September

Trying to keep this guy busy!  We walked to the the covered bridge.

Well, Jaxon ran.  I walked.

Jaxon saved up his own money for the first time to buy a new toy.

Sierra thought that if she wore glasses, she could trick Cloe into snuggling with her like she does with mommy :)

Love to see her nose in a book!

Finley Refuge exploration

September is here!  We are getting back into the swing of things with school.  Sierra is loving it and excelling.  It makes my mama heart proud.  She is reading above her grade level and loves math.  But above all else, I am just so happy to see her enjoy school.  I'm struggling with the realization that next year both of the kids will be in school.  I have to remind myself of how worried I was about Sierra starting school, and how well Kindergarten went for her.  But my worries about Jaxon starting school are so different.  Now it's a state mandate for full days of Kinder.  I still completely disagree that a full day of school is good for a 5 year old.  So we will see what tricks I can pull out of my sleeve.

Jaxon and I have stayed busy enjoying the weather.  We've went for walks, he's such a great grocery shopping buddy, likes to help me bake, and loves to dig up dirt clods in the garden while I'm pulling weeds.  He's grown up this summer too and has learned to say calmer when he gets frustrated about not getting his way, is a very helpful boy around the house, and is getting better at sounding out and reading words.  We continue to work on ways to calm down when he gets scared about a loud noise, but have realized that if we know that something is going to be loud, and we bring ear plugs he does great and we can usually end up taking them out.   But a surprise high pitch noise can still scare him to death.  We've talked a lot about thinking about happy or silly things when he gets scared like that, and I can see his little mind trying to do that, but he trembles and says that it really does hurt his ears.  After being to the regular Dr, an ENT, and an allergist about his ears I'm not really sure what other avenue to approach other than working with him on desensitization.

Jaxon ended up with a really bad virus to start the month off.  He had been acting off in the afternoons for quite some time and running a slight temperature at night for a week or so.  I wondered if giving up his naps was just hard on his body.  We worked all summer on going all day without a nap because Sierra's school gets out at 2:50 which is right in the middle of his normal nap time.  He definitely had days he struggled, and some days he still did nap for a bit.  Bedtime always went well because he was so exhausted he'd fall right to sleep.  But I was starting to worry it was missing his nap that was causing him to act unwell until all of a sudden he woke up with a high fever one moring.  He acted normal other than that.  So I took him to his primary care Dr and she ended up running some blood tests to make sure we weren't missing things since he was having random fevers.  He was a super hero for the blood draw!  The man explained what was going to happen, Jaxon didn't move a muscle, and watching the needle go in.  He whimpered slightly, but by then it was over. The phlebotomist breathed a huge sigh of relief.  I was so proud.

All of his blood results came back great and after checking him for strep (that test didn't go quite as well) we were sent home.  The likely culprit: a virus.  I'm so sick of that word.  Over the next few days he refused to eat, had extremely high temps, and complained of stomach pain.  At one point he did throw up, but this did not present itself at all like a stomach bug.  After 4 days of high temps and having to use tylonol and ib profin back to back to get them down, he ended up with a 105 fever on my birthday.  We went to the immediate care and they sent us directly to the ER.  By the time we got to our room the meds were working and his temp was down.  He felt a little better and was kind of being a goof.  The Dr's asked if we had mistaken his temp and ended up doing a culture again.  $1400 and 4 hours later we got a negative strep result and were sent home again with the v word.  He ended up with fevers up to 104 and 105 for 6 days total before he recovered.  It was awful.  But he did slowly get back to his old self.  Sierra ended up getting a mild cold after he was sick, but nothing like what he had.  Praise the LORD.  Nothing scares me more than having a sick child with a high temp for days on end.

Jesse took a week off at the beginning of the month to put a new metal roof on our house.  Even though our home is under 10 years old we've been having issues with the shingles.  Due to living under trees we get a lot of moss and we weren't sure if that was the problem or not, but decided to upgrade to metal before we started having mold or dry rot problems.  Both of our dad's helped a lot, but Jesse did a lot of work on his own too.  It also happened to be the week that Jaxon was so sick, so it was nice to have him home to check in on us every once in a while.  It took the fear of being alone out of the scenario.  He worked hard and the roof turned out beautifully.  It's so nice to have a husband can fix absolutely anything.

Now we are ready for the rain.  Wait.  Our house is ready for the rain.  I am never ready!

