Big Birthday Girl

Yesterday was a very important day. Bailey turned five. It is amazing to think that it has already been five years since the first time I saw her beautiful little face, all puckered up and tiny. She was only 6 pounds and 9 ounces and 18.5 inches long. She was born about an hour before the Mountaineers played in the Sweet 16 to go on to the Elite 8. We actually reached our recovery room minutes before the game came on. We laughed that she was going to be awesome because she was already planning her arrival around our basketball schedule. Well, she hasn't changed much... she is always planning. She just isn't planning around us.

There are so many things that went through my mind on that day five years ago. Mainly, it was, "Please bring the epidural faster," but there was also this fear of the unknown. I was terrified that I wouldn't love her enough or that I wouldn't be able to raise a little girl the "right" way. I was really terrified that she would come out a boy and we'd have to return a lot of pink things. :) I had heard horror stories from friends that told me about their relationships with their husbands making a terrible turn for the worst... their husbands never understanding how they felt about the child and never forming that incredible bond. That was probably the scariest thing about it all for me. I wanted this little girl to grow up in a home filled with love and knowing how much her parents loved each other. I wanted to make sure that Bailey wouldn't somehow replace Brad in my life, but be an extension of our love, making us a little more complete. It was all so scary... so surreal. And, then, she entered the world and everything that I had worried about went out the window. Brad was as in love with this little girl as I was. And, it was immediate. Neither of us could find the words to express how we felt... it was overwhelming.

Not much has changed... parenting is overwhelming, especially when it comes to Bailey. She was the baby that moved constantly, even in her sleep her little legs and arms moved, just like a puppy does when he's dreaming about chasing rabbits. When awake, she'd sit in her bouncy chair and I wouldn't bother turning it on most of the time because she kicked so much that the chair would be bouncing away without the need for the small vibrating motor. As she grew, we could see that her energy wasn't only physical, but social, too. We couldn't go to a store without stopping 100 times to say hello to people. Everyone wanted to touch her and squeeze her little hands as she reached out to wave at them. She was demanding from the beginning... commanding anyone in sight to give her attention, carry her wherever she wanted to go, and show her everything she wanted to see. She talked at 9 months, walked at 15. Most kids would probably be opposite, but Bailey was too eager to communicate with everyone to wait any longer to speak and thought it was just plain silly to try and walk when she could just demand someone carry her where she wanted to go. She hasn't changed.

We walk into swimming classes these days, and Bailey talks to everyone she sees. Most of the adults and all of the kids know her name. She's not necessarily popular (although I have to admit that I think most people find her incredibly charming)... she just makes a point to meet everyone so that they know her. She is so sweet when she meets someone. She always compliments adults and children on their hair, their clothes, their nails, whatever she can find that she might like. It is like she was born to be in fundraising, which terrifies me. lol. She is still as demanding as she was when she was a baby. She wants us to plan everything for every day and when we don't have something planned and she makes a choice for us, she expects us to deliver immediately. For instance, she is right now sitting beside me on the couch, asking for popcorn. If I don't get up and get it soon, she will be on top of me, in my face, saying, "Mom... I SAID I wanted popcorn." An optional eye roll or hands on her hips will follow. :)

As if you can't tell, I am awfully proud of her. She is truly a good little girl. She has a wonderful personality, a sweet disposition (most of the time), and really works hard to do the "right" thing. She wants to follow the rules and to be the best at most things. She has issues with paying attention sometimes, but she is only five years old. We can be hard on her sometimes, because we often forget that she is only 5. She is intelligent... sometimes too intelligent for us. She reminds me to lock the door, get the groceries out of the car, buckle my seatbelt, etc. Sometimes she drives me crazy with these "helpful" reminders. Her ability to understand things that we don't think she is even aware of makes us treat her like she's 10 instead of 5. She doesn't mind being treated older though. She loves to tell me about how she knows so much and can do so many things on her own. She is incredibly independent. And she is still planning... her whole life, in fact. I hear about how I am going to come to her house when she marries Austin and I can babysit their kids. She even goes so far as to tell me that she's going to have a cat and she'll put it up in the garage when I come over since I don't particularly like cats. lol. Yes, we have our hands full. But they are full with a little girl who is fun, creative, and a little mature for her age. She's going to be a fun teenager... until she hates me. lol.

