The Christmas Season - Part 1

We have had some Christmas fun around here the past few weeks…

First up… Decorating!

Jaxen decorated the tree in his room all by himself!

This is where we put all the homemade ornaments. 

Jaxen loved looking at all the ones he has made over the last few years.

It will be really fun when we get some ornaments of Zane's!

He was/is super proud of this tree and it stays lit every night when they go to bed.

Next, he wanted to help me decorate the big tree!

This is pretty much what it looked like when I finally sent him to bed...

Then I stayed up decorating the rest of our place by myself! Haha!

Don’t mind our TV cords hanging down!

Next…

A visit to Santa’s Wonderland (at Bass Pro).

I didn’t know what to expect when we went - but it was not busy at all,

the staff was great, the Wonderland was so much fun

and the toasted pecans were delicious!

Love this!

There was so much to do (play with) there!

Yes, I have a picture of the boys with Santa.

But I would have to take a picture of a picture and download it and then upload it.

This post will never get posted if I do that.

So - I will try to remember to include the Santa picture at another time!

Elf

No Christmas Season is complete without watching the movie, Elf, right?!

And some early Christmas presents with friends!

Jaxen loved this truck and carried it with him (even slept with it)

for a solid 72 hours.

He still loves it (and even sleeps with it still) but it does not have to go everywhere we go anymore :)

And Jaxen loves his Dream Tent!

This is such a cool gift!

That is all for now…

Lots more Christmas fun - stay tuned!

Transition - Part 3

In these “transitioning posts" - I will be answering the following (common) questions
I have been asked a few times:

How are you transitioning into working full time from being a stay-at-home home?
See Part 1
How is Nik transitioning to being home full time and taking care of the boys?
See Part 2

How is your family transitioning from small town to city?

How is your family transitioning from a house to an apartment?

and (today)...

How is Jaxen transitioning to his new school?

Jaxen has transitioned well, overall, to his new school. He really likes his teachers and is beginning to make friends. Let me clarify - he is starting to tell me that he now has some “buddies” at school. The first month or so - he would tell me he didn’t have any buddies yet. Which made me sad, but I think he is getting there!

Although I think he is transitioning well - he does not love going to school anymore. He has so much fun there and tells me great things. When I ask him why he does not love it - he says “because it makes me exhausted!” Haha. And it does. He is very tired at nights - especially Fridays. School just wears him out. Plus, I don’t think he likes going because he knows that daddy and Zane get to stay home (and I think he feels left out). 

But, he is learning so much. And although some of it is hard for him to pick up - he is doing a great job and I love seeing him start to recognize his sight words, or tell me about his library book or want me to do math with him!

We were at his school this past weekend (more about that in another post) and you could tell he loves his school. As we walked through it he was telling me all about it. And about the teachers, and where things were….he was excited to show us his school.

He still misses his Wolcott school, and still talks about it. But it is getting less and less. I’m sure that is normal. I think he misses it partly because they don’t “play” quite as much as they did in Pre-K! Ha! 

How is Zane transitioning to Nik being at home instead of Carla?

A year ago if you would have told us that Nik would be Zane’s favorite - we would have rolled our eyes at you. And laughed. If you saw Zane his first year of life you know he was all about his mama and not a big fan of too many other people. However, Zane has really come around and Nik and him have an awesome relationship. Nik is completely Zane’s favorite. He will sit with me and cuddle with me - but the minute Nik comes in the room and sits down, Zane will leave me to sit with Nik, 2 out of 3 times. 

So basically - Zane has transitioned like a rock star to Nik being home. And I think Nik is loving this close relationship with Zane!

One of my favorite moments of the day is when I come home from work and Jaxen and Zane both yell “Mama!” and come to give me a hug and kiss! I sure do miss my one on one time with Zane now that I am working, but I know he is in great hands with his daddy. They have their little routine down and do well staying at home together. 

If I could just get Nik to comb Zane’s hair…!

All About Zane

There is so much to say about Zane right now…

This kid has the best smile and laugh.

And has a little mean streak too.

If Jaxen has a toy he wants, he walks right up to him and open-handed hits him on the head.

Not sure where he learned that one :) Ha!

If you make him mad he will just stare at you and scream.

And when it is time for a nap and he gets cranky…you basically want to just walk away.

It is no fun.

However, he naps like a champ. So that’s nice!

But really - he is lots of fun!

If you get him laughing - it is the best thing ever.

He loves to play “Peek-a-boo” and blow kisses right now.

He is still too-addicted to Bubble Guppies.

He loves his dog-dog, all trucks, and balls.

Giving his dog-dog kisses

His favorite thing to do is jump.

And his jump is so cute!

He will also jump off of anything - and you better be ready to catch him!

He likes to cuddle after nap time - but just until he finishes his milk.

Then, it’s game over.

He is very independent and loves to walk himself everywhere we go.

He does not hold hands well.

Which is the reason we bought the backpack leash.

It has been so nice to have this!

We cannot let him run around in just a diaper, or sleep with out pants.

He pulls his diaper off.

One night, he actually unbuttoned his pajamas (trying to get his diaper off)
but got stuck in the process!

You have to watch him closely, because he will throw things (that don’t belong) in the trash.

Many times, I open the trash can to throw away trash and end up pulling something out.

We have lost a few things that we are blaming on Zane.

Zane is so good at playing by himself.

He will play with Jaxen for a bit - but really just wants to do what he wants to do.

Zane, in the corner, all by himself playing.

I love it when Zane and Nik come to my work to bring me a soda.

