New Friends and Forgotten Birthdays

New friends and forgotten birthdays shouldn't really go together. But for me last week they totally did. Fisher and Jaxson became friends in preschool last year and we have had several playdates through the summer. Jaxson was invited to his birthday party and I made sure to not schedule anything that afternoon to be able to attend. We were expected to be there.

That Sunday I did a photo shoot in the morning and came home, watched some shows, played with the kids, got Asher down for a nap, and went on with our day. And completely forgot to go to his birthday party! Jaxson loves birthday parties. We play make believe parties all the time. He gets so excited to attend them, have them, pretend to have them, all of it. I seriously almost cried. I know that Fisher and his parents moved here not too long ago so I just hoped and crossed my fingers that he had tons of kids there and didn't notice Jaxson's absence. I know how disappointed Jaxson would have been if I had got him excited someone was coming over and they just didn't show up. Ugh... worst mom ever!!

I wrote his mom an email right when I realized it (a week later!!) apologizing for not being there. I told her I wanted to make it up to him that we missed it and take him somewhere special. He chose mini golf so we are going to do that Wednesday morning and I got him a pretty cool gift. Maybe we can go get ice cream after. Maybe I should take them to do every cool thing there is to do... that is how bad I feel. I am sure his mom understands, and if it had happened to us, I would have understood. Things like that just happen. I know that. But it doesn't really make me feel any better about actually doing it. :/

First Homework

After his first day of school we checked his bag for any papers and other stuff he had brought home. It is always the first thing we do when he comes in the door. This day he had homework! He had to write and draw a picture of how he got to school on his first day.

He said he doesn't know how to draw a car but found a picture of a bus on a different paper that was sent home and tried to copy that. He really has better artistic skills than I ever had. I probably couldn't draw a better car than that either!!

Fifty Seven

Jaxson finally turned in some of his chips for a prize yesterday. When he first started as soon as he got five chips he wanted to trade them in for a sucker. I explained the longer you save, the cooler of a prize he could pick. He chose to wait and save them up. It has been working pretty well and he often tries to go the extra mile to get a chip or two.

He was saving for a new wii game that was 50 chips. We counted the other day and he had 54 chips and his face lit up! But he wanted to keep saving. There were a few things that were on the list that were more, going to a movie with a friend or going to Incredible Pizza. I figured he was going for one of those. Yesterday, as he was playing with his wrestlers he asked if he had enough chips to get a new wrestler. We looked over the "menu" and tried to problem solve how he could get a wrestler.

He could trade in 25 chips for a $10 giftcard to a store of his choice. We checked the prices of wrestlers online. He found out they were between $13 and $20. We made piles of 25 chips to see just how many giftcards he could get. He was so excited when he saw he could get two giftcards and still have 7 chips remaining. We were off to Toys R Us in the matter of minutes.

He couldn't decide what to get. There were sooo many options. They even had a big center aisle display of all the wrestlers. There were battle packs, and single guys. He knew almost all of their names. I think the guy shopping near us was pretty impressed. He decided he would do a battle pack with two guys. He had several to choose from but most of them already had one guy he already had. I tried to not sway his choice since this was his giftcard he earned. He settled on a Mysterio vs. The Miz that had a trashcan included. He couldn't wait to get home to start playing with it but we had to stop at Hyvee for some dinner stuff first. As we were leaving the grocery store he asked if he could help carry some bags to the car and get another chip! I think he is getting the hang of this being good thing! 

History Repeating

Four days a week it is just Asher and I to keep ourselves busy. It reminds me of my time with just Jaxson, out having lunch, running errands, and finding toddler activities to enjoy. Now it's my time with Asher. One of my favorite things to do with Jaxson was always storytime at the library. Asher and I have gone almost every week since Jax has been in school.

Asher sits and listens so well. Just like Jaxson did. He looks at the pictures and the other kids, taking it all in. After we wander to the play area and pick out some book and play with puzzles. Jaxson always gravitated towards the puzzles at the library, and is now a puzzle lover. He easily sits down and puts a 30 piece puzzle together without any help at all. Asher has also enjoyed the puzzles at the library lately. The difference is Jaxson would sit and concentrate on the same puzzle until it was all done. Asher runs around and wants to do them all! Some on the floor, some on the table, a dinosaur one, a zoo animal one, then a shape one... then.... 

