Happy New Year!

Happy New Years Eve everyone. We decided to do a few fireworks before putting Jessica and Will in bed. It was fun and very casual.

Will and I were deciding if we wanted to do anything with our friends, or invite some people over, but we weren't sure if we'd be up to staying up 'till midnight. : / I guess we're getting old and boring. Anyway, we at least celebrated with the kids, even if it was at 6:00 pm instead of midnight!


(Notice the shorts?! It is a cool 60 degrees tonight. I love Florida!)

Love my craft cutter!!

I got a digital craft cutter for Christmas, and I love it! I got it to help me with my scrapbooking, but I'm having lots of fun using it to cut vinyl for my walls. Here's my latest project. This is a picture of one of our walls in our great room.

Christmas at the Curtis home!

We had a great Christmas this year. Jessica (almost 5 now!) is the perfect age for enjoying everything about Christmas. She wrote a list to Santa and loved the advent calendars counting down the days 'till Christmas. She loved the Christmas songs and especially all the presents under the tree! Willbon (3) didn't seem to grasp everything that was going on, but he understood the presents! It was a miracle that the gifts under the tree prior to Christmas actually made it 'till the 25th without being opened! It was so fun hearing Jessica and Will out in the living room early Christmas morning as they looked at the presents Santa had brought.

Will's family drove out to spend Christmas with us, and we had a lot of fun. Jessica and Will never seemed to run out of energy (not that that's surprising!) and Jonathan was content so long as someone was holding him or paying attention to him (also not surprising!). We had a nice time together watching movies, playing games, watching the children, and eating WAY TOO MANY sweets.

Jessica and Will had a Christmas program at the preschool, and I am so glad that I was there with my camera. Will was in a BAD mood, and during the whole program he was either crying, hiding on the floor, or plugging his ears while the rest of the children sang. It was pretty funny (and sad) but mostly I'm glad that I have it all on camera!

During the Thanksgiving program just last month he was up on stage singing louder than anyone else up there and loving every minute of it. Ahhhh three year olds!! You just never know how things are going to turn out.

I also got some new pictures of the three children with their cute Christmas outfits on. Somehow with 4 adults helping I managed to get a few good ones.

We had a wonderful Christmas, and we hope that you all did too. I guess I oughta take my tree and decorations down, but I'm putting it off because I want Christmas to last as long as possible.

Christmas is coming the baby's getting fat

Sorry it's been awhile since I posted. Things around here are pretty crazy. I have all three children on antibiotics for one thing or another, and poor Jonathan is having some breathing problems. The doctor thinks he has Bronchiolitis (basically baby asthma), so we've been doing breathing treatments 4 times a day to try and help him breath easier. It finally seems to be helping, but he's been pretty miserable the last few days. In the meantime we're trying to get ready for Christmas. Hopefully we'll all be better by then. (fingers crossed!)
So despite all the things on my to-do list, I couldn't resist taking a few minutes to get these pictures of Jonathan. He weighs in at 22 lbs, and I knew I had to get some pictures highlighting all his precious rolls!

6 months old

Jonathan turned 6 months old a few days ago, and out of curiosity I started looking at the pictures of Jessica and Will when they were 6 months old. I found these three pictures and put them all together for a side-by-side comparison. First is Jessica, then Willbon, then Jonathan. They are all the same age in these pictures (give or take a week). So many people tell me that all our children look the same, but other than the big eyes, the all have a unique look to me. What do you think? Who looks like who? or do they all look alike? (you can click on the picture for a bigger view)

Park Day

It started to get pretty cold last week, but we've had a few really nice days in a row. I thought we better take advantage of the nice weather before it starts getting cold again. So, we headed off to the park. Jonathan has been a bystander at our park days a lot, but today I figured he was old enough to enjoy the park from outside of the stroller. He'll be 6 months old tomorrow, and he was more than ready for his first swing ride! He loved it! He didn't mind just sitting in the seat and watching Jessica and Will run around, and when he got a little push he would smile and laugh.

This was Jonathan's first trip down the slide. He didn't enjoy that as much as the swing, but he didn't complain any.

Jessi really surprised me on the swings. She was pumping all by herself on the big swing. I got a little nervous because she was going so high! I asked her how she learned to do that, and she said she just knew how. (They have swings at her school, so I'm guessing she's had lots of practice.) Also, if you notice her shirt, we got a fun Halloween package from Grandma Curtis (thanks Grandma!), and Jessica decorated her shirt with all the stickers she got.

