Birthday questions!

Little Miss Marleigh turned the big 5 yesterday!  I'll get her blog post soon, but decided to start a new tradition of asking her the same questions every year.  Here are the questions and her answers.

How old are you? 5!

Who is your best friend? Jillian

  What is your favorite thing to do? I love to color!

What is your favorite color?  Blue

What is your favorite food? Pancakes!

What do you like to do with your family? I like to eat lunch together.

What is your favorite toy? My dress up clothes!

What do you want to be when you grow up? A doctor

What makes you happy? Playing with my little brother

What makes you sad? Being left out

What is your favorite movie? Cinderella

What is your favorite book? Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

What do you think about before you fall asleep? My dreams

If you could have any name in the world, what would it be? I like my name

 Where is your favorite place to go? Papa and Gigi's house

What is your favorite memory? Playing at the lake

What was the best part of your birthday? Eating cupcakes 

 What is your favorite animal? Cat

  What is your favorite part of school? Playing with my friends

 What is your favorite sport? Basketball

.  What is your favorite team? K-S-U, Wildcats, K, S, U, WILDCATS!!!

~~

If I would have been thinking I would have taped our little interview.  For sure for next year!  :) 

My Baby is 2 1/2!

Kade Robert-

Wow!  You are half way to being three!  Time just keeps going faster and faster.  I love being your Mommy and watching you grow up!

The past two to three months have been awesome! About six months ago, I admit I was a little frazzled.  It seemed you needed constant correction, but I am so proud of how you have progressed.  You listen fairly well (I mean, you still are a two year old), and follow directions.  You have learned that if it isn't yours, then you don't need to touch it.  That was a hard concept for you because you are such an inquisitive little guy!

I love your independence and strong will.  Granted, it makes my job as your mama a little harder, but I wouldn't change it one bit.  You like calling the shots, so I've found it easier to give you choices.  Instead of just telling you that you have to eat your dinner, I give you a choice.  I tell you that can either choose to eat your dinner, or if you don't, then you go to time out an lose a toy.  I can not believe how much more effective it is to give you choices!  99% of the time, you make the right choice.  There still are a few things that I don't give you a choice on, but I've found you obey much easier now that everything isn't a battle.  

That strong will of yours has made potty training a challenge.  I would sit you on the potty for thirty minutes, and nothing.  As soon as you would get up, you'd run and potty.  We tried cold turkey into big boy undies.  You liked all of your undies, and wanted to wear them all, so you would potty just a bit, run and get a new pair, and say, "I pottied, so I want these now!" Ugh...  Then last week you were in the bath tub.  You told me in a slight panic, "Mama, I need potty in big boy potty!"  Shocked, I asked if you really needed to.  You replied, "Yes.  No potty in bath.  That's gross!"  I got you out, and you promptly pottied, then returned to your bath.  There has never been a question about IF you were ready to potty train, you were just being stubborn.  The end of last week, we just decided to try big boy undies again.  You have done great!  There have only been a few accidents, and you now will tell me when you need to go!

Your verbal skills have really taken off, as well.  Just the other morning as we were getting your underwear on, you said, "I better not potty on Mickey cause he wouldn't like that."  Daddy and I couldn't believe you strung together such a long sentence.  Your speech is getting clearer.  Hot dogs are not "gog gogs" anymore.  :(  Daddy likes to call you his little stud.  But whenever he does, or if I call you sweetie, you tell us very seriously, "I not stud.  I Kade Robert Johnson!"  

You and your sister play together so well.  Most of the time it is farming, Bubble Guppies, or dolls.  It is fun to watch you narrate and make noises as you play with all your farm equipment and animals. 

Kade, you are so full of energy.  I don't think you ever walk anywhere.  You are constantly running, hopping, climbing, or jumping off of something.   No matter when or where we are, if you are going down steps you ALWAYS jump off the last one. 

Recently, we moved you to a big boy bed.  This was after one day when you were playing in your room and started yelling, "Look at me, Mama!!!"  I came in to find you had crawled into your crib.  It was time for a big boy bed for sure.  You showed us numerous times how you climb in and out.  Big Sissy tried to do it to, but is a little timid, so she couldn't.  You smiled proudly, puffed out your chest and said, "Like dis, Sissy!" I think you were thrilled that you were showing her something for once! To my surprise, you have not yet gotten out of your bed.  You wait quietly in the morning until we come in to get you up for the day.

