January 2019

Wrestling with Dad. I love these 3 and all the sweet giggles and laughs. The kind that only Jacob can get out of them <3

Poor Wilson. We told the kids we were going to Sams. And then we got there and realized they were closed on New Years Day. He was so upset. Lol.

I slightly anal about how things have a place and everything goes in their place. Like for the longest time I would count all 80 of the duplo blocks as I put them back in the bag. And each of the 4 colors of bloxus have 21 pieces... I know, I'm weird. So we were cleaning up Bloxus one day and I was flustered that we were missing a piece... A little later I found it as I was changing his diaper. Lol.

Mmm... King Cake ice cream. So glad we live some where that sells Bluebell ;)

They insisted on wearing their reindeer pajamas while we went to run errands. They were being so stinking cute and sweet to each other.

I have way too many pictures of my kids sleeping. It's my favorite though. Look how cute they are! I just want to cuddle them!

Jacob gets a little dramatic about changing poopy diapers sometimes ;)

Look who can write her name!

I stepped out of my comfort zone and let the kids help me squeeze lemons to make lemonade. I'm not a fan of messes. And it's so much easier to do some things my self. They are good and cute little helpers though.

Once she has started, there's no stopping her now! I'm seriously impressed with her. She can spell Kayla, Wilson, McConnell, Stop, Potty, say her address, say my phone number, say Jacob's phone number, and so much more! She definitely has a great memory!! I'll read her a book for the first time, and then she'll say "now it's my turn to read" and recite the story back to me. Some of the pages even word for word what I had read. And she knows most sounds that the letters of the alphabet make, so if she's in a good enough mood (yes, Jacob... she is my daughter with her attitude and moody-ness...) I can point to a word and she'll tell me the letters and the sounds they make, and we'll sound it out together to read the word. She's a seriously smart cookie! I love watching her learn and grow!! And Wilson is right behind her. I've always felt that he's just wanted to be big like her. He started walking early, talking early (and really well for his age! maybe that's just my opinion. idk. they both have me impressed though!), and he's got all the same things ^^^ memorized (spelling names, and a few certain words, plus our address and phone numbers. well, he's still working on Jacobs, he's almost there though.) His is mostly memorizing the tunes to things. I sing most things I want them to know. Kayla, Wilson, and potty go to the tune of Bingo. Our phone numbers and McConnell go to the tune of the Mickey Mouse song. With our address, Wilson says it really fast in the little tune we always sing it to, it's kind of hard to understand if you don't know what he's doing, and I don't know how much of it he really knows. It sure is super cute though!!

Some times I really like my personal space. They have no clue what that is. I'm trying to embrace these moments when they both want to sit and cuddle me. It won't be like this forever. Some days it's actually really hard for me. They are so worth it though. And when things get hard, these are the moments that help me get through. I hope they'll be able to look back and remember these happy moments and not my not so nice mom moments...

I mentioned it briefly above... but I'm a little anal about certain things. And I'm trying to be better... The chairs were a train in this picture. I LOVE when they use their imaginations! I'm not a big fan of the messes I have to clean up, and the fights I have to break up, and the tears I have to wipe because fingers were pinched when the chair was upside down being used for a train.... Does that make any sense? Because it's something I actually really struggle with. But I took a deep breath... no one was getting hurt (yet ;P) and enjoyed the moment. Look how happy and cute they are!!

Wilson gives the sweetest cuddles <3

Kayla drew a picture of me. Haha.

One day we were out running errands while Jacob was working... I came home and saw his truck tucked away and hiding. Our street connects to 2 major roads, and most of the time I take the one... but we had happened to be at the library and I took the other one and saw the truck as I pulled into the driveway. He was hoping I'd come from the other way and be able to surprise us when we walked inside. Lol.

I really struggle with cooking. I feel like the things I do make, I make them all the time... or that I'm basically making the same thing in a different way over and over again. Not to mention Jacob's work schedule... it's pretty much just me and the kids at night and they never want to eat what I make. Anyways... lots of different struggles around dinner, but sometimes it just hits the spot. It tastes amazing and every one eats it. My favorite is when the table is silent because everyone is devouring their food... and not crying about it... 

Playing with pizza dough at story time!

I honestly have no idea why I took this pic. that's what I get for waiting 6 months to update my blog... it's a cute little family pic though. Lol.

Jacob had seen similar shirts online a while back, and so I had my sister make them for us. 

Checking out Norton Art Gallery

They had the cutest little kids area. They kids both loved it... And tolerated going through the rest of the museum with us afterwards. Haha.

