Will and Jack's Graduation

Today was the boy's preschool graduation program. It was great fun. Both of the boys One of the boys had a speaking part and they Will sang a few songs. Then they got diplomas and had refreshments at the reception. I just can't believe how big my babies are getting!! Can I just tell you, these two melt my heart!!

This was after the program was over. They gave the kids out candy for doing so well....I'm guessing Jack got candy for just being so dang cute.

This is Tommie, Will's girlfriend. They are absolutely smitten. She has him wrapped around her little finger. She says jump, and he says how high??

This first video clip is of Jack trying to explain to BOTH of his teachers that he had changed his mind, and would NOT like to talk in the microphone. The teachers spent about a minute or so (which seemed like FOREVER) trying to convince him, but he was having NO part of it. It just melted me, and at the same time it was gut wrenching....I could see the terror on his face, and his little lips were just quivering. I wanted to run up to that stage, scoop him up, and make it all better. Oh, and please watch Will (far right in blue shirt) at the end....he lifts up his shirt and shows his belly to everyone. Silly boy.

The next clip is of them Will singing. Please notice that Jack is still traumatized after the whole speaking part situation (which was at the beginning of the program). He turned around toward the teacher the rest of the time, while everyone else sang and carried on. He pretended like he wasn't there. It was precious......both of them. So fun to get to see them side by side in a situation like this, and look at how differently they react to the same situation.

The last video is of Will saying his speaking part. You can't hear him very well....I took the video with my point and shoot camera. But, he did the closing prayer, and a fabulous job I might add. It went something like this:

Let us pray (I didn't get that part on video). Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for this day and we love you. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen. It was the cutest, sweetest thing ever!

I'm "that" Mother

Yep, I let Jacker wear THIS to school today. It was totally not worth the fight this morning...and really, he thought he was being quite fashion forward, and I didn't have time to argue with him!!!

OMG!

Can you please look at this poor baby? This morning Jack woke up and was complaining about 2 mosquito bites he apparently got last night. He was pretty swollen then, but this is how the bites progressed throughout the day. Oh, and did I mention he is severely allergic to mosquito bites. See for yourself.

This first picture doesn't do justice to the amount of swelling. Do you see how his right ear sticks out, and the left one doesn't. Yep, it's that swollen.
Doesn't that look miserable? He whines about the one on his ear more, but messes with the one on his wrist more. His daycare called about 10 am. and said he had fever, and that they were oozing. Miserable!

Here you see how far underneath his ear he is swollen, and the massive area on his wrist. Tim took him to the pediatrician. I thought we should just start out mosquito season going on in....so they wouldn't think I was just being dramatic in the future when I call and say that we have fever due to mosquito bites.....And it WILL happen in the future. UGH! Anyway, we're on a steroid and an antibiotic. Hopefully he will be feeling a little better soon.

OUCH!!!

Jacker was NOT smiling about this when it happened!!! That is a bite mark--that broke the skin and was bleeding profusely and is now swollen, though on the mend. This happened on Thursday at school. I am not one of those parents who gets all in a tizzy about biting....it happens, I get that. I just wish it didn't happen to my kid!!! None of my kids have ever been biters, (thank goodness) because I'm sure that would be just as hard as your child getting bit.

BUT...don't you think 3 and a half is a little old to still be biting?

Feeling a little better...

I'm home with Jack today as he is still suffering from strep throat. He's acting a little better, but he's definitely not well yet. The extent of his playing has been laying on the floor coloring. Then he's right back in my lap. So basically, I've held the little thang all morning. But.....I've enjoyed every minute of it!

I will say, Jack is the sweetest sick child ever! He doesn't complain much, and just wants to snuggle. And it is so nice to get to spend some one on one time with him. It doesn't happen very often. When his brother and sister are not around to talk for him, he is quite the little jabber box!

Let's just hope we get some sleep tonight....The last two nights have been rough on Tim and I. We've been taking turns getting up with this sick kiddo who has been up coughing and miserable.
AND......Will was up a lot last night with a croupy cough, and he was pretty hoarse this morning (although he said he felt good). Let's hope he's not getting sick too!!!!!!!
Oh, and by the way.....I'm done messing with my blog layout/background for a good while now. I am in love with this one. Heather should definitely become a blog designer. She fixed this one up for me, and I think it fits me so perfectly. So, no more changes till summer! Thanks Heather!

Burning up...

My poor little Jack is burning up with fever! He has strep throat and is just pitiful. We just got home from the pediatrician and he is laying on the couch watching TV....he looks absolutely miserable! Hopefully the antibiotic will start kicking in soon.

Advice, anyone???

