Toy Story 3...Gwyn's first movie

We took the kids to Toy Story 3 (all of them...Jason was SUPPOSED to watch Annie, but something came up! Ha, I just had to do it!!).  It was Gwyn's (and Annie's for that matter) first movie and she enjoyed it.  She sat on Brian's lap the whole time and both of them loved it.  I got the "fun" job of holding Annie, I only had to leave the theater once to feed her a bottle, she did fall asleep for about 10 minutes, and I had to stand on the side of the theater...I discovered she likes to crunch up popcorn (I felt sorry for whoever had to clean all that up), and she also likes cherry icee...I know, not a great mom moment, but hey, I was trying my best to entertain her! 

 

I also took the kids down to Maddy's roller skating birthday party and Jacob did good, I was proud of him for trying and he'll tell you he skated all over the place, but really he got really rather good at walking on them.  At one point (I was trying to keep an eye on all three of them), I lost Jacob when they had everyone go to the side and they had all the birthday kids out there (there were 3 parties there), I was looking all around and Jacob was out in the middle with the other birthday kids.  They had this guy dressed in this kangaroo costume or something and he was mesmarized and I couldn't get his attention.  Poor other parents of the birthday kids, they were shooting video and you'll hear me yelling "Jacob!"  "Jacob!"  "Jacob!" to which he didn't hear anyting.  It ended up being okay, they did the hokey pokey after that and Jacob was pretty good at it.  Gwyn wanted no part of it, but of course was all about the cake and her tatoos.  I loved this picture of them sitting together talking serious talk about their tatoos!

We have been enjoying the pool, Gwyn got a new Dora "skateboard" she calls it for some reason.  Jacob has an alligator one that John and Claudia had given him from visiting their house last year, so now she thinks she is super cool.  The kids are doing great at their swimming lessons, Jacob even swam underwater for the first time yesterday...I was so proud of him, and I'm hoping to get it on video today.  Gwyn loves being in the water and is constantly saying, "watch what I can do!"  Annie loves the water too, she does pretty well in her float thing for about 30 minutes and then one of has to hold her or she likes to sit on the first step and stand up...which requies one person to be beside her the whole time, we call it "Annie duty."

Annie turned 8 months this past week, she is starting to crawl pretty quickly now, she pulls up and cruises all over.  Here she is at 8 months, she has about as much hair as Jacob did, and I think her eyes/eyebrows look alot like Gwyn's:

Here is Jacob @ 8 months:

Here is Gwyn @ 8 months:

We finally put batteries into the music table...this is its third round, we got it for Jacob when he was 5 months old for Christmas and it has pretty much been used non-stop.  Of course, as soon as we got it out and put the new batteries in it, it was Jacob and Gwyn who were more in to it than Annie, but now it is officially hers.

I had to throw this picture in of Gwyn getting ready to go to her school. she just looks so grown up all decked out with her twinkle toes and her lunch box.

It has been raining just about every afternoon here, and now that both the kids have their umbrellas we go outside and play in the front yard, they tell me all the time that they need boots so they can splash in the puddles, but so far that hasn't stopped them!

We usually do this during Annie's afternoon nap, I snuck up the other day because I thought I heard her and I went in there and she was just too cute!

She usually spends most of her waking moments like this with Jacob...they are buddies.  He wrestles with her, picks her up, totes her around, moves her from here to there.  He even the other day asked if he could go wake her up so that he could play with her.  Gwyn and him are buddies too, but Annie just thinks the world of Jacob, and as much as he's in right in her face talking loud, she just loves it and laughs so hard, it is hilarious.

