Jaxson turns 9!!!!

Even writing those words does not seem quite real...how do I have a child that is nine years old, when it seems as though he was born only yesterday? Time goes by so very fast, and sometimes I find myself holding on for dear life, but I digress!

Jaxson's Birthday was on April 30, a Saturday this year. For the last eight years we have always done a big party on or around that date. However, this year he decided he wanted to have a couple of friends over for a sleepover and just hang out. We do have a gift certificate for a party at Big Al's that has yet to happen, so we will probably do a party for him and his friends from school later this month.

Jaxson's three friends arrived about four and we decided to go to dinner and take them to Wunderland. After that we got a movie for them to watch. We have definitely entered a new phase in life...the sleepover phase!! This is not our first sleepover by any means, but the first at our house with this many kids. Four crazy, excited, wild boys plus Grant made for an interesting evening. The conversations were hilarious and I cannot even imagine what compels them to do or say half of the things that come out of their mouths or any other areas of their body. The whole going to sleep thing is tougher than you would think...after two hours of hi jinks, we had to separate them into two rooms....they were asleep in five minutes! I can't say I look forward to many more sleepovers...well unless they are at someone elses's house that is:-)

Nick and I got Jaxson a new bike and helmet....he LOVED it!!!

Opening gifts!!

Grant was a tad upset when he realized none of the gifts were for him!

The crew at Wunderland!!

Donuts for the baseball team too!!!

Jaxson at a glance:

He is hysterical...the class clown as he likes to brag. Although he is really funny, he also has a very serious side and tends to worry about such adult problems, and for this reason Nick and I have to to be extremely careful about what we talk about in front of him. The child is a champion ease dropper so there are virtually no private conversations.

He loves his friends and hates school, so he says! He would do anything to play with his two best friends all day and never go to school. I have read that this is perfectly normal, and that peer acceptance is extremely important at this age, so I just go with the flow when he comes home complaining about school everyday. The funny thing is that he is doing fantastic in school. For a child who is dyslectic he is above and beyond every benchmark. I think he just has a flare for the dramatics, well it comes honestly.

He also LOVES sports!! He swims, plays basketball, and this year started baseball! We are a big sports family, so the fact that Jaxson loves sports makes Nick and I very happy. We all get really excited to go watch his games, and Grant loves to sit and watch his bubba play, well when he is not peeing beside the baseball field that is:-)

He has a crazy imagination and can think of the wildest stories, insane questions or just make songs up. He loves to read, draw, and build legos. Right now he is into Star Wars, Ninjago, and Wii of course!

He is also so stubborn!! He and I have a battle of the wills, and he is constantly testing the limits. I can tell that as we enter those dreaded teenage years we are going to really bump heads...I have been practicing my, I am not backing down face, as I will quickly lose my voice if I continue to repeat myself the hundred times a day I am currently pacing!

Jaxson continues to show me what unconditional love is, and has been the greatest gift I have ever received!! As I watch him grow into a young man it amazes me how fast he changes, and how independent he is becoming. As sad as it sounds, I actually treasure the time when he is not feeling well...not that he does not feel good, but it gives me a chance to snuggle him, and just sit and talk to him without him rushing away to play! It's those quiet times that really show me what an amazing person he is!! I love him so much!

Easter 2011

Easter is not biggest of holidays in our house. Jaxson really does focus on the true meaning of Easter at school and I don't want the kids thinking this is just another time when they "get stuff". We dye Easter eggs and the boys get Easter baskets of course, it's just not my fave...not as much as Halloween that is.

I really hurt my neck the day we dyed eggs so I don't have any pics of that. We went out to brunch with my family Sunday afternoon and had a great time. Other than that we pretty much lounged on the couch all day, which is something to celebrate itself, because that is just as rare as Easter, once a year!

This is my bro-in-law with my cousins new baby Nicolas...he is such a sweet baby!

 My niece Mackenzie and her darling Easter outfit!! Wish I had a little girl!

Brayden and Andrea

Carter not looking so thrilled!

The whole crew....not the best lighting.

