A GREAT day

We've been having a few problems with Jack the last few months. At home, he's been a terrible listener, has been talking back and sometimes screaming at us, has temper tantrums and more time outs in a day than I can sometimes count. He won't play by himself and demands attention every waking minute or he misbehaves. We decided to start a reward chart for him several weeks ago and if he's good all day with no time outs, he gets a sticker. After 5 stickers, he gets to go to the Packer stadium to play the games inside, something he loves to do with Matt. It's been over 3 weeks and until yesterday he only had 3 stickers on his chart. I was definitely frustrated and at the end of my patience with him and seemed like I was yelling most of the day. I'm not proud of that, it just was the only way he would take me seriously. However, yesterday something must have clicked (or someone replaced him with a look-alike Jack) because he woke up happy, with no tantrums, he got dressed without complaining about what he was wearing, he ate breakfast with no freak outs, he made his bed without even being asked, and he shut the TV off after one cartoon like he's supposed to, on his own without me even asking. He got dressed and in the car without any problems and stayed in bed at nap time. He ate dinner without throwing a fit because he didn't like the food and went to bed nicely last night. Can you see how many time outs he usually can have in a day? Anyway, he was so proud of himself for being so good yesterday and you can see it in the picture I took. I gave him a few extra treats and lots of attention and cuddles and of course, he got his sticker. He's on his way to receiving another one today. Like I said, either someone took the real Jack in the middle of the night or all the parenting we've done has finally paid off (I'm hoping for the latter). Thanks Jack for having such a GREAT day!

The best part of winter

Jack and Elizabeth both got sleds from Santa and since then Jack has been asking everyday to go outside sledding. Of course, the temperature has been hovering around zero and we keep getting more snow (Green Bay had the most snow in recorded history in the month of December, I think close to 50 inches for the month) so I've been waiting for a day that Matt has off so he can bear the elements with Jack. We have a decent slope in the front yard which seemed to work well for a sledding hill. Despite the fun outside, I think Jack would agree that the best part of winter is the hot chocolate he gets to drink after playing outside.

I wanna hold your hand

When I saw Jack helping Elizabeth walk the other day my heart just melted and I ran to grab the camera. She's so lucky to have such a great big brother. And yes, Jack is in his pj's. He declared last Wednesday a pajama day because it was too cold and snowy to go outside. I think every day is too cold and snowy to go outside and so I'm envisioning many more pajama days this winter.

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas"...

We spent the weekend putting up the tree and trying to get ready for Christmas. I think this is the first year that Jack really knows what Christmas is about and of course, he's excited about Santa coming. He asks me everyday if it is Christmas Eve yet and how is Santa going to get in our house since we have a fireplace without a chimney (I told him I'd leave the door unlocked). He also asked me if the reindeer will be cold, and told me that Santa won't be cold because he has a big beard to pull over his face. Sometimes it is hard to keep a straight face when he is telling me all his thoughts about Santa. It's hard to believe Christmas is almost here. It feels like it is January outside with the -30 plus windchill and the predicted foot of snow to arrive later this week. I tried to get a good picture of Jack and Elizabeth in their matching Christmas pajamas and after 23 pictures this is the best one I got.

Some very late Halloween photos

It's nap time and quiet now and finally time for me to get caught up. I'm hoping for long naps since both kids (and myself) have caught another nasty cold. Elizabeth was up several times last night because she can't suck her pacifier and breathe from her mouth (since her nose is so stuffed) at the same time. Anyway, Matt downloaded the back log of pictures today from the camera so I can get caught up. Here are a few pictures from Halloween of our spider and pumpkin. It was a gorgeous day and we had so much fun going around our new neighborhood and meeting our neighbors. I told Jack he could have one piece of candy for dinner that night and of course, he wanted the "big one" (one of our neighbors gave out full size candy bars). He's no dummy! Jack was also excited to open the box from Pop Grandma who sent some fun, silly things, including rubber lizzards and his favorite, cheetos.

Another month has come and gone

Elizabeth is now 11 months old and is certainly keeping us on our toes. This past month her two top teeth came in and I already miss the toothless baby grin. She will now stand by herself for a few seconds, but when she figures out she's standing she immediately falls down. She's also begun to take a few steps with Matt. He's so anxious for her to walk and I keep telling him not to hurry, she's still our baby. Her second word seems to be "gaga", our nickname for Misha. I'm proud to say that I have heard a few "mama's" the past few days. Although "mama" has been said in the string of her usual baby gibberish and not when she sees me. It's coming though. Her personality is so strong (I think she gets that from Matt-haha!) and she wants everything NOW, including whatever toy Jack is playing with. I already have to intervene in their sibling squabbles.
Today, Elizabeth found the remote and changed the channel on the TV and Jack hit her on the back. But, usually Jack is very patient with her and always watches out for her. I went to Minnesota for the
weekend and he told me he would "give Lizzie a kiss for me whenever she was sad". I'm not ready for her to be one so I'll cherish this last month of true babyhood.





She finally discovered the central vac outlets. What a great toy!



























Standing on her own!

Pumpkins

We did not take the kids to the pumpkin patch to choose pumpkins this year. The two weekends we were going to do it, the weather was terrible (wind, cold, rain, even snow). Luckily, my parents took them to the pumpkin patch in Iowa so they did have pumpkins on the front porch. Jack chose three small pumpkins for himself, Elizabeth and Misha. I took over 50 pictures trying to get a good shot of each of them with their pumpkins. I took a better picture of Misha with her pumpkin then I did of the kids with their pumpkins. For those that have met our wonderful lab, Misha, you know that is a feat since she, to most, is the craziest dog in the world. Anyway, here are some of the pictures I took. I'll add the pictures from Halloween soon. It is a gorgeous day here today (supposed to be a record high of 75) so we are going to go out and enjoy the last of the nice weather!




Misha can really be a calm, lazy dog.





Elizabeth enjoyed eating her pumpkin (notice the drool on her shirt!).
























Jack with his little pumpkin (for some reason he won't give me a nice smile!).