Random April

 I know you'll be hearing this a lot from me, but how is it already mid-May?!  I can't believe how time flies! 

I thought I'd better update the blog with some random pictures from April and maybe give an update on everyone...if I can squeeze that in before the kids wake up from their naps.  :) 

Jenna and Grant with some of their church friends on Easter Sunday

I just love Grant's smile in this picture!  My sweet boy!

The kids were getting restless one afternoon, so I decided to hold an impromptu Easter egg hunt outside.  The eggs were empty, but the kids still had a blast finding them all around the front yard.

In the mailbox...

On the bushes....

Grant did some egg hunting, but more so enjoyed running around with his basket.

Can you tell Grant's my goofy little guy?  Love his funny smile in this picture.  The kids were snuggled on their foam couches in the basement ready to watch a movie.  Jenna even dragged pillows down from their bedrooms to make their movie viewing even more enjoyable.

They just love playing together.  If I remember right, Jenna had been tickling Grant and then they were laying there laughing at one another.  I treasure these moments when they're playing well...because that's not always the case. 

I saw an idea on Pinterest (I LOVE Pinterest!) for making bathtub paints using cornstarch, baby wash, water, and food coloring.  So I thought we'd give it a try.  The kids LOVED painting the walls in the bathtub and painting themselves.  I wish we would have taken an "after" shot because they were covered as were all the walls.  Then afterward I gave the kids a sponge and they cleaned up their own mess. 

I know how fun these memories are for the kids, even though their messy.  They enjoy them...and a little mess never hurt anyone, right?!  ;)

Another Pinterest-born idea: Pour baking soda in a container, pour vinegar into a few small bowls and die each bowl a different color.  Then use an eye dropper (or medicine dropper) to dribble the vinegar onto the baking soda.  It fizzes and bubbles!  I had to work with Jenna on how to use the dropper, but she started getting the hang of it after a while.

She loved making it fizz!

A colorful, fizzy mess!  She's been asking me again recently if we can do the "fizzy" thing.  So I might have to pull that activity out again.  It's perfect for a rainy day!

A favorite activity of the kids is jumping on the couch cushions.  All of the cushions come off the couch, so they'll drag them all onto the floor and jump from pillow to pillow.  They're only allowed to stack them 2 tall - then they'll jump off of them onto the cushions around.  It's a blast! 

A quick update on the kids:

Jenna:
Lately I've noticed some changes with Jenna.  She's becoming more independent and has actually started playing with toys on her own!  Prior to this past week, I've always had to keep her busy or listen to her whine about wanting to watch TV, eat a snack, play on the computer, etc.  She's just always required help and direction with what to do with herself.  She almost seems lost or bored most of the time. And I've been baffled, thinking to myself, "Aren't kids supposed to just play?  Why don't my kids play by themselves?"  Now, I do enjoy playing with my kids and doing activities with them, but if that's all I did, nothing would ever get done around the house, so I know there have to be times when they play by themselves.  So it's always been a struggle for us.  But just this past week, I've noticed her "reading" her books in her room, playing with her My Little Ponies, and, just today, playing with baby dolls for at least a half hour!  It's been wonderful!  Plus I love seeing her imagination and creativity take off! 

Another "issue" we're dealing with with Jenna is potty training!  She's 3 years and 4 months old and come June we will have been potty training her (off and on, but more "on" than "off") for 1 year!  A year!  I know what you're thinking, "You started too soon", "She just wasn't ready", "She's still young", "It shouldn't take that long.  Maybe she's just not ready yet."  I know, I've thought all those things too, but I've come to realize potty training is ultimately up to the child.  I can teach Jenna how to go potty, train her to recognize the feeling and signs of needing to go, but I can't MAKE her do it.  And Jenna is my strong-willed, independent, carefree, but stubborn little girl.  Trust me...she KNOWS exactly what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.  She has shown us time and time again by staying dry for up to two weeks - no accidents day or night, going potty on her own without my prompting.  She knows.  So despite my urging and pleading, it is ultimately up to her.  I've tried many types of motivation - candy, stickers, surprises, marbles, potty charts galore (I've probably made at least 4 different ones), a special surprise, sleepover at Maw-Maw and Paw-Paws house, etc - none of which motivate her enough to consistently stay dry.  I've debated putting her back in Pull-ups (and have done it a few times out of frustration), but don't want to give up on her (plus, she's getting too big for pull-ups - weighing in at 46 pounds!).  I've debated putting her back in her crib, although we just got rid of our 2nd crib and Grant's still in his.  And I've debated whether to start potty training Grant.  I know...you must think I'm crazy to even consider potty training another while still working on the one.  But part of me wonders if I were to start working with Grant if Jenna would want to be "big sister" and show him how to do it.  I just wonder if that would be enough to motivate her to stay dry.  I wonder, yet I'm too SCARED to try it yet!  I just don't want to be typing the same thing next year about Grant.  He is only 22 months, but a potty training book I read (written by a mother with 5 kids, not a doctor) said she thought 22 months is the perfect age to potty train.  So...do I go for it and give it a try??  Who knows, maybe I'll get both kids potty trained before the summer ends!  :)  (Sorry for the long rant....can you tell it's been on my mind??)

Grant:
If you couldn't tell from the pictures he's my happy boy!  He smiles and laughs so freely!  I love it!!  But even though he's so happy, he also flips to "the other side" very easily.  We call him our "roller coaster" boy.  Sometimes it's like a flip has been switched - he'll be happy and laughing one minute and then be on the ground throwing a tantrum.  Whew!  So we're learning how to handle it and how to help him handle his feelings.  But overall he is a very happy little boy!  Drew commented the other day that Grant never walks anywhere...he's always running with a little skip here and there.  It's hilarious! 

He's still not talking much, although he's making some progress.  At his 18-month (which was more like his 19th month) check-up, he was only saying about 3 words and even those weren't very well-spoken.  The doctor wanted to give him 3 more months to say 8-10 new words before putting him through to a speech pathologist.  We're at the 3 month deadline and we're debating whether Grant's made enough progress.  I guess you could say he's saying 8-10 new words, but they're not very clear.  It seems he's leaving off the end sounds of words - like ball sounds like "bah", milk sounds like "mahl", nose sounds like "no", etc.  I feel for him because I can see a lot of frustration from him when he's trying to tell us something, but can't say the words.  He's gotten very good at communicating by pointing and making gestures though.

Drew and I have been keeping busy updating the house.  We've lived here 6 years and haven't really made any decorative changes to it including paint.  We've added lots of things - a walk-in pantry, a fireplace, a fence, a shed, and ceiling fans in the kids bedrooms.  We're also realizing our design style is changing from country decor to a more Pottery Barn look.  So we're slowly making changes.  We started in our bedroom, which includes the bedroom, master bath, and walk-in closet.  I'll post pictures soon.  We're just about done in there and will move on to the next area.  I'm trying to attack it one area at a time...but I tend to get anxious and start working on different areas around the house, which just creates even more/bigger messes.  :)  I'm excited with the changes though and the reorganizing!

Sorry for the long post!  Apparently I had a lot I wanted to share.  :)