Snow Removal

John took Jocelyn to the store with him and with all of the snow we've been getting here, she had some serious ideas about how to "clean it up."

Jocelyn: Look at all of that dirty snow, daddy!
John: Oh yeah?
Jocelyn: We need to clean it up.
John: How are you going to clean it?
Jocelyn: We can clean it with a napkin.
John: Really?
Jocelyn: Or maybe a vacuum or a broom!
John: How about a snow plow?
Jocelyn: Come on! You've GOT to be kidding me!

First Hair Cut!

So, my little boy is now 13 months old. Of course for the past month or so I've been in a state of denial that he needed to get his first hair cut. All his curls??? Cut off??? It can be quite emotional!!! On my part anyhow! :) But I knew the day had finally come to take him to Super Cuts! Not only was Andrew's hair beginning to look like an uncontrollable wig, but Jocelyn made a comment recently that was not only funny, but it put my denial out the window.

Jocelyn: "Mama? If Andrew grows his hair any longer, he's going to turn into a GIRL!"

Me: "Not quite honey! (chuckle) He's a boy and will be getting his haircut soon."

{Andrew this morning BEFORE his hair cut}
{On our way to the barber shop}

{I was trying not to show that this was hard for me. He was just busy getting curious...}

{There's no turning back now!}

{An extra comb and care bear to hold on to did the trick!}

{Andrew AFTER getting his hair cut. He did awesome! Such a cutie too!}

{And he now looks like a little boy and no longer a little baby}

{View from the back...he still has some curls. YEAH!}

{He's growing up way too fast I tell ya! But I'm so glad he's my boy!}

Just Like You!

Jocelyn: When I grow up, I'm going to be a daddy just like daddy!

Mama: Well sweetie. That's not how it works. But you can be like daddy when you grow up.

Jocelyn: Okay! That sounds good. I want to be a leader just like daddy!

Glad we got that settled! How cute is she! :)

Eyes

Jocelyn's eyes have been bothering her lately and her doctor recommended some eye drops to calm the irritation and itchiness. This was our conversation on the way home:

Me: When we get home, Mama is going to put some eye drops into your eyes.
Jocelyn: Are you going to take them out?
Me: Take what out, sweetie?
Jocelyn: My eyes????
Me: I couldn't believe what I was hearing so I turned around while we were sitting at a red light to see if she was being funny or serious and there she was...pulling the bottom of her eye lids down so I could see the red around the area under her eye balls. Of course wearing a big smile. What a jokester!

Too Busy

{This pic is not about this story. I just thought it was funny how she used some cardboard packaging as a neat little vest! How creative! :)}

We went to some friends of ours tonight for their son's birthday and it had been a little while since I noticed Jocelyn taking a trip to the restroom so I encouraged her to go and try. This was our conversation as she sat:

Jocelyn: Mama?
Me: Yes?
Jocelyn: (heavy sigh!) I just don't have time for this!!!!!
Me: *silence* If she wasn't so serious, I would have had a good laugh here!

Okay. So at three years old, what DOES she have time for? Really. She's seriously growing up too fast - and cracking us up with her jokes all the time! :p

This Week In Pictures (9/27 - 10/3)

Yay! More signs that fall is here! I love the cooler weather but still sunny and comfortable out. Saw glimpses of the trees turning their colors as I took the kids for walks in the stroller. This week has been another busy one. Aubrey's team had 2 games. Both were losses but they played really well. Throw in piano practice, picture day, choir and homework and I've pretty much summed up Aubrey's busy schedule. Jocelyn and Andrew have been recovering from colds so we unfortunately weren't able to go to playgroup this week. Would have been a fun one too at the local park with a country band playing and a picnic lunch but it also would have been miserable with two sick kids so I think I made the right call by staying home. Had our annual family night of watching "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." We made a trip to the Commissary on base after Aubrey's game was over to get groceries. As soon as we arrived, we made a potty stop for Jocelyn. I guess I haven't updated on the potty training progress but she's doing amazingly well! Is dry all day long and usually during nap time too. Night time will take a bit longer to master and that's okay and very much expected. So anyways. Back to the commissary. I was in the bathroom with her and as she was sitting on the potty, Jocelyn started breaking out in song. One that I knew sounded familiar. One that I had sung in grade school. I asked her who she had heard it from and she gave me no answer. I was guessing her father or Aubrey? It went something like this: "Hello. My name is Joe. And I work in a button factory...." HAHAHA What a goof! :)

Cake Or Pie

{This picture of Jocelyn has nothing to do with this post. I just thought it was cute.}

1.) A few weeks ago at Lowes, we were picking up our new front door and the hardware when Jocelyn asked to hold the new doorbell. I handed it over to her and a few short minutes later I hear her say, "Mama, it's not making any noise!" I looked down and saw that she was pushing the button on the package. Hahaha!! I had to hold in the laughs as she was being completely innocent and told her that it would work once we put it on the door at home.