August

Jaxon adores rides.

Sierra like the carousel, and that's about it.

Corvallis Knights Game!

Dance camp

Happy birthday, Daddy!

So many plums this year!  The kids loves to help pick them.

Snack time!

Sierra spends all day every day making forts/messes

Two of a kind

Beautiful grape year!  They are so delicious.

Part of the garden

This is what 14 years looks like :)  It's our anniversary this month.

It's August!  It was a very busy month.  We always spend several days enjoying the fair.  Jaxon absolutely loves the rides, while Sierra prefers to stay close to the ground, not move too fast, or go around in circles....... so she likes the slide and some of the silly houses that you can walk through.  Jaxon loves to go up high, around fast, and whatever he is big enough to go on.  We tried a ride at one point that looked slow enough for Sierra.  It did go up in the air though, so it took her a while to talk herself into going with Jaxon and I.  Oops.  She panicked the second the ride started and I ended up singing Amazing Grace the whole ride to keep her calm.  After that she stuck to the slide and did go on the Carousel several times.  She's afraid of very few things but gets motion sick easily and does not like heights.  Jaxon is afraid of most things, but likes the crazy rides.  Seriously.  It's so hard to figure out what goes on in a kiddos mind.

After a long day of rides, we told the kids that they could do one more and we would head home.  They decided on a fun house and both headed in.  On the way out, we all watched as Jaxon lost his piece of gum on the floor of the house, bent over, picked it up, and put it BACK in his mouth.  I.Almost.Died.  Of all of the places to do that, he picks the floor of a fair ride.  This child doesn't like to very many regular foods but will pick a piece of gum up off of the floor and put it back in his mouth.  I stood there with my mouth wide open.  I don't even think I said a word.  I was going through scenarios in my mind of him coming down with Hepatitis, Ecoli, or testing positive for meth.  I honestly felt my hair turning gray, or at the very least my brain was short circuiting.  Good grief.  The next day both kids came down with colds and we didn't go back to the fair.  And he is never going to have another piece of gum in a public place ever again.  Yuck.

We also got free tickets to another Corvallis Knights game this month and were able to stay for fireworks.  It was a long game but the kids had fun and we brought Jaxon's earplugs for the fireworks.  They put on a great show and we all enjoyed it.

Sierra spent her second year at dance camp this month as well.  They spend a week (3 hours a day) learning dance techniques of all kinds and some cheerleading.  The girls learn a routine and usually perform at one of the high school football games.  She loves it. She likes me to stay and watch which can be a challenge when Jaxon is with me :)

School started the last week of August.  This year was absolutely a breeze.  Sierra has grown up so much this summer.  She has become more independent and is able to handle disappointment much better.  We have talked over and over about how important it is to do what you love even if it's different than what other people are doing.  I keep telling her that we were not made to be like everyone else, we were EACH made special and different.  She was excited to go to school this year and when we dropped her off on the first day she gave me a quick hug and sat down at her desk without a second glance.  I was amazed, proud, and relieved.  Hopefully school continues to go well for her and hopefully I can keep Jaxon busy without his favorite playmate.  Time will tell.

July

Corvallis Knights in the press box!

Philomath Frolic Parade

Jesse has mad cupcake frosting skills!

Sierra's party theme was "Lemonade Stand"

This child is afraid of noises but not going fast :)

Sierra's not afraid of the water but is afraid of the slide

First dental check.  Yep he's four.  Don't judge :)

It's July!  A crazy busy but beautiful month.  Sierra finished up her softball season which made for less hectic evenings.  But Jesse's softball goes into August.  Softball along with golf keep him busy on at least one weeknight and usually one weekend day.  

The kids got used to being together all day again and they have gotten along extremely well this month.  We continue to spend a majority of our days outside.  Sierra has a tree that she climbs up into and hangs random things from the branches and declares it her "tree house".  Jaxon loves to swing and ride his bike.  Both of the kids also spend a lot of time playing with Sugar.  Sugar will be 2 this fall but really has yet to grow out of her puppy stage.  She chews less things up but she digs, still wants to jump and lick, and does not like to stay home.  But she does love the kids and they spend a lot of time keeping each other busy.

Jesse won box tickets to a Corvallis Knights game early in the month and we had a blast!  There was food, some Knights swag, and a fun place to hang out.  The kids had a ball and it was so fun to see!  We left before the game was over because the kids were exhausted (we had done the Frolic Parade that morning).  

