Happy Birthday Grandma Curtis!

We are lucky to have such a great Grandma, and we wanted to say Happy Birthday!! I was asking Jessica some questions about Grandma, and here's how it went:

Me: What is your favorite thing to do with Grandma?
Jessica: Play Molly with her.

Me: Where's your favorite place to go with Grandma?
Jessica: McDonalds.

Me: How old do you think Grandma is today?
Jessica: Well . . . how old was she before her birthday?

Me: Why is your Grandma so special to you?
Jessica: She's super nice, and loves me super much.

Me: Why do you love Grandma so much?
Jessica: Because she loves me so.

Happy Birthday. Thanks for being such a great Grandma (not a great-grandma, but you know, a wonderful Grandma! :-) , mother-in law, and Mom. We love you and hope that you have a great day. You deserve it!

PS. Will asked me to make sure I got your package mailed last week, and it's still on my desk. I'm so sorry. I'll get that in the mail for you (and I might as well include our Father's Day gift for Jess at this point!!) :-/

Stary Night

Jessica and Willbon love the movie Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. In the movie there's a part where they put up glow stars all around the room. So we went to the store to buy some glow stars, and Jessica and Will were pretty excited when we let them put up the stars wherever they wanted to in their room.

These are the stars above Jessica's bed.
(This is the first time I've tried a night shot with my camera . . . and I love it!!)

Super Mom

I haven't posted recently because I've been busy being Super Mom. : )
I've been excersizing, preparing three family meals a day, playing with the children more -- inside and outside, going to the park and the beach, riding bikes, cleaning up after everyone, keeping up with all the laundry, doing the dishes after every meal, teaching Jessica how to read and write, helping Will with his letters, letting Jonathan walk everywhere, getting everyone in bed at least 5 minutes before bedtime, getting to school on time, and a host of other things that are keeping me busy busy busy!
I don't mention these things to toot my own horn, because I'm the first one to admit that this is quite unusual for me. I usually do what I need to do to keep things running moderately smoothly, and then I put off the rest. I spend my free time (time when everyone is happy and playing and/or napping) updating my blog, scrapbooking, surfing the net, or watching TV. Now I am spending my free time lying in bed completely exhausted and sore from head to toe.
I am going to have to redefine what Super Mom means, because this effort I've been putting in is crazy! Thankfully I am very blessed to have a family that appreciates me for however much or little I do. : )
In the mean time, full steam ahead!! Hopefully my family can enjoy the clean house, family meals, fun and games, and extra attention while I still have the energy to keep it up.
Hats off to all the great Mom's out there. It's an exhausting job, but extremely rewarding -- especially when going the extra mile!

Let him eat cake!

After naps were over we made cupcakes, and Jessica and Will frosted them all by themselves! They had lots of fun, and then we all had fun eating them -- especially the birthday boy!!

Jonathan has probably had bits of cake and frosting here or there (mostly snuck to him by his father!!), but this was his first cupcake to eat as he pleased, and he loved it! As you can see from the pictures, he had no reservations smearing that frosting all over his face, hands, shirt, table, floor, etc! Immediately following the festivities, all the children went straight in the bath.

We were hoping to celebrate at the park, but it turned out to be a rainy day, so once the rain stopped, we all went for a little bike ride instead. It turned out to be a nice relaxing day, and we got to spend lots of time together, which is always nice. : )

PS. I just wanted to add that Will and I have found lots of joy in the Gorilla Blocks today too. They are pretty fun! Will was shooing the kids away as he was trying to build with the blocks. As he describes it, he was trying to maintain the integrity of a structurally sound superstructure, or as Jessica describes it, he was building a house with windows! lol

PPS. Happy Birthday little Spud!! We had a fun day (even if you won't remember it!).

Gorilla Blocks

All the children loved the Gorilla Blocks Grandma Curtis gave Jonathan for his birthday. Jessica and Will quickly took over building, and Jonathan went from tower to tower tipping them over!! He then discovered that they were fun to crawl on, stick his head into, and of course -- BITE! I'm happy to say that the hardy blocks withstood all of Jonathan's investigating, including the biting! Somebody over at the factory was thinking on this one!

This is Jessica and Will posing by the alien Jessica built.

Thanks Grandma!!

Happy Birthday Jonathan!!

My Dear Sweet Jonathan,

I can't believe it's already been a year since you were born. It seems like just a few weeks ago that you were lying in my arms in the hospital looking around at everything wide-eyed and curious. It seems like just a few weeks ago that you were cuddling up and falling asleep on my chest. Just a few weeks ago that you were sleeping in our bed and reaching out to touch my face so you could fall asleep. Just a few weeks since you’ve wanted to nurse every few hours. Just a few weeks since we could put you anywhere, and not have to worry about you rolling off.

And now look at you!! You have learned to roll, sit, crawl and walk – and sleep in your own crib!! You are eating table foods, and drinking milk out of a cup. You are playing with toys and can entertain yourself. You are trying your hardest to keep up with your brother and sister. You love to laugh, and you love to make us laugh. You have an infectious smile that spreads across your whole face!! You love to go outside, and every time the door opens you race over to see if someone will let you out. You are mostly calm and laid back, and content to watch things happen around you. However, you’ve developed a bit of a temper when it comes to someone taking something away from you, or preventing you from going somewhere you want. I guess that’s all part of trying to fight for your rights with two older siblings!!

You are still so sweet. You still love to cuddle, and every morning before we get up for the day Daddy puts you in bed next to me so we can enjoy a few moments together before everyone else gets up. You snuggle in close and lay your head on my chest, just like you used to do when you were a baby. The last few weeks you have become very attached to me. You cry if I put you down, or give you to Daddy. You rarely want to leave my side! I know that even these moments will be gone all too soon, so in the meantime I cherish them.

I don’t want to forget these precious times. I know that there will be many many precious moments with you to come, and I can’t wait to be there cheering you on. Soon you will be talking, and running, and then before I know it you will be off to school!

I’m grateful for the times I can look back and remember the little baby you were and I’m grateful for the glimpses that I see of the little boy you are becoming.

I love you, and am so glad that you are part of our family. : )

Love, Mom