Although, they can’t stay too long because all Zane wants to do is throw balls.

There are a few balls in my office - he knows exactly where they are and loves playing with them.

He sometimes likes to play with my calculator or computer.

Zane is 20 months old. 

He still wears mostly 18 month clothes. Some 18-24 month clothes. 

He could care less about shoes and pulls his socks and shoes off in the car almost every day. 

It’s so annoying!

Zane can say some words.
Mama, dada, ball, truck, door, milk, apple, bubble, tree, go…
they are a bit hard to understand - but you can get his drift.

Zane's night time sleeping is still lacking.

Maybe once or twice a week he will actually sleep through the night.

The other nights he is up crying, playing, talking….

sometimes he goes back to sleep on his own, sometimes he needs milk,

sometimes just a hug, sometimes he wants covered up…

it’s always something!

Nik, especially, will be glad when he starts sleeping through the night.

He is the one who is up with him most of the time.

Although, I take a turn to help out. 

Zane is the perfect little addition to our family!

Jaxen - take 2

I posted my last post (about Jaxen) a bit too soon…

Since then, he has been to the dentist and has come away with a few very small cavities. We are going to try to correct those cavities ourselves (didn’t know you could do that) and go back in 3 months. Here’s to flossing (his teeth are still separated…not sure how this is supposed to go…) and a new mouthwash!

On another note…last weekend, Jaxen got to hang out with our friends, the Clardies, all by himself! And he had a blast. They sent me some pics of his time there. So here you go!

So cute, right?!

All About Jaxen

Let’s see…what do you need to know about Jaxen right now?

First off, we will start with my most recent favorite he brought home from school:

Psu = Pizza.

I just love it!

He knows all of his letters and can write them. However, he sometimes writes them backwards when he is writing ‘words’. If he writes them individually, he gets them correct. He is also learning some sight words and wants to spell everything. I can tell he is really learning a lot right now at school, but school is not his favorite anymore. In his words, “it makes me exhausted.” And it does. He is so tired every night. We have his bed time about as early as we can get it. But he is just tired. I try to let him catch up on his rest during the weekends - but it doesn’t always help.

Jaxen recently told me he loves Zane because “he is so soft and squishy!” You should see him loving on Zane…all he wants to do is cuddle and touch his cheeks and Zane does not care for it one bit! Jaxen gets defensive “Zane…I’m just trying to hug you!”

A magnet with a painting Jaxen did at school, with his picture and facts about him on it:

I am in kindergarten

I love all of the colors

My favorite foods are cheese tortillas, pizza and McDonalds

I want to be a police officer when I grow up

I love to play with my nerf guns

I am Jaxen

Jaxen really loves doing crafts. Any kind. He constantly wants me to put together “centers” for him. Basically, craft stations he can rotate through. I’m really trying to think of ways to encourage him in this area (and I’m not the craftiest person to do so) but when he had to decorate a turkey for Thanksgiving he kept saying how he was no good at it. And how the other turkey’s his classmates brought in were so much better than his. And you could tell it really bothered him! That hurt my heart. I told him being creative came in many different forms and not everyone was creative in the same way. We worked through it…and this is how he wanted to decorate his turkey:

And it was pretty cool, because I got to see his turkey on the wall at school!

I got to meet Jaxen for lunch one day last week for their Thanksgiving lunch and I had the best time! I met him in the hallway and got in the lunch line with him. He showed me his little routine….

picking 2 drinks

getting your main course

getting the sides himself

and then sitting down with his friends, eating!

I enjoyed my time with him so much!

It was fun to be with him, in his element. And I think he enjoyed it too!

Jaxen’s favorite place to eat is Taco Bell. He loves the mini quesadillas (minus meat, minus sauce). Basically, a cheese tortilla. But Taco Bell’s are the best. Ha!

And lastly, his school picture!

Here’s a look back…

top left = age 2; top right = age 3

bottom left = age 4; bottom right = age 5

Turkey Day Recap

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Shopping (maybe…for some of your Black Friday shoppers)!

We dropped Jaxen off with some friends for the weekend

and then Nik, Zane and I hit the stores up!

Well…one store, then lunch with friends, then 2 more stores.

We really only looked at one ad and was not serious “Black Friday Shoppers”

like we have been in the past.

We went when the crowds were down (some) and just had a great time!

Anyone else have a pile of stuff to return?

I do! Haha!

Really, because I bought 2 sweaters and didn’t try them on in the store,

then got home, put them on and didn’t like them.

Oh well.

Anyway…

Here is how our Thanksgiving Turkey Day went down….

Wednesday night I made this Peanut Butter Pie,

and this beauty of an Apple-Pecan Pie! Both were yummy!

Thursday we were awake by 7 and eating cinnamon rolls while watching the parade by 8am.

I made this Broccoli Salad that morning,

snapped a quick pic of Nik and I,

and was out the door by 10:45am to go to the Robbins for lunch!

Our menu included:

Bacon-wrapped breadsticks (my favorite from the day)

Butter-Herb (or something amazing) Turkey & Gravy

Apple-Pecan Stuffing

Sweet Potato Balls

Green Bean Casserole

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Broccoli Salad

Fried Corn

Rolls

I think that was it!

It was delicious - Diane is one of the best Holiday cooks!!!

We ate lunch, cleaned up and then headed back to our place for 

dessert, football and Christmas Crafts.

Yes that’s right. 

Jaxen wanted to have Christmas Craft Stations.

So we had stuff to make Christmas Cards, Snowflakes and decorate Stockings.

It was a fun day with friends!