What have you done to me...?

BEFORE

AFTER

Well, I finally did it...I was able to get Makayla's hair in two pony tails! She looks so different to me. Makayla seems to like it! She has been getting a lot of attention from the church nursery, the teachers at school, the people in the checkout lanes...

I'm still trying to figure out how to do the back. It is really curly at the top, bald in the middle, and really straight at the bottom. I think I am going to need to wait until she stops rubbing the bald spot before I will be able to do anything. We'll just have to wait and see. I still can't believe that I am talking about pony tails in my 5 month old's hair! Aren't they supposed to be at least 12 months old before their hair is long enough to put in pony tails?!?!?

I have more pictures of the boys, but our computer was not cooperating last night. I will try again today. Hope you are all doing well!

Let the Games Begin...

It has begun! The never ending running to this practice and running to that game...Jonathan has started playing organized sports. His first choice was basketball. From what I have heard, this is the easy part...We only have one child in sports right now. There is a family on his team that has three kids in basketball at the same time. Mom takes their daughter, dad takes the one son, and grandma or grandpa takes the other son to their games. Now that is crazy! We are actually having a great time right now. It is worth all of the running around to see how much Jonathan is growing in confidence! He really seems to like it too!

Here is a picture of his team, The Panthers! (Jonathan is #6.)



As you can see when the kids all line up, Jonathan is the shortest of all of them. I have been told that makes for a great guard (I think it was guard...), a great something anyway. Apparently that can help him zig-zag down the court and take the ball down to the net.

Here is that zig-zag in motion!

The kids are actually pretty good at dribbling the ball, when they remember to dribble, and making baskets. Most games you will hear coaches and parents saying "the other net" or "dribble the ball" as the kids get distracted and forget all of the things they are supposed to do. Now that they have been playing for a while, you hear less of these types of things. The kids are really picking up some skills!

Jonathan gets really excited when someone makes a basket. One of the neat things about the league Jonathan is in, is that it is a Christian league. You really don't have those crazy parents pushing the kids and yelling at everyone. The kids are also at an age where if a mistake is made by a teammate, they don't get upset, they just start heading down to the other net. Joe has commented on how nice that is to see.

The kids are learning that they need to pass the ball to others on their team, as well as they need to guard "their man" when the other team has the ball. This league uses colored bands that are placed on the wrist or shoulder to match the kids up. This helps make sure a highly skilled player is not guarding a lesser skilled player, and it helps the kids remember who they are supposed to guard. They just have to look at the color they are wearing.

Most times Grandma (Joe's mom) stays at our house with Jaden and Makayla. Makayla usually does alright at the games, but Jaden has a really hard time understanding why there are a bunch of kids playing with a ball and he can't go play with them...This picture was taken one of the games when Grandma couldn't watch the kids. I think Jaden was in the back row with Joe, so that he was a little more contained.

The baskets seem so high for the kids to play on, but they actually make it sometimes. Here is Jonathan getting ready for a shot.

And here he is with his "game face" on!

All in all this has been a great experience for all of us. Joe and I have been able to see a lot of growth in Jonathan and have had a great time watching him; and Jonathan has learned some new skills for basketball and teamwork and has had a great time doing it. Not to mention he gets to wear a uniform. Man that boy LOVES costumes!

Jonathan has three more games to go in this basketball season and he is already asking about soccer...

Think Spring!

Well, I'm sure many of you feel the same as me, but Spring just can't come soon enough for me! This morning on my drive in it was 8 degrees with a wind chill of -4. At least we are not getting the snow.

We took the kids to get pictures taken on Saturday and I was able to pretend for a minute that it was warmer around here. Here is a picture of the three of them.



The kids seemed to have a lot of fun and we even caught Makayla smiling! (She smiles all of the time at home, but I think she does not like the flash and noise at the studio.) I don't think she liked the kisses from the boys either...



Jaden was not as cooperative when we were trying to get the group shot, but once we let him loose he did great! The photographer was able to get some neat action shots.


This picture just cracked us up. Now you have to remember Joe is a car guy and really has not shown either boy how to play a sport. Jaden posed like this all on his own! I'm waiting for him to get into the NFL so I can post this one all over the web!



As usual, Jonathan did great in the pictures. He has always been a ham in front of the camera. With his imagination, costumes, and communication skills I will be very surprised if he doesn't end up in front of a camera when he grows up!



Here he was trying to convince everyone that he is innocent. Now that he is no longer an only child and has siblings to pass the blame to, I'm sure there will be some times when this face will get him out of trouble...



Makayla did much better this time around with the pictures. Last time she looked ticked off in every one of them. Her hair is not quite long enough for me to put in pig tails yet, but it is just about there. I hope by that time she doesn't mind me doing it. So far she has not really enjoyed our hair time together...I just can't believe I am talking about putting my 5 month old's hair in pig tails. That is just not right...

This is the picture where we caught a big smile. Oh, did I forget to mention she also decided to start teething this weekend? Joe told me had I tried to get the drool that she wouldn't have been smiling, so we are lucky I didn't attempt!

Well, I hope this is the start of many stories being shared. I will try to keep up with updating you all!