A Whole Year- well done!

Over a whole year since I last posted- way to go! So much for keeping up!

What's new?

Jack is now seven years old! He is super tall, skinny, loves sports, is starting to test us by not always listening, loves to read, and is a fabulous kid.

Emma is now five years old! She grew 3 inches this year and has really lost her babyness. She loves playing pretent with her doll house stuff, loves "reading" books, riding her bike, choosing her own clothes, drives us nuts with her spicy attitude, and is a fabulous kid.

They are both in summer school at Lincoln- the school they will go to in the fall. I am so incredibly proud of how brave they have been. They both march right into their classes and come out with smiles 3 hours later. I'm still amazed that they actually trusted our decision to switch schools. It's going to be so great!

I'm also looking forward to having less pressure on me during the days at school. I always wanted to go check on them and make sure they were ok. The mornings were nuts trying to get them up, fed, dressed, and in the car by 7am. I felt so guilty on days when I had to work late and we didn't get home till after 5 o'clock. Switching schools is just a good thing.

I just love who they are growing up to be.

Training Wheels

My darling baby girl is riding her big brother's bike with training wheels! She absolutely loves it and can get around the block pretty quickly!

She is currently saving up her money for a "purple and pink big girl bike."

Pictures soon!

Pictures!

A new baby cousin!!

Here we are with my new nephew, Ryan!

Just shy of 6 years old...

and he is 49.5 inches tall and 55 pounds! That's the 98th percentile for height and 90th percentile for weight! We grow them tall and skinny around here!

Trying the updated Blogger

A new blog look... Emma and her cousin, Lydia, at the family Christmas party.

The big boy sitting on Santa's lap. He dislocated his thumb at school and had to wear that blue brace.

2012

2012- a great year to get back into blogging!

Why haven't I been updating the blog? I don't know. Time to change it!

This summer Emma took a dance class. She was super shy about going to the classes without me. I eventually got smart and had Jack walk her in! Worked like a charm! By the time her "performance" came around she was much more comfortable being on the stage. It was hilarious watching her up there and trying to do the moves her teachers were showing all the little girls to do. She gave me a thumbs up every time we made eye contact!

Emma was happy to have her grandparents there to watch...

I found a great Groupon so we headed to Comic Com in Chicago in August. Jack was in awe of all the superheroes! Emma had a great time too.

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Our doll face is 3 years old today. We had a great day together. The three of us snuggled in bed and watched My Little Pony on the computer. We went to Red Robin for lunch (Emma's choice of course). We got the oil changed in the Honda- still have to get stuff done even when it's a birthday! We made a trip to Toys-R-Us. Jack and I managed to pick out gifts for Emma without her seeing any of them! We had Emma's favorite dinner (chicken rolls) followed by cake, ice cream, and presents! We lost her deedees (pacifiers) for real today- so she went to bed without them. She did a great job and was asleep by 9:30. She didn't even throw a fit!

Emma Lemma- we love you so much! Your love letters are in your baby box.

Happy Birthday!!

Love

Mama

Emma Lemma Ding Dong

"On Saturday Jack said I was a baby! I'm not a baby! I'm a big girl!"
-Emma's answer when Brandon asked her why she wasn't sleeping yet...

5 is a whole handful!

Our baby boy is 5 years old today. We love the person he is growing up to be. We couldn't ask for a better son.

Your love letters are in your baby box, Roo. We love you!

Love,

Halloween

Fall 2010

As usual we've been busy around here! Here is a quick recap:
*Jack is loving school- happy to go every day and full of stories every night. It's been really good for him. He's already more outgoing and independent.
*Emma is keeping busy with some music and library classes. She takes Jack's old backpack with her so that she feels like she's headed to school too!
*We did a very last minute trip to downtown Chicago last weekend. We took the train down there- very fun! We went to the aquarium and to the top of Willis Tower (Sears Tower).
*We're looking forward to our favorite pumpkin patch this weekend and Halloween can't come soon enough for my 2 babies!

The Last Week of Freedom!

Tomorrow I head back to school... we've had a really great summer full of adventures. I'm ready to get back into the school routine though- especially since Jack will be headed to school with me in about a week! Here are a few pictures...

Emma's new dress from Obeo's friend, Theresa! She brought it all the way from Mexico! Emma clearly loves it! Thank you Theresa!!!!

Brandon ran the Madison Mini Marathon (13 miles!) on Saturday! He did a great job and is now thinking of training for a full marathon! Emma was not too thrilled about posing for this picture!
We went to a Brewer game with some friends whose kids are just a few weeks older than ours. Jack and Taylor held hands the whole way from the parking lot into the stadium! Hmm... a future love match? Emma and Brady had fun together too. We made it until the bottom of the 6th inning!

Summer 2010

Now that we only have about 2 weeks of summer left... I'll review what we've been up to!


* Jack took a class called, "Safety Town". It's put on by our local school district and our pediatrician highly recommended it to us. Jack was a little nervous on the first day- but I talked to him about how lucky he was that he had already gone to preschool and didn't have to be nervous about taking this class on his own. I left him with his 2 middle school age teachers and the 3 other kids in his group and walked away. He didn't even shed a single tear! He ended up having a great time and learned so much! I was amazed that he did the class all on his own with no problems... the first days of preschool were tough!


