Sometimes you feel like a "Bad Guy"

This morning started out pretty well.  Jackson woke up at 6:30 as usual and so I took him down to watch Toy Story 3.  Erica woke up at 7:00.  Derek started crying for me to get him up shortly thereafter.  Brent left for work at 8:00 and everything was still calm and nice.

The peace would not last long..a "bad" thing was about to happen.  I was upstairs getting dressed when Erica brought Derek a bottle (something that is a big "no no"). I don't mind her helping, I just don't like her climbing on the counter to get the formula.  Plus, I don't want her teaching Jackson to do it...TO LATE!  I went downstairs and low and behold Jackson was at the sink making bottle after bottle.  By the time I found him he had used almost half of my new can of  formula.  Needless to say, Erica and Jackson both got time-outs. Poor Derek sat on the floor crying while I cleaned up the mess and gave a lecture that seemed to fall on deaf ears.

My next frustration would be in Erica's room.  Last night Brent and I kept asking Erica to clean up her room.  The picture above is a slight understatement of how messy her room was.  We finally told her that if she didn't clean then I would come in with a bag in the morning and pick it all up for her.  Well, she wouldn't clean it up this morning either so in I went with the garbage bag.  After she realized that I was serious, she started to hurry and pick up the things that she really wanted to keep.  Her room looks clean now but I am the "Bad Guy".

For the moment, my house is calm again.  Derek is down for a nap.  Jackson is looking through books at the kitchen table.  Erica is dancing around in her ballet outfit and barbie shoes.  All I need to do now is to enjoy this positive moment and pray that my children will be the happiest helpful children in the world for the rest of the day.

Tooth #5

Derek's fifth tooth cut either today or yesterday.

Wow Derek is already 10 Months old.  I knew it was coming up but I didn't know until I looked at the calendar that it was today.

Stats:  20lbs

This little guy is so heavy and wiggles a lot.  It is so hard to hold him now. He also isn't wiggling because I'm holding him.  You would think that he wants to get down, but once you put him down then you hear the cry that means pick me back up, pick me back up.  

He is starting to balance on he feet.  When he is just staying still and playing with a toy he doesn't just sit he always on his feet.  He can also stand up by himself.  He has done this quite a few times.  Mamamama is his new sound that he can say.  I love it.  Makes me feel wanted.  He has four teeth now, two on top and two on the bottom.  The  fifth one should come any day now.  Compared to the other two kids Derek is very sensitive when it comes to teething.  He lets you know that he is upset and in pain.  He is down to one nap a day.  Sometimes he will take a short nap in the morning depending on how early he got up.  

His little personality is starting to come out more and more.  One of my favorite things he does is when I'm feeding him a treat.  The other night it was a brownie.  He will get so excited for you to put it in his mouth and then once it's in he is all smiles and giggles.  It makes me smile just thinking of it.

Jackson's First Day of School

Today was Jackson's First Day of School.  He has started going two day's a week to Early Intervention.  He loves going to school and gets so excited whenever I mention, "Today is school."  I Love you Jackson.  I know that you will have a great time.  In February they will re-evaluate his progress and let us know if he needs to continue.

Rrrrrrrr a pirates life for me....

Nana made these cute pirate outfits for Erica and Jackson. They are so excited about them. The night we opened them all I heard was I want to be a pirate for Halloween. Jackson looked so cute in his bandana. Erica loved her eye patch. We used Erica's bandana as a treasure map. When it was time to go to bed Brent got down a box for the treasure and went to hide it with Jackson (toothbrushes inside as treasure). Erica and I went to find it. When it was opened you have never seen two kids so excited about seeing their toothbrushes and then getting to use them to brush their teeth. Thanks so much Nana.

First Day of Dance Class

All the little girls lined up on the tape. The little girl in the red skirt was so excited she could not stay on her tape. She was suppose to stand on the back row. It was so funny.

Erica waiting for her turn to dance across the room with the teacher.

Learning each others names. Erica got to go first.

At home right before going to class.

Listening to the teacher at the end of class.

Erica had her First day of dance today. It was so fun to get her all dressed up and then do her hair like a ballerina. She was so excited. When we got there she ran in and wanted to start dancing right away. She loved to twirl and she listened to the teacher so well. They learned all the positions of ballet and then danced to some songs. She can't wait to go next week. When I asked her who her favorite friend was she told me "the girl in the red and black."  After class was over we went and got in the car.  The first thing Erica asked me was, "Mom did we win a trophy?"  She saw some trophies in the classroom and asked me about them when we signed her up a few weeks before.  I had told her that when she is older she might win a trophy if she stays with dancing.  She thought that was the coolest thing.

Can't wait to watch her in her recital at Christmas with her cute little costume on.