"My Purple Ball"

I was looking through my Flip video camera and came across this short video created by Jackson. It makes me smile every time.

Jackson is obviously just looking for something to record because I never knew his love for his purple ball.

Aaron is on his way to Hollywood....so he thinks!

I recorded Aaron on Hot on Homes using my Flip video camera. I know that is not the best way to record it, but it is easiest way for me to get it on my blog right now.  So here it is....enjoy!   

The Boys (and Taylor Swift) in Concert!

Outdoor Giggles!

A, B, C, D, E, F, G.......

We have known for a while now that Garrett's favorite part of the alphabet was E-F-G! That's what he calls all letters - "E-F-G! E-F-G!" However, the other day we were all in the car and Garrett just started singing his whole ABCs. Aaron and I looked at each other like "Did you know he could do that?"

One thing I have learned that is different about the 2nd child, is that with your first child you know EXACTLY when they are supposed to know or do everything. If they are not balancing on one foot for 6 seconds by the age of ____, call the doctor. If they are not saying more than 52 words by the age of ____, call the doctor. Okay, clearly I made those examples up, but you get my point. With your first child you know "THE TIMELINE." With your 2nd child, you're a little more laid back. You're not as obsessed with "THE TIMELINE" and you can just look at your child and say "ohhhhh.....he's fine! Right on track!"

So....it's moments like this with Garrett that I realize "Oh!!!! Oops!! You probably should know your ABCs by now! ......or wait, does this make you advanced? Or should you have known your ABCs 6 months ago?" Heck.....poor baby, maybe he did know his ABCs 6 months ago and I just didn't know that he did!?!?!

Here is a video of Garrett singing his ABCs. It's not the best video of the actual ABCs because he is trying to see himself in the camera, but I thought that part was funny and worth sharing. In the background is Jackson and I laughing. Sorry if it makes you dizzy!

A FIVE Minute Christmas Home Video

Yes, it is indeed 5 minutes and I am fully aware that only Grandparents may watch the video to its entirety. 

I am also fully aware of the fact that Garrett’s pants are too short.  Pretend that they are capris….which means you will also have to pretend that it is summer time and capris are appropriate for boys to wear.  The pants are size 18-24 months….Garrett is 21 months….I thought the pants would fit….They didn’t….We were at home….Garrett is a squirmy little guy….enough said. 

Be sure to watch the beginning when Garrett copies every move Jackson makes.  I love those little guys!   

                    

Jackson’s Song about “Baby Girl.”

Before we knew if my sister and Ricky were having a boy or a girl, we would ask Jackson and Garrett, “Is Aunt M having a baby girl or a baby boy?”  Once we found out they were having a girl and her name was going to be Savannah, Jackson wasn’t happy.  #1:  He wanted it to be a baby boy.  #2:  He thought her name should Baby Girl and not Savannah. 
Jackson is learning to like the name Savannah (which he pronounces as “Sa-ban-na”).  This weekend I heard him singing a song about “Sa-ban-na” while he was playing.  He completely made this song up, as you will be able to hear.  :)  The words are not always the same and it is kind of hard to understand what he is saying since he makes up the words as he goes, but main line is “If baby girl is not Savannah, the baby girl will just be baby girl.”
I also like the part where I ask him to sing it again for us and he responds with “Who are y’all?” since he was really only singing it for me.   

Airplane!

I did bring my flip video camera to Florida, but I didn’t put fresh batteries in before leaving. 

They did sell batteries in Florida, but I didn’t remember to buy any when we were out and about. 

I did get a few videos, but I didn’t get many….

