Fabulous Friday Foto

I'm totally stealing the Fabulous Friday Foto idea from my friend Alida. Such a cute idea and another great reason to post pictures of my adorable kiddos! So here is today's fabulous foto. A sweet moment with Jenna and Jaylynn. Love those smiles!

A Smile to Light Up a Room

You could have the worst day ever and come home to your kids with their smiles and hugs and it's all better. Jaylynn's smile definitely makes everything all better. Those cheeks. I think I'm spotting dimples too. Melt. My. Heart.



After Tracy commented about Jaylynn looking more like Jenna, I had to go find this picture. Wow! Check it out! This is Jenna at 3 months old.

Happy 4th Birthday Jenna!

Jenna, our punkin. Happy 4th Birthday sweet girl. I know I always say it but where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday that Daddy was wheeling me upstairs only to miss you being born while parking the van. You are an amazingly funny and opinionated child. You make us laugh all the time with your funny faces and hilarious things you say.

We love you so much Jenna. Thank you for all the laughs you give our family.



These are more like Jenna!





Some of my favorite pictures of Jenna over the last 4 years (in no particular order).



Click here for the posts labeled with Jenna's name.

Birthday cake time! **Nothing fancy. She's getting her fancier cake on Sunday when Opa, Oma and Uncle Boo come over.**




Daddy singing "you look like a monkey and you smell like one too" made her crack up.



Blowing out the candles



On Sunday, Oma & Opa came over for cake and to watch the Redskins game. Jenna opening up all of her Barbie gifts from Oma & Opa.



Opening her Barbie movie which came out the day before her birthday. She actually cried when she saw the commercial on her birthday and she hadn't gotten it.

RIP Patrick Swayze

Patrick Swayze
August 18, 1952 - September 14, 2009

Such a sad loss. :-( Who doesn't love Patrick Swayze? Dirty Dancing. Ghost. Road House. Point Break. All great movies.

Rest in peace Johnny Castle.

The other Mom

Jasmine is also known as being the other mom in the house. I often call her Little Mama. I always say that if something happens to me tomorrow that Jasmine would take right over for me and take care of everyone. Very rarely do I actually ask her to help. She most often asks what she can help with or just does it on her own. She is a tremendous help to me. You can obviously tell from the pictures how much Jaylynn loves her big sister. Look at the hold Jaylynn has on her! She almost always calms down whenever Jazzi picks her up.

**Don't mind Jazzi's towel on her head. She had just gotten out of the shower.**

We are so mean!

It was bed time tonight. We told Jenna it was time for her to go to bed. Now I will be the first to admit, I am super lucky with my kids when it comes to bed time. I may here a groan or two but I've never had to fight with my kids when it's time for the sand man to come. So we got the usual groan from Jenna, followed by stomping into her room and some grumbling under her breathe ~ loud enough for us to hear her talking but not loud enough to know what she said. I did catch the word dumbest though. (Some may call this the Jacqueline attitude and I'm still trying to figure out how my parents didn't kill me.)

We called Jenna back into our room to inquire about her choice of words. After a few back and forth words of trying to get her to tell us, we were finally informed that bed time tonight was "the dumbest, worst thing ever to do." Being the totally mature parents that we are, Jamie hid behind his blanket laughing his butt off. I bit my cheeks while trying to tell Jenna that while she may think that she still had to go to bed.

Jenna is so lucky that I have that same attitude and can so relate to how the whole world is against her. I sympathize with my girl. I think that's the only way she has made it close to her 4th birthday.

Jaylynn's Zebra Friend

Jaylynn loves her zebra buddy. I also think Jaylynn knows she's numero seis so she has got to start talking earlier to be heard in this house!

Jacob's heart

Jacob went to the cardiologist this morning. Our pediatrician thought it would be best that he go. He's always had a slight heart murmur. He also has pectus excavatum. Jacob's is not severe. You wouldn't even notice it really unless you were looking for it. His left side of his chest is bigger than his right. Those two things separately aren't a big deal but together could mean something.

We went in and they did an EKG right there. Everything looked normal on that but he said there is about 10% of kids that still have something wrong. He did an echo cardiogram as well to check everything out. Jacob is one of those 10%.

He has aortic stenosis. Here's the medical description of it: The aorta is the main artery leaving the heart. When blood leaves the heart, it flows from the lower chamber (the left ventricle), through the aortic valve, into the aorta. In aortic stenosis, the aortic valve does not open fully. This restricts blood flow.

He also has a bicuspid aortic valve. The medical description of it: A bicuspid aortic valve is an aortic valve that only has two leaflets, instead of three. BUT Jacob's is a bit different. He has three leaflets but they aren't sized equally (which they should be) and two are starting to fuse together (which is not good at all and should not be showing up in a 5 year old).

Jacob's condition is considered a mild to moderate case at this point. Because the doctor has no baseline for him right now, he has to go back in 6 months to have all the tests run again. He has no idea if he was born with it or if it's changed over time.

We really have no idea what the future holds for Jacob at this point. We'll have a better understanding in 6 months to see if there is any change. He will eventually one day need valve replacement surgery. Again, in 6 months, we'll know better when that would be.

