Cranky with a Capital C

Everybody in my fam woke up cranky this morning. I think it is the weather. I think we all need more sleep. But I struggled to get the kids dressed this morning for school. Each was wiggling so much that I couldn't put on their socks and shoes. Jillian wouldn't let me brush her hair and it looks like a hot mess!

Poor Rocco has had quite a time at school this week. On Monday, he fell and split his lip (inside and out) and then on Wednesday, they called me telling me Rocco had been bit. This is my first experience with a bite. Jillian has never been bit or never bit anyone else. So really I didn't think much of it. But when I took off Rocco's clothes Wed night and saw this....


I FLIPPED OUT!!!! I am trying not to overreact but I think this is terrible. Poor little Rocco!! Even two days later, the mark is still there on his back. This morning, I had a conference with the teacher and the manager of his school and spoke to them about it. They do have a "biting" policy and spoke to the perpatrator's parents. It just made me feel very bad as a mommy that this happened to my baby. I should be at home keeping him in a bubble away from all other children so he won't get hurt. that AND I don't want him to learn to bite other children.

C'est la vie! I gotta go pick up my 17 other children.

Happy wet Friday!

New Kid Stats

On Friday, we trekked to the doc’s office for Jillian’s 3 year old visit and Rocco’s 1 year old visit. We had to wait forever which was very frustrating. Eventually, we did see the doc and he said the kids look great! That’s the most important thing.

Jillian’s 3 year stats
Weight: 29 pounds (30th percentile)
Height: 36 ½ inches (30th percentile)

Rocco’s 1 year stats
Weight: 23 pounds (60th percentile)
Height: 30 ¼ inches (85th percentile)
HC: 90th percentile

Jillian wowed everybody with her huge vocabulary. Rocco wowed everybody with his huge head. Rocco got four shots and we were finally able to leave after an hour and a half. That was pretty ridiculous!

Other than that, poor Rocco has some pretty serious injuries to report. Last week, he fell at Grandma Cheese’s house and chipped a tooth and had a huge bruise on his forehead. Yesterday, the daycare called and he fell at school. He split his bottom lip and had two cuts inside his mouth where his teeth cut through the skin. I do not remember Jillian having this many injuries as a young toddler. Is this because Rocco is walking so much earlier than her? Does he just stink at walking? Should I have his equilibrium checked? Or is this the difference between boys and girls?? I don’t know what it is but I hate that he keeps getting hurt!

And seriously, I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old? I hate how fast time goes by!

Prima Ballerina Assoluta

The title or rank of Prima ballerina assoluta was originally inspired by the Italian ballet masters of the early Romantic Ballet and was bestowed on a ballerina who was considered to be exceptionally talented, above the standard of other leading ballerinas. The title is very rarely used today and recent uses have typically been symbolic, in recognition of a notable career and as a result, it is commonly viewed as an honour rather than an active rank.

OK, OK....maybe I am getting a little ahead of myself. Nobody has been named Prima ballerina assoluta....yet. But for her birthday, Jillian received dance lessons from Grammie so the title of Prima ballerina assoluta cannot be far away. Is it disturbing how much this pleases me?

For my entire life, dance and music has been extremely important to me. I started around age 3-4 with a brief appearance as a butterfly in a dance recital. Then I met Toots. Anybody that was anybody in SA took dance lessons from Toots Johnson. Even when I was 5, Toots was old. When she was young, she danced on Broadway and was a firecracker. She taught tap, ballet and jazz. In SA, Tim Duncan is known as Mr. Fundamental. If there was a female equivalent, then it would be Toots. She was all about no-nonsense discipline and practice. I started with ballet then added tap and then jazz. I was at dance school a minimum of 2 nights a week for a couple of hours. I LOVED IT!! In 8th grade, I left and by then, Toots was really old. In 8th grade, I made the decision to try out for cheerleader and realized I needed different training with more emphasis on gymnastics and cheer. BUT I always missed Toots and the contests she would hold for the most perfect splits (which I never won by the way)!

Now my little girl is starting her dance adventure and I hope she finds as much joy from it as I did!!!!

Her new outfit....

Showing off her new pose....

Her teacher, Ms. Norma, and the rest of her class...

She is the only one following directions and kicking (Don't you love the other kid with the finger up her nose??)......

Learning to balance (with a magic wand. Because doesn't every ballerina need a magic wand??).....

To finish off, a little fun with the parachute....

Happy Friday!!

MLK Day

I got the day off from work and we celebrated by going to the park. Daddy got to join in too because he called in sick to work. He really hasn't been feeling good with a fever for three days in a row but I dragged him to the park anyways. He is always thrilled when I have no tolerance for his illness.


They are loaded up and ready!

Hmmmm...I have never seen her do this before!

Don't you love everyone's expression in this picture??



