Currently...

1) Fighting some serious allergy gunk. I never suffer like this, but something is kicking my butt right now. I feel like I wanna peel the left side of my face off just to relieve the pressure.

2) THRILLED that our upstairs A/C officially bit the dust last week. THRILLED, I say! Because who doesn't want to replace TWO air conditioning units (one of which being heater/AC both) in a mere 3-month span of time?!

3) So proud of Emerson. She officially has a spot in Kindergarten at HH next year! Two Fridays ago, I called admissions to see how the wait list was looking because I needed to get plans in place in case she didn't get a spot. The wonderful assistant director told me she was 2nd on the wait list and that she had a lot of confidence that there would be movement in the class rosters before school started in the fall. That same day she called me back and said that things had changed around and her spot was secure!

4) Getting antsy to plant flowers! I didn't put jack squat in our front beds all year, and now's the time to get some color in there. I haven't thought out my back porch pots yet... I need to get on that.

5) Getting ridiculously excited about summer. We are going to Outer Banks, NC with my siblings and their families in June, and I'm planning a trip to Houston in July to see my hobo Lisa! Also, Jason informed me that he wants me to go with him to Vegas for a national sales meeting through his sponsoring broker dealer in October. Okaaaay.... I guess if he's gonna force me....

6) Making potty-training progress with Hot Sauce. She's pretty much going in the potty all the time at home! I'm not quite brave enough to take her out without a diaper yet. I'm loving the full-on celebration that happens each time she goes. She stands up and yells, "I went tinkoh in duh pooooottttyyyyyyy!" Then her brother and sister run in to verify and yell right along with her. Then comes the argument of who gets to go give her the spoonful of peanut butter as a reward. She doesn't care as long as she gets some. She gets the bite in her mouth and proceeds to do a trot/gallop/lope around the house, naked from the waist down, peanut butter oozing from her mouth. Hot to the Sauce. I love her.

Jaxeyboy is 4! And a weekend recap

This weekend our sweet Jax turned another year older. So today I'm taking a trip down memory lane.

Newborn:

Just a few months after turning 1:

The big 2-yr-old:

Three (and starting to lose his baby look... *sniff*)

Just in case any of you were wondering, the first three pictures were not taken by me. Kelly is the professional, and my picture is the last one. If you click on the link, you'll see Hot Sauce's newborn picture. 

To say that I adore this boy is an understatement. My friends with boys warned me before I had him that I would fall in love with him in a different way than my girl. They were so right. It's not more love, it's just a different love from a different part of my heart. I'm so thankful that we were blessed with him four years ago... he is a precious, sensitive, loving little boy with a no-holds-barred zest for life and a smile that knocks my socks off. 

So on to our weekend recap. I took the kids to the zoo on Friday (thank you to their grandparents for a zoo membership) and we enjoyed some gorgeous weather!

Trying to get three kids to sit still on a zoo bench and take a normal picture is soooo easy.

Playing on the playground is always a big part of a zoo day. 

On Saturday morning, Emerson had a birthday party for a friend from dance class. She got to ride a pony!

Straight from there, she had a soccer game, and she scored another goal! So proud of her starting to get it.

Here is what the birthday boy and his little sister do during Em's games.

I'm quite tired from uploading pictures at the moment, so I'll save Jax's party pictures for another post. A girl can only do so much while the kids are in bed for naptime. I really should be working on processing apps or proofreading, but blogging is way more fun.

Soccer's in full swing

I can't say that I was thinking clearly when I signed both kids up for soccer. Two games and two practices each week... it's a bit much! I know, I know. Those of you with older kids are laughing at me right now. I do realize the busyness is in my future, I just wasn't ready for it quite yet. We already do swim lessons, dance, and a Little Gym class. That was plenty! Needless to say, spring is currently flying by.

