Florida

We just got back from 11 days in Florida. We had a GREAT time! The kids were so well behaved the entire trip. I was prepared for a long flight but the kids sat so nice on the plane and played with their new toys and watched Ummi Zummi on the kindle. I wish I had brought a book because I would have actually been able to read. They got a little frustrated when we first got there becasue we had to get the rental car and go to Walmart and they just kept saying “we are going to the beach.” I think they thought Jason and I got confused about what we were supposed to be doing.

Jack and Leah loved the beach.. they loved playing in the sand, the water and playing on the screened in porch of our “little house.” We spent a lot of time at the beach and I was even able to read not one but TWO books while we were there. We visited the aquarium and saw the Sharks eat. We made delicious meals and watched the sunset.. or as Leah said “we watch the sun go night night in the ocean.” We fed Vanna White aka Banana Wipe a bird at the cottages and we spent a lot of quality family time. We cannot wait to go back!

An update on Jack’s glasses…he is doing fantastic! He keeps them on all the time and has been a so well behaved since he started wearing them. I think he must have been getting headaches frequently before. You can tell he can see better… I love watching him read books now. We got a new alphabet book about the ocean and he can tell me about 3/4 of the letters.

Jack’s Glasses-Day 1

We picked up Jack’s glasses today. I debated if we should start wearting them or not because we are going out of town in the morning, but after much debate decided the sooner he got them the better. All the way to the eye doctor we talked about glasses and people we know that wear glasses. It surprised me how many of our friends and realatives Jack rememberd wearing glasses. I also promised Jack that because it was a glasses day we would go to the toystore and pick out a new train. He was super excited.

When he first tried the glasses on he started crying and getting upset and saying they were too big. Then all of the sudden he started actually looking through the glasse. He looked at the carpet and his shoes and a big smile spread across his little face. It was pretty amazing to see him realizing he could see.  Then he said “Jack wear the glass. Jack get a train, ” and he grabbed Leah’s hand and walked out of the office. He looked so proud.

As promised we headed straight to the toy store. When we got out he looked at the payment and said..”rocks in the ground.” He bend down to touch it and kept saying “mommy there are rocks.” I didn’t realize how bad his eyes had really been. At the toy store he picked out two triains…although mommy promised one, I gave in. We also found some baby bottles for Leah so she wouldn’t feel left out. For one last surprise we headed to lunch with our friends Lindsey and Aiden at the Train resteraunt..Jack’s favorite. He wore his glasses the whole time. I was so proud and excited for him.

When we got home he wanted to take them off for awhile and I agreed but he put them back on after nap and is doing pretty well. I added some pictures.. I have to say he looks pretty darn cute! Please excuse the fact that he has no pants on.. we are choosing our battles today.

Two and half

I am going to try and start writing in the blog more often again. I really want to try and remember the funny things that are happening right now. This post is going to be a little random with things I want to write down.

I am finding two and a half a very challenging age. Jack and Leah are becoming very independent and want to do EVERYTHING themselves. Sometimes this is great and other times it means things take twice as long as normal and require a clean up crew afterwords. We have also had a lot of fits which can be a challenge when they are both having a day where they don’t want to listen. I just keep telling myself that their stubbornness or commitment to things will serve them well later in life. : )

They are both talking like crazy and say the funniest things these days. I was calling Leah silly names this afternoon like “sugar bear” and  “my little pumpkin” and she looked and me and said “I’m not a Sugar bear I’m just a Leah”. I then called her “Princess Leah” and she said, “Mommy I”m just a regular Leah.” Jack has decided that it is funny to talk in a really deep voice..imagine a two-year using a darth vader voice. When Jack says Grandpa it sounds a lot like crap-pa now which cracks me up every time. I really need to get it on video tape.

Both kids love being outside right now. They love to play in the mulch and dirt and just wander around the back yard. Their other favorite activity is reading..but they don’t want me to read them books they want to read the books by themselves. The funny thing is they really do remember the stories. Leah can reciete them almost word for word. I always think that they aren’t paying attention when I read but they are. Leah is also still into her babies and Jack loves his cars. Their favorite movie is Madagascar( also known as move it move it). Jack is watching more and more of the movies each time. Leah still has a pretty short attention span for most TV and Movies.

We have decided to go to Florida again and take the kiddos. They are already very excited and ask all the time when we are going to the Beach. They also remember a ton of the things that we did last time. Leah asked me about Shuffle board the other day and then told me that Uncle Stephen watches his laptop on the airplane. It makes me realize how big they are getting.  This time my parents and brother and sister won’t be flying down with us but will be meeting us down there a few days later so Jason and I will be navigating the airport with the kids by ourselves. I hope they behave.

My mom took Leah for a couple of days so Jack and I are having a special Mommy Jack day tomorrow. I haven’t decided what we are doing for sure but it will be nice to have some one on one time. I will try and post some pics of our day tomorrow.

