Happy Birthday John John

Two years ago today i was sitting in a hospital with Eric, Ella (with her broken collar bone), Jack and our brand new baby John. My how time flies. It seems like i remember it all so well but then again it seems fuzzy. A lot has happened since then so i guess my brain can only hold so many memories. This is what i know for sure. He was a wonderful baby, ate well and i don't remember him crying much. He has the cutest smile, always has. He used to be so mellow and has now developed into a strong-willed, opinionated, curious, adventurous, stubborn, independent, attention-demanding, handsome, loving, funny, and kind (most of the time) little man. He is obviously going through a phase right now where he thinks the rules don't apply to him. Some call it the "terrible twos", i call it a brief lapse in judgement. He keeps me on my toes. We had a doctors appointment this morning and he was 25 pounds and 35 inches tall. That puts him in the 15th percentile for weight and 65th percentile for height, for those keeping track. Dr. Gessler says he looks very healthy but i addressed my concerns about John's speech with him, just like i did with two other doctors at 15 and 18 month appointments. I took our picture flash cards so that he could hear John speak since he usually doesn't chat with the doctor. We went through and i am sure he has 50 words or more in his vocabulary but he misses consonant sounds in easy words. Like he can say "daddy" clearly but pronounces dog like "og". Laziness? Maybe. Dr. Gessler offered to put in some paperwork to have an evaluation done and i jumped on it. We should have a call by the end of next week to set up our evaluation and after those appointments we will get a plan if one is even necessary. Speech is one of the broadest areas of what qualifies as normal but i just want to stay ahead of the game. That was our only big development for the day so i am off to put him back in bed. He thinks he doesn't have to take a nap today. I guess he thinks his birthday exempts him from that. After getting up at 6:30 this morning, i can definitely say it does not! In closing, as i thought about the last two years i scrolled through all the pictures and watched him grow. I put a few (okay, a lot. but not even close to all of them) together for a slideshow and they are in chronological order or at least pretty close. Enjoy.

Punch him...

Yes, this was an actual quote that came from one of my children's mouth. I have to think back a few days to recount the incident. Monday, i believe it was. Ella, Jack and John are playing quietly upstairs in Ella's room while i feed Ben. It is so nice that they play together...or so i thought. Abruptly the silence come to an end as Ella comes running down the stairs "Momma, Jack punched John really hard in the face and it hurt him really bad". My only response was "what?". As Ella began to repeat herself, i see Jack stick his head around the corner. I interrupted Ella and asked Jack "did you hit John in the face?" Ella interjects "punched...he punched him". Jack replies "well, Ella told me too". As i look back and forth between Ella and Jack and they look at each other and me I think we were all a little confused. Who was i going to discipline and the kids were trying to figure out who was going to be in some big trouble. I get up and check on John and yes, much to my dismay, he has a big red fist print by his lip and nose. Jack was a pretty good shot. Nothing that i am proud of at this point. Anyway, John seemed to be fine so i turned my attention back to the two culprits. As i interrogate them, with a wooden paint stick in hand, i began to piece the story together. Ella is filling in the blanks and pauses to ask if she is going to be spanked with the wooden stick. :) Finally i think i have it. Here it is....Ella and Jack were cleaning Ella's room (yes, i was proud of that)and as they were making up her bed John entered the room. John quickly climbed onto the bed, I guess it was an attempt to get some attention. Ella and Jack both said that they asked him nicely to get off and he refused, nicely i am sure. At that point the queen bee ordered her "muscle" to punch him in the face. Yes, little Ella told Jack to "punch" John. Jack did as he was told. I guess after the shock of it all Ella decided she would tell on Jack and then he told on her too. I was at a loss. Contrary to what most of you might think, i didn't spank either one. I had a very stern talk with both of them and then they lost their quiet play time. When i was done they were both curled up on their beds crying. Looks like i am going to have to bring down the mafia living in my house. :) Another day, another surprise.