The class met everyday from 1-3 for 2 weeks. He got to ride a bike around this special part of the school's playground that they set up to look like real streets. He learned all about crossing the road, stoplights, crosswalks, police officers, dialing 911, fire fighters, animal safety, poisons, school bus safety, playground safety and about a million other things. The class was full of stuff I'd maybe mentioned before- but I was so glad that he heard it all in this kind of setting. One of his teachers became especially fond of Jack and wrote me the sweetest note after the class ended. She has now become a babysitter for us!


* Emma took a mom and kid gymnastics class and loved every minute of it! She jumped on the trampoline, did an obstacle course, walked on the balance beams and learned how to behave around other kids! She is so much more independent than Jack ever was at that age. Even now she seems to be the leader- Jack will often follow her lead in situations where he'd normally be shy.


* Jack and Brandon took a parent and kid sports class for a few weeks- apparently the other kids in the class had just turned 3 or 4 so they were a bit younger. Jack still had a good time and got to try things like kickball!


* Our family trip to Disney World was amazing. I never in a million years thought we'd enjoy it so much. On the first night we went to Epcot and Jack got to ride a ton of the rides! He loved all of them and was so brave! We did a character dinner where Pluto, Mickey Mouse, those Chipmunks, and some others walked around to your table while you were eating. Emma took one look at Pluto headed her way and FREAKED OUT!! She launched herself out of her booster seat and into Brandon's lap in record time! It reminded me of when she saw Santa this year! For the rest of the trip- whenever we'd say, "Here comes Pluto!" she'd get all nervous and look around for him!!! It was hilarious!!


We also did a dinner called the "Hoop Dee Doo Revue" which sounded sort of sketchy and corny at first- but it was great! We had a great dinner while watching this comedy play thing- Jack was belly laughing at parts of it. It was so fun to see him "get" that kind of goofy humor.


The longest line we stood in was an hour long so that Emma could meet the princesses. When we finally entered the room where Sleeping Beauty, Belle, and Cinderella were waiting- it was magical! Emma was in shock that they were real and Jack was in love! Sleeping Beauty asked Jack if there were dragons in his land! Cinderella kissed Jack on the cheek and he loved it!


We went to Universal Studios and did the Islands of Adventure park. That was sooo great! We loved the rides and the superheroes! Jack was in absolute heaven when he got to meet Spiderman! We had a fabulous day there even though it was incredibly hot!


We loved hanging out with Nae Nae and Dude (LaNae and David) and were so grateful that they invited us! There pool is awesome- Jack and Emma were swimming and jumping in on their own with the help of these ridiculous yellow swimsuits with built in inner tubes that I bought for them.


*Yesterday we headed up to Eau Claire for Brandon's Grandma's 100th birthday! She is in a nursing home and sleeps pretty much all of the time- but she looked good for 100 to me! The kids were a little unsure of the whole thing- but were well behaved. We took a family picture in front of 707 Water Street! That's the house where Brandon and I met just about 12 years ago! We met in the basement during a Homecoming party! Very crazy to be back 12 years later with our 2 kids!!!


*Today we hit the State Fair. The kids loved the animals and the big slide. They both also did the trampoline thing. Emma again showed absolutely no fear as she headed right in to get her harness on! She had a huge smile the whole time she was jumping and even did 2 flips! Jack was a bit more timid- but smiled the whole time.



*Being home with those 2 kids is great and hard all at the same time. I treasure the time I have with them, but look forward to a fresh school year as well. They can be quite a challenge especially when it's hot outside and we're crabby in our non-air conditioned house!!!


Jack will be headed to school with me in a few weeks for Junior Kindergarten! He'll be there 5 days a week for full days! We'll drive to and from school each day! I can't wait! I'm even more excited now that I know the transition won't be so hard. He has grown a lot in the past year and is ready to be on his own a bit more. Of course his classroom is right next door to mine-- so he'll see my face squished up on his window as I try to spy on him, so he won't really be on his own!! :) Emma will be home with Moe Moe this year- she's going to be signed up for tons of classes. She loves trying new things and will need those adventures. She'll use Jack's old backpack and pretend she's off to school each day too!

We have a few more adventures planned in the next few weeks... will I take the time to sit down and update the blog??? I hope so!!!!

Giving my little princess a smooch in front of Cinderella's castle!

Jack was happy to see the characters!

GET AWAY FROM ME YOU BIG FURRY DOG!!!

SUPER excited to be riding the monorail!

Lovin' on Sonny the dog!

4th of July parade...

Lovin' on Puppa. He really does love them, I swear!

Kitchen/living room/dining area in our fabulous 2 bedroom palace at Disney!

Our 7 year old baby

Our 4 and a half year old baby!

Causing a ruckus at the state capitol building in Madison!

Trouble.

Ready for our adventures at Epcot!

Our Safety Town grad!

A bit too tall for the bikes at Safety Town...

Daddy-O and Jack in their matching capes!

On the plane and headed to Florida!

Just a few pictures...

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My baby doll is now two years old. She added some spice to our lives 2 years ago and now adds plenty more spice these days! She's feisty, opinionated, independent, adventurous, funny, and loving all wrapped up into a 31 pound, 37 inch package!

We adore you, Emma Kate. We're so glad to be your family. Your love letters are tucked in your baby box.

Love,
Mama

Pinkalicious

School is officially over for me as of today! I will be much better about updating the blog over the summer- promise! We had Emma's 2nd birthday party on Sunday (she turns 2 on Thursday). It was a princess theme- complete with princess tattoos for the guests!

Our whole crazy family...

Princess shoes for the princess...

Lovin' on her balloon

Auntie Ali vs. Jack

Pinkalicious cupcakes...