Bubba, you bring so much laughter to our family!  You have a natural happiness that just radiates from you.  It is hard to think about you and not just smile from ear to ear.  We love you so much, sweet boy Kade Robert Johnson!  ;)

Love,

Mommy

Unplanned Hiatus

Well, hello, there!  Seems I have taken somewhat of an unplanned hiatus from my little blog.  I won't bore you with all the details of what we've been up to the past 5 weeks, but I will share some high lights with pictures.  I'll try not to let so much time go by before I post again!

Marleigh got her new glasses.  She looks so grown up now!

We had a beautiful purple fairy for Halloween!

Bubba the boxer!  He had adorable boxing gloves, but refused to keep them on.

These two have really clicked in the last month or so.  They interactively play together so well.

Of course there has been all sorts of bath time fun!

Our little ballerina is loving dance.
The improvement in her coordination is awesome!

While the little siblings were napping,
Marleigh and Luke made sugar cookies
on Thanksgiving!

They had been doing a little quality control on the cookies!

Sugar cookies were Bubba approved! 

This little guy got into some serious trouble for biting
big sister.  So far it is an isolated event.
Cross your fingers!

Marleigh is growing like crazy!  She has already outgrown
some of her winter clothes, so she got a new outfit.
She LOVED all her bling!  

Eye Doctor

Monday, was another trip to the eye doctor in Wichita.  This time, Kade had a check up as well.  Since Marleigh's condition is genetic, we wanted to be sure to keep a close eye on him.

We arrived around 1:00 for our appointments, and waited.  And waited.  After twenty minutes, they finally took us back.  They did Marleigh's vision test, which took about ten minutes, then dilated the kids' eyes.  We were sent back to the waiting area for what was supposed to be thirty minutes, but quickly turned into forty-five.  They called us back into a room where we sat and waited an additional ten minutes for the doctor to come in.  Kade was just a wreck by that point.  When he gets tired, he can't stop moving or touching things. I'm pretty sure both Marc and I's sanity was barely hanging on when the doctor came in for their exams.

We have been patching Marleigh's good eye for two hours a day for the past couple of months.  It appears that for now, this will be our maintenance level, which we will continue for a few months,.  Hopefully, we will decrease the amount of time we patch sometime within the next year.  It was also Marleigh's annual appointment to check the prescription of her glasses.  I had just figured we would need a more powerful prescription.  I was pleasantly surprised that both of her eyes had improved!  Her new glasses are going to be less powerful than her old ones!  Yay for unexpected blessings!  Granted, it might just be a fluke thing, but we'll take it!  Marleigh picked out some cute, new frames, so I'll post some pictures are soon as we get them in!

Kade's exam was last.  He actually sat and did fairly well for it.  The doctor said while he still sees some slight amblyopia, it is very minimal.  We can wait two years for another check up unless we notice any vision problems.  Woo hoo!

Great news all around!  We couldn't ask for a much more!

KSU Game

It was an absolute gorgeous day last Saturday.  Perfect for some tailgating and KSU football.  Marleigh had such a great time.  I'm sure it helped that Aunt Monica and Aunt Myra were there!  

Aunt Moni and Marleigh
(Picture by Aunt Monica)

Marleigh and Auntie Myra
(Picture by Aunt Monica)

Tailgating with Daddy.  

The KSU cheerleaders just happened to be walking by.
Marleigh was super excited to get her picture taken with
"real live cheerleaders"!  

Even though the Cats lost, we had a great day.  I love that Marleigh is getting old enough that she enjoys going to the games with us.  She was such a trooper for the entire drive there, 4 hours of tailgating, game, and drive home.  Love you, sweet girl!

There are no words...

I have been extremely lucky up until today. I can honestly say that I have never had a child cause a scene in a department store. Apparently, my son thought it was high time for me to join the ranks of the rest of the 99.9% of mothers in the world today.

I'm not exactly sure how we got so lucky with Marleigh. She has always just been very well behaved in public. Notice I say lucky. I fully realize it has absolutely zero to do with us and our parenting. Not once has she ever ran through a store or had a melt down at a restaurant.  To be fair, Kade has always been pretty well behaved, too.  I have knocked on wood, many, many times knowing how blessed we were. That all changed today.

Today, after dance, I took the kids to JC Penneys. Lindsey had said they had some great deals, and Marc was needing a new dress shirt for an upcoming event we are attending. That's where my lucky streak ended.

We walked in, and there were some adorable sweaters right inside the door. I let go of Kade's hand for a split second to check the price tag and he was gone. For a bigger kid, he sure is quick!  I chased him. He found a door that stated "Employees Only", threw open the door and ran. It just happened to be the front window display. I had picked up the kids right after work, so I was still in my high heels and dress clothes. What else could I do but run after him?  I really had never realized how long that window display is. Let's just say I was out of breath.  I'm sure anyone that was driving or walking by got a good chuckle from us. You're welcome.