So back to soccer. Em and Jax are loving it! Well, let me take that back. Jax is loving it, and Emerson is loving it now. Her first game was quite comical. Being the analytic thinker that she is, she would kick the ball, it wouldn't go where she wanted it to, and she would literally stop dead in her tracks, put her hands on her hips, and get frustrated. A couple of times she looked over at us with her hands in the air as if to say, 'I don't know why this isn't working.' I think the chaos of it bothered her, too. That girl likes to know the rules of something before she attempts it, and I think she really hated the out-of-control feeling of the game.

It has started to click with her though. Last week she scored a goal, and Jax scored two! Jaxeyboy is so much fun to watch. He's the youngest player on the team and is keeping up just fine. His first game, he was a little crazy man, getting right in the middle of a pack of players with his elbows out, not stopping when the ball went out of bounds.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from their first few games.

Easter Posers

These were taken right after we got home from church. The three amigos were hungry, deliriously sleepy, and in no mood to cooperate!

This one makes me swoon. My two boys. Those baby blues. Be still my heart.

Opening Resurrection eggs with the cousins.

 This is all I did to decorate for Easter. Veeerrrry exciting indeed.

I need something taller on the right side to help balance the height of the egg tree on the left. Oh well. There's always next year!

Heard around here lately...

This morning on our way to preschool, I was reminding Emerson and Jax that I wanted a good report from their teachers at pickup. No disrespect, unkindness, rudeness, etc.

Emerson: "Mommy, did you say rudeness?"

Jax: "Yeth, Emer-thin, she did. It meenth 'rude' in Thpanish."

-------

On the way home from Emerson's soccer practice this evening, she asked what my last name was before I got married. When I told her, she was fascinated that it was the same last name as her cousins in TN.

Emerson: "Mommy, what is my last name going to be when I get married?"

Me: "I don't know yet. It's going to be the same last name as your new husband."

Emerson: "Well, even though my last name's not gonna be Van Valkenburg, I'm still gonna act like a Van Valkenburg."

Me: "Really? And what do you mean by that?"

Emerson: "I'm never gonna lie, I'm never gonna cheat, and I'm never gonna steal."

(These are the three things Daddy always reminds them that we NEVER do).

Me: "I think that's a great idea."

Emerson: "And I'm also not gonna kick, bite, or punch."

Well said, my dear. I'm sure your future spouse will be quite relieved to hear all of this.

The end of a looong week

I spent the first two days of spring break potty training Hayden. Day 1? Great. Day 2? Completely not great. I remember Jax regressing on the second day, so I didn't let it deter me. The problem I ran into was that on Day 3, we had a playdate, then each day after that we have had something to do and somewhere to go. That is always a hindrance when you're hard core about getting them on the potty every hour on the dot. Oh well... she will not be in diapers the rest of her life. I know it's just gonna click one of these days. I think I'll just keep her in panties while we're home and not stress about leaving the house for activities and lessons with her in a diaper while she's still learning.

On Thursday, my dear friend Destiny and her little girl Miss L drove in from OKC for the day. It was so much fun getting to catch up with her after me being so terrible at keeping in touch. And L is quite possibly the most beautiful and well-mannered child on the planet. I'm really thinking about arranging a marriage between her and our Jaxeyboy.

Friday my friend Becca convinced me to go to FIT class with her at the gym, a total body toning class. I hadn't been to it in months, and it kicked my tail. Today my armpits are sore. Like literally right down in the middle of my pits. That's some good stuff right there. I've been focusing on long 5-mile runs at the gym as of late, but I know I need to throw a couple of toning days in again each week. It'll be swimsuit season before I know it. Ugh.

Tonight was the crown jewel of our spring break. The kids went to the in-laws' house to spend the night, and we got to go to dinner with some of our besties, Josh and Kristin. We've known these crazy kids for years. I was a rep with Josh at Pfizer, and we were in life group with them at our old church. Even though they live in Missouri now, each time we get together it's like not a day has passed. Love them dearly!!!