Summer 2013

No pics in this post, but I promise to post some later. I wanted to write some things down before I forget everything.

The littles are growing so fast. Tucker was in the 97th percentile at his 18 month check up and Ryder was in the 75th. I can't believe that was over a month ago and they are already 19 months old. They are walking (running) around like crazy men which means that Cory and I are sweating from the moment they get up until they are in bed at night. They have tons of words and use them all the time to try and let us know what they want... if that doesn't work they have also become very good at collapsing on the floor, flailing their arms and legs and wailing at the top of their lungs. I'm mostly kidding and they are actually really happy kids. They are super friendly kids, very quickly adjust to strangers and ten minutes after meeting you will typically be sitting in your lap asking you to read to them. On our last airplane trip I walked behind Ryder and he stopped at every aisle to say 'hi' and if the person did not look at him he would touch their arm to get their attention. Ryder had his first visit to the ER for stitches in his eyebrow after getting very friendly with the coffee table. Unfortunately this happened on the first night that Cory was out of town on a week long business trip. I won't go into details but imagine 3 kids in the ER after bedtime and only 1 mama. The nurses and doctors were amazing and we left with a stiched up Ryder and Jackson and Tucker hopped up on Popsicles and covered in stickers. In July, the boys started in the toddler room at Jackson's school. They are the favorites of the entire school and very loved and well cared for by their teachers Ms Ginger and Ms Casey. The boys are amazing sleepers and typically sleep from 730pm until 6am with a 2-3 hour naps every day. If they don't get enough sleep, they are the crabbiest kids on the planet. They are great eaters and will mostly eat everything that Cory and I eat... now if we could just get their older brother to jump on this wagon.

Speaking of the amazing older brother... Our just turned 5 year old started kindergarten a few weeks ago. He is thriving and loving every minute of it. His teacher Mrs Juillerat is wonderful and really cares about our little boy. He is going to have a great year in her classroom. Jax has mastered riding a bike without training wheels. He is a little bit of a daredevil and takes a few too risks than his mama would like but he always wears a helmet so I need to let go of that one a little bit. Jackson is a really great swimmer and is now in the Eel class at swim lessons. He has great friends at school and a really best friend that lives right next door. Charlie is 8 and is Jackson's favorite person on the planet to play with (aside from his dad). They ride bikes, jump on the trampoline, build legos, play football and baseball and just have a great time. Charlie is a great kid and we love that Jax has such a positive young role model in his life. Jackson loves Sea World and his favorite thing to do is go on the Ride to Atlantis. It is a river ride roller coaster that even some teenagers are too scared to go on. Jax LOVES it and hoots and hollers the whole time. Cory and I take turns riding with our little daredevil and end up going until the babies get bored and have a meltdown or the line starts building up.  Our 5 year old Fashionista has a very strong opinion about what he wants to wear. We usually let him choose his outfits and most of the time he does a much better job matching his clothes than his dad or I would do. Jax is the best big brother and looks out for his little brothers all the time. He is always taking away things they shouldn't be playing with and will look out for them all the time. These boys love each other even when they don't like each other very much:-)

In May we went on vacation to Maui with Amma and Boppa and had the best time. We played in the ocean, pool and sand every day. Jackson was a fish and would collapse in exhaustion at the end of the day from so much swimming. Cory, Jax and I went on a submarine tour of the bottom of the ocean and saw a real life sunken ship. This was definitely the highlight for Jax and he could not stop talking about it. Cory had an awesome round of golf with Boppa while I got the best massage I have ever had. Cory, Jax and I were able to sleep in every day while Amma and Boppa assumed early morning baby duty. Cory and I also got to go out on few date nights (Mama's!) which was so awesome. Overall we had a total blast and are counting down the days until we get to go again!

In July we hopped on a plane and headed to Minnesota for the 4th. We spent the first half of the week at Nana and Papa's with the Koser clan enjoying the amazing parks and lakes of the Midwest. The boys loved hanging out with their cousins and played and played and PLAYED. We headed down to Mankato for the actual Fourth and had the best time experiencing a small town celebration of this holiday. The kids decorated their bikes and rode through the town as the adults threw candy and treats at them. Cory, Jax and the nephews bought a bunch of fireworks and sparklers and lit them in the driveway that night. It was such a good time and we were sad to say goodbye to our Minnesota family.

In August we got another plane and headed to Seattle to drop the boys off at Amma and Boppa's cabin while Cory and I went out to Whidbey for Dana's wedding. This was a very quick trip but everybody has such a good time. The wedding was so much fun and the boys had a blast being lake kids for a while. The trip was too short but reality was calling us back to San Diego.

Here we are in September and we are now settling in to our new house! We bought the house right across the street from where we were renting and are slowly unpacking boxes and getting life in a little bit more order. We are so excited and are already making the very long list of home improvements!

That is it for now. Not sure anyone reads this anymore but if there are some readers out there... stay tuned for a pretty big photo dump!

