What's new?

A lot of this and a Lot of that. Things get pretty crazy with 3 growing kids. At times I loose my brain trying to take on so much and other times I can't find enough things to do. (outside of doing the normal mom stuff, which I LOVE by the way) I am working nights. I have enough time to get dinner made and I'm out the door. I get home in time to get about 7 hours of sleep. So it works out perfectly. I just had my schedule changed so I am only working 4 days a week now. It's hard at times because I don't get to see Dave as much as I'd like being on opposite shifts but I think the time he gets with the kids is wonderful. MJ cries for him if he doesn't come home early enough to put her to bed and the boys are always excited to see him walk in the door. Dave works very hard. (as I type this it's 10:30pm and he's still at work and will be till the sun comes up probably) We welcome the work and income and know how lucky we are to have it in these times! He actually just got a raise. I just have to stop and say I am SO in love with my family! :)

MaryJane Is really movin! She's into everything! She can stand alone but hasn't taken any steps yet. She will be 1 in about 2 weeks. Crazy how time flies. She's gettin so big! Her personality is coming out more and more every day. She is so funny :) I can't help but smile when I look at her. She started going down % on the growth chart at her 9 month appointment. The Dr is a little concerned so we have been monitoring that a lot lately. Dave's family is known for smaller kids so we are not super concerned but we are trying to get her to eat as much as we can. It's been hard this past month or so though. my family can't seem to get rid of this cold. We just keep passing it around and around. It turned into RSV with MaryJane, so she wasn't eating very well for a while. But we seem to be coming out of it I hope! She dropped on the chart around the same time I started working then shortly after I stopped nursing so she was having a hard time taking a bottle and wasn't eating much. But as soon as she gave in she turned around and now she's the happiest baby. I don't think I was making enough milk for her especially towards the end so I think that accounts for part of the whole issue. We had her 1 yr pictures done this week by Mary Kim. She did wonderful! I haven't seen the finished product but MaryJane was in the best mood and I give that credit to Mary Kim. She usually has major stranger anxiety! I was planing on having a bunch of pictures of her crying. But we were able to take it slow and things were real mellow. I'm very anxious to get the pictures back!

Jackson is starting to talk more and more. And he's speaking pretty clearly. We have been concerned about his growth for a while but he's steadily moving up in % on the growth chart so I'm happy. Even though the kid won't sit down and eat hardly anything. Thank god for pediasure. :) He pretty much just snacks all day. I know part of his issue was not getting enough calories. We had a lot of problems trying to figure out if or what he was allergic to so I was very limited on what I could give him. He was on Rice milk from the time he was 1 till he was 2. We tried soy but got the same reaction as we got from cows milk so moved on to rice and he loved it and it didn't cause any issues. But we lost out on a lot of the nutritional values. We know now that he has some kind of allergic reaction to dairy and soy but it is not life threatening, it's very minor, so we are not as careful about what he's eating. I think as he is getting older his body has learned to manage it. I rarely see any kind of skin reaction from the contact of the food anymore. We are still unsure why he has such runny poops though. The Dr thinks it's cause he drinks more than the norm. Which could be true... I think he might end up potty training himself. Which I am super excited about. I'm hopping to get him in the 3 yr old pre K class this year. He's a smart kid!

Gage is loving Pre K! I had a parent teacher conference today. She said he's a great kid, listens really well, participates in discussions, plays well with all the kids... Socially he's up to par :) Academically he is about at the level a kid normally is when first starting Pre K. Which I mean he did just start but comparing to the other kids he is behind now. I'm kicking myself for not getting him in sooner! I am new to this whole thing and I wasn't even aware you could put a 3 yr old in pre K or I would have thought about it a year sooner. I myself never went to Pre K so I guess I just didn't realize how important it is. I don't think it will take too long to get him caught up. He needs to work on holding his pencil correct and applying the right amount of pressure when writing so it will be easier on him. He gets discouraged. He knows a lot of this stuff but he has a hard time conveying what's in his head on paper. and recognizing #'s and letters. Funny how every kid is so different. His cousin Katauna, who is in the class with him, is totally opposite. She scored probably the best in the whole class academically. she is SO smart! But she is not as advanced socially and does not follow directions as well. The teacher said she is dependant upon Gage and doesn't want to leave his side. They are both such great kids and I am so proud of them both! :) We are in the middle of registering them for Kindergarten. Can't believe my baby is going to school! <3