Jenna Swim Lessons

Jenna had one more session of swim lessons this summer in July.  It was pretty much the same class, but with different instructors.  Although they did things similar to the other instructors, some things were a little different.  As before, Jenna LOVED her swim lessons!  I enjoyed them too; however, carting all three kids to the pool Mon-Thurs for two weeks in a row for only 1/2 hour of swim class was a bit much.  I was definitely tired at the end of it and ready for a more relaxed schedule!  :)

Jumping in the pool

At the end of class, they went "diving" for rings.  Jenna's so tall that many times she could just reach down and get them without putting her face in the water, but there were a few times she needed to go under.

Jenna with her instructors.

Fun at the Pool!

Since Drew has Fridays off this summer (thanks to the government sequestration), we decided to make the most of this extra time together and one of the things we wanted to do was take the kids to the Troy Aquatic Park.  We were hoping to get there at a day/time when the pool wouldn't be too busy...not so much!  :)  It was PACKED!  So we spent some time just playing in the kiddie pool and then took turns taking Jenna and Grant to the big pool. 

So proud of Jenna for putting her face underwater! 

We borrowed this great baby canopy from my sister so Hannah could take a nap in the shade.

This is the first summer that Jenna's tall enough to go down the BIG water slides.  She was so excited to give it a try, but I don't think she anticipated how FAST the slides shoot you out at the bottom.  You can barely see her head in the picture above.  It shot her out and I think she did a flip underwater and had a hard time getting her footing.  She was fine, but I think it scared her - she didn't want to go down it anymore that day.  We decided that next time Drew should go down the other slide at the same time so he can be there to help her. 

Funny how it looks like he's just sitting at the bottom of the slide.

Love this picture of Drew with Jenna and Grant. 

Hannah fell asleep in the shaded canopy...

...but then woke up.  :)  She's got the sweetest sad face.

Hannah and I spent a lot of time together.  :)

Just this past weekend our church rented out the pool for a fun get together.  It was really nice having the entire pool to ourselves with just some close friends.  I think there were around 70 of us, but with such a big pool, it didn't seem like there were that many people there.  We convinced Jenna to try the big water slide again, and this time Drew went down the other slide at the same time.  He shot out so fast, so when Jenna made her way out, he was there to help her.  That went much better!  :)  It was a little chilly that night, so Hannah didn't join us in the water, but Jenna and Grant had a great time, as did the "big kid" (aka Drew).  I think the adult guys especially enjoyed being able to act like kids and go down the big water slides over....and over....and over again.  :)

Now we're (REALLY) looking forward to our next pool fun in Galveston for a get together with the Borton family in a month!!  Can't wait!!

Grant's 3rd Birthday

Last week Grant turned 3!!  As you've probably figured out, I LOVE to celebrate and I especially like to make the kids feel special on their birthdays, so we had a fun-filled day.

Something we started with Jenna a few years back is covering the bedroom floor of the birthday kid with balloons so that he/she has a surprise in the morning.  At this point it's still a surprise, but I'm sure if we continue this tradition we'll get to the point where they remember and come to expect it.  Grant woke up earlier than we anticipated - Drew was still in bed and I was in the shower when Grant came in our room.  Drew said he had a big grin on his face and started talking about "My bird-day!" and mentioning all of the balloons.  I think he was excited! 

We also hang streamers at their door and of course the kids love to run through them.

I try to have the table decorated with a birthday centerpiece, the "You Are Special Today" plate, and balloons on the birthday person's chair.  We also put a few gifts at their seat for them to open that morning.

I just had to include the next few pictures because I love Grant's expression in all of them.  He has such a sweet smile!

He then got to open birthday cards that he got in the mail - this ones from my Aunt Lois and Uncle Jim.  They include the same number of crisp one-dollar bills as their age - so Grant got three dollars.

A fun Cars card from Paw-Paw and Maw-Maw with a coloring page inside.  Jenna was ALL over that!  :)  

Paw-Paw and Maw-Maw also gave him some "boy" stickers.

I took Jenna to Wal-Mart the night before and let her pick out a gift for Grant.  I thought she'd enjoy getting him a gift and picking it out herself.  For some reason, he's really gotten into Spider Man and Super Man, so Jenna got him a little Spider Man figurine.

Hannah, Drew, and I gave him some puzzles I picked up in the dollar bins at Target.

We also got him a little Mater "matchbox" car.  Jenna took this picture for us.  Not too bad.  :)

Then gifts were followed by birthday pancakes.  Yum!!

 

 

Grant got some of his favorites for lunch - hot dog, string cheese, jello, and Cheetos.  I know, no fruit..tisk, tisk!  I think I had run out of fruit that day because we always eat fruit!  It's a favorite of his also!

That afternoon we went to the Air Force Museum with Paw-Paw and Maw-Maw.  We thought Grant would enjoy all the airplanes, plus it's a free activity.  We were both surprised how interested Jenna was in it all.  She was very observant of the planes, how they looked, and the wars that took place.  Grant liked the planes too, but he was tired and ready for a nap.  Drew and I must have been very interested in it all too because this is the only picture we took the whole time there.

