May

Sure do love the children that these legs belong to!

Cousins with matching leggings!  Thanks Beatrice!

Also cousins, but Jaxon stayed glued to my side for the whole visit until the last 15 minutes.

Making Mother's Day stepping stones.

Jaxon loves to ride his tricycle..... into the fence.  Yes, I make him wear a helmet.

He also enjoys gymnastics :)

May flowers, but still some showers!  Bring on the puddles!

Big sisters are awesome!

Archery lessons

It's May and summer is coming!  We're ready!  The kids have enjoyed a few of the showers that we've had this month.  They love to stomp in puddles.  Last year I could hardly get Jaxon near a puddle and this year he's flying!  The kids got along well this month and I've enjoyed watching them play.  Sierra is working hard at being helpful, but I'm telling you, 4 years has been a challenge ALL the way through.

Jaxon continues to expand his vocabulary and still loves his numbers and letters.  The most common phrases from him right now are "ick up" which means pick me up.  He's in a phase of wanting to be held a lot.  He also says "Look!" when he wants me to watch him and "Just this mommy" means watch this mommy.  We continue to deal with him only wanting to eat a few things and he is still very unwilling to try new foods.  I try to remind myself that Sierra went through a picky stage too, but now she will try just about anything - including oysters.  So hopefully, Jaxon will learn to like more foods. 

Despite his limited range of foods (he does eat his fruits and veggies well as long as they are raw) he is growing well!  Everyone always thinks he's at least 3 and most of his 2t clothing are just barely long enough.  Both of the kids are at the top of the charts in height, and around the 50th to 75th in weight. 

I'm sure looking forward to summer this year.  I'm excited at the prospect of actually being able to garden this year.  The kids are at a stage where I don't have to hold their hands every second.  And Sierra can be very helpful if she wants to be.  :)  Here's to sun, garden veggies, berries, and all the other bounties summer has to offer!

April

A flower for sissy.

We are loving the spring sunshine!

This is why I get hit or kicked in the face if she sleep with me.....

Mommy and Daddy had a weekend away!!

It brought out our goofiness....

And reminded us that after 11 plus years of marriage we still like each other ;)

The garden is ready! 

Jaxon loves Sierra's trike!

He also loves her pink sunglasses.

Sierra and I went to a birthday party for her cousin in Portland.

We were late but the second we got there she ran in and joined the group!

Matching aprons for Easter Egg dying.

Happy Easter!

Our Zoey girl turned 15 this month!  She's almost deaf and has slowed down A LOT, but we hope she is around for a few more years!

Spring!  We've seen sun!  Oh happy day!  The kids have loved being able to frolic around outside.  And for the first time since Sierra was born, I'm actually able to get some stuff done outside!  Jaxon is old enough to not eat dog poop, or mud soup, or fall on absolutely everything, so while they are cooking up some lovely inedible concoction, I weed the nearest flower bed, or wash the nearest window.  It's glorious!  I sitll cannot let Jaxon out of my site or he'll take off on his own down the driveway, but I don't have to carry him around or hold his hand every second either.  We are all enjoying our freedom, even if it's only for 10 minutes at a time.  Sierra is also old enough that I can let her go outside for a few minutes before Jaxon and I head out, or come in a little bit later.  She knows she just has to stay near a window so that I can peek out at her frequently.  My babies are growing up so fast!

Jesse and I took a trip to the coast (Garibaldi) for the weekend by ourselves this month!  Jaxon caught a cold a few days before we left so I was really paranoid about leaving him, but he did great with his Grandma Shelly and PopPop.  I ended up getting sick the very first night of our weekend away, but it was a pretty mild cold and we really enjoyed our time together.  We went on a hike to a waterfall, went to garage sales, enjoyed samples at the Cheese Factory without a single worry about nap time!  Again, glorious!

We had a very low key Easter this year.  We didn't go to any egg hunts or do much of anything except with our family.  The kids both loved finding eggs in our yard and enjoyed a few pieces of candy.  We still had some Halloween candy left from trick or treating (yah, my kids are not big candy eaters) and a few pieces of that may have found their way into the Easter eggs.  That may be wrong on lots of levels, but it didn't seem to bother the kids.  :)

The day before Easter, Sierra, GG, and I drove up to Portland together to go to a Frozen themed birthday party.  It was at a dance studio and part of the party was dance lessons.  We were about 30 minutes late and all the kids were already lined up and dancing but Sierra didn't even stop to take her shoes off and she ran right up beside the birthday girl and started to dance.  I LOVE that about her!  I was/am not like that at all.  She had fun, made new friends, and got to sing along to her favorite Frozen song.  Quite a busy day!  She passed out on the ride home which I will admit made the drive much quieter.

We are looking forward to the warm months ahead and planting the garden is right around the corner!

March

Sierra wants to have a sleepover with her Grandmas and get sparkly tattoos!

Futon vacuuming day = an hour of fun.

"Mommy!  There's sunshine coming in through the window!  Do you want to lay in it with me?"

Sierra learned to roll her tongue!  She was beyond excited.

She's also excited that she is getting close to turning 5, which means she gets to go to school. 

Sunshine!

Sierra's first fishing trip!  She caught two beautiful trout on her pink fishing pole :)  Daddy and Pop Pop had as much fun as she did!

New toy that Jess purchased on Craigslist.

I wasn't real excited about it, but they sure have had a blast!

Her outfit of choice.  Luckily we didn't venture out on this day.  She sure is something!

SO excited that Aunt Amy came to visit during Spring Break!

Serious concentration.

Jaxon already tries to play tackle football. 

Sierra was thrilled that Jaxon let her dress him up!

Sierra's favorite thing to draw - kitties.

After the horrendous February cough, we were well in March!  The sun came out a few times and we got to play outside too.  Hooray!  Jaxon had his 2 year well baby checkup and weighs in at 29.5lbs and is 35.5 inches tall.  He's met all his developmental milestones right on time and is way ahead of the game in the fact that he knows all of his letters and numbers.  What are the appropriate 2 year old milestones?  Well, he likes to yell and throw, he jumps and his feet actually leave the ground and is learning to catch.  He doesn't like to share with his sissy anymore and he's learned to blow bubbles but sometimes eats a little bit of the soap.  He's a pro at block stacking, can scoot on Sierra's scooter, doesn't like to pedal his tricycle but scoots around on it too.  He still wears a diaper to bed, but does well on the potty during waking hours.  He still sometimes waits until the last minute to tell me needs to go, so I do a little less laundry if I take him every once in a while. 

Sierra is ready for school!  How can it be?  I had to fill out the paperwork to apply for kindergarten at our local charter school.  It is on a lottery basis and even though we are miles down the road, she didn't "win".  I'm feeling devastated because it was a very small class, close to home, and only half a day.  Now I'm trying to figure out where to send her.  Part of me wants to keep her home for another year since she will be one of the youngest in her class, but she is ready.  I'm trying to be. 

We are on the Philomath/Corvallis line so our options are between Philomath and Adams Elementary in Corvallis.  Philomath is closer, and where Jesse and I graduated from, but I just want to do the best thing for her.  I still am not sure I know exactly what that is.  Being the social child she is, I'm sure she will be fine wherever she goes.  But this will be the first time she has ever been away from me on a regular basis, and I want to send her somewhere that builds her up and creates a love of learning.  I realize a large part of schooling is also parental involvement at home.  She will have that, but I'm hoping to find a teacher that helps her soar.  I don't necessarily mean excel in school, but to continue to be the confident, social, kind child that she is.  Prayers would be appreciated!