So.....Here's the deal. Jack is three years old now and still not potty trained! I have successfully potty trained two other children, but Jack is just having no part in this peeing on the potty thing! I know, I know.......he's not going to go to Kindergarten in pull-ups (I hope). But really, he's three.

He is more than ready, he's just plain lazy. He tells me he needs to go on his terms......like when he's not in the middle of playing. Most of the time he could care less if he is wet. This past week I have kept him in underwear for the most part.......and mopped up pee and changed underwear SEVERAL(ok--MANY) times a day. Every time he pees in his pants he just tells me that he needs new clothes......like it's no big deal! I thought, surely when he feels himself peeing down his leg he will want to stay dry--WRONG! Can you sense my frustration?

Here are some things I have tried:
* Setting a timer and taking him on a schedule--(I know, that's training me, not him...don't judge)
* Rewards for going potty (stickers and/or candy)
* I let him pick out his new underwear and made a big deal of it.
* Just waiting for him to tell me when he needs to go.
* Lots of praise....calling everyone we know to tell them he has peed on the potty.


Here are the things that have failed for us:
* See above list of ALL the things I have tried!!!!!!!!

HELP!!!! Any suggestions?

It's MY birthday.....no, it's MINE!!!

This seems to be the conversation happening at our house. This is the first year that the boys are starting to figure out that they have the same birthday. It's funny to me that they really don't make the connection that they are twins, and have to share everything......even a birthday!

I can't believe that my BABIES are turning 3. Where has the time gone? It makes me so teary eyed to think that they are getting so big. I am looking forward to the time ahead of us, but I just can't figure out how they got so big so fast!!!!

We had a small party for the boys today. They had a great time. Jack just ran around the house screaming, IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! So cute. Here's some pictures of birthdays past and present!

They blew the candles out together in perfect unison!
Do you see how thrilled Ella and Caroline look? Good thing their birthdays are coming soon!

This was a hit. Thanks Grammie and Pa. It's still running.......4 hours later!

Will loves this cool transformer mask!

This was their 2nd birthday. Look at those baby faces.

This was their first birthday. The curls and chubby cheeks absolutely melt me!

The day they were born. This is Will. It's hard to believe they were so tiny.

Here's Jack. This is/was hopefully the only birthday they will ever spend without each other!

Clean up that mess!!!

Jacker took all the popcorn from the bowl, and loaded it into his remote control dump truck. You can see what happened next. He spent about 20 minutes vacuuming up his mess!! Never a dull moment.

Sick again

Poor little Jacker is sick........again! Have you noticed a pattern in all my sick kid posts?? They're usually about Jack. The poor kid is always the one who is sick. He has an ear infection and a junky cough. We started an antibiotic today, so hopefully we'll be on our road to recovery!!

*D*O*N*E

I am DONE with my poor little Jacker being sick. He started this sick business on Thurs. night, and is NOT over it yet. Tim stayed home with him yesterday, and we thought surely he'd be better today. WRONG!

Tim and I got maybe three hours of combined sleep last night. I am like a zombie today!! He was up all night throwing up. Poor little thing just ended up dry heaving by the end....ouch! I'm home with him today, and he hasn't thrown up anymore, but still doesn't feel good. I can't get him to eat anything, and he will barely drink a little juice every now and then.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that this doesn't spread throughout my family. Yikes!!

Sick.....AGAIN!!

After just getting over croup from last week, Jack now has a virus. Daycare called at about noon saying that he had been crying all morning that his throat hurt. I got him a dr. appt. at 2:30, so they said he could stay at school until then. Then they called me back just before 2 saying that he was throwing up. Poor little guy. He is just pitiful. We just left the doctor, and have settled in for an afternoon of lying around in our pj's watching Sponge Bob. Hopefully he'll be better soon!

RAGING ROIDS!

Has anyone ever had a toddler on steroids? Jack is on his 2nd round of steroids in about a month. He is absolutely wild, and eating me out of house and home. We started the meds on Wednesday, for respiratory issues. It has worked wonders, but at the same time replaced my sweet mama's boy with a raging toddler who is climbing the walls..........literally.

Here he's climbing on top of the play kitchen. He has gotten multiple spankings for this. When he did it today, I grabbed the camera and told him that I was taking a picture to show his daddy that he is in trouble. He thought it was quite funny.

Here, he's trying to climb up the door jam. He has been trying this all weekend. He desperately wants to make it to the top. Yesterday he obsessively tried to climb a tree outside. I'm telling you, he is in HIGH gear all the time. A complete wild banshee..........who, in turn, makes the other two wild! I'll be glad when this round of medicine is over!!!