All summer long Grant has requested that we go to a car wash, but it's never worked out with our schedule.  So when I asked Grant what he wanted to do for his birthday, one of the first things he said was, "wash car!"  Ha!  So we went through a car wash.  :)  

After the museum, we ate pizza at Cassanos with my parents and then headed home for some cake.  I made a simple cake because I'll be making another one this coming weekend for his birthday party.  :)  I just love his sweet smile in this picture!

He loved being sung to (again)...and apparently was a little excited about his cake as you'll see in the video below.

 Happy Birthday, Grant!  We are so blessed that the Lord gave you to us three years ago!  You have such a sensitive heart that we pray the Lord will use for His glory.  Thank you for the many smiles and laughs you've given us - we look forward to many more with you!  Love you oodles!

4th of July

I was determined to get our 4th of July pictures up before August!  :)  So happy, very late, 4th of July!

We spent our evening cooking out with some friends in our church gymnasium because of rain.  It was still a fun evening, even if we were indoors.  Then we all moved downtown to a local school playground.  It was in a great spot and we didn't have to maneuver through all the crowds of people.

Some of our friends brought sparklers for the kids to play with before the fireworks show began.  Jenna and Grant really liked playing with them and did a great job of being careful (can you tell this Momma was a little worried about that?!  Careful is not exactly their middle name....).

Fireworks are always so much fun to watch.  The "fizzle" ones are my favorite!

They're loving the show!

It started showering during the show...notice the umbrella in the bottom left-hand corner.  :)

This little guy was tuckered out and ended up falling asleep during the fireworks show!  Out cold!

And the beautiful finale!

Hannah - 5 months

Wow - am I behind?!  Hannah turned 5 months old...almost two weeks ago. 

She's such a SWEET little girl!  She smiles so easily and her whole face lights up when she does.  So precious!  She's started making some squealing noises as well when she's really happy.  This month she also started sucking her thumb.  It seems to be more of a coincidence than her actually purposefully putting her thumb in her mouth, but when she does get it in there she makes a sucking/slurping sound.  :)  It's so funny! 

Her next well-child visit isn't until she turns 6 months; however, I called and asked to come see the doctor because I'm still worried about her development.  I know every child is different and develops at different rates, but the problem I'm seeing is that she's NOT developing.  She's five months old and I haven't seen much, if any, progress in her gross and fine motor skills.  She still keeps her hands very tightly clenched; although she will open them at times, but the majority of the time they stay clenched.  She's not holding onto toys unless we pry her hands open and even then she just barely has a hold of them and doesn't seem to even realize she's holding anything.  She's not reaching for objects, she's not rolling either way, and when on her tummy, she can't really lift her head off the ground.  At her age, the doctor said she should hold her head at a 90 degree angle when on her stomach.  Also, her eyes tend to cross and just seem "off".  I don't even know how to describe them, but they just don't seem right. 

Sooo....I mentioned my concerns to our pediatrician and he was great.  He ordered a muscle enzyme test (a blood draw) to rule out muscular dystrophy (she already had that done and everything came back normal - yay!) and is referring her to a development specialist at the children's hospital.  At this point, she is scheduled to see the specialist on Monday, September 23rd at Dayton Children's Hospital; however, I've decided I'd rather take her to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital rather than Dayton Children's so now I'm waiting on a call from Cincinnati to get an appointment scheduled there.  Cincinnati is ranked #3 for children's hospitals in the US and Dayton's not even in the top 100....so I'd rather take her to the best.

Also, starting this week I've been taking her to our chiropractor and he's shown me ways to work with her at home.  He says it's really important that we stimulate her as much as possible by massaging the bottoms of her feet, rolling her wrists and opening/massaging her hands, rubbing her tummy and back, and then moving her alternate arms and legs up and down.  So I've been doing that whenever she's awake (and we're not out running to the grocery store, swim lessons, gymnastics, etc!).

Don't you just love that sweet little smile?!

We're praying that by working with her and massaging her that we'll start to see some improvements.  She's such a sweetheart!  :)  Oh, and since I took her to the doctor, they weighed and measured her.  So her five month stats are: 

Length: 24.3 inches (23%)

Weight: 13.31 lbs (20%)

Head Circumference: 15.7 in (8%)

I was encouraged to see that her head went up from 0.82% to 8%.  She's still my teeny-weeny, and I love it!  Maybe a softer and quieter demeanor will come with that smaller size...hmmm....  :)

Hannah's First Bite of Cereal

A few weeks ago we started Hannah on baby cereal.  She wasn't a huge fan of it and still seems confused by it.  In fact, lately I barely even get the tip of the spoon in her mouth and she jerks like she's gagging.  She's not crying, she just doesn't seem to quite know what to think of it yet.

Video of Hannah's first few bites...