So, life goes on. She will start kindergarten in the fall. We have her enrolled at the private Christian school she attends preschool at. We're a little nervous about it all, especially because we hate to pay all that money when we could send her to public school. However, she is incredibly happy there and we just aren't sure that we want to start her out in the school in our district. So, $$$$$ get spent on something that we could get for free. It's a tough call, but I guess you can't put a price tag on happiness and security. My security mostly... Bailey makes friends everywhere. I just love knowing that she's some place where she's already comfy and secure. It's a little sad for me to see her growing up so fast. I remember Colt starting his first day of school and it seems like it was just yesterday. I know it's going to fly by, but I am looking forward to all the fun that comes with it. Nothing is ever easy with Bailey... so it's going to be a great ride!

Please hurry summer...

Have I mentioned how ready we are for Spring? And, thankfully, the sun is finally coming out! It looks like we might reach the 50s this weekend, so I can finally get these kids out and let them burn off some energy. It's been a lot of staying in and cuddled close this winter, making us all slightly crazy and irritable. Not too much longer and we'll be able to breathe a little!

Also, we have been swimming every day this week. The kids started their swimming lessons at the YMCA on Monday, which has even reinforced our strong desire for summer. They both are doing fabulous with their lessons. Bailey is not having as much fun in hers as she would like. She thinks she should have free swim the entire time, not be waiting for someone else to have a turn. Jake, on the other hand, is driving me crazy asking if we can go swimming every five minutes. It's adorable. He has always been a little timid with the water, not quite as confident as Bailey. But, he's come around and is now so excited about it. I hear, "We go swimming pool???" about 50 times a day.

So, now we wait for the days that we can spend all day at the pool, enjoying hot weather, ice cream, and popsicles instead of bundling up in sweatshirts and hats, stripping down to swim in the indoor pool, and then bundling back up to come home and stay in the house. Please hurry summer... we need you. :)

A new journey...

Tonight, we went to church. I wasn't in the mood to go, but I had said I would. Brad and the kids wanted to and I knew if I could make myself, I'd enjoy it. So, off we went. I wasn't in the mood to worship God. Don't get me wrong... God is great. He's blessed us with so many things. Yet, I had others on my mind... people who are struggling with things that I don't really understand. Sometimes life just isn't fair and it makes it harder for me to feel like showing God that I appreciate Him. That was my mood walking in the door. Now, the rest of this blog is going to be a little about my personal and spiritual experience, so please don't take it as me shoving my religion down your throat. As a matter of fact, if you think it will offend you, don't keep reading. This is just my experience...

It was a great night for me to go. I'm so thankful that my family wanted to be there. Typically, I am the driving force for us going to church... I'm the one saying, "We're going... period." But, tonight it was my family who knew that I needed to be there, even if they didn't realize it.

When we sat down and they began to read the Bible verses for the evening's service, I knew it was for me. They read about how the Israelites, after having been freed from slavery by the Egyptians, began to complain and "grumble" about their unsatisfactory lives. They spent years faithfully following God, and although they were free from the Egyptians, they were hungry, thirsty, and tired. They began to complain and to threaten to stone Moses and Aaron. The lesson that God taught them was that they should be grateful for their many blessings and pay it forward to bless others. (Obviously, this is all in my own words. If you want to read the scripture, it's Numbers chapter 14).

The lesson was the same for us... be grateful for our many blessings. Share those blessings to bless others.

So, on this evening, when I'm in a sour mood and feeling completely ungrateful, despite my own blessings, I'm struck with this feeling. This feeling that I need to realize how grateful I should be. We all get caught up in our daily problems... we all get caught up in the drama of life and jump on the bandwagon when someone begins the "grumbling." It's easy to get sucked into all of the negativity in the world, even when you have everything in the world to be positive about. So, I'm starting my journey tonight. It's a counting journey. One of the recommendations that the speaker shared tonight was that she and her husband started a blessings journal where they each would write down a few things that they were grateful for from that day. So... my new journey begins. Sometimes I'll blog about these and sometimes I'll just jot them down in a notebook, but it is one of those things that I'm hoping will help me realize how wonderful life is. And, maybe I'll feel more grateful and eager to go to church, even on a day when it seems like I keep hearing the negatives of the world. :)

Here's my starting point...