Funny things the kids said this week:

Gwyn (to Brian as she hands him his present: candy):  Happy Fathers Day, SHARE!
Jacob on the way to Maddy's birthday party:  What kind of cake they gonna have, because I don't like princess cake.
Jacob:  Mommy, you need to get some rockets on your car so that it will go fast and beat all these other cars.  I think Daddy can build you some.
Gwyn:  Three special steps, that's how you gotta do it. (repeating Special Agent OSO)
Jacob saying his prayer: Thank you God for Mommy and her play with me, Thank you God for Daddy and help him to build some stuff, and thank you for Gwyn and Annie that they play with me.
Gwyn (repeating Jacob):  Have no fear, buzz lightyear to the rescue!
Jacob after seeing a convertible:  We need to get a new car that doesn't have a roof. (not a chance...about the convertible part, not about the new car part!)
Gwyn:  Woody to the rescue, we got a mergency!
Jacob:  Abra cadabra...hey, how come our car isn't flying??

These are the days...

Some days I look at these kids and I just can't believe how lucky I am to be able to have all three of them, and to stay home and play things like "Woody and Buzz to the Rescue" all afternoon.  Jacob is so sweet, Gwyn is so goofy and funny, and I just want to eat little Annie up!  Thank you God for blessing us with them, and thank you Brian for working so hard so that I can stay home and enjoy these precious years when they are little and experiencing new things everyday.

We have been doing swim lessons everyday this week and last week, and starting on Friday we've got an instructor coming to the house to do them in our pool two days / week through the end of September or so.  I'm looking forward to that because getting everyone dressed and dragged out of the house every morning at 8:45 is a bit of a challenge, so it will be nice to be home and be able to lay Annie down for nap if I need to.  The kids are doing well, Gwyn was having a hard time the first couple of days until she discovered they had a Dora pool toy and then her whole world got better...she is really enjoying it and actually willing to do more than even Jacob.  Jacob is doing pretty well, I had hopes he would learn to swim after a week or so, but I guess it takes time.  He is doing more and more everyday and gaining confidence, so hopefully he'll be swimming within the next month or so. Here is Annie hanging out at swim lessons.

Brian and I laughed about our last Friday night...family trip to eat dinner at Freebirds (make your own burrito place), then to Costco, then to Lowes (where the kids think playing on the tractors is SO fun, and for free!), and then for ice cream and we were home by 7 pm!  The kids thought it was the greatest!!  Friday night fun at our house:

It has been VERY hot here, so we've been taking advantage of the pool, but enjoying playing inside the house as well.  We've been doing playdates, crafts, and the kids are just getting so creative.  We are usually hiding from a big bear, or building a big ship so that the crocodiles don't eat us, or building a town (consisting of every lego we have, plus a firestation, plus a pirate ship, plus a batman house, plus a doll house, plus a fairy tree, plus a shoe house) where Buzz and Woody are in charge of keeping it safe from everything and they are always having to rescue this little pig that ends up on top of the firestation or trying to fly a plane, or someone has to go to jail, etc.  I could go on and on, something is new and different everyday.  Here are a couple of pictures of a painting project we did, Jacob is getting pretty good and drawing things, Gwyn is still in her squinty smile phase:)

Annie has learned a few new tricks, she is now pulling up and cruising around everything and spitting!  Yes, she likes to spit and the kids think it is the funniest thing ever.  They both really do love her.

If you are thinking that Annie just smiles in every picture, just wait:

When she cries she curles her little toes up real hard, like she did in this picture.  She is so cute, she really doesn't cry that much except at the church nursery, where she cries the ENTIRE time.  When I picked her up last time, I said was she really bad or just a little bad...they looked at me sympathetically and said she did have a period of about 10 minutes where she was calmed down and almost fell asleep, but then she started up again.  I'm sure they are really happy anytime they see us coming down the hallway!  Ha!  We've been only going to Sunday school and missing the service because I just feel too guilty to leave her in there for 3 hours.

On another note, Jacob and Gwyn went to Summer Fun Days for 3 days this week and 3 days next week at Jacob's preschool.  It is from 9-1 and we were late due to our swim lessons, but I was so proud of Gwyn!  She just walked right in and was so excited to go since she got to carry a lunch box like Jacob.  She told me they even went to the park (the playground), and she had alot of fun.  I told her that she and Jacob are going to rule that school, and she said "ya, rule the school."  It was pretty cute.