Home

Sunday morning rolled around and it was time to head home. Just like clock work no one felt well. Dad made a big Birthday breakfast for himself and the rest of us. I think the kids were feeling good after that however, Eric, Wes and I weren't so lucky. Packing up took some time and we were moving at an extra slow pace. We feed the cows watermelon, took some time to swing and the kids helped water the flowers. It was 1 o'clock before we got out of there. Eric and i picked up a subway sandwich on the way out but that didn't seem to really help. The kids slept for a little while and then were up and ready to go. Too bad we were in the car. We stopped for dinner and to stretch our legs. I took over the wheel. That didn't last long since Eric couldn't get Ben to settle down. After a quick stop and switch we were off again. We got in about 10 and the kids had just gone to sleep so we had to wake them to get them in bed. John wasn't happy about that. I unpacked the car and then tucked the kids in. Eric and I crashed. He was off to work Monday morning and the kids slept in. We have everything put away and are still catching up on our sleep. Ella was back to gymnastics and we are slowly getting back on our schedule. This is my final post from our visit. I knew i would get it done! :)

Birthday Celebration

Saturday, I was up bright and early, again. I was busy getting the cake ready. It was a birthday celebration for Wes, Dad, Mom and John since all of their birthdays fall between the 1st and the 19th. Kim and Mom were up helping get everything ready for the big day. Eric accidentally fell back to sleep. Imagine that. :) His excuse was that he was making sure Ben didn't wake up. HA! Anyway, the cake was a disaster. The cream cheese icing was runny since it was so hot, i misspelled birthday on it, and the red looked more like an ugly pink. After correcting the spelling and Wes's idea to use red sprinkles it all turned out okay. Well except for the grass. That sheet cake was a little (a lot) over cooked. I was just busy and forgot it was in the oven (not a first for me). I didn't think it tasted good. But it was still cute. Everyone got dressed and i of course was the last one. People were arriving and i was still getting dressed. Eric's Mawmaw, her friend Don, Aunt Dale, Robbie Dear, Mrs. Connie, Mr. Mark, and Kyle arrived and got settled in. Mrs. Syble and Uncle Terry, Aunt Kim, Lauren and Audrey came in shortly there after. Dinner was served and after feeding Ben, for what seemed like forever, I finally got to eat.The kids played in the bounce house with Uncle Kyle and Nana. Kim even got in too. From Ella's report, Uncle Kyle was a "misbehaving child" so she had to "punish him". He was jumping on the bed during rest time. I love her imagination. The sun was out and it was quite warm. Better than rain. It was time for cake and ice cream. Dad and John took their positions to blow out the candles. John was super excited. After more conversation people started to head home. As everyone was filtering out we were getting everything back to "normal". Then it was time for the Wal-mart trip. Uncle Terry, Aunt Kim, Lauren and Audrey like to take the kids to Wal-mart and let them wander the toy isles. Something i would never do so the kids LOVE it. John just walked up and down touching all the toys. :) I thought they would never be able to pick anything but we ended up with a bubble blower, a Spiderman dart gun, a Hannah Montana cell phone, extra bubbles, pink and purple Hannah Montana hair color (not sure if that was more for Ella or Lauren and Audrey), and the movie Harry and the Hendersons. Looking at all the treats i am glad none make a lot of noise. Maybe the kids are catching on. Out to Durbin's for ice cream and sandwiches. John found some fuzzy high heel shoes he liked but his Dad and Grandfather didn't seem to think they were quite so pretty. We headed home to get the kids in bed for some much needed rest. While we got the boys ready for bed Lauren. Audrey and Aunt Kim partook in the pink and purple hair color. I will say Lauren did a great job and Ella looked beautiful. Aunt Kim may have gone a little punk with her pink bangs and Audrey was rocking her purple. It was a good time but they too had to leave. I can't express how lucky i feel that on our short visit that so many people would drive hours to come and visit. I had the best time getting to see everyone and am very thankful that we have so many people that care about us. Thank you.