Here's Will and Jonathan sharing a laugh at the park. It was fun to have Will join us when he got off work.

Happy Halloween!

We had lots of fun this year for Halloween, but it did get a bit crazy. Between Pre-school and church and neighborhood trick-or-treating, we were busy for two straight days. Jessica and Will did really well despite the late nights and all the dressing up. They had a lot of fun, and got WAY too much candy.

Jessica was Tinkerbell, and she was a very beautiful Tink. I borrowed a costume from a friend, but it didn't meet Jessica's standards, so I ended up making her one myself. (This girl is SOOO particular!!) From the hair to the shoes Jessica knew exactly what she wanted to look like. There were severeal other Tinkerbells that we saw, and Jessica kept telling me, "Mom, they are just fairies. There is only one Tinkerbell and that's me!" : ) She "flew" around all night and never did seem to tire. She loved telling everybody that we saw that she was Tinkerbell.

Willbon was Captain Hook. He loved being a pirate, and he sure did put on a show. At first he wouldn't say anything to anybody, but by the end of the night he was saying all sorts of Pirate speak -- "Arrrrrrgh" was his favorite, but he threw in a few "Yo Ho Ho!" and "Ahoy Matey"s. He loved that he got to carry around a hook all night. He called it his 'sharp'.

We didn't really dress-up Jonathan, but luckily he barely fit into Wills old Halloween outfit. At 20 pounds and almost 6 months we should have dressed him up like a pumpkin. He slept through the trick-or-treating while Will pushed him in the stroller.

So another Halloween has come and gone. It was more fun this year that Jessica and Will are a bit older. But now I have to figure out what to do with all this candy!!

just so lovable

I've started scrapbooking again, so that means the photo shoots are back! Adding one more child to the mix makes things pretty interesting, but thank goodness for digital cameras. So far Jonathan seems pretty photogenic, and instead of crying as soon as he sees the camera, he actually smiles! That's a nice change to Jessica and Will, hopefully it will last!

Willbon was pretty grumpy during the whole affair, but he was still very tender with his brother.

Jessica loves to give Jonathan attention, and Jonathan is more than happy to encourage her. She is good at getting him to laugh and smile, and when he cries she will sing him songs or play toys with him. She's turning out to be a great big sister!

This is one of the only shots I got where all three kids are actually in the frame!

Jonathan is cutting teeth, so he's constantly trying to chew on whatever he can get his gums on.

A few new phrases!

There are lots of things about Prekindergarten that I like. Jessica is learning a lot, and having fun at the same time. She is figuring out the basic concepts of reading, and she is getting really close to being able to read. She is also making lots of new friends.
However, there are a few things that I don't like so much. The first is that I am constantly being reminded how fast my baby is growing up. The other things are more superficial, like the crying over who played with who during recess, and who isn't going to invite Jessica to their birthday party that day. The other thing is the interesting phrases and words that are constantly popping up in Jessica's daily conversations. Today Jessica woke up from her nap and said that she was a little hungry. I asked her if she wanted a string cheese, to which she responded, "What the heck!! You're a genius!!" : ) Umm . . . . OK Jessica!! A little bit over dramatic, but that's my girl!

Willbon Sings the ABCs

Willbon learned his ABCs in pre-school a few months ago, and he just loves singing the song. Hit the video for his lettered sophistication:

5 months old

Jonathan turned 5 months old a few days ago. I thought I would update you on his progress. He is getting much more stable and can hold his head up really good when he's on his tummy.

He is also kind of sitting up by himself. He tips over and starts trying to eat his toes, and occasionally he flings himself backwards or sideways, so we have to watch him, but he's getting close. He's still cuter than ever and growing by the second!

All by myself!

For the last week or so we've been walking Jessica through the steps of tying her own shoes. A few days ago she said she was ready to try it all by herself. I got the camera and off she went, tying a perfect knot!! Good job Jessica!!

Hold both laces -- switch hands -- one side goes through the hole -- pull tight
Make a tree -- the bunny runs around the tree -- the bunny goes through the hole -- pull tight

My first shiner

Last night Jessica was helping Jonathan sit up in the swing when she let him go and he came tumbling out! He did a pretty good face plant on the legs of the swing, and now he has a nice shiner above his eye. He recovered quickly and didn't seem too worse for the wear, but we had to get a picture anyway. His first semi-black eye!! "Thanks a lot sister!"