Annie was sleeping in her car seat and I took these pictures because she just looked so precious.  She kind of wrinkles her eyebrows when she sleeps like she is frowning.  Her bottom lip is always wet, her little hands have dimples and what looks like little rubberbands around her wrists and her little toes are for once, relaxed.

Funny things the kids said this week:

Jacob: Let's go to swimming lessons.

Gwyn:  I don't go to swimming lessons, I go to pool school.

Gwyn:  Daddy, can you please go to work and make some money?

Jacob while trying to bring the shopping cart downstairs:  I'm a big boy and I can't do it!

Me to the kids: What do you think we should get Daddy for Father's Day?

Gwyn: a blanket

Jacob: a sheet and some candy

Jacob to Gwyn: You can't come to Father's Day, only boys can come.

Gwyn to Brian:  Please can I come to Father's Day?

Brian: Do you have a Daddy?

Gwyn: Yes

Brian: Then you can come

Gwyn: Yeah!

The one-eyed Pirate

If you haven't heard already, Gwyn literally scratched Jacob's eye out...not really, she accidentally poked him in the eye and her fingernail scratched part of his cornea off.  Amazingly, the eyes heal themselves quickly and within 24 hours his eye had completely healed itself over.  He did have some serious pain and it was very uncomfortable, the dr said it hurts pretty badly and feels like you need to rub it, but then the rubbing it is what makes it hurt the worse, so we had a lovely couple of days dealing with that.  Oh, and while we were there I had them look at Annie, and sure enough, she had the pink eye from Gwyn and also an ear infection.  At the Dr. it was Gwyn who was whining the most and wanted to go home, and the Dr joked that she was the reason that both Jacob and Annie were there, but somehow she didn't even have to be seen by the Dr, it didn't seem fair to Jacob.  He said he thought she needed a shot.  Ha!  Seriously though, I think he tried to look EXTRA pathetic in the picture I took of him.  They didn't have a mirror in the Drs office and he really wanted to see himself as a pirate.

Besides bringing all 3 kids to the Dr on 3 different occasions within the last week, I also managed the grocery store...this is an accomplishment worth mentioning!

It has been rainy and hot here.  We've been going to swim lessons, Jacob is doing great, Gwyn...not so much, but hopefully she'll get better because I've already paid for two weeks worth!  The kids are enjoying being outside, they love to look for lizards.  I told them the other day we needed to go back inside, they were getting too sweaty, to which Jacob replied "but we want our heads more sweaty!"

Unfortunately, Annie is taking this crawling thing pretty seriously, the kids were in the playroom and I was on the computer and I hear something and then my computer freezes...she had crawled underneath the desk and pulled the cables out of the computer...and so the baby proofing begins for the last time!  I've also had to start putting her in leggings even though it is 100 degrees here because she's wearing her little knees red, and today she had crawled to the foot of the stairs, pulled herself up and was just staring upstairs...I think she could hear Jacob and Gwyn up there...perfect, out to get another baby gate, one for the top of the stairs and one for the bottom of the stairs!  Babies R Us is determined to take every dollar we have!  I've tried to discourage this whole crawling thing as much as I can, but it isn't any use...she's on the move!

Funny things the kids said this week:

Jacob runs out to Brian to give him his chapstick in front of a landscaper that came by the house:  "Here is your lipstick Daddy!"

Gwyn to anyone who I tell what happened to Jacob's eye:  "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, I didn't do it!"

Summertime, Summertime, Sum-sum-summertime!

