The Kids are Stars!

Our kids are the cutest, most smart, adorable little children in the world. Really, there could not be a set of more angelic little kiddos in the entire planet (except, of course cousin Alise who absolutely competes in a big way).

The little ones got all dressed up to do a really fun photo shoot with a local magazine. The local magazine did a story about the amazing collection of Bernestein Bears books that my Mom saved for her future grandchildren (awwwww). As you know from the previous blog post, the kids wore their PJs and performed admirably for the photographer. This is one of the photographer proofs.

Chris went to Amsterdam on a super quick sales call and so we kept busy every night with play dates! Jamisen and his friend Chance are super good friends from school. His Mom Jessie owns a cowboy line-dancing bar so it's fun to talk business with her. They're the ones that introduced us to our beloved Home Depot workshops.

As soon as Chris came home, the kids could NOT get enough of their Daddy. They clambered all over him and insisted he read many books to them. Our kiddos are readers (!).

Jamisen's solo-play attention span is getting really impressive. He will play for long, uninterrupted stretches of time with blocks, his books, and his sister's Callalou house. He still loves to set up stores to sell products from.

We continue to hunt down Jamisen's eye ... thing. In the last month, he's had three different doctors appointments (eye muscle specialist, neurologist, pediatric ophthalmologist). The eye muscle specialist found an interesting allergic reaction on Jamisen's under eyelids (not the top ones). So, we're trying steroid drops to reduce the reaction and then will move him onto histamines. Multiple pediatric ophthalmologists did not catch this allergy so we're all a little puzzled and confused. But, we're chasing that down before we try the next step, a 3 hour EEG. Jamisen has been very clear and has asked for a thirty day break between doctor's appointments. I get it kid, I get it...

Lily continues to make us proud. We went to Fairhaven Toy Garden and were there for over an hour, playing. On the way out, the store employees complimented me on how well behaved she was and what a great communication relationship she and I had. I was thrilled to hear this since she's two years old and sometimes acts like it at home =)

Notice Jamisen is sporting a shiner in the above photo? When I was in Mexico, he was injured at school and this is what I woke up to when I got home: his precious little face, bruised and cut. Chris showed me the incident report from the school and in part, it read, "Jamisen was hit in the face with a swinging rake." Um ... that seems a little incomplete right? Anyone else think that seems incomplete? I asked Jamisen about it and he said, "Bryce hit me in the face with a rake and Liam hit me in the back with a broom." Wait, what?! Our little boy was gang jumped on the kindergarten playground?! What the what?! I reached out to Bryce's parents to suggest a play date, saying nothing about the playground attack and ... crickets. Nada. Liam's parents were horrified and wanted to know if we wanted to cancel our upcoming play date. Heck no! Boys are savages. They need to learn repair work emotionally when they work out their issues with rakes and brooms rather than good communication skills. Jamisen took the entire thing well and has no long lasting scars on his face or, on his heart.

Lily is learning her sharing skills. She struggles every so often but it's not nearly as much as it used to be and Jamisen does a great job reinforcing her. If he and she are really getting along well, he will praise her by saying things like, "Lily, you are so thoughtful by sharing like that."  Hmmmm... wonder where he's hearing that? =) Our kids are amazing mimics. We love our kiddos, love our family and are so blessed every day to have our health, our laughter and each other.