MLK and a Birthday

Before Cole, Jada, and I take to the skies and fly off to my home town Friday morning, I figured I'd better blog about all the fun we've been having around here. Jake actually had work off for MLK day so we decided to go to the zoo. However, upon arriving at the zoo we discovered it was one of their "free days" and that half of Houston had turned out to celebrate MLK by wandering the zoo. Due to the fact that we would have had to park about 8 miles away and then hike on into the zoo to stare at the creatures from behind mobs of people, we decided to come up with Plan B. Luckily, along with a zoo membership we also have a Children's Museum membership and decided to spend the day there. The kids had the best time and the crowds were very manageable. I've decided I can never take all my kids there as the lone adult because I would most definitely lose one of them. Anyways...
We really had a fun day as a family and found this a way better option than the zoo.

My favorite part of the whole day was taking this little peanut (below) with me to the Tot area of the museum. She had the greatest time running the show and wanted me to try all the fun things with her, including crawling through a very small tunnel (I had to turn her down on that one). I also had to comment on her clothes for the day. Jada has to be one of the most resourceful and independent (but in a good way) two-year-olds around. On Sunday night I walked by her room to discover that she had picked out her clothes for the next day (these pants, shirt, some panties, and her pink jelly shoes) and had them set out very nicely. I wish I had taken a picture. I never asked her to do this- she just up and did it on her own. The child dresses herself, often puts away the outfits I pick for her to choose something she likes more, and just basically handles her business. It is kind of cute and refreshing.

Moving away from the museum... I had to capture Jada in her awesome new boots. Love them!

I love the stuff she says sometimes. Like how she calls hand sanitizer "hanitizer" and how someone referred to Elle's school playground as a park and she said, "It's not a park, it's recess." She also makes me laugh with her "coyote" face she does to Cole- she'll kind of squeeze his cheeks together and say "Coyote". Don't know where she got that from!

And speaking of the little boy- he's having a big month... His first airplane ride, finding his feet, sticking out his tongue, rolling over, discovering that there are objects all around him that he can grab, and almost sitting up. He's been busy!

Mya got this awesome present from my aunt for her b-day. She loved making these puppets and they turned out so cute! She had such fun with it! And flowers and candy on the table must mean that someone very special in our house turned the ripe old age of 7!

I wasn't going to be able to meet her for lunch because of preschool pick-up so I decided to pull her out for an early lunch date to Panera. She was so surprised and had so much fun with us!

For dinner we hit up where else but Red Robin...

And then came home for some present opening excitement.

Elle got some sparkly shoes to match Mya's (who by the way wears those things all the time!)

She wanted an ice cream cake with her name on it. Not the prettiest of cakes, but still yummy!

And I'm off to Cali and Vegas. Should be tons of fun!

Cold January

And I mean cold. Really cold. Like 29 degrees cold. Me and my wardrobe weren't really made for a lot of cold weather. Hopefully it warms up this week or I might be forced to go and buy another jacket. And whether it is cold or not, Jada likes to dress like it is spring or summer, and I have decided that fighting with a 2-year old really isn't worth it so today she wore her short sleeve Halloween kitty shirt and changed out of her jeans and wanted shorts. Perfect winter attire.

Enough about the weather (although I do really enjoy looking up the weather and watching the weatherman on the news)... someone in our house turned 5!!! It is crazy when it is not your oldest who is getting old (if that made any sense at all). We tried to have a little fun on her big day, although I did have a not so fun cold and felt a little under the weather. She didn't end up having preschool that day like I thought, so she did have to hang out a little while I did laundry. But, she also got to admire presents for the big night and watche her new Barbie movie...

She got to eat a Happy Meal for lunch...

And help me pick out her traditional birthday balloons. Pink and purple, with a "Princess and the Frog" balloon...

She helped me decorate her cake. When asked what she wanted for her cake, she told me that she wanted her name on it. Easy enough for me- I can definitely handle doing that!

She wanted either pizza or spaghetti for dinner, so we opted to take advantage of Papa John's $5.99 Monday night pizza special...

We then opened presents and had some cake!

Elle wanted to make sure she sat in the "birthday chair"...

Probably not the most exciting birthday ever, but still a good day. She's been lucky enough to get some fun mail post-birthday so really the fun never ends! She got some money for her birthday to spend and wanted to get Elle something for her birthday with her money. What a nice sister! She got herself a nightgown and Elle a puzzle.

