Red Belt

Hayden's latest achievement is testing for his RED belt this past Thursday. He was very excited to get this belt because it means bigger and better things in class. (Also it's closer to black which is his goal.) He's with the older group of kids now and can participate in more advanced skills.
His test date happened to fall on sparring day which is fine since he's doing better in that class and seems to enjoy it more.


The man in the black gi is Mr. Masney the director of Hayden's school. He is wonderful with the kids and really expects them to do their best. Hayden's doesn't always like Mr. Masney for this reason because Hayden likes to goof around and Mr. Masney calls him on it.
"My kid, in trouble? No. . . " :)

Here Hayden proudly displays his new belt. Now imagine Hayden screaming at 250 decibels

"MY NEW RED BELT"

Showing off the belt before class today. It really does look nice with his uniform.

4 months old

Our little man is 4 months old and now weights 14lbs 4oz and is 25in long. He's in the 50th percentile all around. Perfectly healthy and average.
The doctor said he is growing just great!
He's rolling over now, laughing, smiling at anything, and holding his own toys.


He got 3 shots yesterday and did really well although he has been a bit sore and crabby.
Other milestones he's hit are moving up to size 2 diapers and he's starting to move into his 3-6month clothes. His clothes are getting much more use than Hayden's ever did. He' growing slower and able to take advantage of some outfits Hayden couldn't fit into.
Just to give you an idea, Hayden was 17lbs 3oz and 27in tall at his 3 month appointment.
What a difference I tell ya!

That time of year

For smoke and crackling flames and gooey treats. It's been a long time since we've had a campfire and even longer since we've had dinner over an open fire. It's usually a tradition for us during the summer months to enjoy fires in the evening but last year we had a difficult time finding wood and with my morning sickness campfires just did not happen.
So over the holiday weekend we took advantage and enjoyed the weather and showed Jax his first campfire.
Tim and Hayden were in charge of cooking the hotdogs while I gathered up the rest of the dinner.
No campfire is complete without a gooey ending. Hayden's favorite treat. . . smores!!

Jaxson was able to enjoy part of a smore or at least lick one. :) He thought it was yummy and ended up with this cute little white ring around his mouth.


After dinner we worked it off on the play set. Jax enjoyed the swing while Hayden ran all over and worked off the 3 smores he ate.

It was a fantastic meal and a wonderful evening. Hopefully we'll be able to repeat the night again soon.

Bear with me...

Over the next few days, maybe weeks, I will be playing around with the blog layout. Just trying to keep it interesting for you all :)

I will still be posting about all the adventures of my boys.

Thanks

Karate Master at work

Hayden is the masked figure on the left who is backing up most of the time :)

ahhh to sleep like a baby...

I wish I still had the ability to sleep so soundly that you can be moved, bumped or talked around.
Making the bed the other day just proved that.
Jax fell asleep on my bed and I needed to make it so I moved him onto my pillows thinking he would wake-up but no, he continued to sleep soundly. I even moved him back to the bed when I was finished.

to sleep like a baby again...

Am I doing something right?

I was cleaning up around the house Tuesday and found Hayden helping out. I wanted to post this picture just so I have evidence that he is helpful and can wash dishes without being asked.
And for the record he did a decent job and I only had to re-rinse them.

The Master and the padawan

Hayden and Jax hanging out watching Backyardigans.

. . . Jax's training has begun :)

Our rock star

Bumbo Baby

Thanks to our friends Bryan, Ann, and Brandon Jax can enjoy the pleasure of the Bumbo.
As you can see he really likes it and I like having him sit up and be interactive. Plus he's started trying to sit-up anyway so the bouncy chair's days were numbered.

Dolphins-0, Hammerheads-7

All the parents were wondering why there is no slaughter rule in U-4 soccer :) It was still a really great game. The kids had a blast because it was the first nice day we've had this season. It was really windy but sunny. So much so that Tim and Hayden both came home with "farmer tans"
No game next week so we can all sleep in and relax on Sat morning.

(The picture was taken during practice. Hayden was keeping goal.)

