Jack Man

He's got a mad love for Barney.  He says, "Barn... Barn... Barn..." Just recently, he started saying, "Barn-ee".

He is saying more and more words.  He has nailed down "all done" and "no more" as his two word phrases.  Most everything else is still one word.  He definitely gets his point across, though!

He has become very particular about his pajamas and shoes.  He likes to pick those out himself.  He could care less what I choose for him to wear for the day, but he likes to choose the shoes. ha!

Remember that weird obsession with warm things I wrote about not too long ago?  The laptop battery?  The vent?  The dishwasher?  Well, a few weeks ago, we were out at a Mexican restaurant and I had ordered Jack some plain tortillas to eat.  They came out in the little tortilla warmer.  Jack took one out and said "haaa" (hot) and then put it up to his face like he does his lovey!!  He had his cheek resting on it and was sucking his thumb. SO WEIRD!

He LOVES LOVES LOVES being outside.  He cries when we have to come inside. 

He likes to dig in the dirt, play ball, draw with chalk, and run.

He is ALL boy and is about as ornery as they come.  But, he is just about the sweetest thing ever, too. 

His hugs and kisses are the best. When I ask him how much he loves Mommy, he holds his hands out and says "big".  Then holds his arms out wide and says, "Da-ee" (daddy), "Kee" (Kate).  He loves his family so much. 

Here's a video I posted on facebook the other night of Jack naming some people in his family.  We were just laying around in the bed one night and he was being goofy.

Buddies

These two are becoming pretty good buddies. 

They make each other belly laugh.

Jack offers more hugs and kisses to Kate, instead of hits and pinches.

Jack found this pacifier in a drawer and wanted to be a "be-be". He has never used a pacifier and doesn't even know how to use it! He just chewed on it the whole time. He's my little thumb sucker.

Kate was crying the other day and Jack rubbed her back to make her feel better.

Kate likes to "teach" Jack gymnastics.  He listens to her and puts his arms in the air when she tells him to, lays down just like she says, and is working his way up to a pretty mean bridge.  haha!

You can often hear Jack yelling, "Keee, Keee, Keee" until she answers him. 

They worked together to take their laundry baskets back to their rooms without arguing.  It's the little things we celebrate around here.

Poor Jack... we were leaving to go to The Magic House. The kids were running along the sidewalk and I said, "Watch one of them fall and get hurt right as we are leaving." As soon as those words came out of my mouth, Jack is on the ground crying. He had fallen on the sidewalk and when he stood up, he was covered in this yucky tree junk. Kate was so sweet to him. We had to take him in and change his clothes, console him, and THEN load back up for The Magic House. Oh, the life!

They laugh and giggle all through bath time.  Jack stands up and pees on Kate in the tub EVERY time.  It's so gross, and for some reason, she doesn't even care.  I HAVE to get him to stop doing that.  It's hard not to laugh when he does it, though. 

Jack still gets frustrated with Kate for always picking him up, pulling him around, and doing things for him.  Kate gets frustrated when Jack wants to do what she is doing, or when he colors all over a picture she was working on, or when he doesn't help her clean up. 

But, overall, they are becoming little friends and it's fun to watch.

Cards Opening Day

Since I'm not working full time anymore, we decided to head down to the Cardinals Opening Day rally last week.  My parents always do promotions there, so they have taken the kids before, and I always miss out because I'm working. 

So, I was super excited to go this year.  The kids and I got up and got dressed in our Cardinals gear.

I packed snacks, diapers, the stroller, sunglasses for the kids... we got in the car to head to pick up Mimi, Vicky and Ruckus... and then the rain started. It started and it didn't stop until about 4:00 that afternoon. Not just a sprinkle either. It was a downpour. Bummer, bummer, bummer!

We all headed down there anyway, just in case the rain died down. No dice. There were some very dedicated people out there. People with huge umbrellas and ponchos, and wet jeans from walking in all the rain puddles. No one was pushing a stroller in the rain. No one was THAT crazy.

So, our Opening Day plans were ruined (boo), but we wanted to make the most of the day anyway.

We stopped at McDonald's for lunch and to figure out what we were going to do.

We ended up going to The Science Center. Jack had never been, and Kate hadn't been since before Jack was born. So, really, it was brand new to her.

Jack was fascinated by the huge dinosaur.

We built the infamous arch that has been there since I was a kid.

We walked over the highway.

Kate loved the part where you could track someone's speed as they drove on the highway underneath.

We had a great day, despite the weather. As we were running through the rain to the Science Center, Kate looked up at me with rain all over her and yelled, "This is the best adventure ever!" haha!

Easter 2012

I have this crazy obsession about the kids matching on Easter.  It's fairly ridiculous, because it's pretty challenging.  Especially when Kate wears pink. 

Her dress this year had a lot of pink in it and I had the grand idea to make Jack a pink-ish tie from a tutorial I saw on the Internet.  I don't sew often (I wish I did!) but I have a sewing machine and I can sew a fairly straight line, so I figured it wouldn't be that hard.  Yeah right!! I could not get it right for the life of me.  So at some point around midnight the night before Easter, I threw in the towel and made him a bow tie instead. 

A really big bow tie.  It was so cute, but he looked hilarious in it. 

The kids DID match and they did look cute, but I need to remind myself next year to chill out (or start shopping way earlier).

We started the day with Easter baskets.

Then, everyone got all ready for church.

After a great church service, we headed to Gran and Marlin's house for a wonderful lunch. The kids posed for some pictures on their front porch.

Jack was more interested in sweeping than standing still for pictures!

It was such a pretty day, so the kids were able to play outside and have an Easter egg hunt.

After spending time over there, we headed to Mimi and Papa's for Easter dinner and more time outside hunting eggs.

This kid ate more chocolate than I think he has ever had in his whole life. He woke up crying that night with a stomachache because that's literally ALL he ate all day!

Brad, Vicky, and Ruckus were all in town, too.

We even managed a picture of Mimi and Papa with their three grandkids. Out of about 30 of this same shot, this was about the only one that turned out remotely o.k. I can't imagine what it will be like when there are a few more kids in the shot!

We had such a great time celebrating with family on a beautiful day!

Dyeing Easter Eggs

Dyeing Easter eggs this year was interesting, to say the least.  Jack cracked about half of the eggs... on purpose.  He would just drop them on the floor, clank them together, or bang them on the table.  

 

Kate takes her egg dyeing very seriously. I think she shed a tear for every cracked egg. 

 

Some masterpieces! 

Jack wore an apron and sat patiently, at first.  Then, he just wanted to dunk them in the dye.  Messy, messy. 

This was right before he clanked these two together. Two more broken eggs.

They are so goofy!