Enjoy!  (Yes, we went to Florida over a month ago, but it was only recently I finally got around to replacing the batteries) 

 

 

**I was trying to keep Garrett calm so he would go to sleep, which is why you don’t see action from him.**

Bed Time with Jackson and Garrett

Jackson’s 3 Year Check Up & Garrett’s 18 Month Check Up

The boys had their well check up Monday morning. Let’s start with the stats:

Jackson

Height: 37 in. = 50 percentile (grew 2 inches in a year)

Weight: 32 lbs. 6 oz. = 70 percentile (gained 5lbs. 2oz. in a year)

Garrett

Height: 33 in. = 70 percentile (grew 1 inch in 3 months)

Weight: 24lbs. 4 oz. = 30 percentile (gained .38 of a pound in 3 months)

The doctor was concerned with Garrett’s weight gain, or should I say lack of weight gain. She asked if he was eating okay. For those of you that have ever seen Garrett eat, will understand why that made me laugh. Eating is his favorite thing to do! She asked a few more questions, then noticed Jackson’s growth chart and realized the issue. Genetics! Their growth charts were almost identical. Comparing both boys between 15 to 18 months, Jackson gained .4oz and Garrett gained .38oz. She said they both just started out big and then leveled off. So….no worries! I do find it rather shocking that Garrett is only in the 30th percentile for his weight. That means that 70% of kids his age weigh more than he does. I never thought that would happen.

And now……comparing. Something I know you are not supposed to do, because it really doesn’t matter, but I like to do this since their height and weight have been following the same path.

Jackson @ 18 months vs. Garrett @ 18 months:

• Garrett is 1/2 an inch taller
• Jackson weighed 1.4 more

Other issues and concerns:

• For awhile now I have been slightly concerned with Jackson’s speech. At the age of 3, kids should speak in 3 to 4 word sentences. Jackson consistently speaks much longer sentences than that. His vocabulary is great, but I worry about his articulation for some sounds. If I remember correctly, our doctor said at the age of 3, strangers should be able to understand 65% of what he says. She said from listening to him, she feels he is most likely fine, however to ease my mind I could contact our school district and they would test him. She said why not….it’s free, gives me a peace of mind, he may have fun being tested, and if there was a problem he would receive pre-school speech through the district. I would just rather be proactive and I know early intervention is best! Testing doesn’t hurt! What’s the worst that will happen? They will say “He is right on track!” or “Let’s get him started in preschool speech.” The thought of having him tested gives me a little anxiety. I fear hearing the results that his speech isn’t where it should be. However, he just turned THREE. He will almost be SIX when he starts kindergarten. We have plenty of time to intervene. The easy thing would be to put it off, but I am his mom and if I don’t decide to get him tested, who else will.

I have contacted our school district and he will be tested Friday, October 9th. The speech therapist was super friendly and informative, so I feel comfortable with everything. Now, a part of me is saying “He doesn’t need to be tested. He is fine!” while a part of me is saying “If he needs help, let’s get it before he loses his confidence and becomes frustrated.”

I mean…..check out this confidence:

• Jackson’s speech was my main question for this appointment. I didn’t have any questions about Garrett. However – I thought that was quickly going to change. Jackson passed his vision screening….. Garrett passed his vision screening. Jackson passed his left ear screening….. Garrett passed his left ear screening. Jackson passed his right ear screening……Garrett didn’t. WHAT? Did the screening again. Same result. The nurse brought in another “ear tester thingy” (Can you tell I made that word up?) and tested for something else. She then said “I will print off the results and have your doctor go over them with you.” WOW. Not really what I was expecting. If the doctor is going to go over them with us, he clearly didn’t pass. Come to find out, Garrett has an ear infection. I wouldn’t have ever known. The boys and I all have colds right now, but I thought Garrett’s snotty nose was his worst symptom. Anyways, she put him on an antibiotic and hopefully all will be well in a few days.
• Since mid-August Jackson has been coughing after he has been in bed for awhile. He rarely coughs during the day, but will wake up gagging because he is coughing so bad. His lungs are clear, so there shouldn’t be any reason for the coughing. She wants him to take Zyrtec for about 3 weeks to see if it helps. After 3 weeks, if the cough goes away, stop taking Zyrtec, if the coughing returns we will know it is just an allergy issue.

Building Blocks.

Our pediatricians office uses a questionnaire to evaluate the developmental progress of kids ages 4 months, 12 months, 18 months, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years. I typically receive this evaluation in the mail 3 weeks before their well visit check up. Since they both have a well visit coming up, I am working on Jackson’s 3 year evaluation and Garrett’s 18 month evaluation.

One of the questions for Garrett’s fine motor skills is: Does your child stack three small blocks or toys on top of each other by himself?