As of now, he's not restricted in anything he does. He does have to have antibiotics before any medical procedures including going to the dentist. That will be for the rest of his life. Later on, he will more than likely never be able to do contact sports (and I'm not signing him up for t-ball or football any time soon either). If he receives a hard hit to the chest, it could cause damage. He also couldn't be a power lifter either (sorry Schwarzenegger, who has had three valve replacement surgeries because of this) as this would put too much pressure on his heart. If we notice him getting tired easily while he plays or complaining his chest hurts, he needs to come back before the 6 months.

All the other kids have to go in. This is genetic and comes from either Jamir or I. We both have to go in and get tested as well.

So while we are devastated by the news, we are grateful that we know about it so now he can be monitored. We are praying that none of the other kids have it.

And just because he's so darn cute....

Jaylynn's 2 Month Check-Up Stats

Jaylynn had her 2 month check-up today. :-( I hate the 2 month check-up. Too many shots. Poor girl was screaming and Jenna was a mess. We survived though and now she is conked out.

She is growing great and doing really well. The doctor didn't have any concerns.

Jaylynn now weighs 9 lbs 10 oz and 22 inches. She's had a busy few weeks of growing. I was finally noticing her getting heavier and filling out her car seat better. I have no clue what percentile she is. I don't get hung up on those. My kids will grow the way they grow and as long as they stay on their own up curve of growth, I'm not worried.

And here's a picture of her from her 2 month *birthday* (yes, I know I just posted it but she's so dang cute).



Jaylynn's 2 Week Check-Up Stats

First Day of School 2009-2010

It's that time of year again! The first day of school! The kids were so excited. Me? Not so much. Jenna either. I love all the kids being home but enough about that.

We went on Friday to meet the kids' teachers. Jacob got Mrs. Foster for Kindergarten. It is her 2nd year teaching at our school. One of my friend's daughter was in her class last year and absolutely loved her. Jacob was very excited about going to school this year and even has one of his friends from his preschool class in his class this year.

Jasmine started 3rd grade with Mrs. Miller. She was so excited to get her. That is the teacher she wanted this year. Her BFF, Kaylee, had her when she was in 3rd grade. Kaylee is in 6th grade this year. She was very excited to find out her class is in one of the brand new portables. They have their own A/C and heating unit and water cooler. Doesn't seem like something that kids would be excited about but considering Jasmine's class last year was always HOT and she doesn't like drinking out of water fountains, these were neat things.

James is a big 4th grader this year. He has a new teacher, Mr. Fletcher. His first name is also James. He's a pretty intimidating guy as he makes Jamie look small. He warned James and I that he is a tough teacher, expects 150% from each student and will get that. If you fly straight, you'll be just fine in his class. He doesn't put up with playing around, which the kids have already learned as the whole class has lost recess for one child talking today. We are hoping James is going to learn something from that as he tends to be a talker. Yes, James is a talker at school. Imagine that. Mr. Fletcher's motto is "Work hard. Play hard."

This morning was rushed and busy. The kids don't get up until 7 and we leave for the bus stop a little after 8. One hour doesn't leave much time to get everyone ready and make lunches but I don't like getting them up earlier than that.

They had pancakes for breakfast and then we were off to the bus stop.



At the bus stop



Bubba getting on the bus ~ this is where I got the lump in my throat and almost lost it.



As a treat for Jenna, we went to Build-A-Bear after the kids went to school. I knew she'd have a rough day with all of them being gone so I wanted to make the day special for her.

Cleaning up Pinkie (I didn't get pictures of her stuffing the bear. She wanted me right there with her as she was a little unsure of everything.)


In the van getting ready to bring Pinkie home


So happy with Pinkie and Dino


Jenna and I made brownies for the kids as a first day of school treat. Jenna actually did all the mixing and the brownies came out great!



Sadly, Daddy had to work today but made it home in time for the bus! The kids were so happy to see him there.

Walking home with the next door neighbors and Kaylee (Miss Middle-Schooler)


BFFs ~ Taylor and Jacob even have matching backpacks


Megan, Jasmine and Kaylee ~ Besties (and Jenna isn't mad. The sun was bugging her.)


Everyone had a great first day of school! YAY!

Happy 2 Month Birthday Jaylynn!

Gosh! Where has the time gone? 2 months already? It makes me so sad because I know that with the bat of my eyelashes, you will be a year old.

You're such a good baby Jaylynn. You love to be held and cuddled but are a bit more self soothing than the other kids were. You are really starting to smile at everyone, even Daddy. That smile can light up the whole room.

We love you so much Jaylynn! Happy 2 Months!

Darn hot dogs

Jenna: "Mommy, I can't eat any more of my hot dog."
Me: "Why Jenna?"
Jenna: "It makes me go crazy eyes."
How do you argue with that?





Jenna humored me and smiled nice for one picture



And I just have to share the mess the kids made on the table this morning. I normally don't let them use paint, Play-Doh or anything else that makes a big mess. See, I'm trying. And honestly, the paint on the table, the cups or their clothes didn't even bother.