We tried to get a picture with all the kids and my grandparents...it went a little something like this:

Well you can't say we didn't try :-)

Baseball

We are in the full thick of baseball season now. I have adjusted to seeing Jaxson's cup all over the house..including the kitchen counter on occasion...still grosses me out though. We love going out to the ball park and watching all the boys play, although it would be much more enjoyable if the weather were a little nicer! We got a quick taste of some great spring weather on Saturday and it was so much fun sitting out in the sun enjoying snacks and talking with friends. I look forward to nice evening games when we can pack our dinner and eat it on a blanket while enjoying the game.

Jaxson absolutely loves playing baseball and takes it so very serious, even more so than basketball. He really listens to everything the coaches tell him and tries his very best each time! He takes it really hard when he strikes out because he feels like he has let his whole team down. He is learning so fast though and I look forward to seeing him get even better as the season progresses.

One funny story...on Saturday we played at Bethany School and it was gorgeous!! It was even better because all the little kids could go play on the play structures and we could watch the game with less interruptions. Close to the end of the game most of the little ones had made there way back to where the parents were sitting, which was on a track that surrounded the baseball field. Grant and his friend Ava were getting ready to walk around the track when Ava came up to me and says, "umm Lyndsey...Grant!" She points to the right, and there he is standing right behind the dug out pants around his ankles, peeing. Don't get the wrong idea here, he was right out in the middle of everything!! All the parents and kids started dying laughing while I jumped up and ran over to grab him. Grant thought it was pretty funny too, as he had the biggest grin ever!! I admit it was pretty funny, but I certainly do not want him thinking it is ok to pee wherever he wants. I blame this on Nick really, he lets the boys pee outside when there is not a bathroom convenient...ya I will go with that!

Here are some pics from a few of the games:

First time to bat at first game...nervous was an understatement!

Crossing home for the first time!

Playing out field

Cup on the table

(I wrote this last week, but did not want to change all the days around.)

As you all know we have been involved in sports for at least four years with Jaxson....golf, soccer, swimming, and basketball. Well this past month we have taken on a new sport and it has caused quite the emotional stir for me.

Jaxson decided he wanted to give baseball a try, which was fine with us. We had always wanted him to try it, but he had never shown any interest til now... maybe it has to do with his two of his best friends playing, but whatever it is, he is really excited. He has been to one practice up until yesterday, one because of weather and two we were out of town for Spring Break.

So, yesterday on the way home from school he announces that he needs a cup for practice. I knew that the boys needed one for games, but was unaware that he needed it for practice. I called Nick and told him, and he stopped on the way home and picked one up....and thus the hilarity ensued! I cannot really believe or describe how much seeing the actual cup freaked me out.  I grew up with sisters and have never really seen one up close and personal before. Watching him put it on and struggle to walk around was so funny, and I had to contain my laughter for fear of embarrassing him. However to my shock and horror he took it out and started handling it. The cup goes in this little pouch inside some special underwear, but he was putting it on his head, joking of course, and then actually set it down on the kitchen table....YUCK. I actually screamed like a little girl seeing a spider on wall. I let him know that he needed to keep it in his room and not anywhere near the kitchen!

To be quite honest, I am not sure why this little piece of plastic evoked such a strong reaction. It really is no big deal. I think it has to do with the fact that he is growing up so fast and I cannot believe that he will be nine this month. I think about all the horrifying conversations that I will be having in the next few years and I am seriously not ready! I just want to freeze him and keep him little forever. I know this is not possible, and I think I am going to have to really prepare myself for this next stage of his life or else I may do more harm than good. I am pretty sure screaming is not a good response to, what's a virgin....and that's a whole other blog post ;-)

2011 "Rain" Break

We all got the opportunity to go down to my parents house in La Quinta, CA for Spring Break this year. La Quinta is about thirty minutes east of Palm Springs and the weather there this time of year is fantastic, 70's and sunny the whole time. On the news one day it said that it was unusually cool for this time of year, but we were not complaining one bit considering the amount of rain we have had to deal with here in Portland. It is about this time of year every year that I start to feel claustrophobic from all the crummy weather, so a week in the sun was just what the doctor ordered! We did some fun things as well as just kicked back and enjoyed my parents pool. The only thing that was not so fun was that we all had our little bouts of being sick. Jaxson and Grant both threw up a couple times, while I seemed to catch a cold that involved the worst sore throat ever. In fact I am still recovering from it, and sadly Jaxson now has it :-( Anyway I hope we all feel better soon!! Here are a few pictures from our little rain break...