I decided at that point, there was not a chance of browsing. So we rode the escalator upstairs to menswear. My new game plan: get in and get out.  I was looking for Marc's shirt and once again, made the mistake of letting go of Kade's hand. He was off. I chased him down, and asked Marleigh to hold his hand while I looked at shirts. Next thing I know, Marleigh was on the floor, yelling, and Kade was dragging her off.

We regrouped. I explained to Kade how important it was that he stay right by Mommy. I was frantically trying to find Marc's shirt size and guess what?  Bubba went AWOL again. This time, I hear Marleigh in a panic yelling, " He's getting in the beds!!!  He's in the covers!"  So I removed a small child from the mini-display bed, then fixed the display and returned to men's shirts.

I again, am quickly searching for the correct size shirt  and he takes off again.  There is another door labeled "Employees Only" so of course he goes right in,  there are mannequins everywhere. I quickly escort my precious little boy back out.

Back to my mission. Curses to you white dress shirts!!!!  Neck size, sleeve length, why can't you just come in small, medium, and large?!?

Just as I've FINALLY found the correct size, Kade spots a KSU shirt across the store and in Duck Dynasty lingo, "He gone."  He only managed to rip down two shirts before I got to him.

We head to check out, which is right beside the escalator. I reiterate again, how important it is he stay close by while I pay.  My plea goes ignored, again. He almost took a header off the escalator. Cue overreaction from overprotective big sister. Seriously. I can't get out fast enough.

I received numerous dirty looks during our little excursion.  The cashier was almost rude, even though I apologized profusely.

To all mothers out there:  If I have EVER given you a dirty look while a child was acting up, I am sooooooo sorry. You have my sympathies.  I should have said, "Hang in there.  We've ALL been there."

To my son:  Thank you for tossing me in to the deep end without a life jacket. At the time, I was completely mortified, but I can find the humor now. I appreciate your curious nature and love you for it. But let's not make a habit out of it.  ;)

More Moments with the Munchkins

A few weeks ago we were in the pick up.  Marleigh has really gotten into phonics, and trying to spell things.  So, we were working on that.  I'd spell something, and she'd sound it out.

Me:  "M-a-r-l-e-i-g-h"
Marleigh:  "That's easy!  Marleigh!"
Me:  "K-a-d-e"
Marleigh:  "Kade!"
Me:  "D-a-d-d-y"
Marleigh:  "Daddy!"

Then Daddy jumped into the game.

Marc:  "M-o-m-m-y"
Marleigh: "Cow!"

Um, thanks, dear!  ;)

~~

Marleigh and Marc have father/daughter popcorn & movie nights where just the two of them pop a bag of popcorn and go into the basement to watch tv.  Marleigh loves her one on one time with her Dad.  Last night, they were snuggling on the couch.  Marc said Marleigh was laying on him with her head on his chest.  A Bubble Guppie episode came on (Kade's favorite show), and Marleigh popped her little head up, put one finger to her lips, and said, "Shhhh....don't tell Bubba!"  She didn't want little brother interrupting her QT with her Daddy!

~~

Kade has been saying, "Love you"  or "Love you, too" as a reply for a while now.  For the first time a few days ago, he walked up to me, gave me a great big hug and said, "Love you, Mommy."  My heart melted.

The other day, Marleigh was playing, and Kade walked up to her, squeezed her around her neck and said, "I love you, Sissy", and kissed her on her forehead.    Quite possibly the sweetest thing I have ever seen.  He was so gentle while hugging her.

~~

Marleigh is a member of the Junior Wildcats club offered through KSU.  She was so excited a few weeks ago, because the Junior Wildcats were to walk around the football field before a game.  But, the morning of the game, she woke up throwing up at 3:00am.  She was completely crushed that she wouldn't be able to go.  When it was finally morning, and Marc woke up, she crawled over (her tummy hurt too bad to walk) to sit on his lap and told him, "Daddy, I'm so sorry, but I'm afraid I'm too sick to go to the KSU game today.  I'm sorry we won't be able to walk around the football field."  She was more concerned with disappointing her Daddy than anything else.  I just love her heart.

Little miss is SO excited.  We are taking her to the game on Saturday.  She won't get to walk around the field, but I'm hoping she will still have fun.  This morning while getting dressed, we could hear her singing, "K-S-U- Wildcats!" over and over.  Go cats!