Hayden is almost 4.

Somethings for me to remember about Hayden at this age:

Is constantly asking why to everything.  And whatever answer you give him is not good enough and is followed by a why.  After awhile he will just say "mommy you are lying to me".  Ugh.

One day I asked Hayden when he was going to be a good boy.  He told me in 30 minutes!

Loves Jake and the Neverland Pirates, OSO, Spongebob, Mickey Mouse Club House, and max and ruby.

Has enjoyed watching the old movie the Lorax.

Is now into the Avengers.  He filled a behavior chart to get an iron man mask.  He also picked captain america for his halloween costume.
 
Still loves yogurt
Also loves pierogis and can eat 10+ in a sitting if I would let him.
Likes hummus a lot too.  He will scoop it out plain with his fingers if I let him. 

His favorite treats are popsicles and plain vanilla ice cream.  and Kit Kats (extra special treats)

Enjoying watching scooby doo when he is at Renee's.  She has all of the old VHS ones so he is happy.

Loved swimming this summer.He swims all day at my sisters house when I am at work and comes home exhausted.

Still likes guns of all kinds.  Mainly dart guns and squirt guns.

Likes to help Mike in the garden and doing yard work.  And any work on cars, tractors, etc.

Likes to read curious george books.

likes baseball and wants to go to a game.

Can spell his name if you ask.  We are working on writing it. Sitting at the table is not hayden's preferred activity.  He also knows his birthday and address.

Loves to go in my ribbon stash and tie things up.  He likes to tie toys up and "set a trap" for Amelia.

Took a gymnastic class this summer.  It is for boys and it has a super hero theme.  He loves it.

I have worked with kids for years now.   i have worked with special need kids.  I have been sent to schools, daycares, etc.  Never have I met a kid that likes to push the limits as Hayden.  He is a tough cookie. 

Terrible threes are in full effect some days.  Full blown tantrums for 20 minutes.  Sometimes I feel bad, some times I get so mad, and sometimes I just laugh.  Its crazy.

Says his best friend is his cousin Regan (who will be a senior this year)

Likes to go to bed wrapped up in his blanket like a burrito.  And with all of his stuffed animals. 

Goes to bed between 8 and 8:30.  (so does amelia).  People seem to be constantly amazed by this??

still only really likes to drink water (and blue powerade as a special treat)

Loves to vacation as much as his mom.  He will ask when we are staying in a hotel again.  Or when can we go to disney again.  He tells me he is saving his money to go to disney world.

size 4t or 5t

is really tan right now.  He doesn't get that from me.

He will beg for things saying "pwetty please"

Still doesn't like my soccer girls.  He can be so shy. 

Likes to get his toe nails painted.  Once asked me to teach him how to use make up (which is funny since I don't wear any).  I am not concerned he is definitely all boy.

He also dressed up in Kennedy's tinkerbell costume once (on Easter) and ran around yelling I am tinkerbell.  I have it on video to use against him one day.  He also was sad at Disneyworld when we met Tinkerbell and he didn't have the dress to wear.  Ha ha.

 

Amelia at 17 months

Here are some things for me to remember about Amelia one day. 

At 17 months:

Amelia Loves blankets. She has 2 that she mostly uses. 

One nap daily but time varies usually by 2pm

Is girly but likes boy toys a lot

can do a somersault

tells hayden his golf instructions "back, follow thru".

when you count and say one, she will say two or three.

likes to brush what little hair she has. Also likes brushing her teeth.

does things the hard/crazy way. Like to get in Haydens bed she has to climb over the bed railing. the rest of the bed is wide open to climb up but she wants to flip herself over the gate. Same with her power wheels bus. There is an opening on each side to get in. She has to climb over the back and fall in.

likes to use the IPAD to play Jake and the Neverland Pirates or Mickey Mouse club house.

Eats all day. Have to avoid kitchen or she freaks out.

18 month clothes or 24 months now b/c sometimes 18 months are not long enough. Wears a 5 shoes. Sometimes a 6 b/c the 5's are too narrow.

Likes to get her shoes for you and hopes she is going somewhere. She LOVES shoes.

Folds her arms for prayer. And is very proud of herself when she does it.

Has the stinkiest, sweatiest feet ever.

You can't say out or outside in front of her or she screams and goes to the door.
if you say "who wants to go to Nee's (aunt renee's) she screams me!


you can't open the stairs to the basement without her coming and running to go down.