Playing in the hot tub, one of their fav activities of the week!

The boys playing Wii...surprisingly enough there was very little video game playing, which made me very happy!

Jaxson and Nick playing catch at the park down the street!

We went to Soak City a water park in Palm Springs....really a fun day!!

I think he is happy, not sure though?

The water was ice cold, but the boys did not seem to mind one bit.

Nick and Jaxson

We went to the Living Desert Zoo on Friday....what a great Zoo, and I highly recommend it. This was the point where the boys were boycotting showers and clean clothes, as you can see! Oh and Jaxson LOVES snakes!

Doing their best snake impression.

Wild beast meets my wild beasts!

Ouch!!

Tried to get a picture of all three of us...this was the best one. Either Jaxson looked like he was being tortured and Grant was trying to be spider man. Oh well whatcha gonna do!!

The most neglected room in the house....

Ahhhh....I can't believe I am going to actually show these pictures on my blog! Okay first a preface, I am admittedly a pretty clean person, probably to a fault sometimes! I do recognize that there is a difference between clean and cluttered though, and a little clutter happens...it's just the dirt I can't stand!!

Well here goes...we have a tiny room on our main floor that doubles as an office/play room. When I was not working I would straighten this room up on a daily basis. Now that I am back to work, not so much! This is the culmination of about 2 weeks of playing, but also includes two visits by my nephew who we have nick named "the one man wrecking crew"!! It has gone past the point of ridiculous, and every time I look in here I cringe. So drum roll please and without further ado, the most neglected room in my house...

 

Rocks....huh?

Do not fear, all is not lost...I am sending the boys with Nick to the gym tonight so that I can tackle this room with no interruptions!! The moral of this story is: tonight when you are laying on the couch feeling guilty about that last load of laundry that did not get folded, or the dishes in the sink that have not been washed take a look at this again and feel better. We can't do everything!!!

Did that just happen?

So in my quest to the best mom I can be, sometimes there are those moments when you think, WOW I am really doing it, I am making a difference in my child's life, and I am not totally screwing them up. Case in point...Jaxson's report card!! When it came last week we were over joyed to see how well he was doing, and it was so gratifying for him to see that all his hard work had really paid off. Another example is our morning routine....usually I have to be on top of the boys every step of the way or I will find them naked in Jaxson's room playing with Lego's or something. Over the past month there has been quite the transformation in our house though, and both boys have been so great about getting themselves ready without having to be reminded a hundred times. Jaxson is even making his lunch and getting everything ready for school that needs to go that day! Yeah for me and a star on the imaginary parenting board of achievement!!

There are days, however, when you feel like you have totally failed....like yesterday morning! While in the drop-off line for morning drop-off I mentioned to the kiddos (I do carpool) to get their seat belts off and back packs gathered up...when it's your turn you kinda gotta be quick about it, as the line tends to back up rather quickly! So it was our turn and the first two kids got out and then Jaxson climbs over from the back row and sits down. I assumed he was just gathering his stuff up, but he did not move. I said...come on Jaxson you gotta go...so he opens the door hops out and screams, I...AM...GOING....GEEZ!!! Oh did I mention the Principal, other staffers, other moms and kids were standing no less than ten feet away. It really took all my power not to get out of the car, grab him by his ear and drag him back into the car. I was mortified!! I kept my cool and just drove away thinking to myself...did that just really happen?

Needless to say that did not go unpunished...if there is one thing I just can't stand it's blatant disrespect, especially by my eight year old who knows better!! Being the strictest parent ever, ya right, he was grounded from DS and Wii for the rest of the day after school, and no play date (well we never planned one, but he didn't know that.)