Dude, that's rude!

 Did I mention that both of these kids are rough and tumble boys?  Well that doesn't even start to describe the masculine energy that overtakes our household every day.

 As long as we are digging in mulch and gathering bugs outside, all is well. We enjoyed petting the animals during our trip to Old Baker Farm but everyone in the family suffered from a virus that began at the end of the weekend and lasted a week. This stomach flu thing may end up being an annual visitor for us since we have been hit once or twice a year since J began school at age 2.

Both boys still suffer from food allergies and Jackson recently experienced an anaphylactic reaction to a pistachio which resulted in an epipen and ER visit. He is evidently allergic to all nuts which is contradictory to allergy test results. 

Hank is a precious stinker who thinks he can tell me "no" to everything and scream "don't look at me!"  He is a lovey baby though and makes up for it with choke hold hugs. 

Can't take heat? Get out of kitchen.

Now we are two months into school and well on our way to Thanksgiving. I'm afraid I'm going to wake up tomorrow morning and they are going to be freshmen in college. Jackson is in the 4 year old class and Hank in the two year old class at Mother's Day Out. They just had their Halloween party at school and J was Batman while Hank was Superman for the trick or treating excursion. We went trick or treating with our awesome neighbors, Addie, Emily, Chase, and Ashlyn. 

 Jackson played tball over the summer which was a real challenge since Hank didn't understand why he wasn't playing. Hank wanted to chase balls, swing baseball bats and run onto the field. I was glad to see it end. We swam a lot as well. Jackson continues to rock along with swim lessons which we now take at a health club. He is getting really good and should be able to be on swim team next summer at our country club. Hank is being a good boy at school. I am so proud of him. And he loves going and playing with the kids, making sort, circle time, etc.  Of course both of them love to put on the ritz at home and challenge me to no end either their wild and defiant behavior. Time to use the Santa Claus threat!!  Ha ha. No. Ho ho.

The Little Professor

I'll explain later. 

Miss You MawMaw

In mid March we unexpectedly lost our sweet MawMaw to a rare type of brain cancer.  This has been very hard for our family.  Jackson has asked lots of questions that are hard to answer.  We miss her so much and think of her constantly. We know how much she would have enjoyed seeing the kids grow up.  I guess that we should feel fortunate that this terrible disease did not take her away from us before Hank was born.  If this had happened a year ago, she would have never seen Hank.  It's hard to think about how much joy these babies brought into her life -- we wanted her to have so many more wonderful years with us.   

Walkin and Talkin

Wow, where did all the time go?  The countdown to Hank's first birthday, easter, the beginning of the summer, the end of the summer---would seem like a century, right?  Wrong.  The time is flying by and I feel like we are getting caught up in the day-to-day of it all to stop and  smell the roses.  Hank turned 1 on March 1.  He started walking shortly after.  Meanwhile, Jackson continued to turn into a big boy--attending mother's day out---behaving perfectly during his haircuts--helping with baby and things around the house--doing things that seemed so out of reach just 5 months ago. 

 We accidentlly missed the easter egg hunt that was held in our neighborhood.  Mommy got the time wrong by 30 minutes.  Since it takes an act of God to get out of the house with everyone in tact, that became more a feat that one would think.  The babies didn't notice, but Jackson is very "with it" now so I could never pull off a mistake like that again.  They were able to get rocket icee pops and see the easter bunny though.  A sweet friend of ours gave us some of the easter eggs from his basket.  (Thanks Erin--I owe you one). 

 After Hank started to walk---he started to run----I wish I had eight arms and legs.  That way I would have a chance to keep up with both of them at the same time. 

 Hank has decided that he can deliver orders to everyone in the house--never obey requests to do anything--ever---and hit, throw, and scream/fit pitch.  He is a live wire and in that phase where he will completely lose control over himself if you take something away from him.  He is very interested in dangerous items and expensive items.  Cords to lamps, wall outlets, knives, and glass are among his greatest interests.  Chokable items, nonedibles, heavy things, cell phones, monitors and remote controls make his eyes light up in a way that nothing else can.  Can we say exhausting?