I thought this was a cute video of him stacking blocks. He is so proud of himself!

**You will hear him say “2,3” but he also says “E,F,G.” When he sees letters he always says “E,F,G.” Why doesn’t he start with A,B,C like most kids? Because Garrett never does anything in order like most kids! :)

One of Jackson’s questions for fine motor skills is: After he watches you draw a line from the top of the paper to the bottom with a pencil, crayon, or pen, ask your child to make a line like yours. Do not let your child trace your line. Does your child copy you by drawing a single line in a vertical direction?

At first I thought it was cute that he was trying to erase his mess ups with his finger, even though we know crayons don’t erase. Now however, I am looking way too much into it (see…I am admitting it!) and it kind of makes me sad. I love that Jackson has always thought that everything he does is perfect. He thinks he is a wonderful singer, great dancer, great at kicking a ball, etc. Now he is noticing when he messes up on things. I know that is a skill that everyone has and he is just barely doing it in this video, but it just makes me think about the future. I know you sometimes have to fail to succeed, but still…..I never want him to be disappointed in himself……but I know you have to be disappointed in yourself at times to have the desire to do better. (I know! I know! I admitted I am looking way to deep into this!:)

We were so close.....

.....to surviving the whole wedding without Jackson putting on a show, but like the saying goes, close only matters when playing horseshoes.

I sat a little tray of goldfish, animal cookies, and popcorn behind one of the speakers on the front of the stage in hopes of keeping Jackson and Parker happy throughout the whole ceremony. Jackson watched me make this tray the day of the wedding and was looking forward to eating it.

He walked down the aisle without a problem. He sat by the snack tray and started eating his snack in silence. Parker went down the aisle without a problem as well......while pushing a little baby stroller down the aisle that she didn't want to leave behind in the church nursery. It was precious and makes a great memory!!

Jackson and Parker sat together quietly and enjoyed their snack. During the wedding, I actually was telling myself how much Marla and I lucked out. The kids were doing great!! HOWEVER....we were so close to the end of the ceremony when Jackson decided it was time to play. Aaron was sitting in the back of the church with Garrett. He had the video camera and taped "Jackson's Performance." The video is shaky due to the fact Aaron is laughing, while I am turning bright red! The hard part was I knew if I grabbed him while he was in the middle of the stage it would only cause a bigger scene. Luckily he agreed, without a fight, to go sit with Aaron when I told him to. So embarrassing.........and Kristin said she didn't even know he did this. I think she is just trying to make me feel better.

To Aaron's Family: Does this remind anyone of Aaron being an airplane in Randy and Dianne's wedding when Aaron was two? Like father, Like Son, so shouldn't he be the one in the front of the church being paid backed and not sitting in the back?! ;)

The church video crew had issues with their camera and grabbed ours from Aaron to tape the end of the wedding. I love the very end when Parker goes back for her baby stroller. Her act seemed so much sweeter than my crazy child's act.

The rest of the videos are the boys dancing at the reception. I only brought my flip video camera, but Marla took some I will share later.

I LOVE this video of the boys dancing together. They are both doing a little neck roll dancing move. It is very short, so you may have to watch it more than once to really see their moves. ;)

If only this were the hard part of being a Ring Bearer....

Jackson is the Ring Bearer in Kristin and Phil's wedding Friday night. Thursday night was the rehearsal and as you can see from the video, he did well..............walking down the aisle........and that's about it. :)

Just to sum things up, Garrett who was sitting with Aaron was crying "Mama! Mama! Mama!" so Aaron got up to take Garrett outside. Jackson then walked right behind Kristin and Phil and yelled and waved at Aaron and Garrett "BYE!!!!!!!!!!!" A few minutes later he told me (and everyone....) "I'm just going to find Daddy and Garrett now," which he did try to do, and I had to run after him. He also enjoyed dancing and spinning behind the Preacher, walking up and down the stairs, etc.

Wish us luck. Lots and lots of luck. We decided to put together a little combo platter of treats by where we stand to hopefully keep Jackson and Parker in one location. Once upon a time we thought it would be easy. Parker would stand by Marla, Jackson would stand by me, Kristin and Phil would get married and live happily ever after. However, tonight Parker was with her Daddy Geoff and Jackson was everywhere.