My blessings for today:

Blessing 1: I woke up to a screaming alarm clock, one kid on each arm, and no husband in sight. Blessing? Well, I remember my hubby giving me a kiss before he left. A minor daily gesture, but one that I miss every morning that it doesn't happen.

Blessing 2: We drove Bailey to school, dropped her off, and made our way back home. When we got here, Jake cuddled up in my arms on the couch. We sat here relaxing, watching a movie when he looked up and told me he loved me.

Blessing 3: I pulled up to Bailey's school to pick her up at the car line and she came bursting out the door, waving as big as she could. She was smiling ear to ear. It was wonderful to see her smiling... especially because I knew it was all for us.

Bad things happen to good people everyday. I'm sure that won't change because I'm remembering the good things in my life. I just hope that maybe it will make me cherish these things even more. Remind me of this when I'm grumbling. :)

Beautiful Day

Today was beautiful... nice and warm after what seems like months of snow, ice, and cold winds. I have to say that it could go down as one of those perfect days. We slept in until about 9:30, got up and went to church. We came home, changed into grungy sweats and hoodies, ate leftover Chinese and went outside. No hats and gloves... no promises of hot chocolate... and no hurry to get in and get warm. It was great. The kids rode their bikes, scooters, battery-operated cars, and trikes throughout the day. Brad and I took turns working in the garage and cleaning out cars while the other helped the kids work on their pedaling skills or prevented Jake from eating the remainder of the snow, which was nearly all black at this point. It was just a good day.

I think sometimes what can make a day perfect is that everyone is content. No one was complaining about anything (including me!). Brad helped me with everything without being begged or harassed. The kids played wihtout having complaints about being bored or needing us to do something different. I was just happy to have everyone happy and to find half of our sippy cups that we've been missing when I cleaned out the car! :)

Now they all sleep... except me. And I'm torn... do I go to bed and rest or do I stay up and sew? Balance the checkbook? Write a few grants for the ballet? Watch some tv? Hmmm...

Taking cues from a good friend of mine and the blogger who got me started on this, I thought I'd post some photos of the kids' artwork, toys that they love to play with, and some cute pics of them as they are growing. She's great about blogging daily and I love to read what is going on with her life. I wish I was more dedicated to my blog and was as organized as she is. She often posts pictures from a couple of years before on the same day... I'm doing good to have my pictures categorized into years. :) So... my tribute to Cheryl... thanks for always giving me inspiration to blog, talk about the good and bad things that we deal with as parents, and for making me feel like I'm "normal." It seems like every time I think I might be losing my mind or going crazy, Cheryl will post just the right thing to help me realize that I am just a normal parent dealing with the craziness of playing Batman or Spiderman for the 100th time in a day or answering the same question about our plans for the week for the 1000th time. :) Love you, Cheryl... wish we were better about getting together, but glad we have this connecting us still.


Jake has grown to love the snow this year... last year, not so much. He's enjoyed eating it more than anything (and yes, I have warned him about yellow snow). :)


One of my favorite memories of Bailey as a two-year old is that she would lay in our bedroom floor and "make snow angels." This was before she'd really ever made a real snow angel and she loved the idea. Now, she loves doing the real thing. So free and innocent.


If preschool has done anything, it has created a monster in my creative daughter. If I would let her, the entire house would be covered with drawings, glued up construction paper, and makeshift people. Thankfully, she is able to express her creative side effectively. Here is her Valentine's Day bag, complete with her "tons" of Valentine's. She was so excited about her party and proud that she had SO many Valentine's at school. Everyone loves her, she says (she does realize that everyone got the same amount, but it does not impact her confidence that she is well-loved). :)




Her snowman... she is happy with it since we have not had the right kind of snow to make a real one.


