My BIG Girl, the Dancing Queen!

Jordyn has gone to two dance classes now. She's in love. She can't wait to go this week. I think she'll have some visitors throughout the semester. Everyone has taken an interest in her new activity. She asks to wear her leos and shoes around the house all the time. Thankfully, UPS finally delivered all her shoes, so she'll be able to wear her tap shoes AND her ballet shoes in class (I'm not digging the men in brown much lately!). I wanted to post some pictures. The one isn't very good, because it was taken through a one way mirror.

Speaking of Jordyn, we cannot believe that in 22 days she'll be 3! Where has the time gone? She's like a mini adult. It doesn't help that she talks to us like an adult. I cannot believe the conversations she holds with us and the words she uses. I think 3 marks the end of babyhood--officially. I'm not the only one to notice this; I was talking to my dear friend, Jess, last night and she was just in awe at how grown up Jordyn is and how quickly three years went by. Oh...my sweet, little baby.

Jordyn....and other random Saturday morning things

Jordyn is often on a quest to find out what sound every bug makes. She knows her animals, so why not ask about bugs? I often wonder how I can get through to her that they don't really make sounds. She won't leave it alone. Of course this must be confusing when some bugs do make noise; as she pointed out to me that the bee buzzes and the butterfly DOES make a sound. She said to me, "Mom, The butterfly does make a sound. Here, I'll show ya." She began flapping her little arms like wings and making a fluttering sound with her mouth. By the way, if anyone knows what sound a giraffe makes Jordyn and her mother would be happy to know.

Well, we "inherited" a snow blower a while back (a nice, hardly used one!). However, it was never picked up from Jeremy's Aunt and Uncle's house. With the snow no longer really causing problems, Jeremy and his dad went and picked it up today and took it in to be repaired. Good timing, eh? At least we'll be prepared for any new snow we probably won't get. Most importantly, we'll be prepared for next year! Hopefully it will help us to make it out in our little car. LOL We have a fun day planned....not really. We will take turns caring for the kids so that we can get some projects taken care of. I put some of our things on Craigslist--for like the second time in my life--and I have had a CRAZY response to all of it. I have 9 people interested in one item. I need to drag this stuff out (maybe I should have done that first?) and get it set up for "viewing." Oh, my! On that note, breakfast is long over and the girls are playing. I should probably start on my Saturday. At least mixed in with all of this work, I have a haircut today. That guarantees some time for myself and a good chat with my friends; it's a long drive out and back, so I catch up with my girls on the phone and then I chat with my hairdresser--I just love her. I always grab a latte' from a great little stand next to the salon. Ahhh...looking forward to this!

An Update

Jordyn LOVES, loves, LOVES dance. She is soooo excited to go back. We've been on the hunt for ballet shoes, taps, and of course the outfit(s)! She did really well and it was so cute to watch her. She immediately made friends with a little girl in the lobby, while we waited. It was sooo sweet. They played and played while they waited for class. Should be fun to watch her over the next few months. Her performance will be the most fun. We'll be sure to send out an invite.

Jordyn is realllly excited for her birthday. She frolics around the house singing "Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me." She also likes to tell everyone it's going to be her birthday soon and she'll be 3! Following the report of her birthday, she likes to spell her name for you, too. It comes out a lot each day. I don't know what will happen when her birthday is over.

Kennedy has decided that as long as solids are given to her on her own terms she'll eat them. I pulled out Jordyn's mesh feeders and put a banana in one. It was sooo fun to watch her eat it. She realllly enjoyed it. She also made quite the mess. She's been eating little chunks of food, too. I also gave her the little dipper utensils and she's done well. Maybe we'll actually get this girl to eat after all! She's still worming across the floor. She really likes to play with her diaper basket and container of wipes. She will worm at 30 MPH across the floor just to get to it. Okay, a slight exaggeration, but it sure is exciting to her. As I type this, she has made her way across the room to me and is peering up at me from the floor. It's pretty cute. I like to play peek-a-boo with her like this. She just cracks up with that deep belly laugh. She pulls at the couch cushion, trying to pull up. I think she's getting the idea of how all this is working. She's been a little acrobat lately. Anytime she is in her carrier, or on our lap, she bends and folds herself all over the place. I think she likes the upside down view! She's quite the squirm. It's pretty entertaining.

