::Family Stuff::
1. We're moving again! Yes, you read that right. Kev got a great opportunity with a friend of his and so we're relocating to the Jackson, NJ area. Does anyone know of a great town to live in down around there?
2. With all this rain we've been getting, it was hard for us to go out and do our daily run/walks around the neighborhood. I'm still working on getting down to my pre-preg weight, so Kev got us EA Sports Active (SA) for the Wii. I was doing well on the Wii Fit but it was getting a bit monotonous since I knew what I would be doing each day. With the SA, they have a preprogrammed 30 Day Challenge that surprises you each day with what your workout routine would be. And I find myself sweating after each workout, which feels great! And, you can workout with someone else, which has been fun for Kev and I!
3. We've been needing to replace Kev's car for a while - a bunch of things stopped working and it started making funny noises. Kev had been researching for a long while now (esp since something fell off his car while he was driving one day!) but finally decided to sacrifice a nice, fast car for a mini-van since we're wanting #4 sometime in the future. So, now we have a Bali Blue Honda Odyssey sitting in our driveway! It's growing on me a bit, though it's so big, it barely fits into our one car garage. *0* I AM enjoying having more room to manuveur around in, esp with buckling the kiddies (though the older two can almost do that by themselves). This thing does eat up gas pretty quick, though....I am sad about that. Kev is now driving my CR-V and gave it a nice cleaning inside and out before he officially claimed it as his. Haha!
4. I'm still sewing and it's been getting more fun as I get to try different projects. I think it's really nice (esp for us Moms) to hold our 'accomplishments' in our hands or to see our kiddies enjoying something we made for them...it's very satisfying! Some pics here.
...and, now, onto some hodge-podge updates on the kiddies:
::Aidan::
He officially graduated from Montessori Preschool at the beginning of May and we're so proud of him. He has really learned a lot of great things, academically and socially. However, his year in school also made us think about moving to a place with more ethnic diversity. Aidan's at the age where he's starting to notice differences in people - he's not making any judgements but likes to point out if someone is really different. Because his classmates are the same age, Aidan's gotten some comments about how he doesn't look like everyone else, which made him self-conscious. This makes me really sad. So with this next move, we are more mindful of looking for areas of greater ethnic diversity - anyone have any ideas of areas around Jackson, NJ that have what we're looking for? Anyhow, we've been doing additional stuff at home and he's been doing much better with writing and reading - go, Aidan! :) He still loves his Kumon workbooks! The latest development is that his love of fish has been surplanted by his love of dinosaurs! I thought I would never see the day but he did tell me he likes dinos more! Now everytime we go to B&N or the library, he heads right to the dino section and now knows more about dinos than me! Oh, and he loves, loves, loves his Legos and is great at making his own creations! See here, here, here and here. :) What else....his sisters: he's still great with Cara and helps out a lot! And his days are riddled with moments where he's playing well with Jana and then squabbling with her...so typical, eh? Haha! And Aidan's first trip to the dentist went swimmingly - he's got great teeth, like Kev - so blessed!::Jana::
She is our singing, echoing, robot-talking princess. ;) Now that Jana has a good command of the English vocab, she loves to talk, talk and talk. She's on the play phone, talking to everyone she knows several times a day - and it's complete with 'uh-huh's', 'yups' and head nods. She also wants to talk to everyone that calls and it doesn't even matter if you're a telemarketer (though sometimes I'm tempted to hand her the phone...tehe). She also makes up songs on a whim and sings them everywhere she goes - it's pretty hilarious! She still echoes Aidan a lot, esp during meals, and breaks out in a monotone robot-talk randomly. She is still super cuddly and like to say 'I love you', esp when she gets in trouble. ;) She also likes to do school when Aidan does and has been getting better at her shapes ans colors - yay, Jana! Her latest 'job' is babyfood tester! Everytime we open a new jar of babyfood, Jana wants to taste it...and she's liked everything except the winter squash! :) Jana also says very profound things at times: One time I was lamenting about how much work it is to find a new home and how I'm trying to stay at peace. Jana just turns to me and says "God can do it all by hisself [sic] - it's His job". I think I just stared at her for a few seconds b/c I didn't know what to say. Whenever I stare at her, though, she would start to giggle, so that broke me out of staring enough to say "Jana, that's so true!" :D Anyhow, she is definitely back at the testing phase, which can get tiring by 11am. But all her hugs and kisses help to remind me 'our battle is not against flesh and blood'...;) She's also showing an interest in princesses, so for her 3rd birthday this past Saturday, we had a princess day with her cousins - fun stuff! Jana also did great at the dentist, having been inspired by her brother. :)::Cara::
Our little 7 month old is doing swell. :) She went through a phase of waking up 2-3 times at night, which was more than she did when she was a newborn. That was brutal. I can understand that as a newborn but when you go backwards like that, it's so tiring! Anyhow, but praise the Lord, at the beginning of June, she started sleeping through the night - from 7:30 to 7 or 7:30!!!! Let's hope this is NOT just a phase! :) Cara got started on solids around 6 months and she took to it no problem. She had to figure out what to do with her tongue to get it in but once she did it, she barely needs a bib! [But she's still wearing one at every meal b/c I made them for her...haha!] She also hasn't met a babyfood she didn't like yet! :) She's also the recipient of quite a few handmade dresses b/c smaller sizes are so much easier to make. ;) She's getting good at sitting up unassisted and loves to sit in the same room that her siblings are in and just watch the action. I even find her cracking up sometimes when the sibs are doing something funny! She's also my only baby thus far that still smiles at the pediatrician at their 6 month appointment. All in all, she's got a great temperament, which is so nice! The latest is that she's been rolling around in her crib, getting stuck vertically and was not able to roll back on her tummy (her preferred way of sleeping) and it's waking her up at night. I think just today, she's getting better at falling back to sleep on her back. I really have forgotten how many changes babies go through!! And, oh, she's also sporting a new tooth! Go, Cara! :)I just posted some pics of this past month here - it pretty much summarizes what's been going on, so check it out! :) G'night!
Posts