The boys at play

I found Hayden and Jax playing together the other morning. It was nice to see even with the age difference they might turn out to be friends after all :)

Yes Jax is in there. Hayden decided to make a tent out of Jax's musical bouncer. They both had fun laughing at each other in their "fort"

Our baby graduated

Well it was from preschool but he still graduated with all A's on his report card.
The ceremony was so cute and they really did a great job making it special for the kids and reminding the parents how far they have come in the past two years. The things they have learned and the friends that they have made. It really will be sad to not see some of these kids again after watching them grow-up for two years.



Hayden really loves his teacher Mrs. Sylvester. Hayden's been in her class for two years. She really knows him and how to handle him. It's been comforting knowing he was with someone who really cares about him and wanted to see him grow and learn. He (and we) will miss her.

Hayden and some of his school friends.
Of course you have to get pictures with the family on such an important day. Here's Nana and Uncle John, Grammy and Pa and of course our little family :)



It is still very hard to believe that our 'baby' is moving on to kindergarten in the fall.
Wasn't he just born? In diapers? Getting teeth? Learning to walk? Talking? Finger painting?
I think I blinked and missed it... all of a sudden he's talking to friends and moving on to more boy things and not just stuff labeled "big boy stuff" Soccer, karate, movies, video games, riding his bike, playing with older kids.... but all is remembered when he curls up in my lap at night and says, "Let's snuggle Mommie."

He rolled over!!

Jax has finally and officially done it! Back in March Jax faked us out and rolled over 3 times but has not done it since but today, on Mother's Day no less, he rolled over 3 times all on his own :)


I can't believe he's ready to start moving... time to re-baby proof the house.
and get the gates out. It will only be a matter of time before he starts crawling.
I can see it in his eyes, he has things to do, places to see, and people to talk to :)

The reason I get a day

Hayden our Kung fu Fighter

Hayden participated in his third karate tournament this past weekend. He did very well and we are very proud of him.
It was a small group for the Blue and Red belts in his age group. I have a feeling he is one of the youngest blue belts in his school.

They were tested on Self-defense and I wouldn't mind being stuck in a dark alley with my kid, I'd feel safe :)


He placed as a finalist and was thrilled to add another trophy to his shelf. Next tournament he wants to try the sparring so hopefully his skills will improve there since right now he's just casing the opponent around the room swinging at anything he can :) Bring it on in November!

A story told by Jax

Bouncing Jax

We bought Jax his first toy that wasn't Hayden's... the Baby Einstein Musical Bouncer. He loves to stand and bounce so this was our natural choice. We want to thank Dana, Chuck, and Calvin since the gift card they gave Jax purchased this for him :)

So far he LOVES his new toy! He will wiggle and bounce for almost 20 minutes. That's a long time relative to a baby.




He's fascinated by the colors and music this thing makes. I can see hours and hours of fun to come in this gem of a toy...

Saying Good-bye to an old friend...

Okay my husband thinks I'm nuts to be so emotional over a car...but come on people! This is the car that we brought our children home from the hospital in. The car that we traveled to PA, WI, MI, and OH in. The car we've taken hundreds of trips to visit friends and family in and was the first big purchase Tim and I made as a couple.
So forgive me if I feel nostalgic when it comes to my truck.
A few weeks ago my truck received a death sentence. The mechanic said it need LOTS of work that would cost LOTS of money. Something we weren't sure we could sink into a car that was 12 years old and had over 100,000 miles. We needed to know, when to say "when."
We started researching on cars we wanted to look at and test drive. Really I don't know how many hours we spent online compiling our "wish list."
We decided to go look last Saturday and test drove a dozen cars to see which would be the best fit for us and came across this gem.

A 2007 Chrysler Pacifica with 6K miles on it. We really enjoyed this car and felt comfortable in it but really knew nothing about it. So we went home empty handed and started searching again. We looked into this car and found the price we saw was a GREAT deal!!! We looked into ratings, and consumer reports, and gas reports. All lead us to our purchase on Monday of our new baby.
While this car will never bring home a child from the hospital, it will take Hayden and Jax to school for the first time. And most likely (and hopefully) will take them on their first dates and drivers permits in. So while I will miss the fun we had in our truck I am looking forward to the adventures we will have in our new one.

Dolphins 5, Barracudas 0

It was a good game on Saturday. Hayden's team won by a landslide. He had a great time, got dirty and enjoyed himself.
Only downside , it was 48` and extremely windy, so it made it very cold.
Not very fun for the spectators but we loved watching him play.