Way Back Wednesday

This sweetness is from three years ago this week...

 

 

These two are still this sweet together today. :)

He Loves Doing Homework

Can't you tell?

I think the picture says it all. ;)

P.S. He is getting so BIG! 27 days until the end of kinder...It has flown!

All About Grandma

In honor of Mother's Day, I asked the boys some questions about their grandma. Here is "All About Grandma" as told by Shawn and Jason:

My grandma's name is (He nailed her full name, including her middle name!)
My grandma is 6 years old.
My grandma weighs 6 pounds.
My grandma's job is to put papers on the table.
My grandma's favorite food is cereal.
My grandma laughs when she wakes up.
My grandma always says, "Hi."
My grandma's favorite color is black.
My grandma cooks the best cookies in the whole world.
If my grandma had time, she would love to play with me.
My grandma and I like to talk.
I love my grandma because she comes over.

All about grandma by Shawn.

~~~

My grandma's name is (He said her first and last name.)
My grandma is 1000 years old.
My grandma weighs 2000 pounds.
My grandma's job is to babysit me and Shawn and Jack.
My grandma's favorite food is pizza.
My grandma laughs when I make silly faces.
My grandma always says, "I love you, Jason."
My grandma's favorite color is yellow.
My grandma cooks the best hot dogs.
If my grandma had time, she would love to play with me, Shawn, and Jack. She always has time for that.
My grandma and I like to play with toys together.
I love my grandma because she's funny.

All about grandma by Jason.

All About Mom

In honor of Mother's Day, daddy asked the boys some questions about me. Here is "All About Mom" as told by Shawn and Jason:

My mom's name is (He nailed my full name.)
My mom is 6 years old.
My mom weighs 10 pounds.
My mom's job is doing homework. (HILARIOUS! If only you knew how true that was, buddy!)
My mom's favorite food is spaghetti.
My mom laughs when it's funny. (That is true. I do laugh when something is funny.)
My mom always says, "Yes." (The best part is that he added "to Jason" under his breath. LOL!)
My mom's favorite color is black. (I do like black...)
My mom cooks the best chocolate cake. (Also true!)
If my mom had time, she would love to play with me. (Melt my heart!)
My mom and I like to sing and play with Jack. (Now I'm a puddle on the ground. He's such a sweet thing!)
I love my mom because she talks to me. :)

All about mom by Shawn.

~~~

My mom's name is (He only said my original, before marriage name.)
My mom is 14 years old.
My mom weighs 1000 pounds. (Apparently I weigh as much as a cow. Humph.)
My mom's job is to get money to buy stuff. (He has a valid point.)
My mom's favorite food is donuts. (They are up there on the favorite food list.)
My mom laughs when I make silly faces. (True.)
My mom always says, "I love you, Jason." (Now it's Jason's turn to melt my heart.)
My mom's favorite color is green. (I do like green, too.)
My mom cooks the best pizza. (Does it surprise you that we had it right before he answered this question? lol)
If my mom had time, she would love to play with me.
My mom and I like to play together.
I love my mom because she is nice. (Aww!)

All about mom by Jason.

Cute Boy Saturday

We've got another tooth on the looth! Shawn lost his fourth tooth tonight (all bottom teeth, too!), and I am happy to report that he didn't swallow it!

Showing off his tooth in its bag.

This is the tooth he lost. Notice that the
permanent tooth is already up and ready to take over. Lol.
 

Tonight the tooth fairy gets to visit. Yea!

Parents of Preemies Day

Last Sunday, May 4, was Parents of Preemies Day.

Few things in my life have shaken my core like having my boys prematurely. While giving birth in itself is a life changing event, watching your desperately wanted babies struggle to breath and come to the brink of death more times than you'd care to count has a way of altering your very being in an overwhelmingly profound way.

This year has been momentous for us, as I suspected it would be. After many, many years of keeping ourselves wrapped in a predictable, safe little cocoon, we let our fragile little preemies fabulous boys out into the big, big world of kindergarten.

There were a few big adjustments for them to make this year. New teachers, new routines, and new pressures were a daily occurrence. Things did not always go smoothly, but adjust they did.

They are succeeding.

They are thriving!

With each achievement they make on their own, I feel more and more confident in their future. I feel my need to protect them lessen a bit each day. Mark my words-- these boys are going to do amazing things and nothing is going to stop them. I have no doubts now.

When I think back to our boys' early start and what could have been, I know we are unbelievably lucky. Sometimes I wish the me of today was able to go back to talk to the me of six years ago. I'd tell her that everything was going to be okay. Oh how the past me would have loved to have known that. To know that no matter how terrifying or heartbreaking or even painful things were to get, later, when it really matters these boys were going to be okay. Five tiny words would have made the world of difference back in those days, because, as a preemie parent, as much as you hope, you just don't know much more than the fact that the life you envisioned is probably going to be very different from your reality.

We are living proof that different doesn't mean terrible. We are proof that, actually, different means pretty dang amazing.

So this year, Parents of Preemies Day passed quietly. I reflected on where we started and where we are now. I marveled over our fortune. Most of all, I felt pride in our boys and in us as a family.

We did it.

We are doing it.

Take that, prematurity!

Teacher Appreciation

We love the boys' teacher. Tonight they filled out a Love My Teacher Questionnaire...

Jason completed his first.

1. My teacher's name is: Mrs. D (he came somewhat close to spelling her name)
2. She lives in: he wrote a phonetic spelling of his school
3. She is 100 years old!
4. Her favorite food is: hot dogs (hm, he may be projecting here as this is his favorite)
5. Her favorite drink is: Pepse (he thinks all adults drink Pepsi!)
6. She likes to wear: dreses (dresses - apparently she had one on today)
7. Her favorite book is: abawt penut farms (about peanut farms)
8. If she has free time, she likes to: I don't thenc she has ane ("I don't think she has any" LOL)
9. Her favorite thing to do is: rite (write)
10. She is REALLY good at: riting her name (writing her name)

Shawn went second. Here are his answers.

1. My teacher's name is: Mrs. D (we sounded it out and he spelled the sounds correctly)
2. She lives in: a farm (okie dokie!)
3. She is 7 years old!
4. Her favorite food is: bananas (he also must be projecting his favorite onto her. lol)
5. Her favorite drink is: milk
6. She likes to wear: a hat
7. Her favorite book is: Buz Lityer (Buzz Lightyear)
8. If she has free time, she likes to: sing (How cute is this answer?!)
9. Her favorite thing to do is: sing
10. She is REALLY good at: saying boys and girls (Ha! Too funny!)

Shawn also completed the questionnaire for his aide. (He answered and I wrote what he said. He was over the idea of completing another questionnaire himself. lol)

1. My teacher's name is: Reyna
2. She lives in: school
3. She is 6 years old! (How funny that he made her his age.)
4. Her favorite food is: pizza (another projection I think!)
5. Her favorite drink is: milk
6. She likes to wear: shoes (I'm glad!)
7. Her favorite book is: Toy Story
8. If she has free time, she likes to: play for recess (melt my heart)
9. Her favorite thing to do is: go to recess (who doesn't like recess?)
10. She is REALLY good at: coloring

How sweet are my boys? I hope the teacher and Reyna love these!