It's been awhile...

I haven't posted since last May. Yikes! And there are certain people breathing down my neck to post (this is for you, Jeani!) But when I got my camera out to see if I have taken any good pictures lately, I realized it's been awhile since I've had the camera out....like since Christmas. Christmas! I'm so ashamed!

So, I thought I'd post an old picture of Jackson, because I realized this week that Isabelle is almost the same age now that Jackson was when she was born, about 2 1/2. And it is blowing my mind. First of all, she seems much younger than he did then, he seemed so big. Second of all, it's weird to think she's already 2 1/2; it seems like she just got here. So I'm going to make an effort to get the camera out (the real one, not my phone) and take pictures of the little monkeys, before they move out:)p

Last day of preschool

Deanna Rose with Charlie

The moment I've been waiting for...

PIGTAILS! And I lucked out, my girl has a very tough head (unlike her mother...and her brother; thank god we don't have to put his hair up, I'd be in trouble!)

Happy Valentine's Day

Kickin off 2010...pretty much the way we left 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

My Perfect Xmas Card Portrait

So much for the perfect little children, smiling and happy in their Christmas finest in front of the tree (which is what I pictured in my head). Instead, I had two very happy kids with no clothes on (well, except for Transformers underwear and those awesome red shoes that she put on herself while naked & sparkly red headband). So when you get our Christmas card this year (late, of course) you'll understand why it turned out the way it turned out. Merry Christmas!

This is how it started...

I got the kids all dressed up and looking fancy, tried to pose them in front of the tree, and this is what happened. And it soon turned into...(see next post)

First Snowfall

There wasn't a whole lot, but Jackson made the most of it. Isabelle and I just shivered (what can I say, we prefer sunny skies, poolside!)

Road Rash

Saturday was gorgeous weather here, so before dinner that night, I thought it would be fun to go for a quick walk down the (fairly) new walking path by our house to check out the new little playground structure they just put up. Jackson was playing & Isabelle was walking; she's so new to it though that Patrick and I are always watching her like a hawk, afraid that she's going do a face plant at any moment. Apparently, we were worried about the wrong kid...Jackson took off running toward the 3 of us, caught his foot somehow where the grass meets the sidewalk, and BAM! hit the ground, obviously with his face. It was one of those moments, as a parent, where you're trying so hard to keep it together for them, but all you really want to do is cry/vomit/look away. Poor guy was so upset...not to upset or hurt to eat dinner when we got home though; he was crying so hard but all he kept saying was "I'm so hungry"!

He's doing much better; the swelling has gone down in his lips, but he hates having it cleaned(I don't blame him). He looked in the mirror the other day and started crying, telling Patrick "I don't want to look at my face like this anymore!" Broke my heart, cause I kind of have to agree with him; it is painful to look at. I told him if I could fall 100 times to take away all his pain, I would do it; I don't think he was really that moved by my gesture.
















This is what he looked like Tuesday on his way to school...where it was picture day! Of course:)



And our other child...poor Isabelle has been fighting some kind of virus now for about 2 weeks. She starts to seem a little better, then gets worse. She had a fever Friday, none on Saturday and acted like she felt pretty good. Had nap troubles Sunday, which is extremely rare for her (knock on wood) and is as we speak upstairs sleeping, or trying to; she'll be quiet for a long time, then start coughing horribly, then cry out, then go back to sleep. It's about the saddest thing I've ever heard.



We're pretty depressing around here...the month of November does not treat us well, that's for sure!

The spot formerly known as timout...

So this is what happens now when we send Jackson to timeout, a little friend joins him. Usually she's the reason he goes to timeout (for pushing her, taking toys away from her, whatever) and yet, she can't help but follow him over there to join him:) That's ok though-she should probably get used to that spot, she'll probably be spending some serious time there (that girl has an attitude that goes on for days-yeesh)






















And I put this one in so you could remember what Jackson looked like before...you'll see what I mean on my next post.

Trick-or-Treating @ Prairie Village Shops

Here's a pic of the kids doing some afternoon trick-or-treating at the Prairie Village shops. We had a blast and saw lot of cute costumes. Thought this picture would best sum up our time; Isabelle being goofy, and Jackson pulling on various parts of Charlie's Max (from Where the Wild Things Are) costume. He pulled on the ears, buttons, tail, and finally, the whiskers (see above). Poor Charlie took it all in stride:)

*Special thanks to GAB (Great Aunt Becky) for sending us the adorable pumpkin costume for Isabelle to wear. She made it for her wonderful children many years ago, when Robbie was probably not too much older than Isabelle, and was kind enough to share it with us. Thanks GAB, you're the best! Now, if you're not too busy, we need to start a strategy planning meeting on what they're going to be next year so you can make their costumes, so they'll be as cute as that pumpkin. Seriously, I'm thinking Luke and Princess Leia-you do the costumes, I'll do the buns!

KC Pumpkin Patch with Charlie

Some Jackson love

Here's Jackson eating Vanilla Wafers...
















And dipping them into milk...

















And showing off his 2nd stitch scar...he fell in the bathroom and cut his chin (again); this time he ended up with 6 stitches. That's a grand total of 9 stitches in the chin already at 3 1/2. Oh boy...

The Big One

Isabelle's first birthday party was, if I'm being honest with myself, somewhat of a disaster. We had to move everything from the area we actually paid to reserve to a spot closer to the playground because it was way too far to walk back and forth from the playground to the tables; we were swarmed by dozens and dozens of bees, and the battery in Patrick's car died. But as you can tell, the beauty of turning one is, you don't care about any of that nonsense. All she needed was balloons, cake, family and a little bit of sunshine:) What a great girl:)