how fast time has gone by... My first baby is now in a queen bed in what used-to-be the guest room - his own new superhero room.  My other baby in his old room, in a twin bed with rails, not at all my baby anymore.... Then there's this baby... still 20+ weeks away from coming into this world and promising to speed through life just like his brothers, making me wish for time to slow down!
• Notes: I'm so anxious to see the ultrasound on Nov 15th. Jr doesn't move around and kick near as much as his brothers did.. so that always makes me nervous thinking he should be more active, but then I realize it's probably because this is the first pregnancy that I've been caffeine free (for the most part - I will splurge for a Chick Fil A sweet tea on occasion).  But I just want to see his little face and his little limbs and watch him bouncing around in there, to relieve my nerves.  :)

A Little Art for our Day...

Last Friday, Jenny and I met up at Imagine Studios for their Mommy and Me class.  We weren't sure if Ethan and Lily Kate would actually participate, but we thought we'd give it a try.  We started out with them playing some playdoh and stickers... everyone was happy.  : ) Our project for the day was "Boo Bags" which we would paint and decorate... sounds fun.  We knew that Jackson and Cole would have a blast anyway.  The boys had paint shirts and Ethan opted to strip down.  We did the big boys first and I was sure that since J was such a trooper that Ethan would be too. HA!  Nope.  The second I put some paint on his arm, that boy screamed for his life.  He wanted no part of that paint!!  So after several minutes of coaxing, he agreed to come play with the stampers as long as he wasn't getting any paint on him. (However, when left alone for a moment while I worked with Jackson, Ethan took the paint brush and proceeded to paint his belly!  Crazy boy!) I painted Jackson's foot and he giggled the whole time.. he's ticklish like his momma.  :)  I think they ended up looking pretty cool and cute!!  Fun art day!