Halloween and Stuff

This post is loooong overdue! I started it the day after Halloween, intending to publish it that evening. Then everything changed.

Halloween was great, but very cold! Luke Skywalker and Wonder Woman went trick-or-treating and came back with more candy than one could imagine while The Little Chicken stayed home with my aunt. We still have Halloween candy left over and it is now January! (even though this post is dated Oct. 31)

Anyway, the day after Halloween I landed myself in the hospital. Turns out I have Lymphoma. I've been going through chemo for the past few months and at current date, Jan. 18th, the tumor/cancer is gone and I have 2 treatments left- yay! It's been grueling but I'm surviving. I've had the most amazing support system in my family and friends, that it has made this journey bearable. Words can not describe how much I appreciate all of the help that I have received, and continue to receive. I truly am a lucky person.

Sooo, after my little hiatus, I am now attempting to go back and update our little Monkey milestones which have occurred over the past few months. Hopefully I can get up to date soon!

Jolly Ollie Meets Baby Food

What's this she has? I'm drooling in anticipation!

Hmmm, not quite sure what to make of this.

Don't know what it is, but I like it.

Ahhh, full belly!

Four Months

Growing like a weed! and still the happiest, most awesome-est baby around. At his 4 month check up Oliver weighed 16lbs. 10 oz. and was 26 inches long.

Happy 4 months, Oliver!

Funny Little Man

Jack has been on his book making kick again (he's gone through almost 2 reams of paper this past month alone). The other day, Jack was in the middle of making one of his books when he announced that he was "going outside to work on a special project in Japanese."

I was very impressed! Wondering where he might have picked up a little Japanese on the side, I asked Jack about it.

Apparently, I didn't hear him correctly. As it turns out, Jack was not writing in Japanese but rather, his own special language which he is in the midst of creating. It's called "JACKanese".

Jack's First Day Of Kindergarten

Jack was so ready for his first day at "big kid school"

He wasn't nervous at all

Walking up to school, donning his new super cool Darth Vader backpack

Looking way too grown up here

So excited, he was first in line!

On his way in...

Jack had a great first day!

BFF

While Annabelle was telling me all about her 2nd day of school she kept mentioning Ella, a little girl in her class. So I asked Annabelle if Ella was her new bud, as in buddy, and she said, in a completely sarcastic duhmomyoursostupidforevenasking kind of tone, "uh, I think you mean bff."

and in that instant, I realized my baby girl had taken yet another step towards preteen hell...

Annabelle's First Day of 1st Grade

Everyone was very excited for Annabelle's first day of school, especially Jack!

He couldn't wait to give his big sister a giant send off hug.

Very excited on her way in!

Even more excited on her way out. And look, the sun is shining!

Hanging out with some friends in the school yard

After school we walked over to the ice cream shop where everyone decided they needed to get pinwheels. All in all, a great first day of school!

Three Months

At three months old Oliver is still the best. He is a very low maintenance, happy baby!

He is pretty much doing the same stuff that he did at 2 months only, spending more time awake during the day and more time sleeping at night.

He has started to get a little bit louder - he's voicing his opinion more, babbling and laughing out loud. Even his cries are louder.

He has also started to roll to the side. Gone are the days of leaving him unattended on the couch or bed for a second, for fear he may decide to roll all the way over.

For Love of Country or Whatever

Ever since the World Cup, back in June, Jack has been completely fascinated with England. I blame Nick. The majority of the World Cup games coincidentally fell upon Nick's two week paternity leave so, he and Jack spent a lot of time watching the matches while I took care of the new baby and Annabelle was still in school. During that time, Nick drilled it into Jack's impressionable young brain that England is THE BEST... A statement that Jack really took to heart.

One thing that Jack really enjoyed about watching the World Cup was the flags. He loved seeing the different flags for all of the different countries and before long, had them all memorized. He even mastered drawing some of them. So, to show his support for England, Jack quickly began making flags and taping them all over the house.

Although we thought Jack's devotion to England was pretty comical, it was getting a little out of control. Jack started trash talking other countries and getting into arguments with his friends. At a play date last month Jack caused a big commotion by drawing the England flag all over a driveway with chalk. The other boys weren't too happy about that and began drawing American flags. After a lot of back and forth over which country/flag was better, it ended with everyone ganging up on Jack, dumping water on his flag drawings and screaming, "kill England!" It was all a bit messy.

A couple of weeks ago I overheard him telling a friend, "England is the bestest country in the world and America is rubbish." When I later asked Jack why he thinks America is so rubbish he told me "it is rubbish because Granny doesn't live here"... awww.

Well, it's been two months since the World Cup obsession and Jack is still drawing his flags left and right. Yesterday morning he came into our bedroom and taped an England flag to the wall above our bed. He was very proud of himself as he sat there, patiently waiting for Nick to get out of the shower, so he could show his Daddy what he had done. Nick, of course, was pleased to see Jack proclaiming his love for England but said to Jack, "you do know you are half American, right?" Jack paused as he thought about this for a second, then he gave Nick a look and said "whatever" as he walked out of the room!

Swingaaaah

...because it's been a while since I've posted about Jack

Two Months

Another month has flown by and Oliver is now 2 months old. He has been growing like a weed! At his 2 month check up he weighed 13 lbs. 7 ozs. and was 23 1/4 inches long.