Wants whatever hayden has. You can't even give Hayden something on his dinner plate without her begging for more (even when she already has it)

you can't drink pop in front of her or anything with a straw. She wants it really bad.

likes the sandbox and dirt

is a climber. She will climb anything.

loves to sit on potty. She even pooped on the potty three times She pushes so hard!


says ma, daddy, kaycee, mine , hey, my turn, ball, banana, butt nana, doggie, blanky, thanks, please, drink, baby/brady, nay nay, bed, milk, hot, bailey, jake, minnie, fish, shoes, and her own versiton of hayden.

Knows a lot of her body parts -- eyes, ears, nose, tongue, hair, toes, cheeks, feet, etc.

She will bark like a dog too. And make a monkey noise if we read curious george.

can answer yes and no by shaking her head.

is 98th percentile for height. And 50th for weight and head.

loves to run into hayden's room when he is sleeping and scream his name and wake him up. She is so excited to see him every morning.

 

5v5 tournament

 

 

 

We had our anual 5v5 tournament this year.  It went well and the girls had fun.The tie dyed team were the winners this year.  They also won 2 years ago.

 



 

 

 

Dragon Boating -- A crazy story.

Soccer season has officially started.  To kick off the season we had a team bonding experience.  We took the girls dragon boating.  It was quite an experience.

We went out on the river and had a great view of the city.  The girls seemed to be having fun.  Then this story takea a turn...

We are out paddling and some speed boats go by making waves (much more then the ones that passed us other times).  We paddle thru but our leader (who sits up high on the chair with the drum) was thrown from the boat.  Well this made 20 high school girls panic.  The squeals were ear piercing and they all started moving around on the boat causing it to lean.  Well we started to lean further and further and were about to tip.  The boat leans to the left so far that my face hits the water! We get the girls calm and have them even out the boat.  Seriously we were about as close to tipping as you could get.  I was holding the girl up beside me!  So we even out but the boat is completely full of water, and we floated away from our leader!

We had to paddle to the side of the mountain so she could climb back in, then paddle to the nearest dock.  We had one bailer (a laundry detergent container) that we were trying to empy the boat with.  The girls were using their shoes.  We got to a dock and got the boat emptied and finally were able to laugh about it.  We were soaked.  I am so glad I took my phone out of my pocket before we left.

This is definitely an experience the girls will never forget! Despite the scare, they had fun. We enjoyed some lunch after and had a parents meeting. Now the season is under way. So far so good. I feel that we are ahead of where we were last year.  Hopefully the season is a little less crazy!

Champs

Every summer I usually join 2 soccer leagues.  One is Over 23 and you play half field.  The other is any age (and mostly college aged girls) and they play full field.  I have not played in either since before Amelia was born.  I talked to my dr. and he said that my back is probably fine and that I most likely just have permanent  nerve damage in my foot (half of my left foot has no feeling).  I don't even have a reflex in my foot.

So anyways I got the clear to try and play soccer.  I decided i would just do the over-23 league.  It was rough.  Some days better then others.  A numb foot really makes you slow.  Sometimes it gives out on you too.  But I am slowly getting used to it and adjusting.  Our team made the semi-finals. 

The girls then asked me to play with their full field team for a tournament.  I thougt I would just be a sub.  Well I ended up playing every minute of every game.  And we kept winning so we had an extra game.  We went to the finals and somehow pulled out the win!   It was a fun weekend but I sure paid for it.  I was so sore.  My back killed.  I am covered in bruises and had blisters too.  Man am I old!

Soccer Fundraiser

My soccer team is having a fundraiser this Saturday.  We have a car wash at the Getaway Cafe on McNeilly Road (same road the school is on).  You can also print the flier above and eat at the Getaway and we get 20% of the bill.

Stop by if you are free!!!!

Summer time fun

It has been a fun but really hot summer.  The kids love being outside.  Soccer starts for me so summer is pretty much done for us.  Here are some things we did this summer (besides our trips that I already blogged about):

At Aunt Renee's they swim all day. (and come home exhausted)


At home they love to play on the slide, the slip n slide and in the sandbox under the pine tree.  And the sprinkler.


We try to stay cool


Amelia gets covered in sap from the pine tree. 



Both love the sandbox


We play dress up to amuse Mommy.


Which Hayden does not find amusing...



We walk the trail and Hayden rides his bike.  Sometimes we run.

Then we go and play in the creek.


Mike and Hayden did a creek walk to look for clay.



We play basketball.  (the kids also love to golf and hit golf balls)



We have gone to the wavepool

Where Amelia continues to love to go out to her neck and then try to swim and refuses to let you touch her.  So she drowns in 2 feet of water.  Then gets mad when you rescue her.

Mike has joined a golf league and is enjoying it.  I have rejoined my soccer team for 1 league.  I have really struggled with having the numb foot.  It just slows me down so much.  It is very depressing. 

Some misc pictures from the summer...