What can I say? These kids are our life!! :)

Just Another Day

The snow has melted off the streets, and the holidays have passed. I'm happy to report that we're out and about again. Today we went to Mobius with our playgroup. Jordyn hadn't been in a while. She had a blast! I was sooo glad that Kennedy also had a good time. It's nice to find a place where both kids can have fun. We've been looking to put Jordyn into dance lessons. I've been skeptical about it, but she was really excited to wear the tap shoes, in the dress-up section, at Mobius; now I'm not as concerned! She has a trial class tomorrow. I guess we'll see how it goes. We're back in the swing of things; back at preschool, playing with friends, out with playgroup, etc. Boy, it feels good to be back on our normal schedule. The kids like it, too~

Post Christmas

Even after all the stress from Christmas I'm always sad to see it end. Jordyn was sooo much fun! Now we're working on taking down our decorations and finding homes for new, and old, stuff. I'd love to get out and go shopping and use these gift cards and spend money (Jeremy swears they are burning a hole in my pocket. Maybe it is?!?!), but it is flat out nasty outside!!!! Will this snow ever stop??? Just when I thought we would have a break...I woke up to blizzard-like weather. Arg....

Jordyn is in love with her new gifts. She's been enjoying her easel and creating masterpieces throughout each day. She's been riding "bull's eye" a lot, and playing with her princesses, castle, all while listening to her Dora "MP3" player. Kennedy really likes a large rattle toy she received and a spinning ball thing. I'm quite impressed at how she can spin it. It's pretty cute. I can tell she's going through a growth spurt; she's been eating and sleeping like crazy. I guess she did recently turn 6 months....my baby!!!! She's still working hard at crawling. So far it is more like the worm. She needs to figure out her arms!!! She certainly can get around, though. It's also pretty darn cute. We're still working on solids. Poor Kennedy cannot get the idea that food is good. She'll still only eat her grains. She makes the funniest little face at anything else. She just finds everything disgusting--except pears, which she had a rough reaction to. We'll keep trying!!!

Well, we are just bored to tears sitting at home. Jordyn has watched more TV than she's normally allowed. She doesn't seem to complain. I've definitely noticed a change in her behavior (from the TV). I can't believe some people let their kids watch TV all day! Anyway.....She has been asking to leave and see her friends a lot. I guess it's really getting to us all. Well, wish us luck with this snow. It is quite insane. I need to pick up a prescription and some groceries before we are stuck here for good! I wanted to take some pictures, because while annoying it sure is pretty out, but I realized I left the camera in Jeremy's car. I'll try to post some soon!!!

Growing Kids and Anticipating Christmas

Kennedy started rocking last night and attempted to crawl!!! She tried it a few more times today. She was definitely very mobile before, but this is real movement! She's also started bouncing around in her Jumperoo. For weeks she's done very little bouncing, mostly just playing and such. Jeremy and I were talking about how we feel like Kennedy was just born. Friday she'll be 6 months old. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by. It's exciting, but a little sad to realize that all her babyhood will soon be a thing of the past.

Jordyn is very excited for Christmas. She is especially excited to open her presents. She has been VERY patient. Especially for someone who isn't very patient (it's not in her genetic make up AND she's a toddler!). I really disappointed her this morning, though, when the UPS man delivered some (red-boxed) packages from Jeremy's mom. She ALWAYS gets to open packages from her the second they arrive. However, when they were placed directly under the tree she just about lost it. She told me she wanted to open the red package, just the red package. PULEEEEEEEEASE, mama?!??!!?? She thought that since it's from Grandma I'd allow it. She knows her stuff. I'll give her that. I couldn't budge, because I know Jeremy will want to see her open it. We will probably allow her to open them tomorrow, Christmas Eve. Once she got past the fact that she won't be opening her gift(s), she informed me that her birthday is the day after Christmas. She cracks me up sometimes!!!!