He has officially outgrown the bassinet and is now sleeping in his crib. Last week I thought he was gigantic when I looked at him in the bassinet but now he seems so tiny in comparison. He's been doing really well in the sleep department, going for about 6-7 hours at a time-yay!

Oliver has been the perfect baby. He is an extremely good natured little boy and pretty much only cries when he's hungry, tired or needs a diaper change.

He still sleeps a lot during the day but when he's awake, he's been quite the smiley little lad. He has started cooing and smiling more and even laughed out loud the other day.

Oliver has been holding his head up more and more so we tried him out in a Bumbo seat. He really likes the Bumbo but he can't stay in it for very long right now- after about ten minutes his head starts to flop from side to side. I'm sure by next month he'll be Bumbo ready.

I guess that's about it. There really isn't much more that 2 month old babies can do...

Tennis

Annabelle had a week of tennis lessons at our local boys and girls club, last week. She had been wanting to play tennis for a while so she was really excited about the lessons. She did great and loved every minute of it... Even though it was in the high 90's and extremely humid every day. She was a trooper, she didn't complain once about the heat!

One Month

Happy one month birthday, Oliver!

This past month has gone by sooo fast, I can't believe how much Oliver has grown already! At his one month check up he weighed in at 11lbs. 3oz and was 22 inches long!

So far Oliver has been the best baby; he is a very low maintenance, easy going little boy. He still sleeps a lot during the day but is becoming increasingly more alert during his small bouts of awake time. He is lifting his head, looking around, batting at things and moving around more in general. He is also starting to recognize my voice and smile.

Oliver has been sleeping pretty well at night- doing about a 4-5 hour stretch, waking to feed and then going back down again pretty quickly for another few hours.

One thing I've noticed about Oliver is that, unlike his brother and sister when they were babies, he doesn't seem to have a fussy time. I remember both Annabelle and Jack, without fail, would become fussy around 7pm every night. Oliver, not so much. It's early yet so I'm not ruling it out but rather, remaining hopeful!

Annabelle's Kindergarten Graduation

Kindergarten is over and Annabelle is officially a 1st grader!! She had a great first year at "big kid" school; not only did she have the best class and most wonderful teachers, she also learned some stuff too!

Annabelle receives her diploma!

Just a few members of the gang

Annabelle and Lila

It's amazing how much of a change has occurred in one short year. Annabelle seems so much older to me all of a sudden. She's always been very independent but now that she's reading and writing it's like a whole new level of "grown up!" It's a little scary...

One Week

Oliver is the sweetest little boy, ever! Apart from being adorable, thus far he has been a fantastic baby. He is still in the "sleepy newborn" phase and has been very dozy most days. During the night he has typically been sleeping for about 4 hour stretches, waking to feed and then pretty much going right back to sleep! He seems to only cry when he is either hungry or being changed. I could not have wished for a better baby!!

At his one week weight check, he went from his "hospital discharge" weight of 7lbs. 3 ozs. to 8lbs. 4ozs.! He is a breastfeeding champ.

Happy Birthday Monkey #3!!

Oliver John born June 7, 2010 @12:27am

7lbs. 11ozs. 19 inches long

Three Little Monkeys

Go Jack!

Jack had his first attempt at riding a bike without training wheels! He did pretty well for his first try; he managed to pedal a few feet without any assistance and didn't fall once. I think after a few more lessons on the mini bike, aka "Rhino" we'll be ready to take the training wheels off of his regular bike!

Memorial Day Concert

Annabelle's school put on a concert in honor of Memorial Day. During this event, the Kindergarten class joined together with the 2nd and 4th grades for their portion of the concert. The concert took place in the school gym and it was incredibly crowded, incredibly hot and incredibly hard to hear a thing. Jack and I ended up having to sit on the floor as not one person thought to give up a seat to the woman who is 9 months pregnant. All around, it was pretty miserable. As we sat on the floor, unable to actually see Annabelle, listening to the concert, I heard Jack mumble "this is the boringest song ever" and then he fell asleep, right there, squashed in the middle of the gym floor with his head on my lap.

The only pleasant part of this whole event was being able to see the glow on my daughter's face as she sat next to her love, Nicholas!

Graduation Day!

Jack has officially graduated from preschool (even though he has a week of school left)!

His school had a little graduation ceremony in the auditorium and then an after party on the school grounds. During the ceremony each class sang a couple of songs (on stage) and then each child received a diploma. Jack was not overly keen on the performance part of the ceremony and moaned a lot in the beginning (in his defense, it was about 95 degrees outside and there was no air conditioning in the auditorium) but he perked up towards the end and even participated in the second song.

At the after party, they had the usual: snacks, pony rides, face painting, tye dye station and crafts. Jack was only interested in the snacks and playing. Annabelle, however, had to try everything, including the pony... THREE times!

All in all I think the kids had a good time. They even had a special guest appearance from Auntie Kristen who extended her visit from Virginia just to see Jackie graduate!

Congratulations, Jackie!!! Next stop, Kindergarten!

The Countdown Begins!

Well, I met with my doctor this morning and it looks like we will be having this baby in less than 2 weeks... Unless I go before then, we have an induction scheduled for June 6th!!