Happy Halloween!

Halloween came a little early this year for us. We already have attended two parties and collected A LOT of candy.


I don't really feel the need to go trick-or-treating Friday, but I'm sure Donnie has other plans. He loves trick-or-treating! Sydney did a pretty good job trunk-or-treating last night, so I guess it runs in the family.


Here a few pictures, but I will have to post a good front and a good back picture of Sydney's costume later. We couldn't get her to stand still long enough to get a great photo.

Here is our little Teddy Bear Jaxon














And here is our fairy princess




























































































































And in other news, do you think Jaxon looks like his dad?
































(That's his cute little cousin who is 43 days older than Jax)

Kids say the...you know the phrase

Sydney is quite the talker these days. In many ways it's great because she tells what she needs. and if something is wrong she can communicate that with us as well. The downside, however, is that she has a complete lack of inner-dialogue.When she thinks something, she says it aloud - and she doesn't speak softly.

Last night we went to Target (she also dresses herself these days and so she wore a pink tutu [over her jeans] and pink princess shoes, and refused to ride in a buggy) and she provided the color commentary the entire time.

As we walked by the Hallmark section Sydney took off down the aisle. Then she screamed, "Ahhh! This old lady's coming by me."There was a lady on the same aisle looking at cards, but she was maybe 40 (not old by any means) and she wasn't even close to Sydney.

It was enough, however, to send Sydney running and screaming.I felt badly that she called the lady old - and said it so loudly - but I was laughing so hard that I couldn't do anything about the situation.

I'm sure the lady heard because Donnie was two aisles away and he heard her. Hopefully she wasn't listening enough to understand.

Did I really sign up for this?

Some days I need a reminder as to why I decided to become a mother. This doesn't happen very often, but with a 2 year old, it happens. In fact, today is one of those "remind me again" days.

As I sat at the kitchen table with my sewing machine working on a tutu for Sydney's Halloween costume, I heard a scream, followed by the words I never want to hear again: "I have poop on my hands!"

I slowly pushed back from the table, and pleaded with Heavenly Father, "Please, let this be a game of pretend." I didn't need to wait for an answer to my silent prayer, because I could hear the frantic patter of Sydney's feet making their way to the bathroom.

We arrived at the door at the same time, both in a state of disgust. I shook my head in disbelief and asked Sydney why she had poop on her hands, to which she matter-of-factly replied, "I had to clean it off my doll house."

I quickly put Sydney on her stool, loaded her hands with soap, and instructed her to keep her hands in the water until I got back.

In her room, I found her panties shoved into the doll house and a pile of what should-only-go-into-a-potty-and-never-be-seen otherwise, artfully displayed across the entire roof of the doll house.

As I choked back the vomit, I cleaned the house with an entire pack of Clorox wipes. Then I took everything to the trash can outside. I returned to the bathroom and silently washed Sydney's hands. Then I opened a new tub of Clorox wipes and scrubbed the sink. I handed Sydney a new pair of underwear, and went to the kitchen to bake cookies. It was the only thing that seemed to make me not so mad.

All of her toys have been put away for the rest of the day - her books and puzzles are still accessible - and now, I am just waiting for the oven timer to beep so that the world can return to a happy place.

Like I said before, these are not things that should be seen, so I do not have any pictures to add. Plus, our camera battery died two weeks ago and I can't find the charger. I guess I will have to buy a new one (argh...).

A laugh a minute

Either Donnie is the funniest person on the face of the Earth or Jaxon has finally mastered the "courtesy laugh."

Field Trip!

Today Sydney had her first preschool field trip. We went to a place called the Yellow River Game Ranch. It's a wildlife preserve of sorts. All of the animals there have been rescued and/or rehabilitated and wouldn't survive in the wild. They have all sorts of deer, bears, birds, bunnies, felines, etc. native to Georgia.

From the moment you step on the trail chickens and deer approach you for food. I had a bag of carrots, crackers, apples, and corn kernels so Sydney could feed the animals, but I felt like they were attacking me to get to the food! I was a little nervous.

It was kind of cool though. It was kind of like something out of a fairy tale the way the deer would walk right up to you - without any fear - and eat a cracker from your hand. Sydney felt the same way. As she threw corn to the chickens she yelled, "Mom, I'm just like Cinderella!"

It was really cute. The billy goats were a little scary though. They kept trying to eat Jaxon's blanket. Then a squirrel jumped onto the side of the stroller and I almost had a heart attack. Jaxon didn't seem to mind, but I couldn't get out of there fast enough!