Two of the weeks my friend Katherine with her little boy Joey (15 months) have been able to meet us. We have gone to lunch after as well each time. I am hoping she doesn't meet us next week since she is very, uncomfortably, pregnant and wants desperately to have their little girl! 

Here is big brother Jaxson at the library for the first time after storytime! Love comparisons of my boys. And I love how shaggy and cute Jaxson's hair was!!

Independence and Chips

Jaxson has been a little demanding, and a little naughty lately, so we are trying to teach him to be a bit more independent. He seems to enjoy doing things himself and I enjoy his upbeat attitude.

He won't seem to stay in time out and it is more of a fight to get him to stay put for a time out than what he got in trouble for in the first place. So we speak to him sternly if he misbehaves but are trying a more positive approach. We tried charts but it didn't work well since if he misbehaved in the morning he felt the whole day was lost anyway so why even try anymore! Our new plan takes a new twist and is a super simple concept.

We got poker chips. When he does something he is asked, or even better does something without being asked, he gets a chip as a thank you. We are very specific as to why he is getting the chip. Something like, "thank you Jaxson for putting your dishes away after dinner without being asked!" We never bribe him with the chips, they are just a token of our appreciation. And we never take the chips away for bad behavior since he had earned them previously for being good.

He has a menu of fun stuff he can "buy" with his chips. Five chips for a sucker all the way up to 75 chips to take a friend to a movie or go to Incredible Pizza. There are several things all in between he can choose from. This was a nice element to teach him how to save for a goal rather than spend it as fast as you can.

It has been working great! Of course he still misbehaves. Regularly. But he looks forward to getting a "chip" and often goes out of his way to do what is right in hopes of getting one. He currently has over 30 but is saving for a new Wii game at 50 chips. I am so proud of him for not turning them in immediately for a smaller item.

Hopefully it keeps working!!

Friday Night Lights

 A couple weeks ago we went to our friends, Kyle and Brittany, for dinner and then headed to the Dowling vs. Valley game. It was a little nostalgic for the boys since Kyle graduated from Dowling and Dave from Valley. It was a packed house since it was the big game of the week but we were able to find seats just after arriving. We got there just in time to watch Valley completely drop the ball, figuratively and literally, and lose big time to Dowling. I have a feeling this year is going to be disappointing with football with many of his teams struggling. Winning teams=happy husband. I think I am trouble this fall... :/

Asher and Jaxson was fascinated by the lights and noise, people cheering, the cheerleaders doing their routines right on the bleachers. It made me realize Jaxson could be ready for a Hawk game very soon!

Mastering a New Skill

He is about the cutest cross eyed little boy I have ever seen.  I figured he better learn how to impress the ladies with some serious eye crossing skills. :)

Zoo Tots Cooking Class

Being a zoo member has proven to be very handy and we were able to pre-register for only 10 bucks for a zoo tots cooking class. It was less cooking than I expected but with all different ages I am not sure what I expected. The kids got to make a Watussi out of different foods, nutrigrain bar cut to make his body and legs, bugles for his horns, twizzlers for his tail, etc.

Then they made awesome hats and went out to see a Watussi in person! It was a fun activity for Jax and I do together. It isn't something we get to do all the time anymore but when we do I make sure to really enjoy it. This was an activity we did just before he started his first day of school. Knowing he was going to be gone all the time and we couldn't take spontaneous trips to the zoo or other fun stuff was kind of sad. I was trying to soak in all the moments we had together. :)

Future Photog

 We met Elaine on her birthday at Gray's lake for a band and wine tasting. Jaxson was getting antsy and needed something to do so I handed him my camera. Even though I am quite protective of my camera I know he is so careful and once I saw how much he loved snapping a photo and then checking out what he got I let him go to town. :)

Dad Leaves Town...

And I get these two lovelies all to my self. Why is it right when dad leaves they seem to fall apart and need to go to the doctor??? It must be a conspiracy of some kind....