And, Jake's artwork. :) I drew the sun or circle at the top. Jake's artwork is more of an attempt to get the finger paint off of his hand. He's definitely less interested in art than his creative sister.


And, our most beloved toys... or at least Jake's. He's so in love with these three that we take them nearly everywhere we go. I love that he has favorites, but I do admit to being sick of them. I've contemplated hiding them, but he can remember when he gets up in the morning exactly where they were when he went to bed. How do I know? Well, if I clean while he's asleep and they are moved, I get questioned about playing with them. Yes, son, I really play with them when you sleep (insert sarcasm). lol. I will also admit how funny or not so funny it is that Jake can tell me lines that the characters say and can even pronounce Dr. Octavius (which was completely done so on his own, without encouragement), but cannot remember that a cow says moo instead of yee-haw (cowBOYS say that). We will learn these things, too, eventually. :)



More to follow... I promise.

Mommy's Little Big Boy

Jake has become such a big boy recently. I can remember seeing Bailey go from being a toddler to a preschooler in what seemed like a few days. And, I see it with Jake, too. He still loves to be the baby, which makes it nice for us since we like having him as our little baby, but he's truly becoming that full-blown preschooler. Beyond the physical traits, he's finally developing his language skills. We understand most of what he wants and needs through verbal communication, even though he still has trouble speaking a lot of words clearly. He definitely knows Batman, Spiderman, Joker, Venom, Mary Jane, and princess. Those words are his favorites. :) He also loves to say, "Why so serious?" If any of you have seen Dark Knight, you'll understand why it's so adorable. Most recently, his favorite phrase, unrelated to his superhero friends, is "Yanowhat? (You know what?)" It is usually followed by I love you or I'm hungry.

He is also a big pretender. We pretend to be super heroes most of the day. What strikes me as the most adorable aspect of this, is how we play with particular toys together. For instance, if we are playing with his Spiderman toy, we will also play with Venom, Sandman, and the Green Goblin, all at his insistence. Since we do not have a Mary Jane doll, Jake finds one of Bailey's red-headed Barbies to play the role of Mary Jane. Similarly, we do the same with Batman, Joker, Penguin, etc. And, we can't play with just any Barbie doll... we play with Snow White. You see, she has black hair, like Batman's woman on Dark Knight. The only Barbie doll with black hair. Details, people... they are important. :)

Physically, Jake is growing taller and taller and thinner and thinner. He weighs about 30 pounds, but I can't figure out where it is. He's a skinny little guy... guess he's going to take after his Daddy. He loves to play fight, which presents problems sometimes since he likes to fight with us when we are seriously trying to discipline him. We're making it through though. I am really eager for the weather to be nice enough to go outside with Jake. He loves to play ball and dig in the dirt... and it will make my life much easier (less Spiderman games for mommy!). :) We attempt playing ball in the house, but it does present some problems. He does really well with his toy basketball set... I was showboating the other day and shooting the ball backwards (you know, with my back facing the goal), and Jake turned around and did it, too. Amazingly, he made it... he actually shoots the ball quite well. Daddy is pleased.

A close up of the baby, er... big boy:



And, playing at Christmas with his favorites - Batman (not in this photo), Joker, and Snow White (which was Bailey's, but Jake enjoys her much more than she does). :)

Well, I don't want anyone to stroke out or anything, but I am actually blogging. :)

Yep... finally giving into the guilt (and my true need to write) and blogging.

So... where to start? Well, this seems to be the problem lately. Every time I start thinking about blogging, I think about how much has happened since my last entry. And, you know, that's quite a bit. So, here's the quick rundown - Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Eve and Day. :) OK. So those are the holidays. They were great... each special in its own little way. And, I am hopeful that at some point in the very near future, I will sporadically decide to post photos with little snippets about each of these, as well as some video. But, please don't hold your breath! You know me... it takes a while.

There were many more things to tell... playing in the snow, Bailey actually learning to pedal her bicycle (which she's been working on for a while), Jake talking more clearly and becoming more independent, our fun trip to Gatlinburg with Mamaw Kathy and James, etc. So, how do I pick up where I left off without being hitting these highlights? Well, I don't know. So, I'm just going to write about our newest developments and go from there. Patience please... this could be more like a rough version of a term paper before it's all over. lol.