Catching up

Friday was all about catching up. My Grandmother came over from Mississippi and my friend Mari and her two children came up from Opelika. The day started off kinda rainy but that wasn't slowing anyone down. Mari, Auston and Aby arrived around lunch. This was the first time i have seen Aby (what a doll!) and Auston has grown into such a big boy. The last time we saw these guys was in Idaho. Too long. We brought out all the NAPA trucks that Dad and Mom have in the attic and put them on the back porch and Mrs. Mari brought a large bag of goodies for the kids. Mom picked up the bounce house (I always forget how heavy that thing is). John and Auston thought it was plenty of fun as we were unrolling it. All the toys kept them occupied while Mari and I ran to get lunch. A run for some happy meals and Durbin's sandwiches for the adults. After lunch we all relaxed in the back yard and watched the kids play. Occasionally an adult was caught in the bounce house. :) Ben was definitely missing his swing but got lots of love from Mawmaw and Mrs. Mari. Aby went down for a good nap but the rest of the kids tried to hold out on their naps. John made it for awhile but eventually fell asleep on Mari in the swing. It was kinda cool out but it still made for a beautiful day to visit. I got to catch up with my Mawmaw. She is a wonderful grandmother and words could never describe how lucky i am to have her. I am so glad she was able to make it over. Ben was just as happy. He seemed to like her a lot. She had to get back home so that just left the kids. Just like energizer bunnies they kept going and going and going. Eric came in and had his play time in the bounce house. After PB&J sandwiches we had the "boy bath" with Jack, John and Auston and, after a quick wash of the tub from the dirty boys, then it was the "girl bath" with Ella and Aby. We got ours in bed as Mari packed up to leave. They had a bit of a drive but i was so glad she had taken the time to drive up for the visit. The kids had a blast. Maybe we will end up on jobs close to each other or maybe on the same job again so the kids have playmates (okay and me too). She is also the one who snaps all the great pictures of the kids. They headed out about 8. Right about the time Kim arrived. Kim, Eric, Ben and i left to go meet some old friends for Mexican. We arrived and spent the next 3 or so hours talking and reminiscing about the high school years. It was quite fun since i don't often get to see them when i am in town. Another long day full of fun and catching up. Good times.

Old friends and new friends

Needless to say we made it to Clanton safely. It was a long ride but the kids were fabulous. I was concerned because we didn't have a DVD player to keep them occupied but i was pleasantly surprised by their ability to entertain themselves. It also made for a quieter ride. The kids were stoked about getting to Grandma and Grandpa's. We had a full schedule for the three days we were there.

Eric headed to Birmingham bright and early Thursday morning. The rest of us were up ridiculously early because of the time change. Dad made breakfast which the kids LOVED. I kinda enjoyed having a nice breakfast myself. :) The kids and I got dressed and headed to Dad's store for a visit. After lunch, the kids went down for a much needed nap in preparation for the friends that were coming to visit Thursday night. While they slept Wes, Ben and I drove to Alabaster to have my follow up with Dr. Head. After a switch-a-roo with the cars Eric, Ben and I headed home. We got there to find Jamie, a long time family friend, and her two girls already playing. Ella was obviously loving having more girls around. We had a nice dinner and good conversation and the kids played. Mom and the kids made "pudding pops" for dessert. They ate them outside and that was a very good idea. Somehow they ended up having a chocolate fight. It wasn't going to make them any dirtier than they already were. The boys were very attentive to the girls. The girls didn't seem to care much. :) Finally bath time came and Lydia joined the kids for their bath. They all settled into my bed for a movie. It was 10 and time for our friends to go. Ella and the boys really enjoyed playing with their new friends and i enjoyed the time with my old friend. A great way to start our stay. (Jamie: Notice i left out all the pictures of us eating. I thought you would appreciate it. :))

Snow White

I don't think this is what Disney had in mind........