Healthy Teeth!

Jacob was due for his 6 month check up with Dr. Jeff on President's Day.  School was out, but teachers had a work day, so Daddy took him!  Jonah came along, too and it'll be his turn to see Dr. Jeff soon!

Jacob has been doing a much better job brushing his teeth and not fighting it lately.  All the hard work paid off and he had zero cavities!  Quite a while ago, we purchased the Sonicare toothbrush for kids and couldn't recommend it more.  We were able to order it through Mim's work and it has really helped Jacob brush for the correct amount of time because of the timer built in.  It beeps when it's time to move to a new quadrant and as long as he doesn't get lazy, he's able to get nice and clean!

We're still working with Jonah to brush his teeth and not just bite the toothbrush when we try to brush!  He usually loves to do it and won't fight too much, thank goodness!!

Brushing up before the appointment!

Jonah watching on as Jacob gets his teeth cleaned. 

Valentine's Day!

After this year, I've decided that Valentine's Day should always fall on a Friday!  The children are always so excited and you don't mind getting them all sugared up at school knowing that they'll be home for the weekend afterwards!  This year was even better because President's Day fell on the following Monday so it was a three day weekend for the kids.

Jacob had to bring his class valentines to school on Monday (which I thought was a bit odd) and we ended up making the same valentines as last year.  A new school and new kids so we didn't mind the same valentines!  I ordered a digital file of Jonah's tags on Etsy and just had them printed in color on cardstock.  Then we bough the GoSqueeze applesauce and attached the tags.  I think they were a hit with all of Jonah's friends!

Jonah's valentines this year-his friends loved the applesauce he brought! 

Jacob's valentines (tags also ordered on Etsy) attached to individual Chips Ahoy cookie bags.

Jonah loved having a pizza party at school with all his friends!

After school, we gave the boys their valentines gift from us.  Needless to say, Jacob received a new Lego set and we gave Jonah a transport truck that holds all the Go Go Smart Wheels vehicles he has collected since Christmas.  They played for a little bit before we headed to the mall.  We love taking the boys to the mall because there is so much to do!  Jacob used his money he got from Mim and Poppa to buy a new Lego set at the Lego store, we stopped by Starbucks for a little treat and bought some new books at Barnes and Noble.  Then it was time to ride the carousel.  Jonah had never ridden it before, and to say he had fun would be a major understatement!  He LOVED it!!  Just as the mall was beginning to get busy, we headed for home.  A special Happy Meal dinner for the boys and then bedtime.  Truly, the perfect way to spend Valentine's Day!!!

More police station Legos to add to his ever-growing collection!

Jonah couldn't wait to take his truck out of the packaging and play!

Jonah was so excited for his first ride on the carousel!

Photo bombed by Jacob!!!

Flashback Friday: Valentine's Day Edition

Valentine's Day 2013

School Days

Jonah loves all kinds of cars and trucks!

Painting is so much fun!

Happy happy!

Giving the donkey a ride

Jonah loves Lego just like his big brother!

Showing his teacher how the dinosaur says "Roar!!!"

Fun playdoh that matches his shirt!!

Some quiet time playing with the airplane (we have this toy at home, but of course he never plays with it!)

Jonah truly loves going to school each day!  He has wonderful, loving teachers and great friends to have fun with!  Each day we receive a report telling us what he did and the teachers do an amazing job planning fun activities to keep him busy all day!  My favorite thing is getting a picture emailed to me during the day and seeing what my little guy is up to!  I am so blessed to do what I love each day and have a great place for Jonah to learn and play!!

Phone Pictures

Lately, we've enjoyed a wonderful mix of fun activities together as a family, date nights and relaxing time in pjs or comfy clothes!  It can be a lot of work to get the boys out and about (making sure we don't leave any essentials at home by accident!) but we made a resolution to do so more often.  It can still be challenging to find age appropriate activities for everyone to enjoy because of the boys' age difference but one thing we all enjoy is a meal at a restaurant!!!

Movie night popcorn time!! 

Enjoying lunch at Posados after church.  Yum!

Jacob loved the decor at La Hacienda.  He was so excited to be in the "Wild West" and wanting to look at all the mounted animals!

Jonah waited patiently for his food with his cars and dinosaurs.  He loves his special restaurant bag filled with goodies he only plays with when we're out to eat.

The day we picked up Jacob's glasses, Jonah decided he wanted glasses of his own.  He found these sunglasses and wore them for the entire afternoon and evening!

After a very cold week, the weekend weather was perfect for a family walk.  We are trying to enjoy the few spurts of nice weather while we can!

Eyes

This summer at Jacob's kindergarten screener, we discovered that he needed a follow up appointment with an eye doctor.  It didn't come as much of a surprise since Nathan and I both wear glasses (Nathan since 4th grade and me since college).  Of course, it's not as easy as just popping by an eye doctor and we had many hurdles to jump (like getting locked out of the house and car on the day of our first appointment) before we finally made it to his appointment on our day off from school.  After only a few short minutes, it became abundantly clear and Jacob does, in fact, need glasses.  He was fitted with frames and we were told to come back in 6 months for a follow up.  Thankfully, he is actually excited about his new glasses (he told me he's the first person in his class to get glasses!) and we just hope he continues to see it as a positive thing and not something to be embarrassed about.

New Year, New Hair

After our trip to Branson, it became clear to me that it was time to finally give in and cut Jonah's hair.  His curls started really coming in this fall and I have pushed off his first haircut since then.  Jacob had his first haircut when he was 14 months old, but Jo's curls were just so gosh darn cute!  The one thing about them, though, is that they are NOT low maintenance.  I had to wet his entire head, comb and then the fluff each morning.  But then they didn't stay looking well groomed all day long.  The time had come, but I was still having a hard time letting go!

Nathan took him to the same place Jacob gets his hair cut.  I felt like a bad mom for not being there, but in all honesty, I just couldn't watch someone cut off all those adorable curls.  I thought about just having them trim the curls so his hair was a bit longer, but without mommy looking on and monitoring, that's just not what I got. 

When Nathan and Jonah arrived back home, I instantly started crying and regretting my decision.  Yes, his hair will be much easier to fix before school each morning and yes, it will look much more "put together".  But, those curls were part of his little personality!  He still looks absolutely adorable, but definitely has become a "little boy".  Who knows, maybe the curls will return as his haircut grows out a little.  I can dream, right?

Jonah was feeling a little apprehensive about letting go of his curls (or is that just mommy projecting???).

He loved playing with all the toys while sitting in the racecar!

The curly aftermath.

My baby with a little boy haircut!