New Developments

1.  We now have to keep our bathroom door locked to prevent Emmett from going in there and taking bites out of my deodorant and dragging my toothbrush and toothpaste all over the house.

2.  Jackson doesn't need pull-ups during naps anymore!  His pull-up has been dry after naps almost since he started potty training, so we finally decided to just not put one on him anymore.  I'm sure it's much more comfortable to sleep in.  Unfortunately, I don't think he's close to not needing one at night anymore.  :)

3.  Who knew that a bottle of soap could be such an exciting thing?  I bought Jackson one of those Dora the Explorer bottles of foamy soap to wash his hands with and he thinks it's the best thing ever.  He doesn't know who Dora is, but asks me every time we wash who that is on the bottle.  He even made Phil go into the bathroom after work yesterday to look at his new soap.  :)  I also bought a great big old-wooden-icebox-turned-into-a-footstool at an antique store this weekend and now J can reach the faucet himself.  And, thanks mostly to school, he can now wash his hands all by himself!  I still supervise, though, due to my handwashing OCD.

4.  The boys have discovered a hidden dirt pile on the side of the garage.  We have a sandbox that we have to keep closed most of the time because Emmett eats the sand constantly (and the "sand" we get out here is really just like dirt), but the boys love to play in dirt.  They were playing out in the backyard today while I cleaned up the kitchen and all of a sudden I noticed that it was quiet and they weren't in the backyard anymore.  I thought for sure they had gone around to the side of the house and were playing in the garage, but when I went out there I saw this:

 

There's some dirt and rocks on the side of our house between the asphalt and the fence and the boys were in heaven.  Jackson was pouring dirt on his head and Emmett was sitting in the dirt and eating handfuls of it.  All in the few minutes that it took for me to get out there!!  AAGGHH!  I can't turn my back for a second!

5.  Jackson is talking so much now! I don't know if it's from being at school or just getting older, but we love hearing all that he has to say.  Just a little bit ago I suggested we make cookies and he walked over to the cabinet where I keep my bowls, opened it, and said, "How 'bout we use one of those bowls? That's a good idea!  Let's use one of those!"  I know that's not funny or especially cute or anything, but it's so neat to hear him talking like a big boy.  :)  One of our favorite things right now is that whenever we tell him he can't do something he says one of three things... either "It's too spicy" or "It's weewy dirty" or "It's too noisy."  And to hear him say (totally unsolicited), "Oh, Mommy, I wuv you so much," makes me absolutely melt every time.

6.  The further along in this pregnancy I get, the more sure I am that I will NOT be pregnant again.  It is hard being pregnant with two other young kids, especially two very active boys.  Lately I've been totally exhausted at the end of each day and my back is constantly killing me.  I cannot even imagine being pregnant with all three boys running around.  Kudos to those moms that have lots of kids... I think I'm done!

7.  The boys love the shower.  Emmett has always loved it, but it's taken Jackson three years to get into the shower with Phil.  He finally did out of the blue the other day and now he can't get enough!  He says the whole time he's in there that it's just like a water park.

8.  I started taking Jackson to gymnastics once a week.  Actually, it's just a tumbling class, but he really loves it.  The first week he was really shy and didn't want to participate much.  Now he'll try almost anything.  He really loves one of the ladies that works there and will do almost anything she asks.  And it's really neat to see him using different muscles to do things he normally doesn't do and see how he improves every week.  I almost didn't go back after the first class, though... Emmett was CRAZY!  He truly is my challenging one right now and he basically just runs all over the place the whole time we're there.  The first week I thought I had to try to make him do what the other kids were doing, but now I know that it's okay if he just runs around so that makes it a little easier.  Every week I mean to take pictures, but with helping Jackson do the activities... and making sure he doesn't get hurt... and trying to keep him focused... and chasing Emmett back into the room... and making sure E doesn't drink someone's soda or call on someone's cell phone... and pulling E off of the equipment to give other kids a turn... and trying to interest E in something else when he really wants to do what I just pulled him off of... and making sure E doesn't pull everything out of my purse.... I just haven't managed to take a single picture!!  Maybe next week.

9.  Jackson is still loving school!  He crawled into my bed on Tuesday morning and the first thing he said was, "Mom, I ready to go to school!"  He had his first school picture day on Tuesday and he wanted me to take a picture before we left the house, but then he wouldn't look at the camera.  :)  These are the best that I got...

10.  Just wanted to share what my family room looks like on a daily basis.  I try hard to keep up with the toys strewn all over, but keeping the pillows and blanket on the couch and chairs is a lost cause.  I must pick these up 15 times a day.  And notice how the pumpkins on the fireplace are all mixed up and turned around and one of them is missing.  Boys!!!

Well, the boys are both up from their naps early... looks like I'm in store for a fun afternoon!!  Here's a cute video for the road...


Untitled from Heather Gilcreast on Vimeo.