Time out for a smooth!!



The eternally happy boy!!

Daddy is pushing them realllly high!

Daddy pushed me really high too!!

Back to the grind today!!

Happy Birthday Roccopotamus!!!

That funny nickname is what Poppy and Jillian have christened Rocco!

What to say? My baby is 1?? Say it isn’t so!!! This year has truly flown by with lightening speed!
Rocco Harrison has truly been a delightful surprise! My whole pregnancy I thought I was getting my princess #2 and God threw me a loop and gave me a prince.

Really, I have been truly spoiled with baby #2. Rocco has always been pretty easy. He nurses well, no spit up issues, slept through the night at 7 months (in this household, that is considered good), ate baby food with a vengeance and moved on to regular food with ease.

Everybody that meets him comments that he is always smiling. For the most part, that is true. The only time he is consistently cranky is when I pick up he and Jillian from school. They both want my attention and they are both STARVING. So he does have a witching hour when I am cooking dinner, but I am getting really talented with one-handed cooking.

He is all boy. He LOVES throwing things – anything! It doesn’t matter what it is, if he gets it in his hands then he will throw it and laugh and laugh! He loves getting into Jillian’s things. Already he knows what things are “hers,” and he will go in and mess it all up and turn around and smile. You know that smile - the one that says "I know what I am doing but I am too cute and too young for you to discipline me!"

In his 11th month, he got 3 new teeth on the bottom so he is up to 12 teeth total! Isn’t that insane? One tooth for every month of life….this has led to massive drool and more crankiness than usual.

Also in the 11th month, he has transitioned into a full-time walker. No more crawling for this little man. He is everywhere and loves to follow Jillian wherever she goes.

His speech is starting to blossom. He says “Da-da, Ma-ma, uh-oh, apple, book.” He also makes a sound for Jillian that I can’t really write but I know he is talking about her. He also loves to imitate any fun noise you make and does it with accuracy. I have been signing with him just like I did with Jillian and he can sign “more” and “eat.”

I am going to leave you with some hilarious pictures of Rocco with his new favorite toys. Out of all the new toys Santa brought, Rocco wants to play with these. He will play with them for looooong periods of time.

Oh Mom! You caught me!!

That's right folks - the kid likes to play with the broom and the dust pan!

Ha! Ha!! Isn't it funny??

Mom, this is serious work. Can you please let me finish my job?

And finally, like any custodian worth his salt, Rocco had the crack to match.

Ha!! Ha!! Happy Friday!!

Wrong!

Surprise, surprise! We were wrong! Rocco does not have Fifth Disease HOWEVER he does an ear infection and severely chapped skin. Poor thing! Doc gave us prescription for ear infection and prescription moisturizer. Did you know there was such a thing? We are too slather it all over body and avoid hot baths, only have 3 baths per week and Doc gave us a long lists of acceptable shampoo, soap and laundry detergent.

I am definitely on my second child because with Jillian, I probably would have run out and bought all this junk but with Rocco, I am ignoring most of the advice. I already use free and clear laundry detergent because Jillian’s skin is so sensitive. BUT 3 baths a week? This is a boy and at almost a year, he ALREADY has a knack for getting very dirty. The kid needs a frequent washing, you know what I mean?

Rocco is obviously heading the direction of Jillian with the sensitive skin. Bryan has always had really dry skin so he comes by it honestly. I do need to do a better job of taking care of Rocco’s skin and make sure it is moisturized.

In other sad news, one of good friends from church died suddenly on Monday night. He was only 38 or 39 years old. He and his wife (who I adore) have three little girls. It is the saddest thing. Their youngest daughter was baptized on the same day as Jillian at our church. Last night, I hugged the kids tight and watched them sleep and repeated to myself, "Never take anything for granted."

The Hits Just Keep on Coming!

We pick up Rocco-potumus from school yesterday and the receptionist stops us. THIS HAPPENS ALL OF THE TIME!! It means bad news. Something has happened during the day that needs reporting to us.

Today's news....Rocco's cheeks are really red. A sure sign of Fifth's Disease. This is a virus that has NO symptoms except for firey-red cheeks.

As you can see, he has got those!



Here is a close-up....(You can also clearly see the bottom molars he has got that are causing this boy mass amounts of crankiness)



Mom, please stop taking pictures! You're killing me!! Do I need to remind you that I am sick??


Bryan is taking him to the Dr. at 10:30 so that we can get a note from the Dr. that he can go back to school and not be a threat to all of those other pale-cheeked kids in his class!!

3 going on 13

Last night was sooooo funny!!! Jillian and I called Amy and Allison to thank them for their birthday wishes. Well, of course, Miss Fancy Pants wants to talk to Allison so I hand over the phone.

This is what I hear on my end:

JP: Hi Allison! What are you doing? No, no. What are you up to?

