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.

Sydney's rockin' new 'do

Friday nights get a little wild around here, as you can see; especially when grandma breaks out her wig collection.

I think I remember looking at early childhood photos of other family members where they had the same hair style





















Her hair lacked volume in the past, but with her new layer cut, her hair will never go flat again















Early Billy Ray Cyrus



















Yep, that's a little chocolate on her lips she is saving for later




















In the "a Young watching tv like a zombie" mode





















Nothin' like rockin' to some 80's jams




















Just so there is no confusion, we let her choose her own clothes now. Don't worry, she doesn't go out in public like this.

Smiley Jax, singin' Sydney

Any meal time is a happy time around our house. Baby Jaxon is even kind enough to show you a little bit of what he has been eatin', eeeewww....

Hopefully she will be on American idol for winning instead of being delusional, we're working with her.

Night Out America

Last night we went to my mom's house. Her town has a back to school celebration called "Night Out America," and since school started back on Monday, they had the festival of sorts last night. We went with my Mom, Grandma, Jana, Katie, Emily, and Corey. Donnie met us after he finished at school.

It is alot of fun - we went last year too. They have a giant slide and jumping houses set up for the kids. At one point, the Princess house came tumbling down and they were yelling for everyone to get out. Some of the kids were screaming and running around confused so Katie went through the house and helped all of the other little kids out before making her escape. She was quite the hero.

They also have clowns, a fire dog, Elmo, and Curious George walking around for photo ops. Sydney wanted to look, but since they were bigger in real life than on the television, she kept her distance.

The Army had a rock climbing wall - which none of us attempted.

They have a stage where live bands perform - I heard two Christian "rock" bands (remember, this is the South). One is the same group that performed at the 4th of July festival at a local church, and the other was a group of young guys. They were probably not even old enough to drive, but they were talented. Their songs had a nice rhythm, but their lyrics sounded more like commercials for athletic shoes than hymns of worship. Anyhoo...

Then they have things from all of the local restaurants and businesses that wish to participate. Here is a list of some of the things they were giving out for free:

Home Depot: Construction aprons and assemble-it-yourself projects. They even had a "workshop" area set up where you could put your item together, using their stuff. Sydney chose a wooden tool box.

Hampton Police Department: I still can't understand why they were there, since we weren't in Hampton. Anyway, they gave out coloring books on safety and crayons, and key chains.

The Henry County police and McDonough police brought in a helicopter and special vehicles for display, and they handed out little badges. The fire department brought in their trucks and handed out hats.

A tanning salon had a "Pluck a Duck" game set up where you could win candy, lotions, leis, and even money. Sydney won a candy flower. It was gross.

Gold's Gym handed out key chains and coupons - as well as info on the gym.

Henry County Parks and Recreation Department handed out t-shirts.

Another group - I don't know if it who it was exactly - gave out school supplies to all of the kids, according to what grade they were in this year. My niece in elementary school received a lot of cool things, my niece in middle school got a notebook and pack of paper. I guess elementary school really is more fun.

There were a couple of other groups around for hobbyists - model cars, vintage cars, other random things - and businesses just there to give out info (like ADT home security), but the main reason we went was for this next group:

Cici's Pizza gave out free slices of pizza.

Longhorn Steakhouse gave out steak and onion petals (YUMMY!).

Nathan's Famous gave out hotdogs, corndogs, and lemonade.

Gezzo's Grille gave out mini fijitas.

Chick-fil-A gave out Chicken strips and their new sauce (really good).

Hooters gave out hot wings - and magazines. Can you believe this place has a magazine? I wondered about the men who openly picked one up and then went off to show it to their wives...

One church gave out snow cones, and another gave out ice cream and otter pops (like from an ice cream truck).

Another church gave out popcorn, and one gave away drinks.

Target gave out blinky lights for your bike, pencils, teddy grahams, chocolate chip cookies, drinks, and coupons. Target drinks were actual Coke products, not the cheapy generic brands which have way too much sugar.

There were coolers of water set up all around the place - since it was out side and over 90 degrees, plus the humidity kills you...

All in all it was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to next year's already!

Sydney really enjoyed her fireman's hat - she refused to take it off even hours later!