2.) Jocelyn and I took a quick trip to Target tonight. We were leaving our street when she asked where Andrew was. I replied that he was at home with sister and daddy. She said a few other things and then I asked her, "your brother is a cutie pie isn't he?" Very seriously she said, "no mama! Brother isn't a pie OR a cake!!!" Hmm. I'll have to remember that one! :)

Soccer Playoffs

Tonight was the beginning of soccer playoffs for Aubrey and her team. So far, they have won or tied every game in the season which is just awesome! She's been fortunate enough to have been on extremely good teams since we have moved here. With every season played, she's getting better and better and more willing to get in and kick the ball. Since they won tonight's game 7-0, they will play another game this Saturday. And if they win Saturday's game, they move on to the next team to play the final game next week.

While Aubrey played her game and we were cheering her on, Jocelyn wondered off (not without the help of our friend's daughter who is 6) and played dolls, leapster, and read stories huddled on the grass in a circle. I'd glance every once in awhile to make sure she was okay and at one point I noticed the girls running around and playing and Jocelyn was sitting perfectly content with her new activities.

Once the game ended and we were forming a running line to let the kids go through as we congratulated them, John was sniffing Jocelyn in her hair to tickle her and she came back saying, "Daddy, don't sniff me. I'm not a flower!" Once again, she surprises us with her funny sayings.

Soccer Updates

Aubrey's soccer team has won their first two games so far of the season! The first game they won 7-0 and the second game they won 3-0. They're doing awesome out there on the field. She's been playing sweeper lately and really enjoys it. This season's coach is actually the same coach she had two seasons ago and we're so glad she's back on her team. Apparently last season there was a problem with the parks and recs system and took the coach out of the loop so we were stuck with a mediocre coach. I do have to say though that this coach last season, as much as we didn't care for him, he pushed them to get higher than their level so this season it really shows on the field!

After the last game was over, Jocelyn was in the truck with me and Andrew and Aubrey rode in the car with John and I have to note another funny saying from Jocelyn. A car in front of us stopped rather quickly because of another car ahead was waiting to turn so because of this we had to stop rather quickly as well. Not the "tires screeching" kind of stop but you know what I mean. The purse falling off the seat onto the floor kind of stop! :) Right after this happened, Jocelyn said to me: "Woah! Let's not do that again, okay?!?! That was SCARY!" I couldn't help but laugh. What a funny girl!

Here are some pictures from tonight's soccer game:

{She caught me snapping her picture here!}

{And again}

{Of course her attention span doesn't last long at this age. The crackers out won her desire to watch the game.}

{Now I see you, now I don't!}

I know this picture has nothing to do with soccer, but I had to post this adorable picture of Andrew somewhere! :)

{I layed Andrew on our bed while I was helping to get the girls off to bed and when I came back to where he was laying, this is how I found him. I just love how he's holding his hands together!}

The Benefits of Getting Older?

I was getting Jocelyn ready for her nap today and this is what I heard her say:

"When I get older, I get to drive. AND eat sweettarts!"

I know all about the driving part. Everyday she asks me if she can drive and I reply "when you get older." But the sweettarts? I have no clue! I just think it's funny.

Not Music To My Ears

{Jocelyn today - not feeling well}

Friday I took Jocelyn to go see the doctor because she was complaining of it hurting when she had to pee. Because she's not potty trained yet and can't give a normal pee sample, they decided to do a catheter on her to get it instead. Hearing that tore me to pieces. I hate seeing her in distress and pain. The first try didn't go too well so they had to try another time. Unfortunately, they weren't able to get much from it to run a test so they told me to take her over to the E.R. Great! More words that break my heart! I don't know anyone that particularly LIKES going to the doctors or to the E.R. so I know I can speak for many on this. I rushed to pick up Aubrey from school and then meet John at home. We discussed who was going to take who (Jocelyn to the E.R. & Aubrey to soccer practice). As much as I didn't want to go through it again that day, I knew that I had to take her in and be with her. It was a hard decision to make as I knew this choice would lead me to not having Andrew with me as well. (I refuse to take my babies into the E.R. atmosphere unless they need to be there!) The E.R.'s motto seems to stem from the military's motto: hurry up and wait! (It really isn't their motto; I just like to say it is!) We did a lot of that. Waiting! Fill out paper work, go back and sit and wait for name to be called, go to triage, go back and sit and wait for name to be called again, go to a room, after test - go back and sit and wait for name to be called AGAIN, and then go to a room AGAIN. It got old real fast and 5 hours later they gave us the results: negative for a UTI. I was confused why that was but was thankful at least. The doctor said they were going to let the culture grow over the next few days in case there was something they didn't catch while we were there. And low and behold, he called us yesterday to report that the results changed. That she did indeed have an infection and called in an antibiotic. And it's a good thing too because she spiked a fever in the night and wasn't feeling well at all. It's so hard to see your children sick and in pain. I can still vividly remember her screaming in the E.R. and in the room they put us in. At one point, I had done everything I could do to calm her and at another attempt of distraction, I asked her what her Ritz cracker looked like. "A moon? A sun?" I had asked her. "No mama, it looks like a cracker!" Wow. She sure does point out the obvious doesn't she? :) Today is day one on antibiotics. Let's hope we get this infection to go away soon so I can get my little girl's cute personality back! :/

Saturday Drive

Our first stop on our Saturday afternoon drive: Costco to pick up pictures. We were just a few minutes away from pulling in to the crazy parking lot when Jocelyn got a bit antsy in the backseat.