Pictures Pictures Pictures

It has been awhile since I have posted on here. Having two year olds is busy, crazy, fun, exhausting and a 24 hour a day job that has left little time for anything else. I know my mom and Grandma (who are probably the only people still looking at the blog at this point) have been wanting more pictures so here it is. Sorry for the picture overload but better late than never right?

Hello

Hello there, I haven’t totally forgotten about the blog. It just hasn’t been a priority recently. So what have we been up to? Not a whole lot. Jack and Leah have colds and have had low  grade fevers off and on all week. It has been uncharacteristicly warm around here and we have all been trying to enjoy as much outside time as possibly. We have done some cooking. The kids are getting where they love to help and I have been trying to find as many things that they can help with as possible. Leah’s favorite thing to make is cookies…mostly because she likes to lick the spoon and steel chocolate chips.

I know I say this all the time but the kids seem really grown up recently. They just are not babies at all anymore. Although, I still call them my babies… I probably always will. They are talking like crazy. Leah’s new favorite phrase now is “you better believe it.” She has also been just talking and having conversations with us which is so cute. If we do anyhing wrong she never forgets and reminds us all the time. I was brushing her teeth about a week ago and brushed a little to hard where she is getting her new molar and now everytime we brush teeth Leah says, “Mommy hurt my teeth.” Jack is normally giving commands or making requests…ocassionally telling me about something Leah has done. He is also starting to recognize letters. We have a book that spells out ocean and he can tell me what all the letters are.

Well that is about it. We don’t have much planned for the weekend. We having some friends over to watch the superbowl but that is about it. Here are some new pictures.

Jack and Leah–28 Months

It has been a pretty uneventful week around here. I feel like we are finally starting to get on a more normal schedule after the holiday craziness. Jack and Leah had there first week at Mothers Day Out in almost a month. I was worried that they might have seperation problems because it was such a long break but they both did well and seemed to enjoy their day at school. They talked about snowmen at school and Leah came home telling me all about everything they did. Every week she is very chatty on the way home from school. Jack on the other hand is normally tired and hungry. I have started bringing a snack in the car because he is a bear otherwise.

My mom and sister came up and spent Monday night with us and watched the kids because I had to work on Tuesday. Both kids love having company and ecspecially love having Grandma and Aunt Bailey. My mom slept in the extra bed in the kids room and Leah hasn’t stopped talking about it. She calls it Grandmas bed now and won’t let me sit on it.

I haven’t done a monthly post in a VERY long time so I wanted to write down some things about the kids now.

28 Months

Jack

Weight: 25 pounds

Diaper size: 4

Clothing size: 18-24 and some 2T

Favorite Foods: Fruit Snacks, Chocolate Milk, pankcakes. He doesn’t like eating right now.

Favorite Toys/Activities: Cars, anything with wheels. He is obsessed with watching Thomas the Train and the Cars movies, He loves running around the house and having leah chase him. Loves playing in his tent and tunnel.

New skills: Can walk up the stairs without holding on to anything, speaks in full sentences (His new favorite thing to say is no mommy I said stop it.), working on colors..we are getting better, great at puzzles, can open the doors, can put some of his shoes on, knows several shapes (cirlce, square, octagon, triangle, star, rectangle)

Leah

Weight: 22 pounds

Diaper Size: 4

Clothing : Mostly 18-24 months some 2T dresses

Favorite Foods: Cheese of any kind, apple juice, fruit snacks, Steak, macaroni. This girl loves to eat she is becoming more particular but still eats a lot.

Favorite Toys/Activies: Babies. Leah will play babies all day long. Her favorite babies are named: Amy, Amy, Amy Claire and Zoe. She normally insists on having at least two babies at all times. She likes dress up and pretending to do anything and everything mommy does.

New skills: Speaks in full sentences most of the time, I have heard her count as high as seven but only when she is playing if she thinks about it too much she can’t do it, great at colors, still adding new ballet skills, loves to shake her booty, Can put on her shoes and socks.

Chicken and Cheesy Rice-Recipe

Every family has those things that they make that there isn’t really a recipe for…those things that you whip up when you don’t know what else to make for dinner. I would like to try and write down as many of these as I can so that I can add to them to our family cookbook. The first one is Chicken and Cheesy Rice. I think everyones family has some version of this they make.

Chicken and Cheesy Rice

3-4 Skinless boneless Chicken Breasts

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 cups of Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Minute Rice

Skim or 2 % Milk

Salt and Pepper

Garlic and onions (optional)

Vegetable Oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a casserole dish.

2. On the skillet warm up about two tablespoons of vegetable oil. Add chicken and season with salt and pepper..cook chicken until slightly browned on both sides, you do not need to cook the chicken through.  If you want to add 1/4 of a chopped onion and two cloves of garlic minced you can.

3. While the chicken is browning. Mix 1 can cream of chicken soup, 1 1/2 can milk, 1 1/2 can minute rice with about 1 cup of cheese. ( I really like cheese so I use a lot you can use less). Add mixture to casserole dish.

4. When chicken is browned set on top of rice in casserole dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cook at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

I usually serve with steamed broccoli or grean beans and cresent rolls.