Lexington Legends

The Lexington Legends are a minor league baseball team. We got tickets through our church. It was so hot so we didn't stay long. Nicholas was unsure about the female mascot, "Elle". He told Aunt Jen, "she's not allowed to come over here". When I asked Jack, "Is this fun or what?" He replied, "What". I think the heat had alot to do with the amount of fun. But, Jack does keep telling me that he's ready to go back to a baseball game.

The kids after the game, ready for ice-cream!

Just in Case You Think Your Kids Aren't Listening to You

Today Jack and I went to the bank and to Target. On the way home (which is about a 12 minute drive), I realized I had to pee really bad. I looked back at Jack and said:

"Jack, mommy really has to pee-pee bad when we get home."
He says, "Mommy, I don't want you to pee-pee in your pull-up. Mommy, can you hold it until we get home?"
Of course I go right along with it and say, "Yes, I think I can wait until I get home."
Later after about 2 minutes or so of silence, Jack says, "Are you holding it mommy?"

It was just so hilarious how serious he was with me. Just like I am with him. And, not to be too personal, but he often praises me after I go to the bathroom, "good girl, mommy", just as I am with him. He doesn't miss anything. Or he's just a great little mocker.

The Greatest Kid's Yard Ever!

One night we went to Gwen's house, an old friend of Aunt Jen's. She has a set of 3-year-old twins and an almost 5-year-old. Their back yard was unbelievable. There were ride-on toys, an inflatable jumper, just toys-toys-toys. Jack had his first popsicle (which he made a horrible face each time he bit in to it). I don't think he liked the flavor but he picked blue. We ate pizza and went in the house and discovered the playroom. Oh my! Jack found a big box of Cars characters. I wasn't around when he discovered it, but I heard his reaction was as though he had "found the Holy Grail."

Go-kart ride on

Bouncer

Jumping video

Backyard Fun at Aunt Neen's House

Cool Jack (takin' a break)

Juice break

Jack would rather follow and hold the tractor than ride it. This is where he's more comfortable.

Takin' a turn. He still wouldn't go too far. (Love the John Deere hat on backwards - so Kentucky)

Nicholas and Jack pretend "grilling". Jack loves his cousins.

Nicholas and Nathaniel

Aunt Neen, Nathaniel and Aunt Jen (before going on our sister night out).

The Never-ending Birthday

Jack is going to think that his birthday is not just one day but a couple of weeks. We celebrated at the Mall, with Granny and Grandpa Eugene, with Sam and I here in Illinois, then on July 19th at Aunt Neen's house. We had a big family party at the Melvin's. This was the "big" birthday party where he got his new toys.

I love the patient look on his face here

Nicholas, Madison and Lauren partying

And the winner is. . . remote-controlled "mater". I believe this was the favorite toy of the party.

Rippin' into his new Thomas toy.

The cousins (minus Nathaniel who never wanted to get in the pictures)

Serious business opening aunt Shee-sha's gift.

LEXINGTON VISIT (2 weeks of pictures to come) One thing I do know is. . .

I have great-looking nieces and nephews!

Madison and Lauren





Nicholas

Nathaniel

I have 75 digital photos and 48 disc photos to sort through so my Lexington posting will come later. Here is a preview of my precious nieces and nephews.

. . . more birthday and Granny's visit

Jack received this "four wheeler" spiderman, battery operated ride-on. It's just the right speed for him. A gift from mom and dad. (We let him run the neighborhood in his skivvy's). There's a video below of him getting his 4-wheeler.

His other big gift is this Clubhouse climber I found on Craigslist. It was less than a year old and perfect for Jack. Just what we were looking for. There's a phone inside and he calls everyone. This is the way most of the conversations go: "Hey aunt Jen. Nice to meet you. I have a clubhouse, bye-bye." Hilarious. Watch video below to hear a conversation.

Granny came to visit the weekend just before his birthday. She brought Jack a dump truck that he LOVES. We exchanged her other gift (it was too old for Jack) and he picked out another Lightning McQueen car. I love this picture of Jack and Granny.

I forgot to mention that Grandpa Eugene drives a BIG pick-up truck. We had to go out a few times each day to get in the back.

Jack opening his dump truck with Granny. Grandpa Eugene looking on in the background.

Clubhouse chit-chat video

4-wheeler video

More Birthday Celebrating

Balloons Memom sent and the cookie cake from Makenzie and Mrs. Jessica.

Jack and I went to the mall to meet his "girlfriend", Makenzie for a train ride and lunch. It turned in to a surprise birthday celebration for Jack. Mrs. Jessica (Mak's mom) surprised Jack with a giant cookie cake. It was so thoughtful and oh-so fantastic. After eating cookie cake, the kids played.