Summer has officially begun at our house.  We've been busy with pool time, playdates, more pool time, splash days and just in general having fun!  I've included a few various pictures from the last week or so.  The kids are loving our pool and we've been wearing them out in it after dinner on the weekdays and on the weekends.  The kids start their swim lessons next week, and we are hoping that Jacob picks it up quickly because he really wants to swim "out in the middle."  Brian told him he could pick out whatever pool toy he wanted when he learned to swim, and he's got his eyes set on a watergun...great!  Here are the kids at a recent pool playdate:

The kids in dress up, yes, Gwyn is still in her squinty smile phase:

Brian has been busy on his endless "honey do" list here at the house, he and Jacob put up Jacob's new ceiling fan last Saturday, he installed a new toiletseat, a new doorbell, hooks around the house, hung up the remaining pictures, fixing the fridge water valve, putting the swingset  back together, etc.  I've been busy keeping our days somewhat organized and fun-filled.  The kids keep asking, "who is coming over next" as soon as someone leaves, and "what is next" as soon as they get tired of something we are doing.  It has been nice they are both liking to draw, and Jacob likes to work on his letters.  I will say my quality of life has improved dramatically with my new washer and dryer that does almost double the loads I used to do and in twice the time...now, if only they made one that came with a folder, or better yet, someone to actually put away all the cleaned and folded laundry!  Ha!  I no longer have any help...my daytime sitter that helped me out so that I could work a few hours for Jason's consulting company a week, moved back to Chicago, and my babysitter from church just left for a church camp and then off to Texas A&M, so boo!  Somehow, I've still managed the post office, grocery store, watch repair place, eye doctor, and of course, Target with all 3 kids.  That is seriously an accomplishment!  Oh, and to top off my list of daily "to dos" Brian lost his credit card and someone tried to use it 3 times at different gas stations, so thankfully they put a hold on the charges for fraud alert...he didn't even notice it was missing until I told him we got a fraud alert notice!

Annie the official crawler will not do it for the camera.  Here is the video I got of her NOT crawling, she apparently thought it was hilarious to take off anytime I didn't have the camera going and immediately stop and sit there and laugh whenever I got the camera out...I'll get her within the next week or so!

Gwyn is still famous for her made up songs and singing.  Her latest goes "don't be mean...don't be mean...don't be mean to us....be nice....be nice....be nice to us."  She also sings "Jacob's got a scooter, I've got a scooter, Carter has a scooter, Cole doesn't have a scooter, Annie doesn't have a scooter."  It is hilarious, she just has the sweetest little voice.  I did have to take her to the urgent care center about 7 am on Memorial Day, she woke up screaming her little eyes were glued shut, and she ended up having pink eye which has cleared up pretty quickly.  Poor thing also has a little cold this week that she, Jacob, and myself picked up (possibly from Annie, who just got over it), and we've had to start breathing treatments again.  I'm just praying that she doesn't end up having asthma in the long run, it just seems anytime she catches any time of a little bug it goes straight to her lungs and her breathing gets very labored. 

Jacob is growing up, and is such a helper.  Yesterday, he cleaned up his whole closet and his whole tool bench without me asking.  He was so proud of himself, when I told him how happy that made me, and how proud I was of him.  He then told me he needed help with the rest of his room, so we cleaned it together.  I'm finding he really responds when he tell him how good he does at something, he's such a sweet boy, and yes, he has his moments with Gwyn and Annie, but he does love them and loves to play with them.  If this is any indication of how much fun he is having, here he is at dinner trying to eat his pizza, so he can ear a popscicle after dinner, but he just can barely stay awake.  It is hilarious that Gwyn tries to act asleep like him!

Funny things the kids said this week:

City-boy Jacob:  We live in the forrest!

Gwyn:  I'm going to strawberry bucks with Daddy.  (That is Starbucks, and it is their thing they do together.)

Gwyn to Brian when he picked out her clothes:  Hey, this not match!

Jacob quoting Wubbsy:  You're a genius!  Ah, shucks!

Gwyn asking Brian to let Jacob go with them to Strawberry Bucks:  Jacob can come?  He is our friend.

Jacob:  We need to go on a picnic and eat our food out of a basket on the grass.