Quiet pause....

JP: I want to come over to your house and play.

Quiet pause....

JP: Ohhhhhh, gotcha!!!

Me: Cracking up the whole time!!!!!!!

I took the phone back from her and according to Amy, Allison had promised Jillian that this time when Jillian came over, she would share her toys!!! I was just rolling with laughter. These two divas talked for a good five minutes about gymnastics and dance class and the Texas Football game. You would have guessed they were in 6th grade and not preschool!!

After talking to Jillian extensively about the Texas game coming up, Jillian was terribly disappointed when she figured out that we were not going to the football game and merely watching it on TV. She said "But I want to go see the football game and eat M&Ms." (which is what we did at the TX vs. OK ST game last year - again, has a memory like a hawk). She was also disappointed that the Longhorns have a Bevo and not a snake. She loves that Reagan Rattler snake!! I had to convince her how cool a longhorn is!! Can you imagine??

Happy Friday!!!

Happy Birthday My Sweet Girl!!!

Oh my goodness!! Miss Fancy Pance has turned 3!!!! How could it be?? It seems like just days ago she was a baby.

At 3, Jillian is a chatterbox. You can not get that girl to be quiet!!! She is full of things to say, opinions, questions, you name it, she says it. She can be quite bossy and has a flair for the dramatic (where can she get those traits from?). She is also incredibly sweet and is always eager to say I love you and give kisses and hugs.

This year, she became a big sister and she took some time to make the adjustment. Jillian loves Rocco but can be very rough with him. She loves to pull him around, she loves to push him to sit down and loves to push him in his new tricycle.

Jillian has gone from a great eater to showing signs of pickiness. She loves any bread product - slices of bread, muffins, pancakes, cinnamon rolls, etc. She loves turkey and chicken and has branched out and likes ham. She loves noodles and spagetti. She loves potatoes of really any kind. She loves corn and green beans. She loves lots of different kinds of fruit.

Here are the things she doesn't like: hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, macaroni and cheese. It makes going to any birthday party difficult since she won't eat any of the food.

She LOVES watching movies and likes anything to do with the Disney princesses. Currently, she is into Snow White. INTO Snow White. She asks 500 questions throughout the movie. Who is that? Why is she doing that? etc. She wants to know the distinction between a witch and an evil queen. Actually, she calls her Queena and will correct you if you say it wrong (you know, queen).

The girl has a wicked skill of memorization. From cover to cover, she has memorized Goodnight Moon, Are you my Mother?, My little Love Bug, Jesus Loves Me and several others.

She is also obsessing about The Little Red Hen and the Five (to you and me that's Three) Little Pigs (they will be memorized soon). She also likes 10 Little Fish, Pinkalicious and Guess HOw much I love you. She knows some letters: A, B, R, O, J, K, sometimes L, W, and S. She can count to 20 although she doesn't really love that the way she loves the letters.

When she is nervous or in a new situation, her hands immediately go to and in her mouth.

For her birthday, my Mom got her dance lessons and she starts tomorrow. She is really excited about this.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JILLIAN!!!!! I cannot wait to see what the year holds for you!!

Since this is my blog and I pick the pictures, these will be a montage of me and my girl.

Here we are in the beginning....she is about 4 weeks old.


This is her trying out some icing for her first birthday.

This is the two of us two weeks before her 2nd birthday.

Not the greatest of pictures as Mommy was still putting on her make-up but here we are days before her 3rd birthday!!!

WOW-ZA!!!

Do we know how to ring in the New Year, or what? Summer and Bill's wedding went off without a hitch (ba-da-ba)!! That's a wedding joke for you slowpokes!! The weather was perfect, Summer looked amazing, the kids behaved like angels (really they did), and we had an awesome, wonderful celebrating with our friends and family.

The beautiful, beautiful bride.... (This was her bridal portrait)

My boys in their tuxes!!

The princess!

My little wiggle worms!! So difficult to get them together looking at the right camera!!

Jillian with her Aunt Masure!

Me and my sis (and R-man too)!! Who plans an outdoor wedding in the middle of winter??? Evidently we do!! The sun was shining bright but there was a cold breeze so we wore our furs proud (I don't want to hear it from any PETA people!!!) We make fur look good!!

My sister and her adorable new step-sons, Gavin on the left and Roy on the right (our nephews, of course)! Gotta love our very tangled family tree!!!

The ceremony!! Summer was so lucky to her Godfather (who is a Justice of the Peace in East TX) marry them! He did a great job!

Jillian only wanted her Grammie to hold her hand on the way out!!

Introducing....Mr. and Mrs. Bill Pearce!!

What a fantastic day!! This is best shot we got of my family. Such a fantastic way to start 2010!!!

p.s. Do I really have to go to work tomorrow and teach 18 5 year olds??? NOT ready for that!!!