Getting them to sit still was extremely difficult

This is Jack NOT liking the train ride. He said, "I don't like this, I'm ready to get out."

Sittin' this train ride out and watching

I love how Mak seems so chilled out and laid back here.

Ahhhh. . . cookie cake. Yum.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JACK!

In the last three years, I've learned:

• It's not easy to get pregnant.
• Morning sickness will sometimes make you wish you weren't pregnant, or just scare you in to never wanting to be pregnant again.
• Babies don't sleep through the night when you bring them home from the hospital.
• You can read a million books to prepare for baby, but if your baby hasn't read the book, it's really pointless (not really).
• Just when you think you've got them on a routine. . .
• Losing baby weight is easy if your child has an allergy. You can't eat when your baby has explosive diarrhea 10-12 times a day.
• As great of a parent you think you are; your child is going to be the one that screams for no apparent reason and hits other kids. (It's really great for playdates and going out to dinner)
• Toddlers love to be the center of attention.
• I now get what all the fuss is about.
• Boys love their mama's.
• Of course I've learned way more than I could ever write.

I love the bible verse: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart..." (Jeremiah 1:5)

Enjoy the little slideshow I put together of the last three years. (Some of the pictures are really blurry - not sure why).

Sweet Conversation

Jack has been favoring reading his toddler bible lately. I can tell he is listening to the stories as this was a conversation we had this morning:

Jack: "Did God make us?"
Me: "Yes, He did."
Jack: "Mommy, who made me?"
Me: "God made you."
Jack: "I want to show God my pajamas."

I'm going to eat this boy up.

Spiderman...nobody knows who you are...

It's in my nature to be full of details, so here it goes. . .

A few nights ago, Jack woke up screaming, I assume from a bad dream. He typically goes right back to sleep after such awakenings, but this night he said, "mommy, I need to pee pee!" So at 3am we're going potty. I was so proud of him. I told him that I would buy him something special at the store the next day. As soon as I said that, I was a little concerned about getting something started with middle-of-the-night potty breaks. So, I back-peddled a bit and said, "how about some spiderman. . . plates?" He was thrilled with the idea. The next day on my grocery trip, I bought some spiderman paper plates. Today, I'm trying to coax him out of the playroom for lunch by getting him excited about eating off of one of his spiderman plates - all while singing the spiderman (cartoon) song. One of the lines is, "Spiderman. . . nobody knows who you are. . ."

Jack immediatley loved the song and sang that one line over and over during lunch. . . roll tape:

Potty Trained! (and "Jack-isms")

After numerous months and ups and downs with potty training, Jack seems to have finally gotten it. I'm so proud to announce that just before his 3rd birthday, Jack is pee-pee trained (#2 will hopefully follow). He has used potties at the gas station, subway and at church so there's no home-court-advantage. He is telling us each time he needs to go. Clearly he now knows what it feels like to need to pee. I couldn't be happier as diapers have gone up $2 (just like everything else). He's so big, it's just killing me.

Okay, so other things: If you follow the blog fairly regularly, you know that after we put Jack in a big-boy-bed, he began putting anything he could find in his bed. When we would get him up, whether in the morning or after nap, there was no telling what we'd find in bed with him. The novelty of that wore off for Jack and he no longer was "bed-hording". I kind of missed it to tell you the truth. It was fun. Well, last Thursday, I went in to get him up from his nap and he had on his rain boots. Black rain boots. He was just laying there like it was completely normal and looked up at me and said, "hey momma". I ran and got my camera. This was the best picture I could get as he was more than ready to get out of bed. I call this type of thing a "Jack-ism". Read below for more.

Wearing his tool belt around the house without pants. He likes to go pant-less and shoeless these days.

Jack-ism:

Jack met a little boy at the pool last week. He is 8 and was very good playing with Jack. His name is Blaine. His Grandma put sunscreen on him and then had him lay on a lawn chair for a while to "let it soak in". This was last Tuesday. Today (Sunday), we went to the pool and after playing for a while, Jack got out of the pool and laid out on a lawn chair. He was laid back and relaxed - head back. I asked him if he was ready to get back in the pool and he lifted his head and said, "I'm letting my sunscreen soak in". He doesn't miss a thing! And what kills me the most about this stuff is how serious he is about it.

Then. . . (sorry this is so long)

After going to the pool, we went to Subway. On the way there, he announced he had to pee. While I ordered the food, Sam took Jack to the potty. When I was done getting the food, Sam and Jack were coming out of the bathroom and Jack was loudly proclaiming he had pee-peed in the potty. I, of course, was so excited for him. On the way out the door, we saw three different sets of people coming in and he told all of them individually, "I pee-peed in the potty!" as loud as he could without screaming. He obviously is proud of it, too.