Lots of snow+2 people who don't like it to begin with=2 crabby parents AND a new blog!!!!!!

We're essentially snowed in. In addition to the 30 or so inches we received late last week, it continues to snow. Thursday it was sooo nasty we weren't sure we would make it out of our driveway. We were right to think this. Our neighbor could barely get out, and when he did he rented a big digger thingy (some sort of construction equipment...I don't know...I'm a woman!!!) and cleared all three driveways and the long drive in. We offered him money, but he refused. I didn't know these acts of kindness still exist! Especially this close to Christmas!!! What an awesome neighbor!!! For those of you who have not been to our house you are probably wondering what I'm talking about...too much to explain. Jeremy missed work that day, but I would guess over 90 percent of his office did, too. Not to mention that Spokane was practically shut down. His boss considered it a snow day. We had daddy at home. What a treat! He was busy working on work things but home nonetheless! Friday Jeremy made it to work, but most of Spokane was still shut down. Jordyn's preschool was closed. She was super bummed. Being that this week is winter break, she'll have to wait quite some time to return. She counts down the days each week in anticipation. Poor thing! Maybe all those new gifts will help her to pass the time?!?!?! Since Friday, we've been okay with our 4-wheel drive and the weather has been pretty kind to us. However, this morning Jeremy woke up really early for work, in anticipation of new snow, to find that he could NOT make it out of our driveway. The snow was so high, our SUV became high centered in the long drive (the only way in and out for us and our two neighbors). ARG! As we were trying to get our vehicle out our lovely neighbor, who lives in front of us, offered up (in her robe) her sleeping husband to tow us out with his truck. Phew...not sure what we would have done if they hadn't helped. We were offered to keep our car in their driveway until this clears, since their house sits on the main road. We have such wonderful neighbors. I feel so fortunate! Anyway, we've not decided what we'll do. Is it better to be stuck in the driveway, or trudge down our long drive and back with two kids, and whatever we may have left for??? I guess Jeremy could at least make it to work without problems. The rest we'll figure out later. With all of this great weather, we've not had any mail in the past 5 days and our trash has not been collected. You'd think Spokane had never had snow. As you may have clued in on, we are down to the one vehicle. What a pain. Clearly, I would not have survived the pioneer days, if I can't even handle not having a car. Even if I could drive, it's not like I'd be out living our normal life; but it sure is restricting thinking about it. If either of us were to take the car out it would probably be buried under the snow 'til next spring. Don't get me wrong, that little car can plow through snow great; but this is not the time to be testing its abilities. With all of this snow I'm not sure how our Christmas will pan out. We had our first Christmas on the 13th. We had Jeremy's office Christmas party on the 14th. We celebrated with my MIL's family this past Saturday. A preschool program, events with friends....and other things. We have more plans with family and friends over the course of this week. It's just been one event after another. I'm really looking forward to the end of all this hoopla. I feel like all I've been doing is shopping, wrapping, cooking, baking, dealing with rude people, TANTRUMS, traffic, going from here to there and back again, etc. Add a ton of snow to all that and kids who have been stuck inside....I'm exhausted and stressed. If it keeps snowing like this, who knows whether I'll be sane come spring! Or if we'll make it out to celebrate on the actual day of Christmas!!! I think the cabin fever has set in.

Being that everyone I know has a blog, and it's sooo nice to see their updates, I decided it's time to get one. If everyone were jumping from bridges, NO, I would not follow! I just figure it would be fun and nice for friends and family. What better time to start this than when I'm "snowed in" and looking for little activities to do during my quiet time!!! Here I am adding another thing to my list of things to keep up with. Oh, well! We'll see how well I do. As you all know I'm long-winded. I assure you I won't make the rest of them this long. So, please come back!!! I'll end the lengthy introductory blog here.