Water Fun!

The weather has started to cool down a bit, so we are able to play outside again. A few days ago I decided to let Jessica and Will help me wash the car. It turned into a water fight, and Jessica and Will had a lot of fun! The car is a bit cleaner too, but that was kind of a side-note to the water fight!

Quick Update

I had a few things to report on, so i thought I'd quickly mention some things. Will got home from Colorado, and we were excited to see him and have him back. Will kept bragging about the weather in Colorado, but what he didn't know is how nice the weather was here!! It's actually been cool this week, and it's so nice. Usually summer is so hot and humid and sticky that we try and limit our outside time to walking to the car and back to the house. But finally the weather is nice and cool. So we started taking advantage of it by going to the park, riding bikes, and taking walks. It's been really nice. : )
Another thing to report is how much Willbon has taken to preschool. He loves to go to school, and everyday Jessica goes he asks me if it's his turn to go too. In his words he asks this by saying, "Will go play with trains?" He is getting good at recognizing numbers and even a few letters. His favorite song is a "days of the week" song. He used to stand by the door and grab my arm as I left him, but now he gives me a kiss, says bye and gives his teacher Mrs. Brown a big hug. It's great to see him adjust and enjoy school.
Jessica also loves school. She is starting to learn what phonics is all about, and she likes to ask me what letter everything starts with. The biggest adjustment for her is learning to cope with the 4-yr old social drama. Some days her best friend won't play with her, and sometimes she tells me about making new friends, and sometimes she tells me about girls telling her that she can't play with them and they're not going to invite her to their birthday party. It's a rough life as a 4-yr old! She has a tough time some days, but she'll get it all figured out.
Jonathan is still trying his best to roll over. No luck yet, but getting very close. He is getting bigger and stronger and cuter everyday!
Well that's the update for now. Speaking of Jonathan, he just woke up, so times up!

My XBox boys

I coach volleyball every afternoon, so when Will gets home from work he watches the children for an hour or so until I get home. Oft times I come home and this is where I find Will and Jonathan:

And here's a close-up to show just how little Jonathan likes his Daddy-and-me time:

Still Giant!

I took Jonathan to the doctor today for his 4 month shots. He got measured and weighed, so I thought I would give you all the update. He is still in the running to be the next great linebacker for the BYU Cougars (or Florida Gators). At almost 18 and a half pounds, he is still off the charts for weight, and at 26.5 inches long he is at the very top of the chart for height.
I took Willbon with me, and when the doctor came in and saw the two of them, he said, "Which one is the 4 month old?"
So Jonathan is a healthy little chunk of a baby. (Darc -- Do you remember telling me way back when that you wanted to have a rolly-polly baby? Well, that's a good way to describe Jonathan!)
Just a comparison, Jessica was 18 and a half pounds when she turned one!! Crazy right?!

Here comes trouble

I can't remember if I mentioned this story on the blog, but several weeks ago Will took some scissors to my home-made curtains. I got this picture of him looking too cute to cause so much trouble -- but make no mistake, the evidence is there!

Rollin Rollin Rollin

First things first -- is this not the cutest baby you've ever seen?!
(And look at those bright blue eyes!)

Jonathan has started to try and roll over the last few days. Any day now he'll flip himself onto his tummy. I took this picture yesterday. He had already wriggled himself mostly off the blanket and was a few kicks away from rolling over. I'm not too excited that he's about to roll over, because I really like being able to leave him anywhere and know that he'll be there when I get back, but it's fun that he's getting bigger and learning new things.

Where's the baby?

I had laid Jonathan down to change his diaper, and then someone came to the door. I finished up and got the door. After visiting for a few minutes I went back to get the baby and this is what I saw. I guess the little tyke was tired! There is nothing quite as sweet as a sleeping baby.

A toy for me!

We decided to splurge on an excersaucer for little Jonathan this weekend. We had one for Jessica and Will, but they wore it out, and I kept putting off buying another one because they are kind of pricey. When we first put Jonathan in the seat, he was so excited! His eyes got big and bright and his arms started wiggling all around. He didn't know what to look at first. It has definitely been a big hit, and I think Jonathan was excited to have something all his own that big brother and sister couldn't take away from him.

A first for everything!