Photo dump

Here are some pics from April until May. I promise to put a post all about our trips to Hawaii and Minnesota and also a Magnus circus update soon (I think!) 

Get ready for some serious bragging!

My four year old is an amazing kid. JACKSON IS AN AMAZING KID!!! I might sound like I'm bragging but I don't care because this is my blog and I can brag about my AMAZING kid! There is actually a very good reason for all of this bragging. Cory and I sat down with Jackson's teachers last week to go over his year and discuss the progress he has made. They score not only his academic progress but also his social development. Each child is given a score of 1, 2 or 3. A score of 3 means that the child needs to improve in that area,  2 means that they are scoring right where they should and 1 means that they are achieving over what is expected of them. I'm just going to say it.... he scored 1's in EVERY category. He is over achieving academically and socially. His teachers went on and on and could not say enough good things about our little boy. He can count to 49 without needing any help, he can identify all of his letters lowercase and upper case, he can think of a string of words that rhyme, he knows his birth date and when one of his friends forgets he usually knows theirs as well.

All of these things are fantastic but they were not even the things that made me the most proud. Jackson's teacher told me that he is the kindest, sweetest little boy in her class. She said that many children have started to form groups and often will not let a new child join in and play. NOT Jackson. He includes everyone and anyone in what ever he is doing. She said that he is such a helper and any time there is a new student she will ask Jax to be his buddy and show him where the bathroom is because she knows he will not goof off and flush the toilet 20 times. When he plays with something he always puts it away before he plays with something else. He puts away his mat after nap time and cleans up his lunch without being asked. These are all things that I definitely did not excel at when I was his age.

How did I get so lucky to me the mama to this little boy?! Bottom line the teacher said that he is more than ready for kindergarten so that is where he will be next September. GUYS!!! I have a kindergartner!!

The brothers had their 15 month check up a month ago and are growing like weeds. They are in to everything and have figured out how to get what ever they want... throw a tantrum. Actually they are pretty awesome babies but still, there two of them so they are a ton of work. Here are some pics from the last couple of months. *The photos above are from a mother's day trip to the beach with friends. Awesome day... can you tell?!

nana and papa visit and a trip to Seaworld

Encinitas street fair

My baby is 4 and 2/3 years old

 

Get ready for some rambling and then I will reward you with some pictures:-)

 

Jackson is 4 and 2/3 years old. Which means that I can no longer say that he is 4 1/2 and now I need to start saying that he is almost 5. I don't really want to say that my baby is almost 5. Where does the time go? Wahhhhhhhhhh! But man oh man do I love having an almost 5 year old. He is so cool and so much fun that I never want these days with an almost 5 year old to end.

 

He is reading more and more words every day. He sounds out and writes many of them as well. He says such funny things and makes up very elaborate stories and jokes. He has turned into this amazing and creative kid that I want to be around all the time.

 

Jax is such a good friend to all of the kids in his class. His best friend is Leo and he has had a few play dates with him and is already planning the next one. He is a very social kid and jumps right into playing with new kids where ever we go. I took him to a birthday party a couple of weeks ago for a girl in his class at the New Children's Museum downtown. When we got there the mother of the little girl told me that her daughter could only invite two kids from school and she chose Jackson as one of the two. She told me that she had been to the school for an activity and she could not believe how sweet and polite Jax was. Not a big surprise but still I cannot describe how proud I was at that moment. It makes my heart swell just typing the words now.

 

Jax played soccer this winter but he has decided that he wants to take a break and start swim lessons. He is a quick learner and picks up new skills quickly but you could say that he might lack a tad in speed and coordination. Not if you asked him of course. If you asked him, he would say that he is the fastest boy in the world and that he can beat his daddy any day to a race around the cul de sac. He is an amazingly talented bike rider though with great balance and no fear. This lack of fear on his bike actually was the reason that we ended up in the urgent care last month and walked out with 5 stitches in the chin. He was really brave and did so well that it earned him 3 toys from the treasure box on the way out. With three boys I have a feeling that this will not be the last time we are at Urgent Care.

 

Speaking of brave, Jax went on his first real big person roller coaster with me a couple of weekends ago at Sea World. He just made the height cut for the Journey to Atlantis water ride and was definitely the littlest guy in line. He did such a great job and although he wouldn't say it was the most fun thing he has ever done, he is already planning the next time he will ride it with his dad.

 

He is such a good big brother and can make them laugh even when they are at their grumpiest. They follow him around and are in awe of this amazing person who has the really cool room with all the really cool toys. He still can't tell them apart and usually just says "this brother", "this one" or "this guy" but there aren't that many people that can tell them apart. These boys are going to be really great friends.

 

I think that was enough rambling for now... enjoy the pictures from the last couple of months.

crazy tucker

Safari park face painting

second cousins from Connecticut

Ryd playing in the dirt

San Diego Zoo

Sesame street playland at Sea World

Ropes course at Sea World

egg coloring