Jocelyn: My blankie fall down and go BOOM! (sad)
Aubrey: (picked up her blankie and gave it to her)
All of us: (LAUGHING that she said her blankie went BOOM!)
Jocelyn: It's NOT funny kids! NOT. FUNNY!!!

{Andrew all ready to go for our afternoon car ride}

Our next stop was Lowes. Our refrigerator light burnt out a few weeks ago but that wasn't the only reason why I wanted to go! Me go to Lowes? Yes, you heard that correctly! Here's the story. Some time ago, way before I was even pregnant with Andrew, I came across a Weight Watchers scale they had on display to try out before buying. It seemed like we lived there while we were remodeling our kitchen so it wasn't hard for me to find on one of our trips to the store. Since Andrew was born, I've been doing pretty good about keeping up on his baby book. With there not being a 3 month well baby visit and us not owning a scale, I knew that we HAD to go to Lowes so I could check his weight and document it in his book. Go ahead and laugh. But I still consider myself a genius for even thinking of doing this! Even despite the strange looks from the passersby down the isle. While John was locating the light bulbs for the fridge, I was scoping out isle #32 for the scales. Lo and behold I found them. Just 2 isles over since the last time I was there. (Let me reassure you that I don't go that often. I'm not a crazy loon that goes everyday. I'm not that OCD!) Once John and the girls caught up with me, I handed over Andrew to John, took down the display scale off the wall and placed it on the floor. I took a deep breath and hopped on begging them not to laugh as I did so. I'm still trying to loose some baby weight so I'm not confident with my weight yet. The numbers 126 popped up on the screen. Great. No weight loss since he was born 3 months ago. But then again, I haven't been consistent with my exercise routine yet so I have no one else to blame but me and the carrot cake I made last week. :) And no, I didn't eat it all on my own! Once the numbers settled into my brain and I wasn't hyperventilating (not really, just trying to add humor to the already humorous story) John placed Andrew back into my arms and we waited again for the numbers to reappear on the screen. Drum roll please..........142.2! Holy cow! That's a 16.2 pound difference. With him fully clothed and a diaper on, I'm going to assume that he weighs around 15 pounds. He turned 3 months on the 19th of March and at his last well baby on the 20th of February, he weighed in at 13 pounds 3 ounces so he's gained almost 2 pounds in a month. It's looking like he's still climbing the charts well and growing like a weed. Just the previous day at the doctor's office, Jocelyn weighed a whopping 23.7 pounds. So it looks like "baby brother" is going to outweigh his "big sister" (who is now 2 1/2 years old mind you) within his first year of life. I find this to be quite amusing. No wonder Jocelyn calls him a "Big Boy!" Thankfully not TOO big! :)

{Getting Andrew ready for a bath}

Spring Soccer Has Begun

SPRING soccer has begun! We'll be in full swing now with tons of practices and games but it seems that with every new season, she gets better and better and enjoys it more and more. Jocelyn even loves going and BEGS to go if I happen to stay home with Andrew to get dinner done or whatnot on occasion. I believe most of the begging stems from the fact that most of the practices/games are held with a playground nearby. Motives people! And lots of priorities this little girl has. :)

Our family was driving to Aubrey's soccer practice tonight and when we pulled up to the school, Jocelyn belted out, "where are we going kids?" She was so calm about it too - not even realizing she had said something funny. :) We all started laughing. We replied back to her ever so gently, "well KIDS...we're going to soccer." That seemed like a good enough reason to her. She was all smiles: PLAYTIME!!!

Aubrey hopped out practically before the truck was put into park (not really - but she was VERY eager to get to play some soccer with her other teammates). About 20 steps later (unfastening seat belts, getting stroller out and unfolded, etc.) we were finally on our way to the field to watch her kick the ball and mingle with the other parents. After 3 months, it's safe to say that I'm still adjusting. LOTS to do at times. For instance, going to story time at the library with Jocelyn has been our thing even before Andrew was conceived. I was even taking her until the very week Andrew was born. About a month ago, we finally ventured out to story time again. WOW! I know our family grew in numbers but the number of arms I have did not. I'm still trying to figure out how in the world am I supposed to hold Andrew in one arm (with him inside his car seat), the diaper bag flung over my right shoulder, holding Jocelyn's hand in my left (until I need to stop and adjust holding the car seat every 10 feet - the thing gets quite heavy!), and the books you say? Well, I'm trying to answer that very question myself. I clearly need to find a system that works. I do know that once the weather gets a bit nicer out, I can put Andrew in the Baby Bjorn. At the end of a 20 minute story time at the library, I'm exhausted! Well...I carried off the original topic but now you can see a better picture (hopefully) of my library nightmare at the moment! :) Somehow, it'll all work out someway or another. It always does.