Tonight we succeeding in doing something that has only taken 4 and a half years. : / We tired Jessica out!
Some quick background: Jessica has been crying herself to sleep basically since she was born. She hates going to sleep and fights every nap and every bedtime. It's just been something that we've grown used to. There have been many many times when we've had busy days or late nights, and we would think, "Well, maybe Jessica will be so tired that naptime or bedtime won't be such an issue this time. We have always been wrong, and no matter how busy the day or late the night, Jessica never seems to be out of energy.
Tonight Will had a planning meeting at a friends house, and the family was invited for a cook out (Florida speak for BBQ) and to swim while they planned stuff. I swam with Jessica and Will for awhile, and then joined the meeting while Jessica kept swimming and playing with some of the other children there. By the time we got home and ready for bed it was 9:00 pm (one hour past normal bedtime.) As we were kneeling down for prayer, Jessica said, "Can we please hurry because I am out of energy and I need to go get in bed."
I think my jaw hit the floor!! What?!! Jessica out of energy and asking to go to bed?!! Who is this girl, and what has she done with my daughter! I was still in shock as the prayer ended and Jessica went straight to bed without complaint. By the time I got up to go give her hugs and kisses she was under the covers and closing her eyes. I guess she really was out of energy. I didn't think it was possible for my little firecracker to run out of energy, but I guess there really is a first for everything!

PreKindergarden

Jessica is loving going to school everyday! She has a lot of fun and has made lots of new friends. She usually is so excited once she gets home that she talks and talks. Throughout the rest of the day she remembers things that she did and she tells me lots of stories. My favorite so far is when I asked her if she ever played with any of the boys in her class. She told me that they just like to hug and then fall to the floor, and they get in trouble. I told her that's called wrestling, and it's a boy thing. She said that she likes to play girl things. : )

This is a picture I took of Jessica on her first day. I'll admit it, when I dropped her off I got a bit teary eyed. I love to watch her grow up, but with each milestone there is a bit of sadness that her childhood is slipping away so quickly!

Dots or spots?

I just had to post this picture. I came home from volleyball a few days ago, and Jessica wasn't there at the door to greet me. Will told me that she was hiding, because she was afraid she would be in trouble as soon as I saw her. This got me curious, so I started looking for her. When I found her, I almost didn't recognize her.

I couldn't help but laugh. After she realized I wasn't mad, and she came out from behind the couch, I asked her what she was thinking. She responded (with a "duh mom" tone of voice), "I was dressing up like a leopard." Of course!! I should have known. It took a few baths to get her out of her leapard costume, but these are the moments when I am glad that I have a camera! Having children sure keeps life interesting! : )

Nemo Cake

When Will requested a Nemo cake, I thought "No problem", but it was pretty tricky. As I was finishing putting the last little bit of frosting on, I started wondering why I didn't just go to Walmart and buy a cake with Nemo on it! I was also thinking that cake decorating, and an art degree should be required for motherhood. The real test came when Jessica came downstairs to see how I was doing, and she commented, "Well Mom, it's almost cute." Thanks Jessica!

But Will loved it!! He recognized it as Nemo, and that was what counts. He had a great day, and today he's been happy happy playing with all his new toys.

Grandma got here last night, and Jessica and Will have wasted no time keeping her busy with games and books and vying for her attention. The house is full of happy playing noises, and it's very nice!

Happy Birthday Willbon!

I can't believe that my little boy is three years old today!! Time sure does fly. I was sort of hoping that turning three would mean that Will's stubborn/independent phase would turn into a cooperative/obedient phase -- no such luck just yet! I'll keep you posted.

Grandma Curtis is coming to visit tonight. We are really excited that she could come, and Jessica and Will have been counting down the days. Will knew that Grandma was coming on his birthday, so this morning when the doorbell rang, he started yelling, "Gramma!! Gramma!!" : )

Jessica helped me wrap some presents this morning, and Will was pretty upset that he was not being included. So after we got everything wrapped, we let Will help us write names on the gifts. He carefully drew some lines while saying various letters like "f -- r -- p". (They all looked a lot like l's, but he was trying!)

Well, I'm off to make a Nemo cake. If it turns out I'll post a picture.

Happy Birthday to my sweet three year old!! I love you!

Crazy and Hectic!

