Happy 3rd Birthday, Jeremiah!

Newborn...


One...


Two...(I was looking at these pictures and honestly thinking: Didn't we just take these? It really does feel like a few months ago, not last year.)


Three...


Every so often before J goes to bed and we're praying, I'll tell him that he's an answered prayer. Because he is. Shawn and I went from wanting zero babies to at least one healthy one. And we got him, and he is so wild and fun and crazy. I love everything about him, even his tantrums, because it means I have a healthy child. (Someone please remind me I said that next time I'm pulling my hair out!)

J is funny, and now he's figuring out how to be funny - saying he's "one" instead of three will surely get funny looks out of people, he's learned. He also talks a mile a minute some days, unless you're a stranger, then he hides his head. He still calls the color 'red' 'yen' - not sure if I ever really want him to stop that, to be honest. Also, tornado is 'tormado' which is adorable. He knows the alphabet up through V. He can count, sort of - his numbers go: 1, 2, 3, 5, 4, 1. (Ooops) He's grown up so much in the last month or so - big bed, no more binky or diapers - and wow did that happen fast. Not sure what's next? Writing? Reading? College?

Happy birthday, my sweet crazy J-bear! We love you!

Separate

Today I had a sad/happy/weird/unexpected moment with the kids. They were both sitting on my lap and we were goofing around and they were laughing and suddenly I realized that some day they would be totally, completely separate from me. They wouldn't be in my house, I wouldn't see them every day, I might not even talk to them every day. And wow, did that hurt. See, I complain...a lot...about how much my two children want to be around me. Sarah can barely breathe sometimes without me right next to her, and J, well, he's been really clingy lately too. It's so easy to forget that some day they won't be like this and as much as I want them to stop being so into me, I also don't. I just want to remember this moment, so much, that they will grow up and Shawn and I will suddenly look at each other and say: "Remember when they were so little and we couldn't wait for them to grow up?"


(Sarah was unavailable for this photo op, she had better things to do like chew on shoes)

Swim Lessons

This is the first summer J's done 'real' swim lessons - with an instructor and no mommy or daddy in the water with him. It went...uh...


(I like the other kids in the background, clearly unaware, unlike J, that they are about to be tortured in some horrible way!!)



Can't see it too well? Here's a little closer:



You could say it went well. You'd think these pictures were from his first lesson. Nope! His last. Miss Erin (with Aqua Babes) definitely earned every penny of the class fee with Mr. J. The strange thing is that he was listening and learning - every day he'd want to 'practice' in the bathtub and didn't cry. He also almost always did what Miss Erin said with the exception of one day - he just cried the whole time and swallowed lots of water. (Yum!)

Miss Erin was very patient with him but also didn't allow him to get away with not doing what he needed to do.


(J having a time out for refusing to complete a task)

Here are a couple of videos. You can see J doing what he's learned but also see him freaking out the whole time. FUN! (When I asked him what was wrong his answer was that he wanted me. Shawn and I tried explaining that I cannot teach him how to swim, but that didn't get through to him I think)



You can also see how patient and just good Erin is at her job.


He's going to go back into level 1 again this summer and hopefully the second time he does better without screaming.

Five years!

Shawn and I recently celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. It's amazing how quickly five years has gone by. We kept it pretty low key on our actual anniversary. The bakery that made our wedding cake will make a top tier for 'big' anniversaries, so we picked that up and shared it with the kids.

Here it is!


And a pic from the wedding. I was a little sad they didn't do the big bow, but it's just fondant and we would have thrown it away anyways.


This photographer is SO FIRED. Shawn and I cutting our cake.


The kids loved it. It was so fun to share with them, considering when we got married, we weren't planning on having children. What an amazing blessing they are and I'm so glad our minds and hearts were changed.

This is what I call 'roughing it'

Handwashing dishes...


Kids sharing a room...




Having a 3 yr old photographer:


And said photographer waking up a million times during the night and ending up in our bed. (That's never happened in his whole life!) He's sleeping on my pillow. Stinker. (Sarah, bless her, slept through all his crying! Unbelievable.)


We had the opportunity to spend the weekend in Flagstaff and it was great to get away from Phoenix, the heat, the desert, etc, and just spend some time away. The shiny trash can? Huge hit.


These stairs were as scary as they look! For those of you who really know me, you know that I'm afraid of heights (to the point I HATE getting on the playground equipment with the kids). Well, I think going down these stairs multiple times over the weekend may have helped me to start getting over that fear. I actually went down them BACKWARDS HOLDING SARAH. Amazing.


The guys playing in the backyard.


The 'camera game' - there was a spinny thing in the middle of the table. Set camera auto timer, spin and bang! Fun new game.


Hot chocolate (like the new 'see how cute I am' pose?)


We found a really fun park.



Monkey boy!


Head tilt alert!


This is how I spend a lot of post-nap time. Sarah needs cuddles and J joins in.


Sunrise - 530am. I had a whole 30 minutes alone the first morning! I love it.


Beautiful...


One minute, these guys are practicing punches. The next? Kisses. Cute.


Family photo!


This cracks me up. I wanted a picture of them both in their footie jammies since they won't be wearing them again until November or so. And J just lays down on the floor. He's so silly.

Two seconds later he was poking her eye with the straw. She didn't cry though. Still, the fleeting moments of sibling cuteness seem to fly by so quickly.



J loves it when she sits next to him to eat.



We have hit princess shoe territory. She loves these sparkly shoes, even though they're a little small and leave marks on her feet.


Crazy Child:


I was trying to get a good jumping shot of him - oops! Chopped off his head.


There we go! Love this one.


Just a cute video of Sarah laughing. It's a little long, but the first part is the cutest.

Party time!

We took J to Chuck E Cheese's to celebrate his big boy accomplishments and Grandma and Grandpa G came with us. J had such a good time.

Loved the rides...

Sarah didn't even need tokens!

Riding with the scary mouse.

Playing a game with Daddy.

Racing with Grandpa.

Mmmm pizza!

My (three) cuties.

Shot a few hoops...

Memorial day. This girl is a mess. We had a great time at a cookout and Sarah ate her weight in baked beans, which destroyed her pretty white shirt.

My BHBG (bald-headed baby girl) has little curls forming in the fine hair on the back of her head. Do you think they'll stick around?