Perhaps the most exciting thing for me right now is that my last day at the Lexington Philharmonic is on Friday. Brad recently received a promotion at work, enabling me to stay at home with the kids for a while. I simply cannot express how excited I am about this. I've been so lucky to work for a company that allows me to work from home part time. They've been so good to me, but it is difficult splitting up my time. Even when I'm working from home, I feel the guilt of each thing pulling on me. If I'm working on things for work, I feel like I'm ignoring the kids. If I'm playing with the kids, I feel like I'm ignoring my work. It's a constant battle... and I'm very excited that I don't have to feel that choice tugging on me all the time. I'm sure I'm going to miss the adult interaction and even parts of my job. But, I can't wait to wake up every morning and know that the only thing I HAVE to do is take care of the kids. They seem excited about it, too. I know Jake will love being at home with me. He makes me feel guilty everyday I leave him, so he's going to be on cloud nine. Bailey, on the other hand, loves preschool, so her concern with me not working is that she wouldn't go anymore. Of course, we nearly have preschool completely paid for, so we had already planned to let her finish her school year. She was really happy then... especially when she understood that we could spend the entire summer by the pool or at the lake. Now, she's thrilled.

So, a week from tomorrow, I will be unemployed. :) Happily unemployed. Not sure how many of us there are out there with the economy like it is.

The other big thing going on right now is that my husband is in another country. Yep, Brad is in Guatemala City, Guatemala, living the good life. :) Or so you would think from the photos he's posted on Facebook! He actually is there on business, training some developers for his company. He left early last Wednesday and won't return until Thursday night. He spent his weekend seeing ancient Mayan ruins and Antigua. Apparently, he's stronger than I am though... His hotel has a casino in it and he's not gambling. He's nuts. They have a great exchange rate. He could win quite a bit if he got lucky. Thank God I'm not the one going on these trips or I would DEFINITELY be looking for a job. I'd gamble it all. :) Anyway, we've missed Brad so much. Bailey is completely convinced that he's on a vacation without us and does not think it's fair that he gets to swim in a pool in hot weather when we are stuck here in the cold and rain. I have to agree to a certain extent. :) Jake is missing him too. I expected him to ask about him, but not to say much more about it. Yet, in the middle of the night, Jake woke up to tell me that he missed his daddy. It was so cute. It kind of broke my heart. Needless to say, we are counting down the days until Brad gets home... quite literally. We created a calendar just for the time Brad would be gone so that we could "see" when he was coming home. Just a few more days... just a few more.

Moody little man

He's finally putting sentences together and playing pretend. He's bossing us around and giving us his opinions, even when they aren't asked for. He's a full-fledged two-year old, complete with defiance and tantrums. And, he's absolutely able to get anything he wants. Jake can easily convince me of just about anything with his adorable big eyes and funny facial expressions. Even when he couldn't talk much, you could understand everything he was thinking by just reading his face. Now, he just manipulates me with those adorable little expressions and sweet little voice. Even when he's mean... I am totally SNOWED.

