Painting in the afternoon

Jade and I had so much fun painting the birdhouse the other day, I thought we should pull out the paint brushes again. Jade is loving it! Why didn't I do this with her sooner?
I even joined her and painted over some sketches I had attempted to draw awhile back
this was a fun afternoon activity.

A new kind of Monday

Normally Mondays consist of laundry, cleaning, walking and more laundry. I don't usually try to do anything fun or exciting with Jade and often it turns into a big cartoon day, so I can focus on house chores:) But this morning I was up earlier then normal and thus started my chores earlier then normal. And that's when I realized I had a whole extra hour free to do something with Jade.

So, before we headed off to meet Amber and the twins for our Monday walk, I decided to let Jade paint her bird feeder that she got as a gift from a friend. Here she is after the first coat.
here it is after the second. Jade and I had a blast painting it together, Jade is a very patient painter.
After walking, bookstore, lunch and some more laundry I asked Jade if she wanted to go outside and play with her tricycle and new bat and ball set (Daddy got her the bat and ball for her birthday). Considering the weather was nice I figured we might as well take advantage.
off she goes to chase the ball!
Then while I made up the beds and washed windows and window sills, Jade played in the backyard throwing her ball around and playing on her mini kid slide. Every time she saw me at a window she'd wave and say "Bye Mom, I'm going off to school now!" and would pretend to ride away on a school bus. hee, hee

It's now a little after 2pm and laundry and ironing are almost done for the week, beds are made up with clean sheets, windows are see through again and Jade is pretty tuckered out. She is napping and I'm taking an "email" break. The sun seems to be hiding under a fresh batch of clouds, but boy was it nice to see it for a few hours today.

Growth spurt

The past couple weeks my daughter has started a new thing, where when I go in her room to get her up in the morning she'll scream and cry at me and say "No, I'm not ready to get up yet, I'm still sleeping". This is wonderful on mornings such as Saturday where she didn't want to get up till 9:40am, but on mornings when Mommy is ready to leave the house by 8am, this isn't such a good thing.

Forcing her out of bed produces a genuine crank pot and leaving her in bed makes me late. What to do? What to do? This morning I wanted to be sure we didn't have any problems so I just opened her door a crack and made sure I made lots of noise while dragging the laundry baskets around and getting breakfast ready. It worked, she's up, eating breakfast and it's only now ten till 8am. I don't really want to change Jade back into that early morning person she use to be as a baby...but having a late sleeper is almost just as hard. Somewhere I'll find the happy medium.

Until then, I guess if I must have toddler troubles I'm pretty lucky it's because she sleeps to much instead of to little. Perhaps, she's just going through a growth spurt.

A few pictures from Jade's Bday and Bowling Party

Since we already threw Jade a big Princess Party for her birthday we didn't make big plans for her actual birthday. However, per tradition, I did invite Cristy and her kiddos over for play time and sweets. I'm also starting to switch off babysitting for babysitting with a friend, so her daughter was also with us for the morning.
Here are all the cute kids watching "Little Bear" and eating chocolate chip cookies.
Saturday we got a whole bunch of friends together to do our annual Bowling party in celebration of JB's birthday. This was the first year we actually brought Jade with us (usually we get a sitter). They have bowling shoes in miniature sizes so we thought we'd let her try. She was super excited to bowl and even more excited to sit in the seat of power where you can control the scoring screen. Yes, she is posing with Kameron here.
Here is Cristy with one of Amber's twins, I'm pretty sure she has Tanner.
Drew (also Jade's age) with daddy Andy and momma Amber.

Jade and Ashlynn comparing cute shirts

Picture of the two friends. Ashlynn is almost 5, but she still plays really well with my 3 year old.
Sadly I didn't get any pictures of the birthday boy or of all the guys and girls who attended our party.
After we wall went to our house for pizza and cake. I picked up some Little Caesars pizza which I swear I haven't had since I was about 10yrs old, living in Texas. It brought back some great family memories...and who can beat $5 pizzas?

Baby Jade is THREE today!

It is hard to believe that three years ago today we got to meet our precious little Jade. She was just a pink little ball of cuteness.
This morning I made Jade some birthday pancakes. I do admit the face is a bit on the scary side...but Jade loved it:)

There is my pretty little princess at breakfast this morning

All grown up and so many places to go!

Happy Birthday Jade, I pray blessings over you this year and all your life through!

JB is 29!

For fun I went through JB's baby pictures and took a picture of one from his 1st birthday party. Gotta love the bow on his head, wasn't he a cutie? lol

Look at him now, all grown up and mature. *sigh*

Happy Birthday love! Praying this is a fabulous and wonderful year for you!!

Spank them all soundly and send them to bed

So we didn't spank them, but after playing at my house for a good 2hrs or so, the little kiddies were so ready for nap time they put themselves to bed! Hee, hee...I think Kameron is calling for room service.