A post from the restaurant that brought the pizza dough to story time. A friend saw it and tagged me. Cute kids! and of course, Jessie is never far behind Kayla.

More working on name writing.

Big Caitlin Connolly fan here... and I was pretty excited when she shared a pic that I had sent her of my wall of her work. Lol.

Kayla started crying. I walked in to the living to find her upset that Jessie was stuck on the fan. Hahahah.

Bless her heart. I'd like to think she learned her lesson about tossing Jessie in the air. I doubt it though...

Comfy cozy watching Cars. Wilson is a big Lightning McQueen fan.

I was pretty impressed that she recognized these states. Utah, Texas, and Louisiana. Seriously, she is constantly amazing me!

Proud of her work!

These stupid stuffed animals are adorable and make them so happy. And I like to make my kids happy, so I get suckered in to buying more... especially when they come out with the cool reversible sequin ones... Good news was... I took some stuff to a resale store where they also sell these beanie boos, and after selling some of their old stuff and buying these ridiculously expensive but super cute stuffed animals I only paid like $1... so I'm not that mad. Now, if only I could get them to clean up the massive amount of stuffed animals they have and love to spread around the house without crying and fighting me about it. Ugh.

Wilson super proud of himself for finding bag of candy I thought was out of his reach on the counter... Spoiler alert: it wasn't out of his reach after he grabbed his chair.... Good thing he's stinking adorable!

Cute, sleepy boy

Papa got him to fall asleep at church. This never happens! Also, he was not happy to wake up and realize he had slept through nursery. Lol.

Celebrating Kayla's 4th birthday with Grandma and Papa Ruske and our friends the Milligans!

I think she liked her present from Grandma ;)

Crazy kids!

Saying good night to my 3 year old <3

Opening presents from Mom and Dad. Love this cute, cute 4 year old!!

There was something different about the nativity at Grandma McConnell house. Do you spy it? 

Grandma and Papa McConnell were celebrating Christmas with the Hecks, and sweet Jane (a cousin just a little older than Kayla) went around the house and found presents for everyone. Lambie was a present for Grandma. I think Grandma found the perfect spot for her. Lol.

I don't even remember how we got this go cart... but it sat in our back yard for the longest time when we lived in CS. When we were packing up our place before Jacob went to BMT, he decided to give it to a buddy who would get some better use out of it for the time being. On one of our trips back to town, we met up with him and his boys to drive it around. His boys were the absolute sweetest with Kayla!! And she loved riding around on the go cart! Wilson got to ride around with Jacob. If it wasn't for me being hangry and wanting to get me some Gumby's pepperoni rolls, they would have never left!

So many laps around that parking lot!

And I can't believe we never went to this school's park when we lived there. It was a hit!

This is my favorite... Jacob was finishing off with a few more laps before we left and his buddy told me that Jacob looked like he was back working at the bug clinic. The bug clinic was a garage that Jacob worked at when we first met that did a lot of VW beetles and other European cars. His boss was a lot shorter than him and anytime Jacob got into a car after his boss had been sitting in it... Well ^^this^^ is how he looked. This was Jacobs face when we told him. It's funny, I promise. ;P

Those delicious pepperoni rolls. We've tried so many times... but we just can't make them like Gumby's does.

John and Alex were really sweet to let us stop by unexpectedly and take up their afternoon catching up. Look at these cute kiddos! Jacob first met John back when he started at the Bug Clinic. They also worked together at the construction company that Jacob was at for a while. John actually got him the job there. John's been a big mentor and a great friend for Jacob. We love getting to catch up with them! 

Wilson's Oreo face. Lol.

I love her hair! Look at the natural golden highlights!

I randomly came across this article, and it just hit me... this was me growing up. It was my anxiety that I was struggling with. It took me until I was almost 26 to figure it out. I always knew I wasn't actually sick... but my stomach would hurt. Anxiety. There you have it. I mean I know I've been struggling with it since my kids were born. I just never realized that I'd been struggling since like elementary school. So anyways...

Cute boys reading together.

Dinner was not going well. He was hysterical and wanted nothing to do with his food. So I told him to go take a break on the couch. Out in seconds!!

Kayla wanted a lego unicorn. I googled it and came across this image. Not half bad in my opinion. Lol.

Playing at PlayMoor. So fun when it's not packed. We get a little overwhelmed with people. Haha.

Oh, Wilson.... one day he won't resort to hitting, kicking, and biting... One day...