I guess I'm not really snowed since I know what's happening, but it is terrible. I, obviously, don't make a difference between Jake and Bailey (at least not one that any parent wouldn't make between a 2-year old and a 4-year old based on one knowing more than the other). However, I do feel like a complete sucker most of the time. I do feel better when other people seem to get snowed too. Then, at least, I think maybe he just has that kind of personality. The funny thing is that he really is a hateful little bird. He wakes up every morning and I wonder if he's going to be happy or pissed off. It's about 50/50. Some mornings, he'll wake up and be ready to go... happy to do whatever is on the agenda, whether that's laying around the house in his pjs or getting dressed to go run around. He is just happy to go and even happier if we have a pop tart and orange juice. Other mornings, he wakes up mad. I can offer him pop tarts and orange juice, with a side of Spiderman on TV, and he just gets more angry. He usually wants to be held on these mornings and then proceeds to be mean to Morgan, by saying "No Morgan" or "No Kaden (Morgan's little brother who he plays with regularly)" or just completely ignoring her. He's even mean to Brad - often refusing to tell him goodbye or even taking a swing at him if he tries to give him a kiss on the head. He really is a little bear. He is a moody little thing. We just can't figure out if there's something causing it. I keep wondering if he's getting enough sleep or if he's getting too much on these days. I thought it was just the mornings that Morgan was coming over, which made me think he was just having a hard time with us leaving. But, that's not the case. He does it on the weekends sometimes and sometimes on the days I'm at home. On some mornings, he'll just sit and scream (like temper tantrum scream) because he asked for juice and I fixed him a juice but handed it to him instead of sitting it on the table that he wanted it on. Apparently mind-reading is something I should have. :) So, really... the personality is not there for him to be a manipulator. He should be sweet and persuasive, not hateful, moody, and expecting us to bow to him all the time. LOL... But, his uncle Colt has always been able to get what he wants. They have very similar personalities. Jake seems to recognize that... he idolizes Colt. Every time we say we're going to Ashland to see Mimi and Poppa, he'll say, "And Colt?" Maybe I should keep them away from each other... maybe he's getting lessons and I just didn't know. :) Either way, he is certainly the funniest little kid in the world. You never know what you're going to get with him... but I can almost always guarantee that you wait five minutes and it will change!

Daddy's Girl... for a few minutes

I couldn't help but think that it was the most adorable thing ever when Bailey announced to me that she wanted her daddy to take her on her field trip to the orchard. Her class would be visiting a local orchard for their fall trip and she was so excited. I was a little disappointed that she wasn't more eager for me to be there, but I was so excited for Brad that she had taken the initiative to want him there. It really worked out nicely for me, too. The field trip was on a Thursday, which would normally be good for me because I work from home on Thursday and could be more flexible. However, siblings weren't allowed to go, which would mean paying or finding a sitter to take care of him while I took Bailey. So, Bailey's endeavor to involve her daddy was perfect.

I'm not sure that Brad even realizes how special it is that she wanted him to go and that he went and had fun with her. One day, he will look back and remember it and wish she was still so eager to spend time with him, especially in front of her friends. :) My dad was always ready for anything we wanted to do and my favorite thing about him was that he was always happy to spend time with us. Most of the time, he was needed somewhere else, but when he was with us, he was with us. He knew when it was supposed to be Dad and Andrea time. Oh, don't get me wrong... I can remember SO many times when we were begging him to get off the phone, quit working, leave the office, or to not stop "just one more place." I often think of him when I'm working from home with the kids and I tell them, "Mommy has to make just one more call, so please be good and don't fight." How I remember being on the other end of that conversation and hating every second of it. :) But, when it was really important, Dad got it. He knew that it wouldn't always be that way... and he was right. Like all girls, I went through that "my dad embarasses the crap out of me and acts like a complete idiot" phase. And, he made sure I paid for it when I went through that phase. I guess he thought that if I was going to accuse him of being ridiculous, he might as well enjoy it. Obviously, I got over it and really think it's quite funny looking back at it.

I love to see how Bailey adores her daddy. He is so oblivious to it... which I might have just ruined. :) She tells me every time something messes up, even if it is unfixable, that her daddy will fix it. He can fix everything. Literally, I quote her... she says, "Daddy can fix everything." She thinks he hung the moon. And, he does for her, I guess. Tonight we carved our annual jack-o-lanterns. Daddy is the master at carving the coolest pumpkins. We have a Scooby Doo pumpkin and a crazy face pumpkin (which I did, thank you very much). No doubt, all I will hear about for weeks is how her daddy made her the Scooby Doo pumpkin. And what really cracks me up about her idolization of him, is that she doesn't say these things in front of him, just to me and/or others. It's like she knows it will go straight to his head. :)

I just hope it stays this way for a little while longer. I'm happy to miss out on the fun field trips and let Daddy have his time with her. I know that she'll turn into a teenager early... she does everythinge early. So, we'll take this as long as we can. (And since I'm being so understanding about her playing her daddy all the time, maybe he'll be so understanding about me letting Jake play me all the time.)