A little bit of mini glow-golf with the family

My in-laws had to head back home this morning. For our last night together we all headed to Shankz for a bit of miniature glow-golf with optional 3D glasses! Only JB was brave enough to try the 3D glasses during the whole event. Jade got into it right away. We had taken her mini golfing back in June with my family but we hadn't taken her since. Turns out, she's pretty good! Here she is watching her little pink golf ball go on the hole!
Daddy with a bit of seriousness going on. You have to concentrate extra hard when everything is in 3D!
John showed off some of his mad mini golf skills while Peggy was the only one to get a hole in one!
I was most enamored with the animals throughout, so when we came to the huge elephant I made each of us pose in front of it.
To bad the flash got Grandpa's glasses!

Pretty peggy

kiss-y, kiss-y

run away, run away!

"are you going to bite me?"

After it was all over Jade and JB did a bit of pretend arcade playing. Jade really, really wanted to play race cars!
After our fun time at mini golf we all headed over to Red Robin for dinner and to redeem JB and Jade's Red Robin birthday coupons. Hurray for free meals!

New desk!

I have been wanting a smaller desk for a long time now, both JB and I have. And this week we found a fabulous deal on one (with a matching chair) and World Market. I'm thrilled to have a nice, clean, small space to type out all my emails!! Thank you husband for our new gift!!

Jade's 3rd Birthday party

Grandpa and Grandma Bechtle came out to visit on Saturday, so I thought it was the perfect excuse to throw Jade a big birthday party to celebrate her third year! Here is Grandpa and Birthday girl before the party started.
Here is part of the living room all decorated for her "Princess" party
Jade and Caitlyn. I told the kiddos they should all dress up, even the boys!
JB is helping Jade and the other little kiddos make edible necklaces using fruit loops
After beating down a pinata and playing "pin the tiara on the princess" all the kiddos needed a food break. They snacked on pudding cones and cupcakes, peanut butter sandwiches, carrot sticks, strawberry cream cheese filled crackers and lots of punch!
Here is what the Princess board looked like after the game. Perhaps I did help the kids find the top of the Princess head. But I'm the host so if I want to let them all cheat, I can!
Here is Jade after she ate her cupcake and pudding cone. hee, hee
Everyone had a great time at the party and Jade was simply SHOWERED with presents! She spent the rest of the afternoon/evening in her room playing with all her new toys. Occasionally Daddy had to help her open a new toy or box so she could keep on playing.
Jade's official birthday isn't until the 22nd of Jan, but even so...I can't believe my baby girl is THREE!

Wall art

I'd really love to do this wall art in Cutter's room. Jonathan says I can if I am able to paint that well...not sure I'm able to paint this well, but maybe I can find cool stencils like this some where in the world.

Anyone have any stencil or free hand painting tips for kids rooms?

Seven months and feeling fine

This isn't a side belly shot on purpose, I'm at that stage of pregnancy were I like not seeing just how big my belly is getting. hee, hee. But I had to post a "Seven months" picture.

Today was a full day. I went walking with a friend then took her twin six month old boys home with me and watched them for a few hours, then another friend dropped off her two year old daughter for me to watch for a bit as well.

I had a full house of four kids all under the age of three (Jade doesn't turn three until the 22nd). Thankfully the twins were in a great mood and the two year old girls play together well.

Now at 3pm I'm finally showered and dressed and ready to wake my daughter up from her nap so we can run errands at Wal-mart.

Misty rain

Driving home today I saw a young teen couple walking home from school, hand in hand and chatting with adorable smiles on their faces. It's raining out, the kind of misty rain that leaves tiny droplets on your lashes and spreads a sheet of dewy mist over your clothes and hair. It's wonderfully romantic and so very soothing. Makes me wish for a hand in hand walk with my husband and then a big, cushy blanket to curl up in once home.

Jade fell asleep on the drive after first telling me that "it's okay it's raining mommy, it's not bad". She fell asleep with her eye lids half shut and her thumb half way in her mouth.

The house is quiet now and I feel like the misty rain has created a wonderful still all around my home. I'll probably take a little nap myself, or go searching for that cushy blanket to curl up in with a good book.

Anyway, living in Washington isn't so bad. Sometimes rain can be really beautiful.

New Look

Thanks to my friend Sarah I now have a new, super cool, look to my blog! Hopefully I'll be making more changes to it over the next few weeks! I'm just happy to have something different then what it was!!

New Year and New Year Resolutions starting!

So I just purchased "Living Beyond Yourself" Beth Moore Bible Study, about the fruits of the spirit, for my bible study group. We meet every Wednesday morning at my house. I'm excited about starting a new study and excited about getting back together with my Bible study girls. We have been on a three week break and I'm feeling it!

Jade joined the YMCA on the 2nd where immediately afterward both Jade and I went in the activity pool, swimming our hearts out! I love the water, Jade loves the water. I'm SO excited about her membership!! After only 10min with me holding on to her (while wearing a little life vest) she insisted I "let go mommy" so she could swim on her own. And swim on her own she did. I'm really looking forward to working more with her over the next couple months getting her more comfortable with swimming. It's a great way to exercise and have fun! Plus, in this gloomy, rainy state, there really aren't great places...at all...to take your kid swimming, so this now gives us a place to go!