The trail is a mile long and at the end there is a "Bunny Burrow" where you can go and sit with bunnies as they eat out of your hands. Sydney and I bypassed that. Maybe I'm a mean Mommy, but sitting in rabbit filth as the dirty little critters crawl all over you in hopes of eating your carrots and apples before their siblings get them... well, I'm just not down with being dirty.

Sydney didn't seem to mind. I guess she had her feel of nature with the deer and chickens. The other animals we avoided were the bears (like 5 of them in cages) and the cougars (three of them; the signs on their cages read: "Please don't feed us. If you get bitten, we get killed." Sad, huh?)

We saw donkeys, pigs, roosters, peacocks, porcupines, bobcats, ducks, geese, swans…a little bit of everything. The donkeys, bobcats, and other may-attack animals were in fenced-off areas or cages, but every one else just roamed freely around the property.

It was a fun little trip.



Sydney cautiously approaches a deer,
















and then she throws the cracker at it. After one almost bit her (he was trying to eat a cracker as I was passing it to her), she became a little hands-off.

















I'm pretty sure the rope is there for a reason, but Sydney didn't quite catch on.

















Sydney was way too interested in this turkey. She kept trying to stand by it and pet it, but it kept moving away from her!

















Here's the crazy billy goat trying to eat the stroller again.

















Sydney loved trying to catch the little duck family!
















And the post would not be complete without a picture of Baby Brother!


















For those who are interested:

http://www.yellowrivergameranch.com/

My BFF Jax

I think the idea of having a baby around is starting to grow on Sydney. Last night we were driving home from a family birthday party when Jaxon started screaming. We were still about 20 minutes from home and he wouldn't take a pacifier. I tried to reach back and rub his head (Donnie was driving), but nothing seemed to calm him down.

We were feeling pretty desperate when, suddenly, Jaxon stopped crying. I turned around and Sydney was holding his hand, saying, "It's okay baby. I know you just want to go home. Don't cry baby. We will go home and you can sleep. Don't cry baby. You can have special baby milk at home."

It was so cute. She just held his hand and talked to him until he fell asleep.

Sydney likes to ride with him in the stroller and sing to him. She also likes to lay beside him in bed and hold him while sitting on the couch. I'm glad she loves him.

Sydney has also decided to try out a new smile. It is very funny.

Here's a shot of Jaxon doing what he does best.

Preschool

We recently joined a preschool co-op. When I first was approached about this I wasn't sure what that meant, so I'll explain it for you too. Basically it is a structured play group twice a week for the kids and free time for the moms.





There are five moms who all have 3 year olds (or something close to it. Sydney is the youngest by 2 months). We met as a group and planned lessons and schedules. After we decided what we wanted the kids to learn, we planned field trips to go along with it. We decided we would have "school" on Monday and Wednesday mornings.





Since it is a co-op instead of paying money, we volunteer our time. One week, all of our kids go to Mom 1's house. She is in charge, and the rest of us drop off our kids and leave. We can run errands, go home and nap for two hours, create a new invention...whatever we want to do. The next week we take our kids to Mom 2 and then Mom 3 and so on.





I am Mom 4, so I haven't taught yet, but I am kind of excited. Plus, I can get an idea of how Sydney is doing with it. Since we switch locations each week, we decided to all follow the same routine so that there is some uniformity.





The routine includes puzzle time; weather, calendar, singing time; lesson time; hands-on creative time; snack time; free play time; clean-up time; and parent pick up.





Sydney seems to like it - even though she is the only girl in her class. She is also the only one who is not potty trained, so we are working extra hard on that. She has not "soiled" her pull-up in 4 days (fingers crossed). She seems a lot more proactive this time too.


















In other news, Jaxon may start diaper changes like this:

















but when Donnie's in charge, he ends up like this:

I'm baaack!

Due to our recent move, we have been without cable and internet for the last three weeks. I am happy to report, however, that Comcast has finally hooked us up. I can interact with the outside world again! YAY!

The last three weeks have not been without their fair share of excitement. Sydney has been up to her old tricks - and some new ones - and Jaxon is continuing to grow at lightning speed.

At his two month check up he weighed 13lbs 5 oz and was 25 inches long. That is the same height as Sydney at this stage, but 2 pounds heavier. He's a healthy eater.

This is Sydney "wearing" Jaxon's diaper rash medicine.

When she sees these pictures she says, "Oooh, I'm in trouble."

It's a good thing she is so cute.

Jaxon is pretty handsome too. He is adjusting to life with Sydney quite well. He doesn't seem to mind that she likes to sing at the top of her lungs at all hours of the night. He even laughs at her sometimes. He likes it when she talks to him and she even softly kisses his head now. I think he enjoys her soft, high-pitched voice.

If my dreams were this nice, I'd sleep all day too.