But really they were both tired and Asher had a minor ailment but required a trip to the docs. I guess someday I will get to go on a girls vacation. I would expect the same meltdowns while I am gone but the time would probably go by like a breeze. Just my luck. :)

Arts and Crafts

 The other night Jaxson was having trouble behaving and once he finally got settled down I needed something quiet to do and something that would keep Asher in one spot so I could relax my mind. So I decided to let him paint. It was kind of a random.. possibly messy... and risky choice but I went for it anyway. Turns out the baby can paint for hours. He probably sat there for close to an hour even maybe an hour and half and painted. He really had exactly what he wanted in mind as well. If I tried to help him dip in a color, and it wasn't the color HE wanted he would get upset with me and try to get the brush away. So I just let him do his thing, occasionally turning his paper so he could paint in a new corner of the paper. After the paper filled up he started to get creative on his belly. Even though it was past his bedtime, I let him go for awhile. He was having so much fun and it was relaxing watching him quietly paint.

On another random note... Jaxson, who isn't a huge fan of crafts loves to cut stuff I found out. We were at Mel's the other day and the big kids were cutting just for fun at the table. Jax wanted to join in. I am sure he has had experiences with scissors at Sci preschool but he had never shown interest at home so we didn't even have a pair of kid scissors. So I showed him quick how to hold it and drew him shapes and to my surprise he went to town and did an amazing job at cutting on the lines. He now loves to cut stuff and after his second day of school when I picked him up he proudly told me he cut out a sun all by himself. :)

This really was his first cutting job. I was pretty impressed. 

Iowa's Super Bowl

 The big game was a couple weeks ago and we had people over to watch.. and then take in the misery of a loss with us. It is always better to have people that are equally as depressed after a loss for Dave to not spiral out of control. Of course I am kidding... kind of.

At least everyone looked cute in their hawk gear. :)

Jaxson's version of the heisman pose. He is so cute. :) 

Preschool!!

On September 6th Jaxson was off to his first day of preschool. I was excited, nervous, sad... all these different feelings. He is in a preschool that is all day four days a week so that is alot of time away at school! I know he was excited to go. Everytime we would drive by his school on the way home from being out he would point it out with such excitement. I know I am lucky to have been able to stay home with him for the last year but I wish I had more time with him. But I am so excited to see everything he learns.


His first day he woke up to his alarm and had his favorite breakfast waiting for him. Scrambled eggs, waffles, and berries with orange juice to drink. He was pretty happy to see his favorite spread when he made his way to the kitchen.

Before it was time to really walk out the door he wanted to get in the last few minutes to play with some toys.

I snapped photos all the way until I had to finally leave him at school! Imagine that.. haha. But to my surprise I didn't cry and neither did Jaxson. I was so proud of him for not shedding any tears.

This was how many new friends he was going to make at school on his first day.

Walking in together. He held Ashers hand all the way upstairs.

Asher and I spent the day at home. I found out quickly that was a bad idea because all day Asher looked around the house for Jaxson. He just kept calling out his name and laying on his bed waiting for him. I think he thought he was playing an awesome game of hide and seek. Since Asher and I dropped him off, Dave picked him up on his first day. He was pretty excited to see him after what I am sure was a long day away. They stopped for ice cream on the way home as a special treat.

the first thing I noticed when he came home was he wasn't in the same clothes I sent him in. uummm... wasn't expecting that. Apparently he was going to "wait until I got home" to go potty. And then he said he didn't want to raise his hand to tell the teacher. Ugh... The worst part is that teacher had said to put a spare pair of clothes in the bag that they will keep there for any accidents. Realizing it could happen anytime during the year I put in a pair of long pants and warm top. So on an 85 degree day he was running around on the playground with winter clothes on. Luckily we haven't had that problem since!

Hiatus...

I can't believe I have gone almost a month without posting anything. I have been crazy busy trying to keep up with all the photos I have been taking. I am so busy with it lately anytime I have been on the computer I have been working on photos. I also had a bachelorette party I was planning this month and I am not even sure what else I have been up to but not blogging obviously.

The bathroom is done. Yay! I can't tell you how happy I am to take a shower whenever I want. Somethings I learned is that not having a shower bothers Dave ALOT more than me. I don't have a problem cleaning up in the sink or in a very shallow bath. Dave just hates getting out of bed in the morning and not showering. I have also found that I really like taking showers in the evening and being able to sleep a little longer in the mornings! The kids are happy taking baths again. And smell much better now. :)

I will take some photos of the shower soon and post them. Dave did an amazing job on the shower. From the neat tile, framing out four niches by hand, researching and implementing every waterproofing technique known, and making sure everything was as close to perfect as he could get it. It is very spa-esque shower now. The other thing I learned is how awesome it will be to have a house someday with two bathrooms!!