Well, this last week or so has been crazy insane!! Getting ready for girls camp was all-consuming, and little Jonathan has decided not to sleep from about 1-3 am every night!! I have been taking everything one day at a time trying to stay sane. Jonathan is soooo cute, but he is sure trying our patience lately. When he wakes up, he's not hungry, he just wants attention. He'll scream and scream, and the second I hold his hand and start talking to him he coos and smiles and wiggles all around. He just doesn't realize that it's the middle of the night, and I am too tired to play! Then when I leave he screams again. : / We've tried just about everything we can think of. All the things that worked with Jessica and Will he's just not interested in. We are getting pretty sleep deprived. Anybody want a cute little baby that will play and smile at you all night long? . . . as long as you don't try and fall asleep on the job? : )

Advice from Jessica

Yesterday Jessica was not being very nice to her brother Will. I started talking to her about why it is important that she be nice to her brother when she tilted her head to the side and interrupted me with this serious comment: "Mom, I was trying to be nice, but sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose. That's just the way the world works." : )

New Computer

I have several cute pictures to add to my blog from the last few days, but we got a new computer, and Will is still getting things put together -- including moving my photo card reader to the new computer. Hopefully we'll get everything done this weekend, and we'll be up and running again by Monday.

Family Home Evening

Jessica talked about families at church on Sunday in her Primary class, and her teachers must have talked to her about having family home evening. She told me yesterday that she was supposed to remind us. : ) So we decided to do it last night.
We talked about homes and families and Will and I told stories to Jessica and Willbon about when we were little. We shared stories about things we liked to do and memories of places we went and traditions we had. Jessica loved it! She kept saying, "I like that too! Just like you!" I told her about being a secret leprechaun and this morning she remembered all the details and asked when we could do it again. Will talked about having the beach in his back yard. Jessica thought that would be so fun, and it made Willbon want to go to the beach! A few things the children shared were: Jessica's favorite primary song is "Popcorn Popping", and Will's favorite food is tomatoes and smarties.

For our treat/activity we made houses out of graham crackers and frosting and candy. We had a lot of fun. Thanks to Jessica's primary teachers!

Volleyball Camp

We started volleyball camp yesterday. For anyone that doesn't know I coach a Middle School volleyball team. We had fun, but I'm pretty worried because I found out that 3 of my starters are going to different schools this year!! Yikes! Hopefully we'll get some new girls to take their places. (Keeping my fingers crossed!)

Blessing day

Our sweet little Jonathan was blessed today. It was a very nice blessing and even though we weren't with our family, I felt grateful for our wonderful friends that made the moment special. I wasn't able to duplicate Mom's shorthand, but I did take notes so that Jonathan can look at them someday. He started crying when all the men were trying to get situated in the circle, but once Will started the blessing he quieted right down. : ) That's my boy! I barely got his little outfit over his chubby little tummy, and once I did I couldn't believe how handsome he looked!

This morning I was talking to Jessica about what a blessing is, and she was very interested. She started coming up with a list of things that she wanted her Daddy to say. At the top of the list was a blessing that he could grow up fast so that he could play with her. Next was that he would be obedient and be a good example. : )

We missed all of you today! We feel very blessed to have such great families. We love you!

Pioneer Day

Yesterday was our Stake Pioneer Day Celebration. It was very hot and humid, but we decided to brave it anyway. There were lots of pioneer games and cute covered wagons that different people made out of little red wagons. Jessica and Will both tried their hand at the stick pull.

Ready . . . . set . . . go!

Jessica didn't quite pull hard enough, but she had fun anyway!

Will was eager to try, but when it came down to it neither he or the girl he was with wanted to pull very hard. They both just let go when they could feel the other one pulling. It was pretty cute. We called it a tie, and Jessica was thrilled that he got a tie!

Aspens birthday

This morning we went to help clean up the church. Jessica and Will helped me clean all the windows and glass. Jessica dusted all the wood in the chapel and all the pianos, Willbon erased all the chalk boards and arranged the hymn books on the chairs. I'm not sure how much we really got done, but I thought it was important to go and show Jessica and Will that we need to help take care of the church and keep it clean.

After that we went straight to Aspens birthday party. She was having a Princess party at a place called "Parties to Remember". They do everything for you, you just show up. The decorations were pretty cool. The whole room looked like a castle. Wills favorite part was the punch fountain.

Jessica got to sing karaoke. She sang her favorite -- "Part of your world" from the Little Mermaid. Notice she's wearing her Piniata skirt. She told me this morning that this is the perfect party outfit! I had to agree. : )