Catching Up

Well, I can't believe it's been over a month since the last post. I don't know why... I should know that's about how long it takes for me to feel guilty and get back on the computer. It's difficult for me to sit down and write for some reason. Most of it is because I'm so tired of being on the computer for 100 different things, mostly all work-related. Nonetheless, I regret waiting so long because it takes a few to get back into the swing of things when I take such a break!

The kids have been doing wonderfully. We have all been passing a cold around, which seems to be the norm for everyone right now, but thankfully it hasn't been anything more than a cold. (Knock on wood, right?!) Our routine has continued on... Bailey going to school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and Jake staying with Morgan. They really are both enjoying every bit of it.

Bailey loves her friends and telling me all about everything she's learning. I'm so impressed by the knowledge she keeps picking up. She comes home talking about her letters, telling me what items she knows that start with the letter of the week, and telling me all about her "job" for the week. There always seems to be some fun activity that they do to learn about things. They have had fire safety week and I love to read week. They had a visit from the fire truck (Bailey was thrilled to see that they have a front and back door... so impressive) and they shared their favorite books in class today (their teachers read all of their books in class and Bailey claims that hers was the best). I am really impressed by Bailey's recent interest in numbers. I don't think this has been caused by school. She has always been more interested in numbers than letters and she has always asked lots of questions about numbers. Well, she is now learning to add and subtract (more from us at home than at school, I believe). I'm so proud of her (and hoping that she is going to be so good at math that she goes into something that will positively impact her budget more than my choices! LOL). I have also seen other changes in Bailey's learning. She is driving me nuts with the little schoolgirl, know-it-all attitude. It can be cute, at times, but it can also drive me insane. She has been threatening Jake when he doesn't do what she wants. She tells him, "I won't be your friend or big sister anymore." It makes me mad that she acts that way, but worries me more that she's being treated that way by one of her friends (or that she's treating them this way). So, we had a little talk about it tonight. I hope that changes soon. I'm sure there's plenty more of it to come, but I'm hopeful that she'll understand it can be hurtful to act that way. I guess it all comes with the territory. She is also killing me with rhyming. Everything she says, she follows up with rhyming words, even if they don't make sense. So, she'll say, "Hey Jakey bakey cakey. I'm hungry, shungry, dungry." Every sentence ends in rhymes. I had to tell her tonight that if she rhymed again, she was losing toys. I know I'll look back and laugh one day, but really... I am only going to be sane for a few more days at this rate. :)

Jake is also enjoying his little life. Today, alone, he was able to convince Morgan to take him to McDonald's for pancakes and sausage, and then to McDonald's for lunch. Normally, I would be worried about the amount of fast food, but considering that he really seems to eat less than a bird on most days, I'm thrilled that he has anything going down. I guess it's a phase he's going through - the no-eating phase - but it worries me. He is so little that he can fit in Mackenzie's little 5 month old son's diapers (he wears them sometimes at nap time if he's at Morgan's house and they don't have any of his). Now, I know that Braxton is a big 5-month old, but still... Jake is a skinny mini. And, it is no wonder. He literally could survive on drinks. He just doesn't seem to care about eating anymore. I remember Bailey going through a phase like this, so I'm hoping we're nearing the end of it. BUT... in the meantime, anything that he'll eat is better than nothing. :) He is also speaking more and more clearly. He loves to talk about Spiderman or Batman. He loves role playing... in any form. Yes, he's going to be that adult that interviews potential employees and makes them pretend to sell him something. Apparently, it's just that fun. :) He loves to tell me when Bailey is being bad, when he doesn't like things, and when he wants me to do something. I hear mommy all the time. Even if Jake is just sitting around playing, he'll yell, "Mommy" repeatedly. When I respond, he usually says, "Where are you?" Most of the time, I'm sitting right beside him... but he just wants to say it.

They are both just growing up so fast. I can't keep up with everything they do that I love. They play well together on most days... they even found that they really enjoy a good car race with Jake's electronic cars. They'll get them started and let them go across the floor and their identical laughs just crack me up. I listened to them playing for about an hour yesterday and couldn't help but laugh at them. They were having so much fun and weren't fighting over the toys they were playing with. It was one of those precious moments that I would love to remember forever.