New Year!

Today marked the start of my 11th year of teaching! Jack started 2nd grade at Leverett and Nolan started a new daycare. It was a great day overall!

Nolan loves his new school which in turn makes me love his new school. He struggled with his school last school and cried every day I dropped him off. Every. Day. Spider monkey and all...it was terrible. After two days at his new school he was walking in on his own and waving good-bye! Huge progress!

He is in the 2-3 year old room. Nolan loves Spider-Man, Superman, and Ninja Turtles right now. He is a funny boy who loves to make people laugh and make silly faces. He is a little bit of a Jekyll and Hyde because when I'm not around he is an angel child and listens without crying or whining and the moment I come in the tears flow. No one can figure it out. 

Jack is so excited about 2nd grade and told his teacher during open house that his favorite subject is math. He definitely didn't get that from me. He is an inquisitive boy and his new favorite show is 20/20 because he loves to hear other people's stories. That he does take after me!! He is smart, funny and a nice kid and I hope he has a great year!

On the road and posting about it!

The Hinksons are on our last family vacation for the summer. 😥 We are heading to Dallas for 5 days and then our friends Kristin and Dan and their two kids are visiting from Nebraska. I'm so excited to see them! 

This is how the kiddos handle the trip and us too. We are down to one DVD player so it gets touchy sometimes! 

I will post more later now that I can update from my phone! So excited!

Now or never....

Well, I'm back for those who follow....crickets.  Yes.  Anyway, I really want to keep a journal of some type to document how our life is going and our feelings and all that and this seems to be the only way.  I see the last time I was on here was when I went back to maternity leave so I'll catch up quickly.

Nolan is now 15 months old and was the perfect baby for the first year..haha!  I swear there is colic for older babies because he has it.  I think a little bit can be attributed to the fact that he got almost all of his teeth over Christmas break and that we probably have a little bit of a communication issue going on.  He is one stubborn and hard headed child...I know, I don't know who he could have gotten that from.  Anyway, we are plugging along with him and trying to teach him how to talk really fast.

He did have his first bang up job the other day.  I have always said that the fact that this kid does not listen when I say "no" that he is going to get himself in trouble.  Well, I was right in the bad way... We were outside and I was doing yard work and the boys were playing in the back of JR's truck.  Jack had gotten out and Nolan stayed in and was just exploring the cab.  All the sudden I look up and he is climbing on the tire cover and as I'm yelling "no" and "stop" he, of course, doesn't listen and continues to head dive over the side.  He landed on his head on the concrete driveway and I about flipped out!  Luckily, I am pretty calm in those kind of situations and I got him and put ice packs in the appropriate places and gave him ice water because he had bitten his tongue as well, twice.  I watched for symptoms of a head injury and he was sleepy but only took a short nap.  The next day he woke up with a bounce in his step like nothing happened.

Jack is doing fantastic.  He turned 6 on March 5th and I still can't get it in my head that he is a 6 year old!  We just finished up his first season of basketball and are going to begin baseball next week! JR and I both like baseball the best and can't wait to see how he does with coach pitched baseball.  He is picking up on JR and I's sarcastic humor and has become quite the little smarty pants.  We are teaching him when it is appropriate and not to be a smart mouth. 

That is enough catch-up for now.  I will post pics and such later!

Jack's 5th Birthday!!!

Well it is here. We can't believe our little baby is finally going to turn 5! It has not sunk in yet and probably won't until he starts Kindergarten in the Fall....sniff, sniff. We are doing a low key celebration this year again because Jack is going to Walt Disney World with me on March 8th with the H.S. band. We are staying at the Coronado Resort on the Disney property and I can't wait to see his face with all the exciting things he is going to see! I will post pics after our trip!

Personalize an invitation

Some new pics of Jack!

I have been busy and haven't posted any pictures in a while so I went ahead and posted a lot to get caught up. You can see Jack's eye is doing well and his eye is getting stronger everyday. Also, Jack is officially walking now. He can walk up to 7 to 10 steps without assistance and he can go one direction and then turn around without any help. Of course, this means no rest for the weary. Jack doesn't stop moving until we hold him down to go to sleep. He is a lot of fun now and totally acts like a boy in the sense that he loves to knock things over and get his hands dirty. Enjoy the new pics!

Jack's first birthday party!

The birthday boy himself!! He decided to chew on some cardboard while he waited for the party to start. His official birthday is this Wednesday, but we celebrated with family in Tulsa this past weekend.


The big cake for everyone to eat. Of course, JR picked out the design


Jack's personal cake! There are two cupcakes under all that icing!


Jack and I!


Jack opening his presents! He did well and pulled out all of the tissue paper from each present.


The fam!!


Me, Jack and my Grandma. I look kind of bright eyed...who knows.


All the family that came!!


Jack's cake afterward. It only looks like this because we smashed his hand into it. Oh well, maybe next year!!

BATH TIME!!!
Jack absolutely loves taking a bath. He hates when he has to get out and get dressed but he could play in the tub for hours if we would let him.

Here is a good teeth shot! He has four on top, two on bottom and now he is getting in a molar on each side!




We love this pic because Jack looks so determined to find his next toy.




WALKING AROUND!
Jack loves to walk around the perimeter of the kitchen. He is now walking about 7 to 10 steps on his own! He is always on the move now.

Two weeks since surgery!!

Looking better everyday!

Jack's surgery!

Jack after surgery. The purple things on his arms are called "no-no bands" used to keep Jack from touching his eye.


Three days after...looks more painful than it was. Dude was moving around, crawling, walking like nothing happened.


One week after surgery....looking great!!

Jack around the house!

Jack was getting into the cabinets and found the colander!! He still thinks it is a nifty hat.

Jack from the side!

Jack in amazement!

He had just gotten done eating and we handed him one of these Christmas Balls! He was excited!

Jack's many adventures!

Jack with his Grandpa Steve at a Catfish Restaurant in Mountain View. Don't ask...



The many funny faces of Jack!







It takes quite a bit of pride swallowing to allow this picture, but I had to show the little guy all suited up for his first haircut!! Go ahead and laugh...I can take it!


Jack looking very serious and showing off his new do! He is a handsome little fella!

Get ready for a CUTIE!!!!!

While eating dinner Jack got quite amused! His eye is bruised from his latest shot. Look at my big feet!! Fascinated with the camera!! Jack hangin' with mom on the couch on a Saturday morning!

Exersaucer time!!

This is his latest toy which is an exersaucer! It was a gift from his grandma and great grandma and he loves it!!


Jack doing what he does best these days....smiling...and drooling!!

A day in Fayetteville!

This was a hat we found at a store called Baby and Beyond. It was $30 dollars...a bit much for our taste. It looked so cute on him though that we took a picture of him instead of buying the hat! This kid will be tortured by our fun for the rest of his life!



We are heading toward the stadium. Jack was trying to catch a cat nap, but that wasn't working.


Jack and I watching the Hogs scrimage. He was not a big fan of people screaming or cheering for the team! He'll have to get used to that! He did see Sue-e(the female hog mascot) and he called the hogs!


Jack had to get a new hat because the sun was in our eyes. We decided kids these days never wear their hats straight so we had to keep Jack in with the trends!