I also put together a little "craft caddy" last night with the few markers and crayons and coloring books we own. I set it out in a easy place for Jade to grab and color with. I really want to start encouraging her creative skills and eventually use coloring time as part of the preschool program, I plan on starting her on this Fall.

Using markers is a first for her. Last night she had me open each color one at a time, so she could try them all out. So far she is keeping the markers on her paper and not on her clothes or surrounding areas. She is a bit of a neat nick to some extent so I can't really see her going crazy, even unsupervised. She likes things to be in their place.



This morning I am off to go meet my walking partner. For months now we have been meeting every Monday and Thursday morning to do stretching and walking for an hour. She pushes a stroller with her twin babies and I push a jogging stroller with Jade. We both really enjoy our walking time together and I hope we can keep it up even after I have baby Cutter. I guess Jade will just have to learn to walk next to us, since I don't have a double stroller and honestly don't really want one.

I started my third trimester this month! I go see the midwives today for my normal check-up. I get to start having check-ups every two weeks and then every week. Hard to believe I'm finally on the home stretch of this pregnancy. Sometimes I feel like it's taking FOREVER and then other days I can't believe I'm already nearing the end. Helps to stay busy, that's for sure.

My In-laws come out to visit us next week. They arrive on Saturday and will stay a week with us! While here I plan on throwing Jade a big birthday bash for her 3rd birthday. Princess is the theme and everyone is required to dress in their Sunday best. Being the party is happening on a Sunday, that shouldn't be to hard;) This will be Jade's first official birthday party, so I'm hoping it will be very fun for her.

And that's all for my New Years update!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Happy New Year every one!! Last night we threw a fun, family friendly, party at our house to ring in the new year. We had six couples and eleven little children running around the house (well, three of them were infant babies, but still) to keep the spirit of the evening light and festive!

Here I am with my friends Kristen and Cristy in our New Year garb!

And a special one of just me since I wasn't going to be in the group pic!

And here is the happy group, minus a few sleeping and playing children at about 9pm last night!
We spent the evening playing games and playing xbox. Talking and eating lots of yummy snacks! The smart people played a bit of "Blockus" while others of us played games like "ImaginIf", "Apples to Apples" and "Pictionary"
At one point we had a whole group of the children all tucked into the pull out couch, upstairs, watching a kids movie. Such a sweet picture I had to savor the moment. It didn't last to long though. hee, hee. However, all the kids really did a great job staying up as late as they did.

It's New Years and no we aren't drunk, just a little sleepy. hee, hee

Wishing all my friends and family a blessed and happy Year in 2010!!

Must do one more post before the New Year!

One more day and it's 2010!!! Whoohoo!! We are having a little party at our house tonight to ring in the New Year and I'm very excited about it! Nothing more exciting then getting to start a new year, fresh start, new season of life, etc, etc, and all that. LOL! Plus, now I'm starting my third trimester and before I know it...I'll be popping out a baby! I can't wait!

In baby/pregnancy news you know you've started your third trimester when you find yourself visiting the ladies room multiply times in a 20min period. Not to mention the waddle starts. Why? why dear Lord must I look like I'm waddling? I guess it's not to bad, but after a long day and being extra tired I find myself waddling around the house and I just want to start quacking.

Jade has loved playing with all her new Christmas toys. I think the best gifts were the three little board games we got her "Candy land, Chutes and Ladders and Hi Ho, Cherry Oh". She pulls the games out first thing in the morning and we find her still playing with them when it's time for bed. Thankfully she believes in cleaning up after herself before bedtime, so the games get neatly put away and stacked on the shelf till morning.
Of course, she has also adored the Princess clothes from Grandma M and loves helping me cook using her very own cooking set from Grandma B. not to mention "My Clifford" that she got from Aunt Autumn. I think there is a part of her that thinks ALL her gifts were from Aunt Autumn since the first two gifts she opened where from Aunt Autumn and when she opened those two she said "that's enough gifts". hee, hee

Jonathan has taken some extra time off work the past two weeks and it's been SO nice having him around. He has spent a good amount of his "home" time working from home, but still...home is home.

Today he took us out to Taco Bell for lunch and then we did some odds and end shopping at Target. I love that kind of shopping. Nothing you "have" to get but a few things you could "use" and just taking your time, no rush, no worries. Feels like vacation. One more day of vacation and then it's back to work we go.

Not that I mind. I like work and routine for the most part.

So, goals for 2010 pretty much center around being a good Mom. I had high aspirations to spend quality time working one on one with Jade last year, and aside from achieving the goal of going on lots of bike rides and spending a good amount of time at "park days" there wasn't a lot of that "one on one" I had hoped for. So I am renewing that goal and actually setting up a plan so I'll be able to stick to it.
Once baby Cutter arrives I know life will be a bit crazy for awhile so if I can get my routine in place before April...then it will be easier to fall back into the routine.

So that's my goal, more time spent with Jade, finding fun extra-curricular activities to do with her and soon babykins and just working on being a good wife, mother, daughter and friend. That's all:)

My little Princess

Dress-up clothes was one of the presents from Jade's grandparents. After nap time today she brought me her outfit saying "it's time to be a princess now!"