Thanks Bam Bam!

(For any new readers: My mom started off as Grammy, but Jackson some how pronounced Grammy as Bam Bam, so Bam Bam she became......but now Garrett pronounces Bam Bam as Baby!)

The other day we were at my sister's house and Jackson found a card that my mom sent my sister that played music. Jackson loved the card, but we wouldn't let him bring it home. Watch the videos below to see what arrived in our mailbox today from Bam Bam.

When I gave Jackson his mail, he had just finished throwing a huge fit because "he woke up on the wrong side of the car." Don't take that literally. He was asleep in the car and not ready to wake up like he thought he was, which led to a big "cry over nothing" fit. I think this mail cheered him up. What do you think?

Cow Appreciation Day.

I couldn't type that title without laughing.

Here's the deal:

Really? This makes me giggle. The bad thing is, when I found out about this my mind went to my children's closet wondering if they had anything to wear. Our family loves Chick-Fil-A, so don't think for a second I won't dress my children in cow costumes for free Chick-Fil-A. Yeah....probably not. Garrett would be completely overstimulated - Mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I found this video on another blog and Aaron and I think it's pretty darn funny. Really....we have to stop eating there so often.

If you go to www.cowappreciationday.com, you can print off a cow costume. Ohhhhh, this really makes me laugh.

Jackson's Prayer.

Twinkle Twinkle

My parent's wonderful neighbors, Larry and Glenda, were having a karaoke party the other night. My parents, the boys, and I (Aaron was working. Maybe we will see him in the Fall? Busy, Busy) went early and left before things got crazy, but Jackson got things going by singing his ABCs and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for everyone.

What this video doesn't show is Jackson saying "Thank You! Thank You!" when he was finished. That was the best part!

Garrett & Corlee Sittin' in a Tree...

...K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

The boys and I met my friends Christy and Courtney and all their kiddos at Christy's neighborhood pool today. Christy's daughter, Corlee, is the baby that is only 3 days older than Garrett. Watch how sweet the 2 little love birds are -

Here are just some random videos of the kids playing -

In this video, Gentry is showing Jackson how you can pretend to make the water fountain look like "pee pee." Jackson didn't completely catch on at the time that this video was taped. However, later when 2 teenage girls were laying under the fountain, Jackson decided that it would be the perfect time to make it look like he was "going potty."
He [rather loudly] said "Jackson is going pee pee....Jackson is going pee pee." What is it with boys?! haha...

What we didn't know.

Five years ago, Aaron and I walked down the aisle and made a commitment to love each other from that day forward, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as sorrow.

We never knew how much our life would change in the following five years.

We lost Aaron's Pappa shortly after becoming engaged, but we didn't know we would lose the remaining three grandfathers before our 5th wedding anniversary.

We didn't know we would discover becoming pregnant would be a difficult path, but would be blessed with two healthy baby boys before our 5th wedding anniversary.

We didn't know I would quit teaching, Aaron would work two jobs, so that I could stay home with our children.

We didn't know that Aaron's dad, one of the men who enjoyed our wedding the most and was the only guy that actually enjoyed watching our wedding video with me to its entirety, wouldn't be here to tell us congratulations today.

We didn't know each other like we thought we did, we didn't even know ourselves yet. We didn't know love like we thought we did.

Aaron and I have experienced those good and bad times like our vows warned us about and now I can honestly say I love my husband more today than I did on our wedding day.....and I thought I loved him then! I am who I am today because of my wonderful husband and the family we have created.

(Clip from the end of our wedding video)

Videos!

Today I was able to capture Garrett walking. He is going through a "I like to walk" phase, so maybe he will decide to like it.

This next video is of the boys messing with Rigley. At the beginning of the video notice Jackson is chasing Rigley with his vacuum. Jackson knows Rigley hates the vacuum. Poor little dog! Notice Rigley's tail wagging in the video. Rigley loves them although I don't really understand how. Watch for Garrett walking on his knees towards the end.

sorry - Garrett doesn't have on a shirt and Jackson doesn't have on shorts. If you put their clothing together, it would make a complete outfit....does that count?