I don't love giving birthday parties. I don't know why, but it's really not my favorite thing. We didn't do too much last year, so this year a party was a must. We decided to do a breakfast birthday (wear your PJ's!) and serve donuts. Great for me- I didn't have to make a cake, and donuts are always a hit amongst the kiddy crowd. I gave Elle an early b-day present so she could match Mya at the party...

We decorated mailboxes and played all kinds of exciting games like balloon pop, eating licorice with no hands, bubblegum blowing contest, and more. So much fun to have all before lunchtime!

Elle's best present from the party- she loves it!

We survived and the kids were happy which makes it worth it.

On a completely different and unrelated note, besides always changing her clothes and dressing completely unseasonably, Jada has a fascination with her umbrella. Almost every time we come into the house through the garage she grabs the umbrella from the bin and brings it inside. I have no idea why. She used to bring the Skip-it in too, but now just opts for the Mardi Gras beauty. It even comes with us in the car sometimes just in case it rains. I guess we will always be prepared if a rainstorm hits!

Christmas Croup

Tonight our Christmas break draws to a close, and honestly I can't say I'm all that sad to see it go. It has not been a stress-free one, seeing as we were pretty much sick the entire time! It started with Elle and her fever which then turned into a little cough, but nothing horrible. The fever did last a few days, and we even did a strep-test which came back negative. Cole picked up a runny nose and was pretty snotty for Christmas. Jada started coughing a little the day after Christmas and was up during the night sounding horrible- having trouble breathing and sounding croupy. This was the night that Jake was gone to Oklahoma with his brother for a cousin's mission farewell. So, I'm by myself with a two-year old who can hardly breath in the middle of the night on the phone with a nurse trying to figure out what to do. We did the steam treatment and I finally got to bed around 3 something. Sunday some of us were home from church. Monday we were a little better and decided to still head out to Louisiana. Mya was fairly quiet on the drive and upon arriving in Louisiana felt feverish. She had a fever on and off the entire time we were there and also picked up on the croup cough and was up during the night taking her turn in the steam on two different nights. Then it was Cole's turn to start with the croup, and once he got it I knew we had to get to the doctor's. So we wrapped up our trip a day early, threw stuff in the car and raced home to see the pediatrician. I'm also lucky enough to be sporting a nice cold that has gone on all week, and we still are having an occasional hack-fest in our home by the children. Good times. Needless to say, I am tired. It has not been restful. The end of complaining. On we go...

The first night in Louisiana we had a mini-Christmas. It was a lot of fun to spend time with Jake's sisters Jessica and Esther. They are so great and always such a help with the kiddos. Jake's poor mom has a hot pink cast and crutches slowing her down for the time being, which is such a bummer for her. She hates it!

Jake was supposed to buy for his dad and I made him pick out and buy the present. He didn't do too bad.

I didn't get to go out much while we were there (sick kids and a nursing baby kind of slowed me down) but we did get some yummy po-boys from Buddy's and did a little shopping at the mall.

The girls made some pretty beaded bracelets and only spilled about a million beads in the process.

We got home on New Year's Eve. Texas is so great on this holiday- fireworks like crazy! Jake got a few small things for the girls to do, and they had a great time. Jake and I were so worn out from all the sickies that we were both asleep well before they rang in the new year- I guess that's how you know you are officially old!

Because we up and left early, Elle got to stay an extra day and get spoiled by the family. They saw a movie, went to the French Quarter, ate out, and stayed up late. She was in heaven! Gigi and Pops then drove her and Paul out the next day and spent a night with us. We had a little mini-Mya birthday celebration before they left.

Kissing the frog! We also saw this movie on New Year's day with the kids (minus Elle who saw it in Louisiana) and loved it. Jake loved the New Orleans setting!

Cole has started nursing all the time (at least it feels that way) and isn't sleeping great at night. He is almost five months so I thought we'd give this a try...

He's not really a fan...

We'll have to keep practicing!

Beyond being sick, having us all home a lot together is apparently a recipe for disaster. Just today, Mya pulled the microwave off the counter onto the tile floor, breaking it. I dropped a bowl and broke it. Elle pushed Jada over who then hit her head on the bed, causing me to bust out my nursing skills and tape up her wound. It's been a long day. At least no one was severely injured by the falling microwave.

I just wanted to capture Cole and his handsome self in his church outfit. Jake makes fun of the pants but I think they are so cute! Big changes in the ward at church today- always fun when they split things up. We are excited to get to know some new people and see what comes from all the change!

And just because I can't resist a cute sleeping baby!

And lastly- a fun little video of Cole going to town in his jumperoo! Hopefully we are all in good health soon so we can have some birthday fun over this next month!