Jaxon's been sensitive to noise since he was tiny, so things like parades can really freak him out.  It's not constant noise, it's random loud high pitched noises that make him cry.  I told him once, "It's okay buddy, sounds can't hurt us."  His response was, "Yes they do!  They hurt our ears!"  We've learned to bring earplugs and if he knows we have them then we don't have any trouble.  Sometimes we can end up taking them out after a little bit and he'll do fine.  We went to the movie theater for the first time with him this month and brought the ear plugs because the sound in a theater sometimes bothers my ears.  We started with the plugs in but were able to take them out and he did great.  He was also able to sit through the whole movie without spontaneously combusting.  Yay for Finding Dory!

My baby girl turned seven this month.  Time sure is flying.  She's become much more independent this summer.  I'm hoping that means that 2nd grade will be a breeze.  We had a small family party on her actual birthday and then she had 3 friends from school come over to celebrate at our house the following weekend.  We invited several more girls but summers are busy and only 3 could come.  2 of her friends have sweet older sisters that we invited along as well for a total of 6 girls including Sierra.  It was a nice little party and the girls played outside and enjoyed the sunshine.  Jaxon had a great time following the girls around too.  

We've been trying to break Jaxon of the nap time habit this summer.  He's been taking forever to go to sleep at night and once school starts up I will need to pick Sierra up right in the middle of his normal nap time.  He usually isn't able to make it every day without one but is down to only taking one a couple of times a week.  I admit that I will miss naps.  It was an hour in the middle of the day where I made phone calls, paid bills, and did stuff on the computer like writing this blog (a reason I'm 4 months behind).  

We've enjoyed some pool time this summer.  Sierra is a little fish and while she has loved to swim and be in the water the last several years she would not put her face under.  That has all changed this year.  She's gotten great at holding her breath and she can swim for quite a while underwater.  Jaxon loves the water if it's warm but is like me and doesn't enjoy being cold.  If the water is cold he and I usually don't last long.  Sierra is a little energizer bunny in the water though, and doesn't mind if it's cool.  

I've been putting off taking Jaxon to the dentist because of his aversion to noise.  I've been afraid that he would panic when they tried to put the vacuum in his mouth.  But I finally bit the bullet and made an appointment.  He did awesome.  He was a little bit nervous when she came at him with the vacuum, but I held his hand and he stayed still and handled it just fine.  I was so proud and relieved!  And his teeth were perfect, so there!  ;)

June

Love this silly girl!

"Lavender" is as tame as a chicken can get.

 

June kind of revolves around baseball in our house.  Sierra has two games a week and Jesse has one game per week.  Sierra loves baseball and it's a sport that comes pretty naturally to her.  It's also something that she's practiced since she was little, so it's definitely not a foreign sport to her.  She's got a killer swing and this year has improved on her throwing and catching as well as learning more basics about the game itself.  Jaxon sits through every game counting down the days until he can play too.  Sierra's season only lasts a month but it definitely keeps us busy.  Jesse's games go on throughout the summer which means there is usually at least one night a week that I put the kids to bed on my own.  It makes for an extra long day.

The last few weeks of school are so busy it's a bit ridiculous.  There were field trips all over the place, field days, and any other possible outings that can be packed into June.  I wasn't able to go on all the field trips this year because if the trip falls on a day that my mom works, Jaxon would have to come too.  I was able to go on a trip to the library as well as a trip to a local farm.  The kids absolutely loved the farm trip.  They held baby chicks, full sized chickens, fed sheep, learned about llamas, wool spinning, etc.  It was one of the highlights of Sierra's whole year so I was glad that I was able to be there.

The first couple weeks of summer are always kind of rough.  The kids have to get used to be around each other ALL day long again.  There is generally lots of fighting and we all have to get used to a new routine.  Sierra also has to get used to a slower pace and not constant stimulation.  They kids still wake up at the same time (people keep telling me they will sleep in some day) around 6:30, we eat breakfast around 8, and spend most of the day outside.  We ride bikes, play/plant/eat in the garden, swing, make forts, and sometimes even have lunch outside.  We usually make 2 trips to town a week.  We may go to the library, a park, grocery shopping, or to visit my Grandma.  I love summer break but do have to remind myself that the fighting will resolve itself, and they will act like they love each other once again :)